jason4300 Posted August 30, 2016 Report Share Posted August 30, 2016 As I mentioned in my other thread, I found my way to this forum looking for info on restoring a set of AR94si's I picked up cheap on CL. I finally pulled all the pictures off of my phone and figured I would post. There's nothing groundbreaking, just new surrounds and new film capacitors. The socks, while not attractive, were in perfect condition, so i decided to leave them. The only changes I made were to peel off the black vinyl on the particle board caps and spray with Rustoleum "stone" paint. Overall, I'm really pleased with how these turned out. The mids could be better, but they handle everything I've thrown at them with ease. The highs are crisp and the lows are very nice and they seem like they'll be perfect matched up with my NAD 7020, which was what I was hoping for. I may play around with the crossover based on what JKent did with his set, but for now, these are keepers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amanteyzapata Posted August 30, 2016 Report Share Posted August 30, 2016 Yours look great! I mostly post over at Audiokarma and it has been a while since I owned AR94 speakers (moved on up to AR9LSi!) but I liked them. I did end up adding fiberglass (Home Depot) to the polyfiber that was in there and it seemed to tighten things up a little without loss to bass. Also, I couldn't stand the stock tweeter so I followed someone's suggestion at Audiokarma (sorry, forget his handle right now) and that made a huge difference. The tweeter came from Parts Express and was cheap, a near perfect match numbers-wise. I just enlarged the hole a little. Other than that, these speakers can kick out quality sound and have a very small footprint. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKent Posted August 30, 2016 Report Share Posted August 30, 2016 1 hour ago, jason4300 said: The only changes I made were to peel off the black vinyl on the particle board caps and spray with Rustoleum "stone" paint. Nice job! I'd like to see a photo of the "stone" top. -Kent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidR Posted August 30, 2016 Report Share Posted August 30, 2016 Looking good ! Who did you source your foam surrounds from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason4300 Posted August 30, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2016 43 minutes ago, DavidR said: Looking good ! Who did you source your foam surrounds from? Went with these: http://www.ebay.com/itm/360748750099?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT They matched the measurements I took and the price was definitely right. 2 hours ago, JKent said: Nice job! I'd like to see a photo of the "stone" top. -Kent I'll snap a pic tonight. Although here's a set of speakers I'm building with the same paint. 3 hours ago, amanteyzapata said: Yours look great! I mostly post over at Audiokarma and it has been a while since I owned AR94 speakers (moved on up to AR9LSi!) but I liked them. I did end up adding fiberglass (Home Depot) to the polyfiber that was in there and it seemed to tighten things up a little without loss to bass. Also, I couldn't stand the stock tweeter so I followed someone's suggestion at Audiokarma (sorry, forget his handle right now) and that made a huge difference. The tweeter came from Parts Express and was cheap, a near perfect match numbers-wise. I just enlarged the hole a little. Other than that, these speakers can kick out quality sound and have a very small footprint. Cheers! I may play around with mine at some point. I'm pretty happy with the highs for now though. Mine were almost overstuffed with poly, so I'm not sure if it'd make a difference with these or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidR Posted August 30, 2016 Report Share Posted August 30, 2016 Thanks Jason. The roll and the material looks right (appears to be polyether). Thickness/stiffness can't be judged in a picture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason4300 Posted August 31, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2016 David, I did try to compare it to the thickness of the few crumbs of the original surrounds that were left and it seemed close. What would be the side effects of using thicker/thinner surrounds? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidR Posted August 31, 2016 Report Share Posted August 31, 2016 When they are too thick they become less compliant and don't move as well. Surrounds for AR speakers from Simply Speakers are very thick/stiff. At that price and they say they will refund it's kind of a no brainer to at least try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nefertem Posted August 31, 2016 Report Share Posted August 31, 2016 Hi Jason i own a pair of the AR 93 Speaker and when i had to replace the woofers there was no opinion to save the original woofers i choosed these tweeters it made a big improvment Vifa D19TD-27-08 3/4" Poly Dome Tweeterhttp://www.parts-express.com/vifa-d19td-27-08-3-4-poly-dome-tweeter--299-124 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidDru Posted August 31, 2016 Report Share Posted August 31, 2016 That stone texture paint stuff does well. I rebuilt an old foosball table and the exterior was too beat up to make look good and that stuff saved the day. of course we have all probably see some speakers with that look along the way too. I know I have. Not exactly wood veneer, but often a better look than vinyl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason4300 Posted August 31, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2016 This was the first time I used that paint and I was very pleased with it. It covers well and does a good job of hiding imperfections. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nefertem Posted August 31, 2016 Report Share Posted August 31, 2016 Hi Jason i remember making my replacement socks buy buying the fabric from parts express Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason4300 Posted August 31, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2016 14 minutes ago, nefertem said: Hi Jason i remember making my replacement socks buy buying the fabric from parts express Thanks, I'll remember that. The socks on there, believe it or not, were in perfect condition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ra.ra Posted August 31, 2016 Report Share Posted August 31, 2016 Am very surprised to hear multiple voices expressing displeasure with the original tweeter. My experience with several versions of these 1-1/4" tweeters is that they are excellent drivers. Nonetheless, I always enjoy seeing the re-build mod projects and hearing about the perceived performance results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKent Posted August 31, 2016 Report Share Posted August 31, 2016 36 minutes ago, ra.ra said: Am very surprised to hear multiple voices expressing displeasure with the original tweeter. My experience with several versions of these 1-1/4" tweeters is that they are excellent drivers. Nonetheless, I always enjoy seeing the re-build mod projects and hearing about the perceived performance results. I agree the tweeters are good and apparently so does AR guru RoyC who wrote “these speakers can produce a great deal of very satisfying bass. The midrange balance is so-so (probably why AR kept messing with the crossover ) and the highs are fine.” Her's my 94si project: I noted that CSP member kkc objected to the tweeters and replaced them with Dayton DC-28F-8 units. Roy’s suggestions OTOH were to fiddle some more with the xo,changing the 5uF tweeter cap to 4uF and increasing the 40uF cap to 70 “or more.” I had already built the xo but I added a 33uF cap from my parts box, bringing the big cap up to 73uF. To tame the tweeters (if necessary) I added an L-pad. btw, my 94si’s had nice walnut caps while Jason't has vinyl-covered particle board. Odd.... I like the Rustoleum "stone" look. On my 94si's I removed the "socks" and sprayed the outside with truck bed liner--a similar approach. Keep up the good work! -Kent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nefertem Posted August 31, 2016 Report Share Posted August 31, 2016 Here is a photo of my original mod AR 93s i replaced the bravox mids with some scanspeak which was a big improvement Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason4300 Posted August 31, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2016 4 hours ago, JKent said: I agree the tweeters are good and apparently so does AR guru RoyC who wrote “these speakers can produce a great deal of very satisfying bass. The midrange balance is so-so (probably why AR kept messing with the crossover ) and the highs are fine.” Her's my 94si project: I noted that CSP member kkc objected to the tweeters and replaced them with Dayton DC-28F-8 units. Roy’s suggestions OTOH were to fiddle some more with the xo,changing the 5uF tweeter cap to 4uF and increasing the 40uF cap to 70 “or more.” I had already built the xo but I added a 33uF cap from my parts box, bringing the big cap up to 73uF. To tame the tweeters (if necessary) I added an L-pad. btw, my 94si’s had nice walnut caps while Jason't has vinyl-covered particle board. Odd.... I like the Rustoleum "stone" look. On my 94si's I removed the "socks" and sprayed the outside with truck bed liner--a similar approach. Keep up the good work! -Kent I've yet to figure out if there was any rhyme or reason with some of the sub models of the 94. I thought the wood caps were the deciding factor, but it doesn't look that way. The sx, for example. I can't tell what, if any differences there are between it and the si. I seem to recall seeing it with wood and vinyl as well. And no displeasure with the tweeters here. Very satisfied with the sound from these so far... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amanteyzapata Posted September 1, 2016 Report Share Posted September 1, 2016 Just getting back on this thread. Wow! That paint job is awesome!! If I still had my two pairs of 94s I would have gone your direction even though mine were in good shape. I think I mentioned somewhere on Audiokarma that it seemed the 94 on up to 91 series (I still have my beloved 91s) were not always quality controlled. My 91 and one pair of 94 had a role of foam tossed in, folded…not much either. The other 94 had it nicely spread with a shaped cup shape around the woofer. You saying yours was crammed would be an additional experience I haven't had (except maybe for my AR90s). Also, I'm no specialist like others such as Forleo but it seemed to me that as more letters got added after 94 the cheaper they got made. I've seen AR94s, AR94si and AR94sx. The AR94s having a real wood top, the others plastic and a tad thinner. And, it's been a while, but I think the AR94sx had a different and shinier/sticky middle (upper?) woofer than the usual dry paper. I'm a music professor and hated the school's speakers so I donated them and hear them in action, often. They handle everything very well except maybe the lowest tones of a pipe organ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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