lakecat Posted March 28, 2017 Report Share Posted March 28, 2017 These AR2's have just sold but looked at them last night. I noticed the grill was different than most AR2's and wondered what driver was above the woofer. The woofer looks like a good one and his demo had them sounding pretty good. Why he cut the grill just to expose the woofer is strange. My question is I have a second pic that I googled trying to find a similar grill and it has an AX tweeter with a huge fill block for it. Was that a homemade job? The pic with complete grill removal is the google pic. http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-EARLY-60-039-S-ACOUSTIC-RESEARCH-BOOKSHELF-SPEAKERS-AR-2-AR-2-/252832615313?nma=true&si=SDWyNWSKwer91F9u1q%2B3eygXgRw%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ra.ra Posted March 28, 2017 Report Share Posted March 28, 2017 Since the paper labels show AR-2, we should know the specific baffleboard cut-outs for the drivers. Trying to look closely thru the grille cloth at the upper driver(s), it appears that there is a center-aligned light spot, suggesting that the original AR-2 dual tweeters have been replaced with the 2ax mid driver, which was an "improved" option offered by AR (see attached). The bottom (google) pic shows the same speaker (with slightly different version of woofer) - - the early version of the AR-2x, with the infill panel that was used to convert from an AR-2. This small driver (with fiberglass and wire mesh) was also the tweeter in the AR-4. Later versions of the AR-2x used a 4-bolt foam woofer and the tweeter used in the AR-4x. The early AR-2x is basically and AR-4 with the 10" cloth woofer, while the later AR-2x is essentially an AR-4x with the 10" foam woofer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ra.ra Posted March 28, 2017 Report Share Posted March 28, 2017 Later version of AR-2x shown here; also the grille badge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakecat Posted March 28, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2017 Thanks ra.ra. That infill kit for tweeter.....did it apply over surface of baffle...or did owner have to cut out baffle for kit? The original dual driver tweeter just had a more narrow cut-out in baffle and grill had a smaller opening for tweeter also. Did one get the grill that looks for an AX with the kit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakecat Posted March 28, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2017 Like this grill on a AR2.... http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=282408253294&alt=web Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ra.ra Posted March 28, 2017 Report Share Posted March 28, 2017 I believe that the plywood panel was made to be an exact infill for the removed dual tweeter of an AR-2 or an AR-2a. It fit flush with the baffle, and the screw holes aligned with original cabinet T-nuts. The catalog page I provided shows the factory versions of using this mid-driver in cabinets which had originally been fabricated for AR-2's and AR-2a's, thereby turning them into AR-2x and AR-2ax models. We do not know the history of these speakers, so it's difficult to know much about the grille frames and cloth, but you are correct - - - both the AR-2 and AR-2a normally had different grille frame cut-outs (and cloth) than the ones shown in your pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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