Seawolf21 Posted February 7, 2018 Report Share Posted February 7, 2018 Has anyone else blown out a woofer on the AR-2ax? I believe it happened to one of mine while listing to a high volume blu-ray audio. The AR's are (were) my rear channel speakers and have always performed well at high levels including with Blu-Ray movies. After listening to music I detected that one channel wasn't delivering anything but static and noise from the woofer. So, I assume I damaged the speaker. I'm using an NAD amp at 100W/Channel into 8 ohms for the rear channels. Any thoughts or recommendations for repair? I found a pair of replacement woofers on ebay already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AR55 Posted February 7, 2018 Report Share Posted February 7, 2018 Even if you have damaged the voice coil, you can get the woofer repaired. If you live in Florida, I would recommend Central Florida Speaker Repair (centralfloridaspeaker.net) in Orlando. They have done very good work for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thornev Posted February 7, 2018 Report Share Posted February 7, 2018 I have a blown woofer too in 2Ax. Where in NY can one go? Thanks, Thorne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKent Posted February 7, 2018 Report Share Posted February 7, 2018 Hey Thorne Yours are the early ones, so if you look on ebay you can look for AR-2 or early 2a woofers. Just make sure they are the cloth surround/aluminum frame ones. Search for "AR-2 alnico woofer" To have yours repaired, contact Bill LeGall in PA. http://www.millersound.net/ He's the best. You could also PM CSP member RoyC for advice. -Kent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dxho Posted February 7, 2018 Report Share Posted February 7, 2018 I "blew" an AR-2 woofer: the surround and spider both came unglued from the frame while listening with gusto to some hard rock. It made pretty ugly noises at that point. After regluing, it's still going strong, 10 years later. So, inspection might reveal something less catastrophic than total failure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seawolf21 Posted February 7, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2018 Kent, What are the differences between the AR-2 and 2ax woofer? I bought these AR 2ax's last year a great price. Knowing their pedigree i knew what I was getting and after re-foaming, opening the pots and cleaning them and restoring the cabinets I haven't been disappointed. They are not a matched set though. Serial numbers are a few years apart. There are differences in the woofer between the two. The one with the original cloth surround is the one that is now not working. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKent Posted February 7, 2018 Report Share Posted February 7, 2018 Hey Seawolf and welcome to the CSP The AR-2 and 2a used a cloth surround woofer with cast aluminum frame and ALNIC magnet. This was carried over to early versions of the 2ax. At some point AR switched to a steel frame woofer with foam surround and conventional magnet. I've had both types (btw, the tweeters differed also). Had to sell them to make room for more speakers but the 2ax is among the speakers I wish I still had. The woofers are not interchangeable. If your ALNICO woofer is truly blown (see comment by dxho) you want to either have it repaired or look for a replacement AR-2 or 2a woofer (or 2ax IF it is cloth surround ALNICO). -Kent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thornev Posted February 7, 2018 Report Share Posted February 7, 2018 Thanks, Kent. I've PMed Roy and will contact Bill at Millersound too. eBay options are also bookmarked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seawolf21 Posted February 7, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2018 Kent, I see now that they are not interchangeable. The opening is a different diameter. I just did a BIN on ebay for a set of later woofers. The speaker makes a rubbing noise when I push it back and forth. I'll take it apart tonight and look at it more closely. As an aside I agreed to buy these speakers sight unseen when the seller told me he had "AR-3" speaker for $50. I go to pick them up and they are the AR-2ax and his "$50" was price/each. I still didn't mind. They sound great. I have later Allison Speakers (CD-6s and CD-8s) so I knew about ARs history. My primary speakers are Bozak. Thanks for the help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKent Posted February 7, 2018 Report Share Posted February 7, 2018 Hey Wolf Although it sounds like a "bait & switch" a hundred bucks for a pair of 2ax's isn't bad (and there ain't no way you'd find a pair of 3s for $50). Hope your ebay woofers are good. Maybe your damaged one can still be repaired. Keep us posted. Kent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seawolf21 Posted February 7, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2018 7 hours ago, dxho said: I "blew" an AR-2 woofer: the surround and spider both came unglued from the frame while listening with gusto to some hard rock. It made pretty ugly noises at that point. After regluing, it's still going strong, 10 years later. So, inspection might reveal something less catastrophic than total failure. Thanks for the tip - removed the speaker - can't get to the spider but can see that it looks secure to the frame. This woofer has the cast aluminum frame with the round, heavy, magnet. Since it has screws it's meant to come apart I always say. So I'll disassemble it later this evening. Thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thornev Posted February 8, 2018 Report Share Posted February 8, 2018 I have removed the woofer from my 2Ax. If I unscrew the magnet cover, is there anything I can do to fix or analyze what might be wrong? I can't seem to rotate the magnet so that the excursion pressing on the woofer paper doesn't cause rubbing. Can that be fixed by adjusting the magnet and cover? Thorne UPDATE: I moved the magnet and cover so that pushing on the woofer paper no longer rubs. But the speaker is still distorting when hooked up. I guess it really is blown? The paper is extended as far forward as it can go. It doesn't travel back and forth the way a woofer does when there is sound. If I push the paper in to about the middle of its travel, it sounds good. But I can't get the paper to stay at that point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seawolf21 Posted February 11, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2018 Thornev, Can you share a picture? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thornev Posted February 11, 2018 Report Share Posted February 11, 2018 Sorry, Seawolf, just saw your post. Of what part of the woofer do you want a picture? Thorne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seawolf21 Posted February 12, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2018 Curious to see what you mean with getting the magnet open so that you can get to the paper on the spider. I did buy of ebay an AR-2 alnico magnet speaker to make a change out, but would like to see if I can do a repair first. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thornev Posted February 12, 2018 Report Share Posted February 12, 2018 Seawolf, Although the speaker is probably blown, I'm reluctant to open the cover again now that I have it perfectly situated so there is no rubbing of the paper. What I meant by opening the cover is removing the 4 outer bolts and the one center bolt so that I can partly lift the cover away from the speaker. However, the cover would not come off completely as it's apparently attached to something. I could lift the cover only about a 1/4 inch so I couldn't see anything under the cover. I've ordered a replacement woofer. When I get it and if it works, I'd be more amenable to forcing the cover off the old woofer if you still want to see the inside. Deal? I'll have to be sure first that the old woofer is not repairable. If it is, I'll want to keep it intact as a spare in case I blow a woofer. These parts are getting harder to find. Thorne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seawolf21 Posted February 13, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2018 Thornev, we're doing the same thing. I did just get in the mail an AR-2 Aluminum frame speaker. I have to go a quick test on it and then I'll do the replacement. once it checks out fine I'll see if I can disassemble the original to see what's going on. I'll keep you posted. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thornev Posted February 14, 2018 Report Share Posted February 14, 2018 I bought speaker putty, a whole giant box full. I doubt I'll need it all so if you need some, I'm sure I'll be able to throw some your way, save you a few bucks. They really need to sell an economy size. Thorne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seawolf21 Posted February 18, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2018 Thornev, Finished the replacement with the woofer I just picked up on ebay. Everything is back to working fine. Now I want to disassemble the damaged on and see what happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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