Today's project was tackling the AR11's that I've had now for a few years. They already sounded pretty darn good with the original caps but I thought it time to go ahead and freshen them up some. I still need to build grills for them since the original foam grill had disintegrated onto the front baffle. The original owner had moved them from California to Texas and they had sat wrapped in cardboard/paper for God knows how many years. That alone was a project to clean up.
I replaced the original 120uf "can cap" with a 100uf and 15uf Bennic electrolytic cap in parallel...I went a little lower in value since these always seem to run high. The original 10uf and 40uf caps were replaced with Dayton 5% poly caps. The job was pretty straightforward with the exception being it was a bitch having to work down inside of the cabinet since the crossover board was glued and stapled to the floor of the cabinets. Awkward? Yes. Plus, the old yellow insulation is always a pleasure to have to work with. Ugh. But everything worked out well and I'm listening to them now with some Don Henley at the moment. Already listened to some Donald Fagen and some Ambrosia....nice, nice....very nice. The AR11's just kill my AR-2ax's in every regard and won't be leaving my collection. They are built solid and are just outstanding in so many ways. I had ordered some of the replacement felt tweeter rings from Madisound on an order a few months ago and put those on today, too. You can buy them from someone on Ebay for $13.95 each if you want to overpay for them....or order them from Madisound for $2.00 each which is probably what that seller does. They are just peel and stick, too.
Crossover network before
Crossover network after. (Yes, this is the opposite cabinet once finished as I forgot to take a picture of the other before buttoning thing up and I was NOT going to remove that insulation again! The opposite color inductors give it away...I know.)
Some pictures of the cabinets when I had refinished the front baffles a couple of years back before moving from Texas back to Arkansas.
This is a before shot and what the original foam grill looked like once it took residency on the front baffle.
And a picture once all the crap was removed. Just a note to state the obvious...the foam surrounds have been redone and the center caps pulled out. They look darn good with drivers back in and the cabinets refinished. I'll take finished pictures of them once I take them to my buddy's house (which looks nicer...)
And, how the baffles looked once the holes were filled, sanded down, and painted a flat black color.
I replaced the original 120uf "can cap" with a 100uf and 15uf Bennic electrolytic cap in parallel...I went a little lower in value since these always seem to run high. The original 10uf and 40uf caps were replaced with Dayton 5% poly caps. The job was pretty straightforward with the exception being it was a bitch having to work down inside of the cabinet since the crossover board was glued and stapled to the floor of the cabinets. Awkward? Yes. Plus, the old yellow insulation is always a pleasure to have to work with. Ugh. But everything worked out well and I'm listening to them now with some Don Henley at the moment. Already listened to some Donald Fagen and some Ambrosia....nice, nice....very nice. The AR11's just kill my AR-2ax's in every regard and won't be leaving my collection. They are built solid and are just outstanding in so many ways. I had ordered some of the replacement felt tweeter rings from Madisound on an order a few months ago and put those on today, too. You can buy them from someone on Ebay for $13.95 each if you want to overpay for them....or order them from Madisound for $2.00 each which is probably what that seller does. They are just peel and stick, too.
Crossover network before
Crossover network after. (Yes, this is the opposite cabinet once finished as I forgot to take a picture of the other before buttoning thing up and I was NOT going to remove that insulation again! The opposite color inductors give it away...I know.)
Some pictures of the cabinets when I had refinished the front baffles a couple of years back before moving from Texas back to Arkansas.
This is a before shot and what the original foam grill looked like once it took residency on the front baffle.
And a picture once all the crap was removed. Just a note to state the obvious...the foam surrounds have been redone and the center caps pulled out. They look darn good with drivers back in and the cabinets refinished. I'll take finished pictures of them once I take them to my buddy's house (which looks nicer...)
And, how the baffles looked once the holes were filled, sanded down, and painted a flat black color.