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AR 98LS Info

mccarty350 said:
Hey Madtech, just an FYI, I finally recapped one of my AR98LS's. I had put it off for months and months because the process looked to be horrific with the quantity of capacitors, the density of them on the board, and the fact that the board was not removable so I would have to work through the woofer hole. It took me literally 4 hours...for 1 speaker. This includes epoxying them in, twining the caps together, cutting the old ones out, etc. etc. I also replace the terminals. Truly the most painful recap I have ever done. Of all the speakers I recap'd this is the most dramatic improvement in SQ of any of them due to a recap. Just a heads up.

Next one will be done tonight.
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Thanks, it's great to know that a recap will make a large improvement in SQ. I guess I will have to do mine now even though to my ears they sound great. Good luck tonight!
 
The thing is, it hasn't on other speakers or at least to my possibly challenged ears. This time I noticed. I just finished my second one and took some photos to post, I have some obligations tonight but hopefully before it gets too late I can post some before/after photos for you. I also swapped out the terminals and removed all the old gaskets which were in decent shape and put rope caulk on all the drivers to tighten everything up. Also clipped off all of the speaker clip-on's, sanded my speaker terminals lightly with abrasive cloth sprayed with de-oxit, and replaced the clip-on's with fresh ones. We'll see how it works out.

John
 
Significant sound improvement. Sounds like a veil was removed from the speakers, highs are much clearer and brighter (not sure if that is better or not!), better detail, seems like output might be a db or two greater but that might be due to my replacement/cleaning of all connections. Before and after photos attached.
 

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mccarty350 said:
Significant sound improvement. Sounds like a veil was removed from the speakers, highs are much clearer and brighter (not sure if that is better or not!), better detail, seems like output might be a db or two greater but that might be due to my replacement/cleaning of all connections. Before and after photos attached.
Click to expand...

Great job!!
 
Thanks Mccarty. I hope to have my 98LS refoamed soon.

You've encouraged me to recap them now before buttoning them up :thmbsp:
 
I would definitely do so just because there are SO DAMN MANY caps in there. Just increases the odds that one of them is jacked up. All of the ones in there were electrolytic's so odds are at least a few of them were jacked. I also replaced the 2 resistors in there since they were dirt cheap.

I can't say the recap was easy, this is my 7th recap and it was hands down the worst one I've had to deal with out of them all.

Note: All of the caps that were 12 uf and above I replaced with NPE's because they shouldn't make that big a difference (feeding woofer, mid) on sq and are extremely expensive in poly form for caps of that size.
 
Any of you AR98 folks try to get that black plastic face to be shiny again? Didn't know if anyone know of any tricks to get a shine...I've even thought about putting a layer of semi-gloss or gloss poly over the plastic to make it look new again.
 
mccarty350 said:
Any of you AR98 folks try to get that black plastic face to be shiny again? Didn't know if anyone know of any tricks to get a shine...I've even thought about putting a layer of semi-gloss or gloss poly over the plastic to make it look new again.
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Have you tried Armor All? I'm liking these speakers more every day. They do everything well !
 
I thought about it but didn't know if there would be unwanted residue. Me too post recap I like them even more!

Sent from my cm_tenderloin using Tapatalk
 
mccarty350 said:
Will do. I also have a bill of material for what is necessary if anyone wants it but as usual, I order Jantzen from Parts Express as is my preference so often times the value I need is missing and I need to order multiple caps where one would work. Someone wanting to use Solen or Madisound or Dayton might have a cheaper/better experience than I would.
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Can you PM me your cap list? Time for a re-cap too I guess.
 
Will do, I'll just post it here for anybody that wants it. You may do better than I do on caps as far as price, etc. I always buy Jantzen caps and order from parts express so sometimes I have to get several caps to add up to the correct values, etc. where as you may get cheaper (or more expensive) with another brand. Just my personal preference and that I like to order from parts express because when I order caps I always order other goodies. Next time I roll in my basement today I'll get my parts list and post it.
 
This is what I got I believe all from parts express:

2x350uf capacitors in speakers (ordered 2 x 250uf + 2 x 100uf NPE's)
2x3uf capacitors in speakers (ordered 2 x 2.7uf + 2 x .22uf jantzen caps)
2x5uf capacitors in speakers (ordered 2 x 4.7uf + 2 x .22uf jantzen caps)
2x12uf NPE caps
4 x 8uf capacitors in speakers (ordered 4 x 1uf + 4 x 6.8uf jantzen caps)
6 x 40uf capacitors in speakers (6 x 33uf NPE+ 6 x 6.8uf NPE)
2 x 22 watt .5 ohm resistors in speakers, ordered 2 x 10 watt .5 ohm wire wound resistors (22 watts was unnecessary per an AV guru electrical engineer friend)
2 x 22 watt 1.5 ohm resistors in speakers, ordered 2 x 10 watt 1.5 ohm wire wound resistors (22 watts was unnecessary per an AV guru electrical engineer friend)

Let me know if you need any more help. You can buy multiple capacitors and twine them together in place of a single capacitor as long as the values add up the same. Not only is this acceptable but multiple capacitors is actually superior (so I've been told) to one single one so don't think you'll be compromising.

You can obviously do this with Dayton, Solen, etc. Jantzen is just my preference.

Hope this helps.
 
Dug this thread up. Working on a set of these. Foam is done, got one cabinet with some water/moisture damage that I need to address. Anyone have the crossover/wiring schematic?
 
ar_98ls_restore:ar98lsi_xover_1.jpg

^thats the AR98LSI (not LS) which is the upgraded crossover, and thats the cross you want to do.
the only changes comparing to the LS cross is that the LSI has 1.5&2.5ohm resistors before the cross in high and low mid drivers. (in red)
and notice you got 5uf cap on the tweeter which you will be be needing to remove, i saw someone missing that and i myself almost did as well (of course put some wire instead unless you dont want to have a tweeter :)
gl!

edit: almost forgot, very nice restoring article:
http://cdirect.com/wiki/ar_98ls_restore:start
 
Last edited:
Six years and change start to finish. More than a few projects jumped on my workbench, ahead of the AR98LSs, but they're finally done. New caps, grills, foams and turpentine and boiled linseed oil on the cabs and they're good for another 20 years. How do they sound? Sizzling high and mids. Once you send them a bit of power they definitely wake up. I never want to do grill cloth on a pair again though.....


https://www.flickr.com/photos/144056422@N07/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/144056422@N07/
 
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