AR2ax driver nudes

[ozmoid]

i'm thinking i'd rather use the older woofers. never having to refoam is a plus, and in my eyes, weight=quality. of course the choice will partially be determined by the degree of difficulty involved in mounting the older woofers in the newer baffles.

The baskets have a slightly different outer diameter, thickness, and screw configuration. If your baffles have the driver recessed, you might be looking at a difficult installation.

Some AR2ax series have a little lip that "floats" the grille over the drivers, some lie flat on the baffle. Some surface mount the woofer, some recess. I believe the "floating" grille is the last design, but I have seen AR's with the same new series drivers (stock) with the grille against the baffle. I think the cabinet change came after the AR-5, which incorporated the floating grille design. The only difference in the 5 and the later 2ax driver complement is the dome mid, a la the 3 series.

 

[kfa888]

The 3/4 inch hemisphere was the best they could produce in 1971 and is still hard to top even today with regards to smoothness over it's operating range, dispersion, and low distortion.

Interesting as i really disliked the performance of my later ones and there are several recent posts here about the same. :scratch2:

 

[lumpy]

Whats not to like? The tweeter crosses over very high and adds incredible air and openenss to the music. It really dissapears. It is in effect a super tweeter not unlike the pioneer hpm driver except that it has almost hemispherical dispersion. Many listeners can't hear the overtones that it reproduces and they describe it as having little effect. I think it has a huge effect.

 

[kfa888]

Whats not to like? The tweeter crosses over very high and adds incredible air and openenss to the music. It really dissapears. It is in effect a super tweeter not unlike the pioneer hpm driver. Many listeners can't hear the overtones that it reproduces and they describe it as having little effect. I think it has a huge effect.

OK then i did not care for the mid/tweet.

 

[lumpy]

That is up to you. the Ar-5 and 3a have a much better midrange.

 

[ozmoid]

OK then i did not care for the mid/tweet.

If we all got turned on by the same "sounds", this would be a very boring hobby.

My ears and My gear might not "do it" for Your ears and Your gear. Go spin some tunes and enjoy yourself. :thmbsp:

 

[kfa888]

If we all got turned on by the same "sounds", this would be a very boring hobby.

My ears and My gear might not "do it" for Your ears and Your gear. Go spin some tunes and enjoy yourself. :thmbsp:

totally agree. My favorite speakers are Magnapans even though i understand they have many faults of their own, with rolled off lows, placement issues, small sweet spot, not overly dynamic. I was never bashing here just providing observations on speakers I have or had.

 

[onplane]

If we all got turned on by the same "sounds", this would be a very boring hobby.

My ears and My gear might not "do it" for Your ears and Your gear. Go spin some tunes and enjoy yourself. :thmbsp:

Good comment, Todd!!

As for the 3/4 inch tweeter, there is wide speculation that the foam suspension has detoriated to the extend that it's output today is weak. Others have speculated that AR traded dispersion performance for sound output when they switched to this unit. I don't know.

Point in my post is you can have it "your way" if you have a working mid-pot and you bi-amp. That is, you can control the power applied to each driver and tune to your room/ears.

Regards,
Jerry

 

[gkimeng]

Good comment, Todd!!
As for the 3/4 inch tweeter, there is wide speculation that the foam suspension has detoriated to the extend that it's output today is weak. Others have speculated that AR traded dispersion performance for sound output when they switched to this unit. I don't know.

I heard AR-3's and 3a's new many years ago. I wasn't a sufficiently sophisticated listener at the time to pay attention to dispersion, but the 3a's definitely had more HF output than the 3's. Since it is still possible (but getting harder with each passing year) to find gently used or well-stored NOS 3a tweeters that have strong HF output, I would say that deterioration due to age or misuse over the working life are the most likely and common causes of AR dome tweeter weakness and/or failure.