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AR 2-A SCORE and questions...

stumptacular

stumptacular

Active Member
i must have good audio karma.... because christmas eve i bought AR91s for $10 dollars and refoamed them and love them... well...
Tonight a highschool era buddy hit me up on facebook and said he could tell i was getting into vintage gear and he asked if i needed an amp... i said "sure" (of course!) ... i had never heard of the amp a BGW 500D... it weighs over 50 lbs! ... i digress.... as i was leaving he told me he had a set of speakers i could have too... then he pulls some old white painted cabinets out from under a pile of speakers... when he spun them around and i saw that they were more ARs i was stoked! ! ! so basically i got all this gear tonight for 3 dollars in gas money.

so im doing my preliminary research on the AR2a speakers.... and i have a few questions

1. i noticed that these speakers seem to have a horizontal orientation... they had been stored vertically... for who knows how long.... is that going to present a problem? and how would i know?

2. which post is positive and which post is negative? there seems to be a jumper wire connecting the 2nd post to a third one...

3. should i test these speakers before i remove the grilles to inspect the surrounds and cones etc? i have read a couple discouraging things about taking the grilles off at all....

4. should i automatically plan a refoam and recap...?

5. they have white paint over the cabinets... cant tell if plywood all around or if veneer thats been painted... i am supposing plywood at this point.... should i remove this white paint with a stripper then a sanding?

i noticed the resale price on the AR91s i restored as well as these AR2-As i plan to restore as much as possible arent very cheap in working condition.... i feel like i must have some good audio karma... i scored two sets of ARs in just as many weeks... refoamed the 91s... and i only have 40 dollars into all of it as well as the bgw amp.... (if anyone has any opinions on that please chime in)

here are some pics so i can gloat over my new-to-me babies.... i assume these are early 60s speakers

where should i start?



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the BGW 500D

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the AR91s i scored xmas eve and refoamed.... (I LOVE THESE SPEAKERS !!!)

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Vertical or horizontal shouldn't make a difference, but maybe sit them on their backs for a day or two. Maybe have them pointed up when you connect them for the first time.
 
Plan to recap them, refoam only if something is deteriorating. The surrounds may be cloth, though, which need not be replaced, but only resealed.
 
I have always liked that grille material on the 2a, congrats on the scores. With a methodical approach you should be able to get the grilles off, likely there are staples holding them in place. A detailed inspection will likely reveal their locations. A careful prying will get them out and then reveal the drivers. Strong chance you will need to re-dope the cloth surrounds, clean and lube the pots, maybe re-cap depending on what is revealed. Be particularly careful with the tweets as they are delicate. Likely original unfinished pine cabs, and any number of possible approaches.
If your intention is to rehab and resell, you are going to put a lot of hours into them and possibly not recoup that monetarily. If you are thinking for personal consumption then you would likely end up with a nice sounding set of vintage speakers.
Pics of progress please and good luck.
 
I agree with stupidhead. The grills slip into a recess on the top and bottom, so gently pull lift from the middle area both sides and they will come out, after the staples are removed. They are also most likely glued to the cab in several places.

I would sand the cabs to remove the paint, but do a small spot first to see what's under the paint, to determine how vigorous you go with the sander.

I would definitely recap them and reseal the woofer surrounds.

I just restored a pair of these a couple weeks ago. Look up my thread, should find it helpful.

Glenn
 
thanks for the replies guys.... i'm sure gonna let you know where and when i get stuck lol

ok... so from what ive gathered here... my next step is to remove the grills....

i read somewhere that it shouldnt be done unless necessary.... but after these have sat so long.. im sure they need some love
 
pete1729 said:
The tags on the back detail how to deal with terminals. As long as you are consistent between them, they're fine.
Click to expand...

i read and re-read the tags on the back and it doesnt say which terminal is positive or negative.... i assume the one with the jumper to the tweets is the ground?>
 
i might sell them down the road... but for now my plan is to have 2 channels of AR speakers and to enjoy them... the AR91s turned out to be some of the nicest speakers ive ever owned... i love them but dont really have enough power to drive them... maybe now that i scored this amp i can figure that out ... this forum is great... i appreciate any input or advice i can get :)
 
Those grills take some patience to remove; AR did a great job camouflaging the staples in the fabric. Go around the perimeter, about 1/2 to 1 inch in, and carefully look for them, you'll find them. I got under them with a screwdriver I ground down so it was thinner. A few of them are also scattered around in the field. As Glenn said, the grill is in a recess and there are glue spots. If you're careful, it'll come out in one piece. That cloth is cool, the gold strands really make it unique.
 
Your going to need some sort of a preamp for that amp unless your just using a CD player with a volume control. The amp can easily destroy those speakers if your not careful. The amp might need to be powered up with a dim bulb also, might have issues that could also vaporize the speakers. Better safe then sorry
 
Northwinds said:
Your going to need some sort of a preamp for that amp unless your just using a CD player with a volume control. The amp can easily destroy those speakers if your not careful. The amp might need to be powered up with a dim bulb also, might have issues that could also vaporize the speakers. Better safe then sorry
Click to expand...

thank you! im not gonna use more than a small receiver to power these at first...

my AR91s are power hungry though... i need to figure out exactly what to get to really drive them... i may end up selling the bgw amp to put the money toward what i really want; a strong old marantz or pioneer receiver
 
alteclipsch said:
Those grills take some patience to remove; AR did a great job camouflaging the staples in the fabric. Go around the perimeter, about 1/2 to 1 inch in, and carefully look for them, you'll find them. I got under them with a screwdriver I ground down so it was thinner. A few of them are also scattered around in the field. As Glenn said, the grill is in a recess and there are glue spots. If you're careful, it'll come out in one piece. That cloth is cool, the gold strands really make it unique.
Click to expand...

thanks for the detailed advice... im about to dig into these ASAP today
 
I would think you would like the BGW WAY better then most any Marantz or Pioneer receiver. Plenty of power and headroom at your disposal, just remember you have more amp then the speakers can take. You should have zero problems feeding the AR's with that amp, just make sure it works. Get a $200 and under preamp and have some fun, that amp is your ticket to seriously upgrading your system in a hurry. You want to swap the BGW, I would be interested. Most Marantz and Pioneer receivers are a dime a dozen compared to that amp and don't have near as good as specs

Power output: 200 watts per channel into 8Ω (stereo), 501W into 8Ω (mono)

Frequency response: 20Hz to 20kHz

Total harmonic distortion: 0.1%

Damping factor: 200

Gain: 26 dB

Input sensitivity: 2V

Signal to noise ratio: 110dB

Speaker load impedance: 2Ω (minimum)

Semiconductors: 2 x IC, 37 x transistors, 1 x unijunction transistor, 1 x thyristor, 5 x zener diodes, 19 x diodes
 
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In a similar situation, I have a BGW 250C that has been recapped and a pair of AR-2ax speakers that need to be rehabbed. I have high hopes for the sound they will make together.
 
Northwinds said:
I would think you would like the BGW WAY better then most any Marantz or Pioneer receiver. Plenty of power and headroom at your disposal, just remember you have more amp then the speakers can take. You should have zero problems feeding the AR's with that amp, just make sure it works. Get a $200 and under preamp and have some fun, that amp is your ticket to seriously upgrading your system in a hurry. You want to swap the BGW, I would be interested. Most Marantz and Pioneer receivers are a dime a dozen compared to that amp and don't have near as good as specs
Click to expand...
that certainly is interesting!

i LOVE an old marantz....if i could trade this amp for a marantz i might be tempted...
i need to find out more about this amp and how to use it.... i believe my AR9's1 are rated to 200watts at 4 ohms... i can barely make the cones move with what i have.. they sound great but want more power
 
you guys werent joking about these speakers requiring patience to remove the grilles !!! . these staples are tiny!
... i havent tested the speakers yet... but do you guys see anything alarming here? im confused about the process of revamping fabric surrounds....
to me... so far on the first speaker it looks better inside the cab. than i expected....

there was no way that grille was coming off without removing the cloth first...... i hope thats ok lol... i was careful to keep it in good shape... .

broke one of the "hatpin" insignia... but it looks like it can be resoldered ....

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timsclips said:
In a similar situation, I have a BGW 250C that has been recapped and a pair of AR-2ax speakers that need to be rehabbed. I have high hopes for the sound they will make together.
Click to expand...

best of luck Tim! im such a noob... everything is a learning experience for me... i might even have to pay someone to do some of the repairs i need
 
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