samberger0357 Posted January 14, 2018 Report Share Posted January 14, 2018 Got them locally. They've been sitting basically idle for the last 5 years, and one of them seemed to need a bit of power to wake up and come to life. But now they're both singing and sounding quite wonderful. Much better high end then I expected. Have them on top of Kliipsch Cornwalls, and driving them with a Fisher 500C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aadams Posted January 14, 2018 Report Share Posted January 14, 2018 2 hours ago, samberger0357 said: Have them on top of Kliipsch Cornwalls, and driving them with a Fisher 500C Two competing speaker designs from the same era. What is your impression of sonic differences? Adams Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samberger0357 Posted January 14, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2018 Well of course the Cornwalls are more efficient, and larger, so they play louder, and are more dynamic. But the mids of the 2's are much better then I expected, and they have a wonderful, warm sound but not veiled or congested as I was expecting. They've opened up nicely since I started listening several hours ago. After speaking with the seller tonight, I learned that he had never used the 2's since acquiring them years ago, and was told that they had sat idle for decades. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakecat Posted January 16, 2018 Report Share Posted January 16, 2018 Quote Someone did a very nice job on finishing that pine. Does the grill material have gold thread in it? I can't tell. I really like that grill material and had it on some 2a's I had. Very classy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samberger0357 Posted January 16, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2018 17 minutes ago, lakecat said: Someone did a very nice job on finishing that pine. Does the grill material have gold thread in it? I can't tell. I really like that grill material and had it on some 2a's I had. Very classy. Yes the gold thread is in there. A little easier to see here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samberger0357 Posted February 3, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2018 So I just bought a pair of Microacoustic microstatic tweeters to use with the 2's. Should I be disconnecting the tweeter connections on the speakers and just using the external tweeters, or do I use them in conjunction with the speaker mid/tweeters? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dxho Posted February 3, 2018 Report Share Posted February 3, 2018 You'll want to try both ways, but I'm guessing you'll land at "in conjunction". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samberger0357 Posted February 3, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2018 47 minutes ago, dxho said: You'll want to try both ways, but I'm guessing you'll land at "in conjunction". Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKent Posted February 3, 2018 Report Share Posted February 3, 2018 13 hours ago, samberger0357 said: Should I be disconnecting the tweeter connections on the speakers and just using the external tweeters, or do I use them in conjunction with the speaker mid/tweeters? The MicroStatics are supertweeters, so use them WITH the AR tweets. I posted instructions somewhere. Lemme see if I can find them. Here they are (download below) Wire in parallel with the speakers. AR terminal 1 to MicroStatic terminal with dot. AR 2 to no dot. instructions.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samberger0357 Posted February 3, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2018 Thanks. I actually found those last night after I posted, but decided to get some feedback from members here to see if anybody had done differently. One of my 2's mid/tweets are a little quieter then the other speaker , which is why I got these. And I thought I might use them like AR 1W's and just use the external tweeters. But I'll try both ways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKent Posted February 3, 2018 Report Share Posted February 3, 2018 I use mine with AR-3a's. they're not designed to be a sub for the tweets. They cross over at 3.5kHz or 7kHz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samberger0357 Posted February 3, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2018 Perfect info. Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankmarsi Posted February 3, 2018 Report Share Posted February 3, 2018 The AR-2 speaker’s frequency response is 42-14k +/-5db when new and crosses over at 2,000HZ. This means there will be cap from 2,000 to 3,500HZ. when the Micro-Statics come in at 3.5KHZ. That’s an awful lot of music not coming through and missing if those two 5 inchers are deficient to begin with. I’ve seen others pull out those twin 5 inch speakers which only go up to 14,000HZ anyway and mount a wooden plate and install two other type of speakers in place. A bit daunting but, do-able nonetheless. With the newer AR-2a iteration, AR simply mounted an additional tweeter however, the AR-2’s may not have adequate space as is to do this with-out some reconstruction of the front baffle. Regarding the “Micro-Statics”; they’re capable of handling large amounts of watts with-out complaining. I know, I've owned them since 1974 and have relied on them with-out a care of damage. In any event they're almost a necessity for most any vintage AR speaker. Judicious volume setting is key to 'syncing' with host speaker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ar_pro Posted February 6, 2018 Report Share Posted February 6, 2018 On 2/3/2018 at 4:33 PM, frankmarsi said: Regarding the “Micro-Statics”; they’re capable of handling large amounts of watts with-out complaining. I know, I've owned them since 1974 and have relied on them with-out a care of damage. Frank & Kent - how would you describe the nature and quality of the sound from these tweeters? I've seen interior photos of the Microstatic, and the drivers look like inexpensive cone numbers. Are they up to the greatness of the AR-3a or LST? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samberger0357 Posted February 6, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2018 Picked up a JansZen Electrostatic Model 65 tweeter today for cheap. It's had some restoration work done. It should come in around the same time as the the Microstats. Evidently that one is best used with the speaker tweeter disconnected. I'll report back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKent Posted February 6, 2018 Report Share Posted February 6, 2018 13 hours ago, ar_pro said: Frank & Kent - how would you describe the nature and quality of the sound from these tweeters? Quality is very good. I believe the drivers are the same as those used in McIntosh speakers. And they're not all that audible. Above 7kHz they're just enhancing the very high frequencies, giving the speakers more "air" or sounding less "reserved" or whatever audiophool terminology applies. It's subtle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ar_pro Posted February 7, 2018 Report Share Posted February 7, 2018 12 hours ago, JKent said: Quality is very good. I believe the drivers are the same as those used in McIntosh speakers. And they're not all that audible. Above 7kHz they're just enhancing the very high frequencies, giving the speakers more "air" or sounding less "reserved" or whatever audiophool terminology applies. It's subtle. Thanks for the info! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moebuster Posted March 1, 2018 Report Share Posted March 1, 2018 I just finished assembling my second AR-2 speaker from parts and pieces and almost regret selling the Microstats. enjoy Sam! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samberger0357 Posted April 7, 2018 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2018 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samberger0357 Posted April 9, 2018 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2018 Well whatever was causing my one AR2 to be quieter then the other is now fixed. I had the speakers out of circulation for about 2 months, and decided to put them back in over the weekend, contemplating opening the bad one up and seeing if I could get it going. Upon hooking them up(with the Microstats) the speaker in question produced perfect sound, loud and clear, and now provides equal output to the other. I'm curious as to why this happened. I'm guessing it might be the caps reforming, as the speakers had been laying idle(according to the previous owner) for many years. I've also played around with the pot, and maybe some of the corrosives fixed themselves? Whatever it is, I'm glad it's operating as it should because they sound great, and the Microstats really do a nice job of bringing out the highs and adding sufficient amount of air to the presentation. I'm enjoying them more then my 2ax's at this point . Glad I didn't have to mess up the beautiful grille by opening it up. Hope it never comes to that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samberger0357 Posted May 6, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2018 Got some JansZen 130's, combined them with Micro Acoustic's, and the whole combo is wonderful sounding. Stacking on top of some empty Wharfedale W70 cabs for proper height. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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