classicaudioman Posted March 12, 2017 Report Share Posted March 12, 2017 Hello. new here to the group. could somebody confirm what color my ar3 speakers are? ive included 5 pics including pics showing their serial #'s. they look maple to me, and seem to have a reddish/blonde color compared to my ar3a's that are definitely walnut ... thanks for any help with this. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
genek Posted March 13, 2017 Report Share Posted March 13, 2017 That's cherry. Great condition, from the looks of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classicaudioman Posted March 13, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2017 thank you kindly. would you happen to know if cherry was a rare color for these speakers? all the ones ive owned have been the walnut. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidDru Posted March 13, 2017 Report Share Posted March 13, 2017 Yep, a rare finish. Keep em safe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classicaudioman Posted March 13, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2017 A little of my ar history. purchased first pair of ar speakers (ar2ax) back in 1969. been buying ar ever since. since then, ive owned ar2a, ar2x, ar2ax, ar4x (still have 2 pairs), ar5, ar3 ( the one shown above), ar3a (still have 2 pairs in walnut) , ar1's, ar58b, ar9, ar9ls, ar9lsi, ar91 (still have them) arlst, ar10pi, ar11, and some artt, xa, and xb, and a few of the original ar amps. thanks again for your assistance with my ar3 color id. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ra.ra Posted March 14, 2017 Report Share Posted March 14, 2017 Mid-60's finish card courtesy of Tom T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classicaudioman Posted March 16, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2017 WOW!!! thanks Tom i had no idea that so many wood finishes were offered. i was thinking of selling my ar3 cherry speakers. any suggestions other than ebay? seems lately there are a lot of ebayers who specialize in scamming the sellers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakecat Posted March 16, 2017 Report Share Posted March 16, 2017 Your call on sale platform but I would sell those individually if they were mine.. The serial numbers are 60K apart and the older one has the full face frame whereas the newer has the more narrow face frame. That older one would probably have the old oil caps also unless you changed it and a different mid. Did you make the grills? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classicaudioman Posted March 17, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2017 frames are original. but they're secured with velcro. don't remember that as being original. this is how i received these speakers. ive never had very good luck selling any speaker as a single unit vs.as a pair even if not matched. maybe thats because ive dealt with ebay exclusively. thank you for your advice, Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
genek Posted March 17, 2017 Report Share Posted March 17, 2017 I would think that with a rarer wood, the buyer pool for a single speaker would be a lot smaller than for a matched pair. It also looks as if your mids and tweeters may not be the original units. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ra.ra Posted March 17, 2017 Report Share Posted March 17, 2017 At first I thought lakecat's notion might make sense, but now that we see them naked, I'd agree with genek that the serial number discrepancy is insufficient reason to break up an otherwise matching pair. The cabinet condition and finish and driver ID's are far more important factors, IMO, than the paper tags. Even if some drivers are non-original, it appears that speaker A and speaker B have been "refreshed" with consistently equal care and attention with every attempt to create or preserve a functioning pair of stereo speakers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakecat Posted March 17, 2017 Report Share Posted March 17, 2017 Hi Jim...yea....the mids are from the AR11, the tweeter's cones have a shiny finish so not sure what was done them, and the woofers are different. I wonder if they touched the crossovers as it would have to be changed to work right. There is not much value as they sit except for the cabs and woofers and what the AR11 mids are worth. How do they sound? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classicaudioman Posted March 17, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2017 these are very nice sounding speakrs. ive had several ar3's and have always liked the low end with the original ar3 alnico woofers better than the newer ones. esp. at low volumes, they still have a strong low end. seems effortless how they do their job. i have 2 other pairs of ar3a's, and to me this ar3 model sounds cleaner, or better defined in the mids and hi's than my ar3a's do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakecat Posted March 18, 2017 Report Share Posted March 18, 2017 That is cool. I did the AR11 mids and woofers in a Heathkit AS-103 cab. Kept the 3a tweeters in them as they had good output....and I really like their sound also. I really like that AR11 mid. Didn't have to change the crossover any. I would be curious to see what they did to your crossovers. I bet the early one had the oil caps...and wonder if they removed them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classicaudioman Posted March 18, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2017 yes. you're right. I havent taken cabs apart yet, but was given the huge oil caps with brackets, (all cleaned up) and some color coordinated shrink tubing in case i wanted to rewire, and put back into the cabinet for "keeping it original" issues. and was told that good quality caps were used because original values had gone very high. being ar11 mids is probably why i like the sound of these more than my ar3a's. the ar11's to me had a much clearer vocal sound. wish i would have kept that sellers name and address from craigslist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakecat Posted March 19, 2017 Report Share Posted March 19, 2017 Jim....that is the famous wax caps that AR used and not the oil. They never measure out so it is a throw away. I included a pic of the old oil caps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tysontom Posted March 26, 2017 Report Share Posted March 26, 2017 On 3/18/2017 at 10:14 PM, lakecat said: Jim....that is the famous wax caps that AR used and not the oil. They never measure out so it is a throw away. I included a pic of the old oil caps. While it is true that there is a lot of variance in the values of the old plastic/wax Chicago Industrial capacitors, some hold their value relatively well. The tolerance is around 10% anyway. It's best to measure them (out of the circuit, of course) first to be sure. HP 4277A LCZ Analyzer --Tom Tyson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSUNRocks Posted November 6, 2018 Report Share Posted November 6, 2018 And what color are mine ? Birch or Cherry is my guess .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky Pierre Posted November 6, 2018 Report Share Posted November 6, 2018 Funny that this thread was resurrected. I was about to ask the color stain to use to match as closely as possible the original color of lacquered mahogany 3's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
genek Posted November 6, 2018 Report Share Posted November 6, 2018 What look are you aiming for? Like new, or the way they'd look if they'd been well cared for the past 50 years or so? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankmarsi Posted November 7, 2018 Report Share Posted November 7, 2018 Cherry? I say birch. But enough about wood, what is the 'front-end' they serve? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSUNRocks Posted November 7, 2018 Report Share Posted November 7, 2018 Rebuilt Yamaha CX800u and DX800u. Yamaha YP-701 turntable. I hope this will come together nicely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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