Liangshan Marsh Posted January 12, 2017 Report Share Posted January 12, 2017 An rare Heathkit model AS-103A just popped up on the auction site..for $349 O.B Is that a reasonable price ? Love to have an pair of this Ar3a parts and Heathkit cabinets built ...How is about the sounds when comparing with the famous AR3a,? Any opinions..? Maybe Lakecat will have the best answers.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankmarsi Posted January 12, 2017 Report Share Posted January 12, 2017 If you're not far away why not get them? Both speakers are 99% the same thing. Each box's components alone are approximately $250 a side, easy math on this one, with the addition of nice cabinets to boot. No need to ask anyone else, *"Fill the car with gas and point it towards Mexico." I know what the feelings are like when I have to drop some money on something that I feel I would like to have. For instance; I'm also just about ready to pull the trigger on another expensive cartridge that I really don't need, a Benz-Micro Gull-wing. I've been mentally wrestling with the purchase for more than a month now. Life, is too short not to make yourself happy while you can still enjoy it with functioning mental faculties. What's the possibilities that you'll have the chance again? You could always sell them for more than you've paid. For me, I'm learning too late on how to splurge on myself. * Ralph Kramden to Ed Norton when he realizes the consequences that he spent money he didn't have. But, don't let "Ralphie' boy scare you, take the shot! Swallow two aspirins and call me in the morning. If it's your wife who calls me, I don't know what the both of you are talking about. FM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liangshan Marsh Posted January 12, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2017 Hi FM! Thanks for an advice I knew and understood the rare things are not appeared often in my life once it gone may be never have a chance to see it again... but right now I I feel uncomfortable to get any more speakers... so let those who need to collect it more than my.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakecat Posted January 18, 2017 Report Share Posted January 18, 2017 Well....I just saw this thread. I offered $300 and the seller took it. These Heathkits are so much more rare than the 3a. I see trashed 3a's go for more so was a no brainer. They sound exactly like an AR and is fused for protection. I will make these look new again. The drivers look great and cabs will need just a little work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidDru Posted January 18, 2017 Report Share Posted January 18, 2017 Good snag there Lakecat. They look nice as-is. I have always likes those grilles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liangshan Marsh Posted January 18, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2017 1 hour ago, lakecat said: Well....I just saw this thread. I offered $300 and the seller took it. These Heathkits are so much more rare than the 3a. I see trashed 3a's go for more so was a no brainer. They sound exactly like an AR and is fused for protection. I will make these look new again. The drivers look great and cabs will need just a little work. Congrats ! Perhaps the Heathkit AS-103A has been found the best owners of all. Now you have a chance to stack it, hope to see its stacked PIC soon.. BTW, I am always wonder and curious to know in most of the AR parts, such as, woofer frame, cabinets facing etc.. what is the meaning of the ''RED CROSS'' sign sticker standing for..? any relates to the SWISS Country or RED CROSS SOCIETY..? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlspeak Posted January 18, 2017 Report Share Posted January 18, 2017 2 hours ago, lakecat said: Well....I just saw this thread. I offered $300 and the seller took it. These Heathkits are so much more rare than the 3a. I see trashed 3a's go for more so was a no brainer. They sound exactly like an AR and is fused for protection. I will make these look new again. The drivers look great and cabs will need just a little work. I have a .pdf of the AS-103 manual. PM me with your email and I'll gladly send it along. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakecat Posted January 18, 2017 Report Share Posted January 18, 2017 Hi Carl...very generous of you. I have an original copy that came with the mint pair I have. Got them from original owner who was an electrical engineer. It shows all his check marks as he assembled them...:) That pdf will be handy to print off of and put with these..thanks! And Marsh....those plus signs show the positive side of driver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakecat Posted January 18, 2017 Report Share Posted January 18, 2017 2 hours ago, DavidDru said: Good snag there Lakecat. They look nice as-is. I have always likes those grilles. Hi David....yes..the grills are badazz and very durable. Quick wash and good as new...:) The sun is the only enemy of these. Digital pics always lie so probably not as nice as pics but they probably need an overhaul anyways. This will be my third pair. I have one that came driver less and bad shape so put new veneer on and stuck an AR 11 woofers and mids in it with 3a tweeters. It's my little badazz speaker...:) Marsh...can't stack right now as I don't have an amp that can drive both. Looking at Mcintosh but man...they are big money. I looked at Adcom and those but want eye candy to go with the speakers. A friend is bringing over a Yamaha that looks decent to try but won't see him for a couple of weeks. Any experience with the Yamahas? This one puts out 250 per. MC something or other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKent Posted January 18, 2017 Report Share Posted January 18, 2017 3 hours ago, lakecat said: Well....I just saw this thread. I offered $300 and the seller took it. These Heathkits are so much more rare than the 3a. I see trashed 3a's go for more so was a no brainer. They sound exactly like an AR and is fused for protection. I will make these look new again. The drivers look great and cabs will need just a little work. Fantastic! Glad to see they went to a worthy owner. These are your SECOND pair? Maybe you should change your name from lakecat to luckydog I really like the Heathkit cabs. They seem more professionally built than the AR but I wonder what effect if any the recessed drivers cause. Looking forward to PICS of your restoration! -Kent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakecat Posted January 18, 2017 Report Share Posted January 18, 2017 5 minutes ago, JKent said: Fantastic! Glad to see they went to a worthy owner. These are your SECOND pair? Maybe you should change your name from lakecat to luckydog I really like the Heathkit cabs. They seem more professionally built than the AR but I wonder what effect if any the recessed drivers cause. Looking forward to PICS of your restoration! -Kent Hi Kent....not sure of any effect but beyond my amatuer hearing anyways. My hearing tests are pretty simple. Goosebump test...:)..so pretty worthless to the professional. This pair here was the first I have seen on the bay in a very long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakecat Posted January 18, 2017 Report Share Posted January 18, 2017 2 hours ago, Carlspeak said: I have a .pdf of the AS-103 manual. PM me with your email and I'll gladly send it along. Carl....I got it!...thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakecat Posted January 22, 2017 Report Share Posted January 22, 2017 On 1/18/2017 at 10:56 AM, Carlspeak said: Well....I got these speakers yesterday and got the dreaded damage. I told the seller that I would pay his shipping fee if he wrapped these in 1/2" foam and double boxed. Was pleased to see he had heavy duty Uhaul boxes when arrived but did see one corner crushed on one so.....I open it and find he had wrapped the speaker in the large bubble wrap.....sigh. The force of the drop snapped the tweeter out about a half inch and mid range was dented some. Little dent on corner of speaker but fixable. I took pics and sent the seller a message. Got on his ass a little about the bubble wrap and wanted a refund....or was going to file a dispute. To his credit....he apologized over and over and did pay the refund. So I removed the broken tweeter and tested it. It is in very nice shape as far as driver goes and sounded really good.....damn it!..lol. I then thought I could super glue the broken flanges back on and try to find a thin backer to glue behind it to strengthen it when screwing it back in. I had the foam gasket for the driver and would make a perfect copy to trace on. I am in the shop looking and looking...thinking it has to be maybe metal?...but thinking what a job to cut circles in it. I looked at plastic lids from various things and decided it was not strong enough. Then...I saw some old cd's laying there on the shelve by the stereo....and picked one up....and I'll be damn.....it was the exact same diameter as the driver!....I mean perfect. And just stiff enough and thin enough to work I thought. I trace the foam gasket for the inner circle onto the cd with a marker and attached the cd to a 8"x8" piece of pine with a washer and screw in the center hole of cd. I got out my heat gun and torch and grabbed my utility knife. I heated the cd with heat gun and heated my knife with torch and cut out the inner circle perfectly. I then removed cd off board and sanded everything smooth. I cleaned the back of the tweeter with lacquer thinner as it evaporates quickly and applied a bead of superglue to the back. I slowly lowered the cd cutout to it and then clamped it. I think I may have saved this tweeter....:) We will see when I finish painting it flat black to make it look decent and installed. Mid cover was removed and dent fixed. The mid sounds good...thank goodness. But as you can see in box....no protection for top or bottom. I had him refund $90 so good to go now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKent Posted January 22, 2017 Report Share Posted January 22, 2017 That's really a shame. I know how you feel. I once sent my restored KLH Fives to a new owner and the shipper managed to drop the box, smashing a corner and popping the woofer right out. I decided then never to ship big speakers again (or buy them). But I'm sure you will be able to resurrect these! 23 minutes ago, lakecat said: I am in the shop looking and looking...thinking it has to be maybe metal?...but thinking what a job to cut circles in it. I looked at plastic lids from various things and decided it was not strong enough. Then...I saw some old cd's laying there on the shelve by the stereo... HA! Roy could have saved you the effort. A few years ago he was experimenting with replacement tweeters for the 3a and he needed a mounting plate. He laminated 2 old CDs together and painted them black for a perfect flange! I'm skeptical about the super glue. Roy used thinned Goop IIRC. Anyway--good luck and keep us posted! -Kent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakecat Posted January 23, 2017 Report Share Posted January 23, 2017 23 hours ago, JKent said: That's really a shame. I know how you feel. I once sent my restored KLH Fives to a new owner and the shipper managed to drop the box, smashing a corner and popping the woofer right out. I decided then never to ship big speakers again (or buy them). But I'm sure you will be able to resurrect these! HA! Roy could have saved you the effort. A few years ago he was experimenting with replacement tweeters for the 3a and he needed a mounting plate. He laminated 2 old CDs together and painted them black for a perfect flange! I'm skeptical about the super glue. Roy used thinned Goop IIRC. Anyway--good luck and keep us posted! -Kent Hi Kent.....I think I bug Roy enough already!....:) Really, I wasn't sure what I was going to do but in an hour....had pretty much decided to go for it with the cd. The tweeter was already worthless unless I could fix it so not a big deal. The super glue held pretty good after testing the parts so no worries. I think it came out nice...:) Buying speakers with these pots from Arizona really makes sense. Check out the double swipes. All I used was the Dremel to brighten them up a little. Inside the pot is just as nice. The double swipes tells me these are later model speakers so another plus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyC Posted January 23, 2017 Report Share Posted January 23, 2017 While I knew the cd was the right size, I didn't know using the "hot knife" would work so well to cut it! It looks great, Jeff! Roy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakecat Posted January 23, 2017 Report Share Posted January 23, 2017 3 hours ago, RoyC said: While I knew the cd was the right size, I didn't know using the "hot knife" would work so well to cut it! It looks great, Jeff! Roy Thanks Roy! I didn't have a hole saw that size so figured it being plastic, heat would work. Wasn't bad at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyC Posted January 24, 2017 Report Share Posted January 24, 2017 6 hours ago, lakecat said: Thanks Roy! I didn't have a hole saw that size so figured it being plastic, heat would work. Wasn't bad at all. The hole saw was not easy to use, and I eventually abandoned the idea. I think you are on to something. There are lots of bent and broken AR tweeter flanges out there! I have been experimenting with a new dome/voice coil assembly for the old tweeters with some success. Your idea may have come along at the right time. Roy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKent Posted January 24, 2017 Report Share Posted January 24, 2017 10 hours ago, RoyC said: I didn't know using the "hot knife" would work so well to cut it! Something like this should work well https://www.amazon.com/Dremel-1550-Versa-Multipurpose-Tool/dp/B0000302YM/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1485236928&sr=8-4&keywords=hot+knife Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakecat Posted January 24, 2017 Report Share Posted January 24, 2017 7 hours ago, RoyC said: The hole saw was not easy to use, and I eventually abandoned the idea. I think you are on to something. There are lots of bent and broken AR tweeter flanges out there! I have been experimenting with a new dome/voice coil assembly for the old tweeters with some success. Your idea may have come along at the right time. Roy I think the hole saw would work easier and faster but just didn't have that size. I still had to trim with utility knife when done and sand the cutout. I think I would cut a 3/4" piece of pine the width of the cd so I could clamp it on the outside in two spots. Then drill the hole...done. Just don't know if they make a bit that size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakecat Posted January 24, 2017 Report Share Posted January 24, 2017 15 hours ago, JKent said: Something like this should work well https://www.amazon.com/Dremel-1550-Versa-Multipurpose-Tool/dp/B0000302YM/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1485236928&sr=8-4&keywords=hot+knife Yes....would work great if you had a lot of them to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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