AR2ax driver nudes
- Thread starter kfa888
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asoundhound
Definitely Low-fi
this is one happy AK brother! many thanks to kfa888 for working out a trade for these. after being given a pair a couple weeks ago, and being disappointed to find none of the drivers original, i thought it would take forever to acquire all the parts i needed to restore them. goes to show how much i know!
they say when it rains, it pours. well today i stopped by a junk store and found another pair for ten bucks. the cabinets are shot, and the woofers need foam, and of course, the pots are bad, but between the drivers kfa888 is sending and the ones i got today, i should be able to put a good pair together. i'm hoping that out of a dozen control pots, i'll be able to find 4 useable ones.
the pair i picked up today is the newer version of the 2Ax's. i was surprised (but not really) to find the mids are made by CTS. my woofers and tweeters are different, so i thought i'd post some nudies!
they say when it rains, it pours. well today i stopped by a junk store and found another pair for ten bucks. the cabinets are shot, and the woofers need foam, and of course, the pots are bad, but between the drivers kfa888 is sending and the ones i got today, i should be able to put a good pair together. i'm hoping that out of a dozen control pots, i'll be able to find 4 useable ones.
the pair i picked up today is the newer version of the 2Ax's. i was surprised (but not really) to find the mids are made by CTS. my woofers and tweeters are different, so i thought i'd post some nudies!
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kfa888
Addicted Member
They really changed those a lot. The woofers I am sending you are all cast aluminum and doped cloth surrounds. The tweeters are massive compared to those and weigh about 3.5 pounds. The mids on mine are also aluminum basket.
My previous AR2ax's were like the ones you found today. Visually these i am sending you seem many times higher quality construction.
My previous AR2ax's were like the ones you found today. Visually these i am sending you seem many times higher quality construction.
My impressions from reading info on the AR 2ax's were that the newer woofer was an improved edition that is/was employed in the AR 5. The newer tweeter was supposed to be an upgrade also....I hated cutting the screen on the woofer to complete a refoam. I think the screen was supposed to help keep the voice coil mechanism free of fiberglass?? Power hogs but I like the way the 2ax's convert all the power into a enjoyable listening experience.
ozmoid
Lunatic Member
I've had better success with a slow chemical cleaning of the pots, rather than the usual wire-brush-on-a-dremel method. Get some naval jelly (or NEVRDULL) and gently polish the daylights out of the wiper, contact plate, and coil. Be careful not to bend any of the wires in the coil... patient and gentle is the key. :yes:
IME, if the wiper is whole and not worn through, the toughest problem area is usually corrosion disturbing the surface of the contact plate.
gkimeng
Forum Mod, ClassicSpeakerPages.net
I've cleaned AR pots for years using a mixture of white vinegar and common table salt (put salt in dish, add vinegar to make salt into a paste, bury the corroded parts in the paste for 1-3 hrs depending on amount of corrosion, rinse with water and let dry). The treated parts take on a salmon-pink color where the corrosion has eaten away the zinc in the brass and left a thin layer of pure copper on the surface, but this doesn't need to be polished off at all for good electrical contact.
Corrosion seen on the coil is most commonly just stuff that was ground off the brass wiper and studs. I've never seen a pot that suffered nichrome corrosion.
asoundhound
Definitely Low-fi
shacky
Addicted Member
First time I've seen what they actually look llike. Thanks :yes:
shacky
Addicted Member
kfa888,
My older version woofer has that same crosshatch marking across entire cone. At first I thought they were "crossed off" as being bad. I love the older driver sound. I know everyone says newer woofer was an improvement. Not to my ears. Course crossover was chaged a lot. Older woofers handled much more of the midrange so I guess that's what gives them charm IMHO
My older version woofer has that same crosshatch marking across entire cone. At first I thought they were "crossed off" as being bad. I love the older driver sound. I know everyone says newer woofer was an improvement. Not to my ears. Course crossover was chaged a lot. Older woofers handled much more of the midrange so I guess that's what gives them charm IMHO
asoundhound
Definitely Low-fi
by having a complete set of both varieties, i'll be able to do some A/B comparison. i'm thinking i'd rather use the older woofers. never having to refoam is a plus, and in my eyes, weight=quality. of course the choice will partially be determined by the degree of difficulty involved in mounting the older woofers in the newer baffles. same for the tweeters. it appears that the mids are the same.
kfa888
Addicted Member
What are you basing this on? I have read options in both directions. Also there is no doubt the build quality of the "older" drovers are far superior (if this results in better sound or not) and have been told by many the newer ones were a cost cutting measure (stamped steel basket, foam, much smaller plastic tweeter etc)
Also do you find it odd the "newer" ones with the foam have Aninco magnets where the "older" ones do not?
Be interesting to do a sound off on 2 sets in top condition and get measurements.
asoundhound
Definitely Low-fi
this may be a possibility. a friend has a pair of the older variety.
shacky
Addicted Member
I have seen this again and again. But to me the older version sound better. I'm not talking imaging, output levels, or even accuracy. Old ones just hit my sweet spot in sound. Very relaxed and non-fatiguing. Great bass and midrange. The highs are there - all these 52 year old ears can still hear anyway
I've just been through EPI 201,202, KLH 6, AR 3a, JBL L-36, Dynaco A25, and AR 5's (only pair not recapped). I'm not going to say they are "better" than the 3a's cause they are incredible. But I could be very happy with the 2AX's in place of any of the above. And would take them over any but the 3a's.
Now since I like older 2AX over newer version, I can't wait to get time to finish my AR 3 project. I'd bet I prefer them over the 3a's but will have to see (hear) to be sure.
The crosshatch is damping to shut down cone resonances, apparently.
In AR4x woofers, the earlier crosshatched version played substantially higher, enough so as to require a two-pole lowpass, but did not have as deep bass extension. Ultimately, the redesigned woofer ran nearly full-range with natural rolloff, and the single-pole filter merely did response shaping.
Assuming this design approach was common to other models, it makes sense; these questions are easily answered with measurements.
AR4x design is detailed in mxlews's "Recapping AR4x" thread, some of which may be relevant here.... :yes:
http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=123113
In AR4x woofers, the earlier crosshatched version played substantially higher, enough so as to require a two-pole lowpass, but did not have as deep bass extension. Ultimately, the redesigned woofer ran nearly full-range with natural rolloff, and the single-pole filter merely did response shaping.
Assuming this design approach was common to other models, it makes sense; these questions are easily answered with measurements.
AR4x design is detailed in mxlews's "Recapping AR4x" thread, some of which may be relevant here.... :yes:
http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=123113
spkrdtr
spkrfixer
Now THAT"s NUDE!
The performance upgrades of the newer drivers were well documented from the literature that AR provided and many magazine test reports. I have AR 2ax speakers of both types. The newer speakers disappear and fill the room in a much more satisfying way. The bass is much cleaner with newer 10 inch woofer. AR was a technology company back in the day. They did not replace all their old drivers just to cut costs. They had great pride in producing the finest acoustic suspension systems in the word. The midrange driver is the weak link in the AR-2ax. It does not nearly match the smoothness and dispersion of the tweeter. The 1 inch hard dome ( the red one) was the best technolgy from 1959. The 3/4 inch hemisphere was the best they could produce in 1971 and is still hard to top even today with regards to smoothness over it's operating range, dispersion, and low distortion.
