AngelAT
Well-Known Member
Lately I got a set of AR-2ax.
As you can imagine, the surrounds of the woofers were gone and this was destroying the idea behind this model - the closed volume. So they were not sounding great.
Also the boxes were beaten-up to some extent.
So I refoamed the bass speakers. Also replaced the one big two-in-one capacitor with two separate ones (from Mouser - 6 uF/250V 598-930C2W6K-F and 4uF/250V 598-930C2W4K-F). Left the old cap inside. Hint: as there are some wrong wiring instructions online, I just took some pictures and used the colour indications on the old capacitor to connect the wires (blue is common, green to the 6uF and black to the 4uF). I did not desolder any other wires.
After that I inspected the L-pads and came out that they are in surprisingly good condition - no corrosion or damages.
So I just cleaned the contacts with some 400 sandpaper and after putting them together thoroughly cleaned them with DeoxIT F5. This way the scratching noises disappeared and the movement is now smooth. I also adjusted the position of the L-pads so that they are symmetrical according to the centre mark at the black plate when at end positions.
Furthermore, I replaced the connectors with modern banana plugs - red, black and blue. And also internally jumpered 2 and T.
Since I got them without the paper at the back and with some nasty handwritten wrong connecting instructions, I just improvised and attached two small tags with data.
After returning the woofers at their places (I have read that it is good to put them upside down - now "rabbit ears" point un, not down) I thoroughly cleaned the boxes and then used fill stick "Finish Fixer" to fill-in any dints and scratches. Then applied "Restor-a-Finish" with some No 0000 Steel wool. After some 50-60 mins I just wiped away the excess and then applied "Feed-N-Wax" and after some 30-40 mins polished with a clean cloth.
The visual result pleasantly surprised me! (BTW the two boxes are with somewhat different veneer - one is with less figures and the other has bigger wood grain figures...Is this common?)
A few years back I had a pair of AR-4xa and to be honest I did not expect sonic miracles from the AR-2ax. But after a few hours of listening, as if the speakers got into shape and now I am really enjoying a very, very nice sound! I am impressed as they do not tire me off when listening for hours. Furthermore, they cover quite an impressive range - from very nice lows, through great mids to impressive highs. For the tests I used a Marantz 1060 (not the most powerful of an amp), and the source was my Chromecast with Tidal (mainly Master quality).
Bottomline: I am pleasantly surprised and currently enjoying the nice sound of the AR-2ax!
As you can imagine, the surrounds of the woofers were gone and this was destroying the idea behind this model - the closed volume. So they were not sounding great.
Also the boxes were beaten-up to some extent.
So I refoamed the bass speakers. Also replaced the one big two-in-one capacitor with two separate ones (from Mouser - 6 uF/250V 598-930C2W6K-F and 4uF/250V 598-930C2W4K-F). Left the old cap inside. Hint: as there are some wrong wiring instructions online, I just took some pictures and used the colour indications on the old capacitor to connect the wires (blue is common, green to the 6uF and black to the 4uF). I did not desolder any other wires.
After that I inspected the L-pads and came out that they are in surprisingly good condition - no corrosion or damages.
So I just cleaned the contacts with some 400 sandpaper and after putting them together thoroughly cleaned them with DeoxIT F5. This way the scratching noises disappeared and the movement is now smooth. I also adjusted the position of the L-pads so that they are symmetrical according to the centre mark at the black plate when at end positions.
Furthermore, I replaced the connectors with modern banana plugs - red, black and blue. And also internally jumpered 2 and T.
Since I got them without the paper at the back and with some nasty handwritten wrong connecting instructions, I just improvised and attached two small tags with data.
After returning the woofers at their places (I have read that it is good to put them upside down - now "rabbit ears" point un, not down) I thoroughly cleaned the boxes and then used fill stick "Finish Fixer" to fill-in any dints and scratches. Then applied "Restor-a-Finish" with some No 0000 Steel wool. After some 50-60 mins I just wiped away the excess and then applied "Feed-N-Wax" and after some 30-40 mins polished with a clean cloth.
The visual result pleasantly surprised me! (BTW the two boxes are with somewhat different veneer - one is with less figures and the other has bigger wood grain figures...Is this common?)
A few years back I had a pair of AR-4xa and to be honest I did not expect sonic miracles from the AR-2ax. But after a few hours of listening, as if the speakers got into shape and now I am really enjoying a very, very nice sound! I am impressed as they do not tire me off when listening for hours. Furthermore, they cover quite an impressive range - from very nice lows, through great mids to impressive highs. For the tests I used a Marantz 1060 (not the most powerful of an amp), and the source was my Chromecast with Tidal (mainly Master quality).
Bottomline: I am pleasantly surprised and currently enjoying the nice sound of the AR-2ax!
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