DavidDru Posted August 25, 2017 Report Share Posted August 25, 2017 Picked up this set of AR93's yesterday. All drivers are functioning and listening to them now. Not bad. In my garage and the Dynaco ST70 was in #1 position so hooked up to that for the time being. Probably be better with a little more power. A little beat up. Came with the socks off so of course the painted black particle board is rough. Should be an easy clean up and paint though since they don't need to be perfect and are covered by the sock. The top caps will need a little more attention and hopefully I will be able to smooth them out with some sanding and don't need to fab new ones. The bottom stands are plastic and are fine. I reinstalled one of the socks to get a feel for what they are supposed to look like. Of course these socks are not great and will try and figure out how to replace them. At least I have them to use as a pattern. Might be cool to go with a different color than black for a little fun. A wine or burgundy color might be nice if that material is made in something like that. I am into MCM furniture and could do something pretty cool along those lines too. Would just need to be a little stretchy and good for acoustical use I guess. The 6 8" drivers have all been refoamed at some point not so long ago and unfortunately they adhered the inside edge to the underside of the cone. huh? I should probably re-do them. ? Tweeters work.. One has the dustcap mushed in and I will try to get that straightened out. Are these tweeters considered any good? I was reading the go pretty low to match up with the frequencies of the large 8" mid range. The felt surrounding the tweeter is missing on one of them. Am I going to be able to find similar replacement material that thick? Have not gone inside them yet. Here is something I found from TT on them from a previous thread. How about the AR93 and AR94? Both of these speakers—from 1980—were true 3-way, 8-inch designs, but granted, these were notconventional 3-way designs in the sense of the AR-5/3a, etc. These were floor-standing models with 3-way crossovers, using the updated, Ferrofluid version of the 1¼-inch tweeter. These speakers were "parts-bin" engineered speakers using conventional drivers that took advantage of new thoughts on boundary issues (the "Allison Effect"), giving pretty solid bass down to the low-40Hz range (-3dB of 44 Hz), and these speakers were relatively inexpensive and could sound impressive if placed properly. The crossover frequencies were 350 Hz and 2000 Hz. —Tom Tyson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ra.ra Posted August 25, 2017 Report Share Posted August 25, 2017 The drivers in these speakers are very good, and as Tom noted, the AR-93 and 94 seem to combine existing parts into a new format for increased performance in a modest "package" at an attractive price point. With all of the AR's you've acquired, David, it's surprising you've never encountered this tweeter - - the 1-1/4" tweeter had various iterations: with and without fluid; straight or S-shaped tinsel leads; small and large magnets. This tweeter is a favorite of mine, and it paired well with many 8" two-way AR models, such as AR-7, AR-6, AR-4xa, AR-17, various AR-18's .... etc. Shame about the re-foam placement, but despite that error, the work appears to have been well done. Up to you, of course, but I'd probably leave as-is and listen for awhile before even thinking about re-doing the foams. Not sure about the replacement felt around tweeter, but you might find something here - - when you locate the lower % wool material (45% and 75%, color: gray), the price is not so bad for some strips or a small sheet. https://www.mcmaster.com/#felt/=193ha0e Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ra.ra Posted August 25, 2017 Report Share Posted August 25, 2017 FYI, I had previously kept these drawings in a file, and they might have some useful information for you. One image confirms that, as you correctly suspected, the woofer foams were meant to be installed above the cones. A second image compares the parts of the AR-93 and AR-94, including driver p/n's and stuffing quantities, and cabinet drawings show that the 93 mid is installed in its own separate compartment, but not so in the 94. The third image shows the 93 crossover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ra.ra Posted August 25, 2017 Report Share Posted August 25, 2017 Oops, here is the AR-93 and 94 comparison I had meant to attach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidDru Posted August 25, 2017 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2017 Excellent, thanks ra ra! I'm with you for now, I'll wait on the refoam since it isn't pressing to get these working. Other things to spend my time on to improve these. Actually, you have successfully reminded me of the Ar 18s's in my sons room having this tweeter. Well, I have one replacement badge and am going to want to source one more, so if anybody has any of the square plastic ones.... I wonder what the deal was with the white dustcap on these side woofers? Maybe helped identify they were not the same as the front 8" mid woofer. ? The wrap around stocking grille material will probably be the hardest aspect of this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidDru Posted August 25, 2017 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2017 Hooked them up to real power. Much much better but one of the side woofers will need to be refoamed. Getting a VC rub rattle. Previus owner suggested it might. That pushed me to remove it and open that one up so I took a photo of the CO. Unicon caps. 60mfd, 120mfd, 4uf Same as the drawing above Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidR Posted August 26, 2017 Report Share Posted August 26, 2017 The AR94's I restored for my brother inlaw have that tweeter. I was over at his house and he was playing an Eric Burdon CD with an old Pioneer receiver. They sound quite nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidDru Posted August 26, 2017 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2017 Good to know David. With that bad woofer the spider is actually unglued from the cone. I found a replacement for $19.99 free shipping so I just went with that rather than mess with this one. Anybody have an impression/take on these caps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ra.ra Posted August 26, 2017 Report Share Posted August 26, 2017 10 hours ago, DavidDru said: Anybody have an impression/take on these caps? Good question, but this response might not help you much. I am currently working on a pair of AR-18s speakers dated 1981 (36 years old) with the same gray 50V Unicon caps and the same 038 tweeter. Upon initial testing, these speakers sounded very good, but I have not removed and measured the 5 uF capacitor yet. On hand, I have some new caps that are itching to go to work inside these speakers as replacements, but because I have fairly recently re-built some AR-6's and AR-7's (probably even ten years older than the 18's) where the original blue NPE Sprague caps measured so good that I left them intact, I have not yet determined how to proceed on this AR-18s pair. Well, maybe I've just answered my own question - - I need to take the cap out of circuit and measure it before deciding what to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidDru Posted August 26, 2017 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2017 Right? We so often jump to recapping things and I bet 75% of the time it isn't needed. Although it resets the clock I guess. I don't mind these situations as much as thinking about the high dollar commitment my AR9's will be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michiganpat Posted August 29, 2017 Report Share Posted August 29, 2017 nice.....years ago I tried to buy a pair but the seller was kind of a putz, and it fell through...if I had to guess, the white dustcap might be heavier to add mass and lower the driver's Fs, much like the "spitwad" dustcap on the smaller advent woofer.... and BTW the AR94 is technically a 2.5 way, IIRC, with one woofer running full range, and the other low-passed at like 200 hz.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidDru Posted August 29, 2017 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2017 Anybody know where I can get suitable replacement grill material for these? It's a lot like the better grill material from Part Express you can use on Ar9's etc but stretchier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidR Posted August 29, 2017 Report Share Posted August 29, 2017 Mellotone is sold by Parts Express. Very nice material. perhaps this is the "better grill material" you were referring to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidDru Posted September 4, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 4, 2017 Got the new woofer driver yesterday, refoamed it last night and have them up and running now. Sound pretty darn good. Again makes me question a recap, but I guess I should just to reset the timeline. Now that everything works I will remove all the drivers, clean-up the paint job, do a nice job with the exposed capstone tops with maybe a piano black finish and keep looking for a replacement material for the socks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hidef Posted October 20, 2021 Report Share Posted October 20, 2021 I know this is an old thread, but I wanted to comment. As michiganpat said, the AR-94 is not a three-way speaker as some keep suggesting in various threads. It has no midrange driver. Even though the bottom 8" driver model was used in the AR-9, AR-90, and possibly others as a LMR, it was not used as a midrange in the AR-94. The 94 is simply a speaker system with two woofers. It's like an AR-18 (or AR-7) with an extra woofer helping out in the lower frequencies. If you analyze the crossover, you can see that both woofers are fed from the same high pass filter, and then the coil in the bottom woofer rolls off the response there above about 1kHz. This plus the natural driver rolloff in the response in the high frequencies has it completely out of the picture by about 2500 Hz. So we have two woofers, with one full range, and the other rolled off above about 1kHz. No midrange driver. The high pass filter does very little. It only reduces the gain of the woofers by 5dB below 1kHz and keeps it there. It does not continue the rolloff into the bass region. I have the original AR-94. I can't speak to the other versions because there are differences in drivers and crossovers, but I will bet that the design is similar. Also, people have said to swap the positions of the two woofers, as if putting the "midrange" driver in the middle was good. No need for that. AR had it right by putting the main woofer next to the tweeter, and the "aux woofer" at the bottom because it only responds to part of the spectrum and supplements the bass. The 94 is a good speaker. Don't pass it up if you see one for cheap. BUT, I didn't like how bright and forward it was. So I designed a different crossover, overall taming the tweeter, and providing a gentle 2dB boost in the bass without affecting the midrange frequencies. Yes it is no longer "stock," but it sounds 100% better, without lots of tone control tweaking, and works great in my intended location. I'm sure the skeptics will find fault with the crossover changes, but I'd rather have a speaker that sounds good than one that is original, but unlistenable to my ears. Besides, it's MY speaker and has no resale value at all to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aadams Posted October 20, 2021 Report Share Posted October 20, 2021 1 hour ago, hidef said: Yes it is no longer "stock," but it sounds 100% better, without lots of tone control tweaking, and works great in my intended location. I'm sure the skeptics will find fault with the crossov You make some good points here but this is a mods and tweaks post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hidef Posted October 20, 2021 Report Share Posted October 20, 2021 2 hours ago, Aadams said: You makes some good points here but this is a mods and tweaks post. The point of my post was to say that the AR-94 is not a three-way system, and don't swap woofers, not about making mods. I barely mentioned a mod in one sentence out of the 5 paragraphs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKent Posted October 20, 2021 Report Share Posted October 20, 2021 Quote I didn't like how bright and forward it was. So I designed a different crossover, overall taming the tweeter, and providing a gentle 2dB boost in the bass without affecting the midrange frequencies. I modified a pair of 94Si’s by adding an L-pad to tame the tweeter. Also increased the woofer cap from 40uF to about 70uF, made a grille to eliminate the sock and moved the terminals to the back. I sold them to an acquaintance and every time I see him he raves about those speakers! https://community.classicspeakerpages.net/topic/8149-ar-94si-improved/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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