AR 93 Makeover

rebelliondog

Active Member
I recently had the pleasure of meeting one of the members here, W.ALLEN .

After a 60 mile drive (just the other side of Houston TX), I picked up a pair of AR93s from him in .....well, not so great shape. Time to work some magic.....I am a big fan of AR speakers and believe that these should be given another chance to shine.

Woofer and midrange surrounds are on the way....6 total.

I was wondering about the tweeters.....I tried regluing the paper cones on them, but was concerned that one (or both) of them have leaked. Is this common?? Options for fixing them?? They both measure 4 ohms. The paper

If (and they look like they are) the same as the tweeters for the AR rock partners (18?)....I have a couple of them that are good.
 

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That should make for a fun project. Good luck.

I have AR90s, and AR1MS speakers, but I have never heard the AR93. I'd like to. Regardless, I found this AR collector, that did a AR915 vs. AR93 comparison, and the 93s hold up very well. I might have to look for a pair? Check out some of his other videos too. The guy has a huge AR collection, and posts lots of videos.

 
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The guy has a huge AR collection, and posts lots of videos.
Hey Stimpy, that was a fun vid - - even on my teeny computer speakers you could get a sense of the fidelity of both pairs of speakers. That was a terrific piece of music, too, with excellent reproduction of both piano and strings.

....the same as the tweeters for the AR rock partners (18?).
Yes, this tweeter will work fine if you want to swap them, but check them out first. Most of my tweeters of this type measure DCR between 4.8 and 5.4 ohms, but I would think yours measuring 4 ohms still might be just fine, and the paper cones can be re-glued if they begin to peel up - - not sure if this would cause fluid leakage, though.

Almost forgot to say...... I hope you survived Harvey alright.
 
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It was ok for my house.
Washed out one of my jobs though....a house remodel I was in the middle of. Customer had just spent thousands, I was almost done (but no final payment made). Now, we are still meeting with insurance. All my work will be redone....floors to ceilings.

On my measurement device (cheap DMM).....the measurement is 4 (no tenths reading). So, it is likely somewhere in there, 4.0 - 4.9....

The fluid leakage(?) was what looked like wet spots on the paper cone on one of them....Of course, I see the fluid when I slid the cone and voice coil up....just kinda put the two together as a possibility.

I guess I will just plug them in when I am putting these back together and go by sound.....if they sound okay, I'll leave it alone. I have some others that I am sure would sound better (some silk dome generic jobs I like for diy applications).....just not original. I've got some Sansui horns out of some damaged boxes....wonder what that would sound like. Maybe some of those directional tweeters from the Advents....(Must quit trying to amuse myself)

If I pull the rock partner tweeters (I have those on the 'free to good home" page)......I'd just have to offer something else instead.

As a fun project...I thought of powering these. I built a 2 channel amp some time ago mostly as a learning experience (Picture attached) that I seldom use. It actually sounds great.......A/B, 150w per channel into 8 ohms (claimed, but not sure about that)......but loud and very clear. Matching 2 channel subwoofer amp to come. I'm shooting for 850w @2r......

There is just not a lot of room in these cabinets.....sock is not going to allow for an extension to be built on the backs (out of sight usually).....still thinking about it.
 

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Don't underestimate those paper coned tweeters, as they were designed by Roy Allison. So, they're very good, and worth keeping in the design, if possible?
 
...and worth keeping in the design...
Agreed about the AR tweeters - - if the 'leaky' ones can't cut it, try the Rock Partner tweets.

Glad to hear your house survived the hurricane, but the damage to your project house is a real bummer. I fully understand - - - not too many years ago, a $3M house I was working on got completely flooded at about 90% completion due to a faulty plumbing valve at the top floor level on a holiday weekend.
 
It would have taken me a couple of months to save up for these at original prices when they were new......I was still pushing the lawnmower up and down the street, going door to door, in the early 80's.
 
Well, I decided it was time this weekend to rock out with the ARs out.

I have some speaker re-foaming pictures that I won't bore anyone with. That went well....all 6 of them.

I decided to post about the "repainting" of the boxes.....I did not know who (if anyone) has used this before.

The boxes were a little brittle around the edges. 35 year old particle board was flaking off in spots (especially around the edges).

I was thinking to my self....."Self....if you just paint over these with black paint, the edges may still continue flaking."

So, I began looking around for what I may have around the house....I remembered that I had some acrylic coating that I recently used for a customer to seal around the chimney. I was impressed with it for that application, so I wondered how it would work if I mixed some paint with it to create my (rubbery / waterproof) speaker coating. I mixed what was left in the bucket with a quart of black paint, made it dark gray in color. I rolled it on with a 4" roller.

It is drying nicely. So far, so good.

The coating was drying in its container in the garage anyway. Here are the pictures.

They came out with a bit of a stone-like texture....will be covered by a spandex sock anyway when I am done.
 

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Advice ??
Will it be ok to just use ....'spandex' to replace these old socks on these? Or, is it called something else if I go to a fabric store to purchase replacement fabric.

Paper cone tweeters glued nicely and sound great....everything back together today (rain out, no paid work).
I ended up finding that these had been worked on.....wires were backwards here and there, mids don't match (one was replaced at some point). But, after a little work.....
These speakers sound amazing.....I did not want to get up out of the recliner. I went through different types of music, these handled it all pretty well. Good bass for the woofer size. They seem (for lack of a better word in my vocabulary) fast....like they keep up with the music better than other speakers I've heard.....at least recently.
I will get the spandex(?) socks together in the next few days. The cheesy plastic 'stands' at the bottom will likely be replaced by the ones in the pictures....also, tops have to be replaced. And, of course, new speaker terminals.
Anyway, pictures:
 

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...mids don't match (one was replaced at some point)
Despite the different cone colors, those otherwise appear to be identical, but you're saying they are different drivers?

Nice job salvaging those speakers, but I can't help with that sock thing. Maybe just leave them "raw"?
 
Good job there rebelliondog! I currently have a pair of these under reconstruction (interrupted by the Bozaks).

Various edges of my cabinets are the same. Sort of just crumbling and losing their edge. I was thinking a little epoxy or bondo to stop the deterioration and as you pointed out, the looks almost doesn't matter because it gets covered with the sock anyway.
As far as the socks go, I still have not sourced a good replacement that is the correct amount of "stretchy". The stuff from Parts Express isn't. Vandersteen grille fabric would of course work so open any searches up to those as well as there are probably more folks looking for it there. You may have to paint yours black over that grey if it shines through the sock.

My caps will need a redo as well. I am thinking if I can get a granite/quartz guy to fab some for me cheap, that would look fantastic.
 

Advice ??
Will it be ok to just use ....'spandex' to replace these old socks on these? Or, is it called something else if I go to a fabric store to purchase replacement fabric.

I will get the spandex(?) socks together in the next few days. The cheesy plastic 'stands' at the bottom will likely be replaced by the ones in the pictures....also, tops have to be replaced. And, of course, new speaker terminals.

I love spandex. It covers anything well.

149a3d1c071a6dd0ba37d7b7b0e2fcdc.jpg
 
I was just thinking of taking the old material and letting one of the workers at Hobby Lobby (close to home) help me out.....question was relating to sound really and would the spandex material have a negative impact. I

I am definitely leaning toward spandex after seeing the picture above. I kinda like that color too....we'll see what is available.

Probably holding off till the weekend....gotta pay the bills first.

Despite the different cone colors, those otherwise appear to be identical, but you're saying they are different drivers?

Yes....different in that they have different numbers. AR?....yes they are. It is probably a suitable replacement. My ears don't tell me it sounds bad. Whether I build grills or sew a sock.....covered.

As far as the socks go, I still have not sourced a good replacement that is the correct amount of "stretchy". The stuff from Parts Express isn't. Vandersteen grille fabric would of course work so open any searches up to those as well as there are probably more folks looking for it there. You may have to paint yours black over that grey if it shines through the sock.

Thanks for the advice on where NOT to get the material (I hate being surprised when I order online) and yes......maybe black over the gray. I had hoped the quart of black I added would have made it darker.

Thanks for the help.
 
After receiving these as a gift from a member here...I got started on these almost immediately and stalled for a while on the exterior issues.

I have been trying to get back to these for a little while now....AR 93s with just a little personalization to them.
I was shooting for an OD green to go with the black......close anyway. And, easy enough to black them out later...
I installed new plugs....quick and easy change, banana plugs.
Of course, the stands are not original....I just like these better.
The sock material is from Hobby Lobby....it only stretches one way (perfect for the sock). Nice and thin....speakers still sound very good and look good as well.

Time to rock out with W.ALLEN's ARs out....thanks again, Mr. Allen for the fine speakers. Hope you like the progress they made....
 

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I must say they went to a good home , looks like you put a ton of work into them . Glad your pleased with them and you like there sound . It was also nice meeting you too plus glad you where able to same them .
 
Nice restoration.

I used to have a pair of AR93Q that I once restored, I also had to refoam all six woofers.
I enjoyed the 93's immensely, but I had too many speakers sitting around and eventually donated them to an old friend who lost his vision after having several strokes. He passed away and his son has them now and from what I'm told he is really starting to get into audio. I hope he hangs on to them...
 
The hats on top are new due to one of the old ones having damage. Cut them out of some unused shelving in the garage.
and....All new surrounds for these.....left the caps because they just sounded good as they are. The green seems darker on the side of my tv stand where there is little light shining on them. The green paint was leftover, added black to make it darker.
Had fun with these.....and again.....they sound great. I'll deal with the crossovers down the road if/when necessary.

$35 for the surrounds.
$8 paint to darken what I already had *still have most of that black for later.
$10 for 2 yards fabric....and some time with the mother in law for her sewing abilities.
Speaker cups I had already.
Soldered a couple short pieces of wire.
I forgot the original badges for the pictures....I do have them.

Little over $50 / 6 hours (actual work time) to get to experience these speakers (I am an AR fan from as far back as I can remember)......pretty good deal, I'd say.
Also, a pleasure getting to meet an AK member so close to home.......:rockon:
 
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