AR3's - so pretty I couldn't resist...

One down, one to go! I installed the new Ohmite pots and the Erse poly caps. I connected the erse caps with wire nuts, and put the woofer back in with only two screws leaving the fiberglass fill out. Gave it a go with my MC2300 and it sounded good, all drivers work! I then did a quick A/B and put the NOS Russian oil caps in. I wasn't expecting much of a difference, but to my ears there definitely was. Everything sounded much fuller from top to bottom. Preferring the oil caps, I soldered them in and mounted them into the cabs with some heavy duty adhesive. I rigged a little plastic box to cover the pots up, and refilled with the original fiberglass. I re-sealed the woofer hole with mortite and redoped the surround with the VintageAR goop.
I put the grill in the shower (sans hardware) and gently scrubbed with a brush and some dish soap under warm water. It was amazing to see the years of grey filth pour down the drain. I polished the "3" pin and badge with brasso and reassembled the grill after it had dried. This one is looking and sounding great now, on to the next!

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Great! Yes it was crazy to watch the grime run off those grilles wasn't it? Still hard to say how much lighter they were originally though.

Some may suggest those other caps would have needed a few days to re-form to really tell the difference. Since you have the oil caps, why bother.
 
Great work. I am thinking hard about those rusky caps too.
The Solens in mine work well tough but opening them up again is not high on my list :)
 
Very, very interesting thread. Absolutely beautiful speakers, unbelievable condition, and they are 51 years old!

I'm fairly new to speakers, and to New England sound, and it would appear from the comments in this thread that the AR 3 was a very good speaker. I recently lucked into a pair of OLAs, and am looking for opinions on how they compare to the AR 3s.

And, I'm waiting for the post on the final results of the restoration of these AR-3s, complete with pictures of the cleaned up grills.
 
Finally got a chance to finish up my AR3 restore today, and I am thrilled with the results! I ended up sending the mids to Roy C as the output was pretty weak even after installing the new oil caps and Ohmite pots. Fortunately, Roy was able to bring them back to life and now they sound fantastic! I scrubbed the grills in the shower with a little Method all purpose cleaner, and polished the badges with a mixture of baking soda and lemon juice. I washed the cabs with warm water and a little dish liquid soap, rinsed, let dry and then hit them with a few coats of dark walnut danish oil + a touch of Minwax gunstock to add a little bit of that AR reddish hue back in. They now look and sound incredible and I am thrilled! So satisfying to bring these 50+ year old legends back to their former glory. Hooked up to my MC2300, I finally see why these speakers are so universally praised.

Thanks to all of the fellow AR nuts here at AK for all the help and advice along the way (esp Roy C for the mid magic and Spelkid for the assist!). I can't think of a better way to celebrate 1k posts!


:banana:


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Finally got a chance to finish up my AR3 restore today, and I am thrilled with the results! I ended up sending the mids to Roy C as the output was pretty weak even after installing the new oil caps and Ohmite pots. Fortunately, Roy was able to bring them back to life and now they sound fantastic! I scrubbed the grills in the shower with a little Method all purpose cleaner, and polished the badges with a mixture of baking soda and lemon juice. I washed the cabs with warm water and a little dish liquid soap, rinsed, let dry and then hit them with a few coats of dark walnut danish oil + a touch of Minwax gunstock to add a little bit of that AR reddish hue back in. They now look and sound incredible and I am thrilled! So satisfying to bring these 50+ year old legends back to their former glory. Hooked up to my MC2300, I finally see why these speakers are so universally praised.

Thanks to all of the fellow AR nuts here at AK for all the help and advice along the way (esp Roy C for the mid magic and Spelkid for the assist!). I can't think of a better way to celebrate 1k posts!


:banana:

Jeeze.... :thmbsp::thmbsp::thmbsp: Those look amazing
 
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WOW! They look like new. Great job on the wood finishing! The red really makes the grain POP. It looks like curly walnut in places. Been looking forward to the conclusion of this post for a while. Quality!
 
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Yeah! Congrats man. Keepers. RoyC is the man and you did great with the cabs. Sexy grain.
 
Stunning! And now you know the magical sound of the AR3. Roy's advice and ability to help bring these beasts back to life is a god send.
You did them justice! I wish mine were in the same condition when I found them.

Cheers, Glenn
 
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