Ben Kennedy
New Member
Hi all,
This is my first post here, so please excuse me if I am posting in the wring spot. I have a little project that I am taking on, and it is my first audio related DYI other then simple XO capacitor replacement. I picked up a set of AR2AX's a few months back. The woofer surrounds were shot and I re-foamed them. once I had those things out for re-foaming, I got a little carried away (a thing that tends to happen to me). I figured that while they were already partially apart, I might as well totally restore them, so.... I pulled out the XO, tweeter and mid as well as the binding post and re-veneered the cabinets with black walnut, including the front of the boxes (no longer has the AR look) after repairing a few beat up corners with JB weld. They look great, but are now just boxes sitting on a shelf in my office. I have scince bought a set of cherry (veneered, not condition) AR3a's which are playing on my main system, so I have not been in a hurry to finish the job. I also have decided to "upgrade" the 2AX's mids and tweeters. I am going to use the HiVi tweeters that are highly recommended and fairly inexpensive, but am unsure of what to do with the mids. I find the 2axs are not the best imaging speakers I have ever heard (the 3as do a much better job, and even my KLH 17's provide a deeper field). can someone please suguest a direction to go with the mids. I am using the original woofer, and am going to have Madisound ( i live in Madison, so it is convenient) to design the xo's when I decide on a mid driver. While this is not a budget build, I would like to keep the mids under $200 ea. to keep the peace with my banker (read wife). The aesthetic is not an issue, and I am willing to modify the boxes for new drivers. I am going to use a ST 70 and counterpoint preamp to push these things, and I think it should have plenty of power for most anything I chose for the mid driver- please correct me if I am wrong about that.
I am guessing that this has been done many times by members, and would like to know what you did, and your impressions. I have spent a lot of time on the cabinets, and really want to have a good sounding speaker when I am done. I am also thinking about doing an external XO so I can dial them in to my ear more easily.
Any guidance would be much appreciated. Thanks, Ben
This is my first post here, so please excuse me if I am posting in the wring spot. I have a little project that I am taking on, and it is my first audio related DYI other then simple XO capacitor replacement. I picked up a set of AR2AX's a few months back. The woofer surrounds were shot and I re-foamed them. once I had those things out for re-foaming, I got a little carried away (a thing that tends to happen to me). I figured that while they were already partially apart, I might as well totally restore them, so.... I pulled out the XO, tweeter and mid as well as the binding post and re-veneered the cabinets with black walnut, including the front of the boxes (no longer has the AR look) after repairing a few beat up corners with JB weld. They look great, but are now just boxes sitting on a shelf in my office. I have scince bought a set of cherry (veneered, not condition) AR3a's which are playing on my main system, so I have not been in a hurry to finish the job. I also have decided to "upgrade" the 2AX's mids and tweeters. I am going to use the HiVi tweeters that are highly recommended and fairly inexpensive, but am unsure of what to do with the mids. I find the 2axs are not the best imaging speakers I have ever heard (the 3as do a much better job, and even my KLH 17's provide a deeper field). can someone please suguest a direction to go with the mids. I am using the original woofer, and am going to have Madisound ( i live in Madison, so it is convenient) to design the xo's when I decide on a mid driver. While this is not a budget build, I would like to keep the mids under $200 ea. to keep the peace with my banker (read wife). The aesthetic is not an issue, and I am willing to modify the boxes for new drivers. I am going to use a ST 70 and counterpoint preamp to push these things, and I think it should have plenty of power for most anything I chose for the mid driver- please correct me if I am wrong about that.
I am guessing that this has been done many times by members, and would like to know what you did, and your impressions. I have spent a lot of time on the cabinets, and really want to have a good sounding speaker when I am done. I am also thinking about doing an external XO so I can dial them in to my ear more easily.
Any guidance would be much appreciated. Thanks, Ben
