AR Speakers!!

[cooljjay]

Well my latest speaker find gave me the chance to play with a few pair. First thing I gotta say, why are the pots so pron to corrosion? Such high quality speakers but such low quality pots. I unfortunately didn't have the match to the ar-1 to play with them. The ar-2ax's sound okay but nothing great, I then moved to the ar-2's and wow what a difference. I must say I am very impressed by them. Maybe its just my ears but they sound better then the ar-2ax's but people say the ar-2ax's are some of the best. :scratch2:

 

[fotno]

Combine 40 year old speakers with non sealed controls and fiberglass or rockwool stuffing, add in years of humidity and voila' - corrosion. As far as listening impressions go: If the controls haven't been cleaned or replaced and new caps installed, it's doubtful you're hearing these speakers at their best. New caps make a gigantic difference in AR speakers.

Personally, I prefer the 2ax to the 2, but that's a very subjective thing. It may be that you'll always prefer the 2 over the 2ax.

 

[gkimeng]

Which model of the 2ax did you have, red tweeters or black?

 

[cooljjay]

Which model of the 2ax did you have, red tweeters or black?

These ones.

 

[gkimeng]

These ones.

Compared to this model, the older 2's with their cone tweeters would probably have stronger upper mid/lower treble on-axis but be more beamy. More impact, but more coloration and maybe that's actually what you prefer.

The later 2ax's with the smaller soft dome tweeter will sound stronger at the top end than these models, but the biggest improvement is off-axis.

And, of course, both 2ax models are subject to pot or cap issues; if either are bad and the dome tweeters aren't putting out, everything over 5k is rolling off.

 

[drknstrmyknight]

The controls aren't low quality, but the combination of rock wool, time and humidity have taken their toll. I had to replace 2 of the 4 pots on my AR's, redope the woofers and replace the caps. I'm very satisfied with the outcome, even with the dis-respected dual mids, the cabinets need some lovin now, but they have a character all their own and I'm keeping them. I did isolate the controls with appropriate sied tupperware and silicone calk so that I wouldn't have to repeat the exercise.

 

[KingBubba]

Being an acoustic suspension speaker, the ARs need to be a sealed cabinet. With the foams as full of holes as they are, that cabinet is no longer sealed. It would definitely lead to a degradation of the sound quality.

 

[gkimeng]

Being an acoustic suspension speaker, the ARs need to be a sealed cabinet. With the foams as full of holes as they are, that cabinet is no longer sealed. It would definitely lead to a degradation of the sound quality.

If you're referring to the dark spots around the rim of the woofer cones, I don't think those are holes. These are fabric surround woofers, not foam, and I think they may have had some areas repaired or redoped at one time or another.

 

[Zilch]

The marks appear to be where the crosshatching overran the cone edge.... :yes:

 

[gkimeng]

The marks appear to be where the crosshatching overran the cone edge.... :yes:

I just moved from my phone to my desktop, and yes, I think you're right. The crosshatching becomes visible when you look at the pictures on a display that's larger than 176x220.

 

[cooljjay]

Compared to this model, the older 2's with their cone tweeters would probably have stronger upper mid/lower treble on-axis but be more beamy. More impact, but more coloration and maybe that's actually what you prefer.

I think that is what i prefer, the jbl's that I have sound the same, which in ear is great. I am going to try to get the wharfedelas up and going to night I want to see if they have the same sound. I have read that they compare to the ar-3's. I also want to test out these mikado speakers I found, they look awesome have 2 woofers and a single tweeter, think they will be right up my alley. If I just had a place to display them all.