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AR18b - worth fixing up?

loudnoises

loudnoises

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Never heard a pair before, seem to be pretty solid bookshelf speakers. No clue on history, both woofers need surrounds. One cabinet has a burst corner, but no water marks (seems gravity related). as best i can tell without the lows working right, crossovers and highs seem to work just fine.

Worth fixing or sell for parts? Interwebs provide mixed reviews.
 
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Worth fixing as far as I know. Those teledyne-era AR speakers are fairly well regarded. I have a pair of the larger AR11B and they are amazing.
 
Worth fixing. I believe the 18b was the last iteration of the AR-4 family.
 
cool, sounds like it's worth the new foam to find out.

lets see how many tries it takes me to get the right size this time...
 
The AR-18 was a great budget speaker for its time. It eventually morphed into the "Rock partner" before being discontinued.
 
I have 18's in a stacked array with NHT 's Sub zero(or something like that) on top and a JBL 10" powered sub for the bottom end. Sounds great. I got mine from GW for $11/pr. and re-surrounded them years ago. Still going good.
 
Well foams are ordered and once i figure out posting pictures i'll show what i'm working with. I'm concerned they were played without surrounds, without removing the spider and checking the coil for cracks, is there any other checking i can do? i'll pull the drivers tonight and see what the meter says.
 
If the teeters have ferrofluid it may néed refreshing. I had 18-bxi's and those tweets had ferrofluid.
 
cason said:
If the teeters have ferrofluid it may néed refreshing. I had 18-bxi's and those tweets had ferrofluid.
Click to expand...

Wat.

you refill ferrofluid? you gonna send me for a bucket of stream next? i gotta look into this voodoo...
 
The AR-18B and 28B are very similar, but the 28 digs a little deeper. They use the same tweeter (p/n 034) and cap (5 uF) but minimally different woofers. The AR-18B's woofer (p/n 037) is easier to re-foam because the foam sits on top of the cone, whereas with the 28B (p/n 050) the foam tucks under.

Despite the questionable aesthetics of the styling (vinyl clad cabinets with radiused edge, dark brown grille cloth), these speakers have great drivers and are worth re-storing. Don't even think about exploring the ferro-fluid - - - that's a job best left to professionals and since OEM replacements are not difficult to procure at a reasonable cost, it's really not worth the time, effort, expense, and aggravation.
 
phansen39 said:
A bucket of steam. Lemme guess Navy MM or BT :)
Click to expand...

Don't get me started on how diesel exhaust fluid became a thing and ruined my best one.

New surrounds came in last night. Removed the old ones over the weekend, so I glued the inner rings last night.tmp_14141-20170206_190310-650321207.jpg
 

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Here is a 18B woofer in the final stages of re-foaming. Running a 30Hz test tone to help align the voice coil.

IMG_0566_zpsp6rlyiha.jpg


Simple crossover with woofer running wide open and 5uf cap on the tweeter. Here is the old electrolyte along side the new film caps. Used a Carli 4.7uf in parallel with a .33 Bennic in parallel to make the 5uf.

IMG_0568_zpsp4hcnvh2.jpg


Here they are finished.

IMG_0569_zpslkqwtvsl.jpg


On the left is a 18S, basically the same as the 18B, possibly better build quality. My personal favorite of the three. In the middle is the original 18 with the foam grill. Slightly different tweeter (034) and thus a 6uf cap. Then the 18B with the same tweeter (038) and woofer as the 18S.

IMG_0571_zpsig52f6n6.jpg


These speakers were AR's entry level offering in the late 70's and early 80's, but are actually a very good bookshelf. The 038 tweeter is really what makes these stand out. Definitely worth restoring and listening to.
 
I like the clothespin idea, hadn't seen that before. If i have a very stubborn old rubber surround i use foam backer rod and butterfly clips to hold it in place.

Unfortunately my original assessment of the busted cabinet was wrong, it appears to be water damage on a lower corner. Cannot clamp it closed, and you can see a curve in the board. no moisture made it inside, so i've decided to just seal the crack. it's superficial. It's just about time to put the drivers back in too...
 
Nice job on the re-foam, loudnoises.

Thanks, larrybody, for great post #15 showing three versions of the "18" family.
 
Well they sound pretty good. Took a bit for the woofers to perk up, it's a nice sound.
the AR tweeters aren't as harsh as i anticipated, but they're still a bit top-end heavy. Makes them quite nice for vocals or talk radio. The massively complex crossover network makes me wonder what something more appropriate might do for the sound.
 
Those last comments threw me a bit, so I'm a bit curious.
What led you to believe that these tweeters might sound "harsh"?
Re: crossover, what is meant by "more appropriate"?
 
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