cwh
33
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and pics. Good looking setup.
C'est arrivé, AR 2ax
- Thread starter cwh
- Start date
I use the AR2ax with my Scott 222c in the bedroom, which replaced KLH 5's. An amazing setup now, with the speakers in the corners on the ground, bass is real good, lots of reflected sound in that room, sure fills the room with plenty of sound in such a mannor that is so sonicly soothing, if that makes any sense.
cwh
33
Looks great. I have the same LK72/tuner set awaiting resto.
cwh
33
Good and bad update.
Been slowing working out the 2ax's cabinets. Getting close to being finished. Despite being structurally sound the cab's veneer required a lot of nit picky filling/repair. Took them as far as my critical attention span could go. These speakers deserve to look their finest. After the last coat of oil gets a chance to rest I'll faux finish the repairs to blend in.
Bad news is one of the tweeters is dead. Add it to my list of single drivers that I need. Please anyone out there that's got a spare for a friend and family price...Or ADS tweeters or....
The woofer is with Audivex in Berkeley Ca. getting (hopefully) repaired. He'll be attaching a new voice coil to the cone so that's kinda awesome. Appreciate working with a craftsman, think he's the only speaker repair guy left of this skill level.
Been slowing working out the 2ax's cabinets. Getting close to being finished. Despite being structurally sound the cab's veneer required a lot of nit picky filling/repair. Took them as far as my critical attention span could go. These speakers deserve to look their finest. After the last coat of oil gets a chance to rest I'll faux finish the repairs to blend in.
Bad news is one of the tweeters is dead. Add it to my list of single drivers that I need. Please anyone out there that's got a spare for a friend and family price...Or ADS tweeters or....
The woofer is with Audivex in Berkeley Ca. getting (hopefully) repaired. He'll be attaching a new voice coil to the cone so that's kinda awesome. Appreciate working with a craftsman, think he's the only speaker repair guy left of this skill level.
[QUOTE="cwh, post: 11160926, member: 242598"
Bad news is one of the tweeters is dead. Add it to my list of single drivers that I need. Please anyone out there that's got a spare for a friend and family price...Or ADS tweeters or....[/QUOTE]
I could rebuild that tweeter for you, original dome, new coil and former I make myself to match the original. PM if interested.
Bad news is one of the tweeters is dead. Add it to my list of single drivers that I need. Please anyone out there that's got a spare for a friend and family price...Or ADS tweeters or....[/QUOTE]
I could rebuild that tweeter for you, original dome, new coil and former I make myself to match the original. PM if interested.
Too bad about the bad drivers, wish I could help. Cabinet really came out nice though! Nice work! Would you share what process you used?
I could rebuild that tweeter for you, original dome, new coil and former I make myself to match the original. PM if interested.[/QUOTE]
Funny, as soon as I read this I thought of Chris. He comes recommended by some AR guru types on CSP and I will be seeking out his assistance in the future on a few of my old drivers.
See this thread http://www.classicspeakerpages.net/...-tweeter-refresh/&tab=comments#comment-112493 for some hope!
cwh
33
Thank you
Done about 5 speakers. Got into vintage last year, still developing a efficient process. I do residential construction/carpentry/cabinet building and some restoration work. If my cheap audio supplier continues to feed, I'll have it down and can say yes, many times before.
Hey thanks, yeah I can definitely share. This is generally what I use for any wood working. Specifically...I sand the cabs with a Festool ETS125 attached to the Fes dust collector. Hard pad (that's important) and start off at 100/120 grit. Take it to 180 then switch to hand sanding with 180 garnet paper. Can stop there but I've been using 220 as I'm out of 180. Garnet is friable so the end result of 180 is finer than an aluminum oxide at that grit. Somewhere in there I asses the defects. Steam out bumps, fill voids. Still working out the filling part but depending on the severity I like 2 part epoxy glue (5min-1hr) or a 2 part filler combined with Mixol #22 tint. The glue works great for dents and small corner rebuilds. The corner rebuild uses tape creating a 90 degree dam for the more viscous glue. It doesn't self level so it pretty much stays put. Heat can get it more liquidy. The tint matches the typical oiled walnut color well. If perfection is the aim then a lighter patch can be faux finished after the final finish coating. Once sanding is complete I finish the walnut with a tung oil/castor oil blend from Amazon Products. It's their Teak Oil. They also have a straight tung but I got into the other after a MCM teak resto and just kept using it. The teak blend may darken more but they work the same. Without getting further into it I'll just say the Amazon product works great for me. No fumes, no potential fires, no gloves if I'm not wearing. Just easy. It does take 3-? coats but who cares. You can always hit them with a coat of wipe on poly after a week or so. The secret to a really nice tung finish is applying the first 1-2 coats with 220 sandpaper and creating a slurry of oil and dust. That grain fills, smooths, and can help deal with darker bumps that appear once oil soaks in. Little extra oil sanding in areas can help them disappear. Just don't want to create divot, go at them at 45 angles with grain then a few with grain. Wipe off excess oil once complete so surface is dry. Then following day start applying as directed. Wipe on, wipe off to dry surface after 15 min. After the finish looks good I let the oil harden for a week then I faux finish the repairs and veneer sand throughs. Brown, yellow, red, black Sharpies work well for simple quick matching. After sanding the repairs I'll cut in grain lines to get texture. Black wiped off can bring that out then a mix of the colors to match surrounding tones. The fussier approach is using shallac with colors and painting in. Key is creating layers of color to mimic the wood's depth and not catch the eye.
Whoa, well there you go.
cwh
33
Sharing a little more on the refinishing. Here’s what the veneer looks like after first oil applied with 220 paper and a thorough hand sanding slurry. Contrast the initial tone with the edge on top. Two sanding applications followed by 3 light oil only coats will darken and even out the grain.
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cwh
33
Put in a little Saturday evening audio fun time and finished up the 2ax cabinet refinishing. Last week I completed the faux finishing of the repair areas and with the oil sufficiently hardened I decided tonight's the night. Time to get these waxed and out of the shop space. If the cabs were minty I would have just stuck to oil and not waxed however given the shape they were in the veneer needed an extra step to even out the wear. I used dark brown Briwax which helped blend the lighter and darker areas. So that's it, no more time is worth putting into them. I'm calling it good 'nough.
Now time to get off the pot with the tweeters.
Now time to get off the pot with the tweeters.
cwh
33
Good question. Let's see...B&W-finished, ADS-finished. Still need tweeters! I guess time for the ESS AMT-3s to wrap up.http://audiokarma.org/forums/index....-can-you-fit-into-the-bed-of-a-tacoma.795077/ At least two of them.
In wait are the two pair of EPI 200s, KLH 6, Dahlquist DQM5, the second M&K Volkswoofer and maybe those little ADS L400s...
In wait are the two pair of EPI 200s, KLH 6, Dahlquist DQM5, the second M&K Volkswoofer and maybe those little ADS L400s...
jbailey930
AK Member
Beautiful work. That is a nice work area.
My AR2ax's have corner dents where they may been dropped by previous owner. I will try the epoxy fill method. West Marine with Transtint? Off topic - have you been able to cover up sanding through veneer where there was a water stain?
I found tweets on Ebay for $60/pair in '13? Good luck!
My AR2ax's have corner dents where they may been dropped by previous owner. I will try the epoxy fill method. West Marine with Transtint? Off topic - have you been able to cover up sanding through veneer where there was a water stain?
I found tweets on Ebay for $60/pair in '13? Good luck!
cwh
33
Never used West Marine products. Here in the Bay Area we have Smith & Co. who make really good wood restoration products. The epoxy I've mainly used is actually an adhesive, not a filler. Off the shelf 2-part syringe epoxy glue. MIxol #22 is the tint. The mix doesn't completely self level and depending on amount of mixol to epoxy the cure time is increased. At least a day is needed before manipulating it and still can be a little rubbery.
I deal with sand through either with faux finishing or just cutting out and filling. Fun thing about speakers is they're not heirloom pieces of furniture so I'll be a little more loose with my approach.