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Acoustic Research AR-2 Speaker - Original Components?

ThePlague

ThePlague

Active Member
Hello all,

I obtained what I thought were a matching pair on the marketplace, but turns out I ended up with one AR-2 and one AR-2ax. No big deal for $20. What threw me off is the AR-2 had the grille cutouts for the AR-2a/ax. On further inspection, the grille was held in place with small headed nails which wasn't a good sign. I managed to get this far. I haven't really been inside a pair of ARs before. Are these original components? I do see that the wires to the tweeter are held in place by electrical tape. Also, when testing this speaker, there was no sound output, but the woofer surrounds seem intact. Any help would be great! I have plans to at least functionally restore these speakers, though I am curious how much of a side by side difference will be heard between the AR-2 and AR-2ax.
 

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That AR2 cabinet was modified with the factory kit to convert it to a 2x.

Pics of both speakers, showing them in their entirety from the front, would be very helpful. I can't tell which components are from which speaker.

That woofer looks very odd to me
 
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My apologies, these components are all from the AR-2 cabinet. I haven't had a chance to get the grille off the AR-2ax yet. Will post pictures shortly.
 
Nails were original. The woofer is original, at least to the time period. Its surround
looks like it could use some surround sealer, available from ebay seller vintage-ar.
Spark is right- this system has been upgraded to a 2x. Much better high end.
 
RxDx said:
Nails were original. The woofer is original, at least to the time period. Its surround
looks like it could use some surround sealer, available from ebay seller vintage-ar.
Spark is right- this system has been upgraded to a 2x. Much better high end.
Click to expand...

Did you take a good look at that woofer pic? The cone looks nothing like my AR2a woofers, and no dust cap? Or am I just not seeing it correctly.
 
Well thats good to hear! Seems like there was a lot of variety to the construction and configurations over the AR-2's life span. I managed the grille off the AR-2ax. No nails, just glue thankfully! Looks like this one will need a new woofer surround.
 

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spark1 said:
Did you take a good look at that woofer pic? The cone looks nothing like my AR2a woofers, and no dust cap? Or am I just not seeing it correctly.
Click to expand...
Plague's second shot might be easier to see- it looks like the early-woofer
AR-2 and -2a systems I have.
 
RxDx said:
Plague's second shot might be easier to see- it looks like the early-woofer
AR-2 and -2a systems I have.
Click to expand...

Hmmm. Yes...very different than in my early 2a's. Always something new to learn with the old ARs.
 
Do yours have foam surrounds? Do they have ply rings around the outside?
You might have service replacements. At some point AR ran out of the original
cloth-surround drivers. As far as I know, the -2a never originally came with a
foam surround.

AR2_woofer_adapter.JPG


AR2_woofer_adapter2.JPG
 
Not foam...cloth. Masonite rings under surrounds and spider. Damping rings/donuts. Definitely original.
 
Now I'm curious. If it doesn't match Plague's shown above, can you post
a picture of yours?
 
Oh, okay, I see now. I don't have any of this style- flat-ish center cap with the
ring of foam close to the cap. Hadn't really thought about differentiating
these, since they're not as common.
 
I've worked on three pairs of AR-2a's...my pair and two others. They all had these woofers.

I've also seen them in early 2ax's. I think they perform better than the later version.

So, the earliest version is like the ones in the OP's pics?
 
Better description/history here:

https://community.classicspeakerpages.net/topic/5003-ar-2a-vs-ar-2ax-also-ar-2-series-history/

I have owned just about all of the "classic" AR speakers. I prefer the 2a over the 2ax. I get the sense that the 2ax was their first attempt at a speaker more suited to the shift in pop music to harder rock in the mid/later 60s. The second version of the 2ax does a better job of that than the first (to my ears).

I keep the old 2a's running in my workshop for sentimental reasons...the 2a was the first "good" speaker I owned (purchased a used pair back in 1971). They have new pots and HiVi tweeters, altho I am thinking about having the old tweets rebuilt and putting them back in.

Here's an uncommon pair of old ARs that I restored and later sold:

IMG_0035_1.JPG
 
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