AR-2Ax FrankenSpeaker

[LouB]

Hi all,

OK, I have done the unthinkable....

I managed to toast one of the woofers from my long suffering pair of AR-2Ax.

Dead. Voice coil got hot enough to separate from the former.

So I had a pair of KLH model Six woofers on the shelf.

I doped the surrounds with  the Vintage AR butyl fluid and installed them.

WOW! A lot different character than the original but the two systems mixed are actually quite complimentary.

Also took the chance to replace the old Pollak rheostats with Ohmite 20 watt. and replaced the old caps with new oil filled.

I use the sticky clay-ish weatherstripping rope to replace the old hardened black stuff.

I also took the opportunity to install velcro for the speaker grilles.

Has anyone else mixed systems like this? What were your results?

 

regards,

Lou

[frankmarsi]

9-15-16

Screw that ‘welcome on board’ stuff. Or did you get that already from some one? You know how many times I heard that in the Navy? Nobody ever meant anything nice by it, it was simply protocol. Who knows?

 

It was “Fritz”, not “Igor” as most folks get the first ‘Frankenstein’ movie character’s name wrong. Always.

Bela L. played ‘Igor’ in the frankie's series later on. The Boris Karloff first movie had ‘Fritz played by “Dwight Frye”.

Now pull the LEVER!

 

Let me be Frank with you FrankensSpeaker after all, that is my name too.

Think of it this way, you were probably having a good fun time when you blew the woofer.

 

I like toast, why do you think the AR’s are walnut colored with lighter colored toast for grills?

 

I’ve made toast of my woofers a few times, first one in ’78 then one in ’91, then more recently, two more in 2013, so you need to catch-up for more good times in your life.

 

But seriously folks, blowing a speaker sucks. Wait, was there a joke there somewhere?

 

Higher power considerations and much more are up to you as to how far and how much hi-fidelity you’re looking for.

 

And no, that speaker mixing and matching, one on top of the other and vices-versa is kid stuff and things kids did when they had nothing else and wanted some sort of ‘wall of sound’ way back like me and many others did in the mid-sixties. Not the true goal of a high fidelity aficionados journey to ‘higher’ fidelity. And no playing on the floor stuff either unless using stands of 12 inches or more. 

 

Stacked speakers should really be the same model for best results otherwise it’ll be silly sounding and you’ll risk over driving one speaker more than the other and it’ll sound like crap either way. Like I said, kid’s-stuff.

With an adequate amp of high power, a double set of AR-2ax’s it could be interesting. I’ve done it with AR-3a’s and presently do so with AR-LST’s.

 Throw in a DIY tweeter set-up or better on top and you’re approaching a certain higher level. Program-sources should equally be up to par also. Along with adequate cable size and interconnects.

FM

 

P.S.

That rope stuff? It’ll probably get hard like the stuff you took out, make you mad taking it out and off again, should you need to. And if you blow another speaker you will have to. Use the P.E. foam gasket maker, and put in on the speaker not the wood.

 

Did I misunderstand your speaker mixing? You weren’t clear then. SO, you put a KHL woofer in an AR box?

Head in hand, really?

 

I better get back to my auditioning a new to me, old amp. I got so carried away I almost blew out four 12 woofers myself yesterday.

But alas, I had my speakers fused with 4 amp fast-blow types. Lucky for me I didn’t blow the other drivers as well or bad, how ever you see that.

I was talking to the guy who partially re-built the amp and he whipped out his guide and said I had reached 350 watts when those 4 amp fuses went? That is almost full power of the amp on each side.

 

 

[ar_pro]

What manufacturer's make/model of oil-filled caps did you use, Lou?
Do you have any "after" photos of the crossover work, and level-control installation?

[frankmarsi]

46 minutes ago, ar_pro said:

What manufacturer's make/model of oil-filled caps did you use, Lou?
Do you have any "after" photos of the crossover work, and level-control installation?

http://www.richardsonrfpd.com/Pages/Product-End-Category.aspx?productCategory=10117

That route isn't necessary though.

 

[LouB]

I used Dayton (grainger) oil filled motor run caps.

I saw that Klipsch used them and gave it a try. Sounds good.

The Ohmite rheostats are the smaller screwdriver adjust with locknut type. The big ones are a tad large for the given area.

I had a bunch of the caps and rheostats from an auction lot at the Freeport Newell Levelor plant closure. Still have more high wattage power resistors than I'll ever have a use for.

I didn't take any pics while doing the work. Of course I could reopen them....

[stan461]

The rope caulk works just fine. Not an issue.

I cleaned my AR2ax pots. It was a pain to do but they work perfectly now.

I am very satisfied with the sound of the AR2ax. A great speaker design with that magical AR presentation.

If you don't own KLH 6 speakers then sell the KLH 6 woofers and get the correct woofer. There are AR2ax woofers on ebay right now. That's where I would start. I'm assuming one of the AR2ax woofers is OK.

Or, if you are having fun doing the frankenspeaker thing, then just keep experimenting. However, I doubt anyone here has done what you have done and come up with a speaker that bests or equals the original design of the AR2ax.

 

[LouB]

Update on the Frankenspeaker;

After frying the driver in one of my 2Ax's and having installed I have the following to report after a week's worth of listening.

(1) The voicing was all wrong. The KLH are not only a bit more efficient, but have a low midrange that is completely out of character with the AR's.

(2) The Dayton (grainger) motor run caps work like a charm.

(3) I substituted 25 ohm rheostats for the original 16 ohm. This left a much smaller rotational arc for adjustment. I may revist these to use original value.

While I was auditioning the Frankenspeakers, I had a replacement alnico magnet, cloth roll woofer on it's way. It has now arrived and the now unjustly abused 2ax's will be returned to their original AR equipped state.

 

Best regards,

Lou

[LouB]

When replacing the woofers in the 2ax's I noticed that the dots of foam adhering the tweeter domes seem to be deteriorating.

Is there a preferred material/technique for repairing these?

thanks,

Lou