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AR 2a's in da house


Craig25

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Latest in the short line of AR's that have come into my life are a beautiful pair of 2a's. I will be diving in to clean the pots next week, but I wanted to ask here if it makes sense to replace the factory filling (probably rock wool), with something newer. Roy, you helped me with my 5's about 8 years ago and suggested the Johns/Manville formaldehyde free fiberglass, if I remember correctly. Would that be a good choice still? BTW, it's great to be back!   Craig

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Welcome back.

Three schools of thought here:

  1. Purists -- keep the rock wool
  2. Long strand fiberglass, Owens Corning (OCF) or the Johns/Manville small packs
  3. Various polyfibers, either specifically design for speakers or common pillow stuffing. Here is one: http://www.parts-express.com/acousta-stuf-polyfill-speaker-cabinet-sound-damping-material-1-lb-bag--260-317

Personally, I prefer the later two options.

Be sure to entertain us with photos of your rebuild ;)

Roger

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I have been working on a pair of AR2AX speakers on and off.

So far, cleaned the pots and spruced up the cabinets with some Howards 'restore a finish'.

And soon to be replacing the xover caps.

But what is interesting is I replaced the rock wool in just one speaker with acousta stuf.

I have switched them back and forth a number of times and have not heard any difference.

Will continue swapping for a couple more weeks and report back if I am able to discern.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Definitely not a purist, but several of my projects fall into Roger's category #1 from post 2 with maintaining the original rock wool stuffing. As far as replacing this material with something else (fiberglass or fiber fill or whatever), I don't think the intent was ever to improve speaker performance; rather, I think it was merely to minimize handling of the rock wool which can be uncomfortable to work with due to its tiny fibers that can get everywhere. 

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If you use a polyfiber product be sure it has heat resistance if you are packing it around pots. The pots can get hot enough to ignite combustible material.

If you use fiberglass/rock wool be aware of the lung disease problems.

Roger

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On 2/16/2016 at 9:09 PM, Craig25 said:
On 2/16/2016 at 9:09 PM, Craig25 said:

 Roy, you helped me with my 5's about 8 years ago and suggested the Johns/Manville formaldehyde free fiberglass, if I remember correctly. Would that be a good choice still? BTW, it's great to be back!   Craig

 

Hi Craig,

You have already received good advice here, so I have little to add. The Johns Manville fiberglass has become scarce around here, but small bags of the pink Corning fiberglass is available at Lowes and Home Depot. 2 1/4 bags is a little over 20oz, which will work fine in each cabinet. Home Depot also sells a smaller bag of unfaced yellow fiberglass in the hot water heater section. It is in a smaller bag and is a bit more expensive...3 bags per cabinet will do it.

I prefer to replace the pre-1970 material. It is nasty stuff...so work outside

Roy

 

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