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AR-5 totally unique?

for the curious, i present plan b, based on brief readings at the classicspeaker site:

-open, remove stuffing, set aside
-open the pots, clean out the corrosion- but not remove them
-check electrolytics or, most likely, replace with 20uf caps
-sound check
-if it's good, replace exact amount of stuffing, seal it back up with 3M black-strip caulk (part no. 8578)- perhaps obtained from auto body shops
-if it's not good- try again, then if no go, start hunting for parts...
 
ponderbear said:
for the curious, i present plan b, based on brief readings at the classicspeaker site:

-open, remove stuffing, set aside
-open the pots, clean out the corrosion- but not remove them
-check electrolytics or, most likely, replace with 20uf caps
-sound check
-if it's good, replace exact amount of stuffing, seal it back up with 3M black-strip caulk (part no. 8578)- perhaps obtained from auto body shops
-if it's not good- try again, then if no go, start hunting for parts...
Click to expand...

Good call! Also:
-When you have the pots clean, it wouldn't hurt to use some electrolytic grease or faderlube or something to help smooth out the action.
-just go ahead and replace the caps. It's time.
-You can use moretite for the woofer seal too - less sticky (easier to get out later) and seals just as good.
 
To add to what Oz was saying about the Dielectric grease or fader-lube... Not only is it good to use something to smooth the action, it's also a good idea to try to impede the corrosion process as much as possible. It's a pretty constant problem and will come back eventually unless you live somewhere really dry... Like Death Valley dry.
 
This is what worked for me with the pots:
1. I made a diagram of the wires going to the pots
2. de-soldered out the pots,
3. completely disassembled them,
4. soaked the pots in warm soapy water for a couple minutes
5. cleaned all essential surfaces with with fine grade steel wool to remove corrosion
6. rinsed off all parts to remove soap residue or steel wool dust
7. assembled pots
8. spray a little deoxit (deoxit has some lubrication, but I imagine other lubricants might do a better long-term job)
9. soldered them back in.

I suggest going all-out with cleaning the pots the first time, rather than leaving them in place to try to clean them. The stuffing in those speakers is such a pain to deal with, I try to open them up as little as possible.

With the method above, my AR-5's worked flawlessly.
 
While I'm not a huge fan of the AR sound for midrange and treble, I have to say that the bass on the AR-5's is some of the best I've heard. I generally favor acoustic suspension woofers for their tight, quick bass, whereas vented cabs sometimes sound a little slow and mushy to me (these are sweeping generalizations, understand, and certainly not true across the board).

Of the acoustic suspension speakers I've had in my system, I prefer the bass of the AR-5 to all others, including AR-11, AR-3a, KLH-Five, and Large Advents.

I agree that it mates better with the midrange, but also it does seem to have a quicker, punchier response than the 3a or 11. That said, none of the above speakers are slouches when it comes to bass response, and the 3a and 11 can get downright thunderous.

I'm sad that I sold my AR-5's, but the midrange and treble just wasn't doing it for me--I've moved on to horns. I'm thinking of picking up a pair of those 10" AR woofers at some point, though, to experiment around with in a horn-type system. Zilch's acoustic-suspension/horn system intrigues me, and I'd love to try to get something similar to happen with AR woofers.
 
ponderbear said:
Fader-lube, you mean something like WD-40? I assume deoxit is not enough for this application.
Click to expand...

:yikes: No. Dielectric grease (Radio Shack) or Faderlube (Caig company, makers of DeOxIt) or something designed to give long-life lubrication to electronic components. WD-40 is not the right stuff! :no:

And DeOxIt does just what it says - deoxidizes metal - and offers no lubrication properties. Great way to clean the rheostats, but that's all - it's just a cleaner.
 
ozmoid said:
:yikes: No. Dielectric grease (Radio Shack) or Faderlube (Caig company, makers of DeOxIt) or something designed to give long-life lubrication to electronic components. WD-40 is not the right stuff! :no:

And DeOxIt does just what it says - deoxidizes metal - and offers no lubrication properties. Great way to clean the rheostats, but that's all - it's just a cleaner.
Click to expand...

Cool! I get it. Thanks for the clarification.

Zilch's acoustic-suspension/horn system intrigues me, and I'd love to try to get something similar to happen with AR woofers.
Click to expand...

It occurred to me just to park a pair of JansZens on the top. Who knows what could happen? :)
 
I've never heard the JansZens before, although they're supposed to mate really well with the AR woofers (I beleive they were sold as a package with the AR-1W)

As far as DeOxit goes, there is a minor lubricating component in the spray, according to both the company that manufactures it, as well as discussions here on AK. The lubrication is not nearly as good as faderlube or grease in this application, however, as it is primarily a contact cleaner. I just used it because it was all that was handy at the time. I agree that Faderlube or Dielectric grease is a far better option.
 
Ok, moments ago I dug into the first 4x. Removed the woofer and moved enough insulation to see what I'm doing. The nut holding the pot in place has been removed. I'm looking at the pot and wondering how to take it apart. Any hints? I see a clip that seems to be going into both halves, not much else that I can pry on.
 
Pop the wire clip off, the pot should fall apart in your hand. Don't worry, counting the clip there are only 4 pieces. :D Dead easy.
 
I'm making progress! I can't get the clip to come off yet but I am being kinda delicate about it out of fear or breaking something. I'll go back in tonight for more surgery.

Just to make sure i was barking up the right tree as it were, I sprayed the pot out with deoxit and a bit of faderlube to smooth the action a little, and occasionally, it sounds brilliant! I'm happy to report the AR-4 woofer fits perfectly in the recess despite the frame having a not perfectly round shape.
The sound of the woofer with the tweeter mostly working- very nice indeed, definitely worth persuing! They sound much bigger than they are, though it wasn't catching the low notes of my nearby 10" CL-3s, it really gave them a run for the money. awesome!
 
just a little update on my 4x situation. I spent a lot of elbow grease on the pots and still got intermittent outage and distortion. In dismay I thought about turning my attention to other parts of the signal chain. In the meantime I did some searching, here and on classicspeakers, and came to the conclusion a lot of people decided to bypass the pots with good results. I went with my gut feelings and, snip snip. I'm really glad I did. I think the highs match the woofers very well without any sort of attenuation. I had planned to recap but the sound is very good indeed and I really don't want to go there unless I really feel the need. At the moment I am enjoying these speakers a lot in my main rig alongside my Boston A-150s. The bass response in just unreal for this size of cabinet. I had been looking for a second pair of fairly large speakers with extended bass response in this position but I am quite content to keep the 4xes right where they are for a while. Plus the grills have faded to a sort of wheat color that look quite nice alonside the tweed Bostons. It seems fitting to have two acoustic suspension models in the same setup too. Sure sounds good!
 
Todd, thanks for your words of encouragement along the way. I don't think I would have given up but it sure helped knowing there was light at the end of the tunnel.

By the way, i didn't go through any extra trouble sealing up the cabinets after replacing the woofers. The fit in the recessed area seems fine. Sound is great, no sign of muddiness. Am I missing something or is it not as critical as I've heard?
 
Did you use ANY kind of seal between the woofer and the raw wood of the cabinet? If not, you are still missing some bass output - any air leaks will reduce the audible bass.
 
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