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Recap / LSI Conversion - AR98ls

SamC13

SamC13

Active Member
Hi all,

Going to do a recap and convert my AR98LS's to AR98LSI while they aren't being used and I look for a new preamp.

I've ever done a recap or anything like this before but i've researched it and looked at the schematics for original and upgrade and feel comfortable with it. Im damn good with a soldering iron, which sounds like it will come in handy since I have to do it inside the cabinet.

My questions are on the caps I have picked out to recap it with.

Components im planning on using:
  • 2x Dayton Audio DPR20-1.5 1.5 Ohm 20 Watt Precision 1% Audio Grade Resistor
  • 2x Dayton Audio DPR20-0.51 0.51 Ohm 20 Watt Precision 1% Audio Grade Resistor
  • 6x 33uF 100V Electrolytic Non-Polarized Crossover Capacitor
  • 10x Jantzen Audio 6.8uF 400V Crosscap Capacitor
  • 4x 1.0uF 100V Electrolytic Non-Polarized Crossover Capacitor
  • 2x 12uF 100V Electrolytic Non-Polarized Crossover Capacitor
  • 2x Jantzen Audio 4.7uF 400V Crosscap Capacitor
  • 4x Jantzen Audio 0.22uF 400V Crosscap Capacitor
  • 2x Jantzen Audio 2.7uF 400V Crosscap Capacitor
  • 2x 100uF 100V Electrolytic Non-Polarized Crossover Capacitor
  • 2x 250uF 100V Electrolytic Non-Polarized Crossover Capacitor

based off this as best i could with current stock on partsexp:

"This is what I got I believe all from parts express:
  • 2x350uf capacitors in speakers (ordered 2 x 250uf + 2 x 100uf NPE's)
  • 2x3uf capacitors in speakers (ordered 2 x 2.7uf + 2 x .22uf jantzen caps)
  • 2x5uf capacitors in speakers (ordered 2 x 4.7uf + 2 x .22uf jantzen caps)
  • 2x12uf NPE caps
  • 4 x 8uf capacitors in speakers (ordered 4 x 1uf + 4 x 6.8uf jantzen caps)
  • 6 x 40uf capacitors in speakers (6 x 33uf NPE+ 6 x 6.8uf NPE)
  • 2 x 22 watt .5 ohm resistors in speakers, ordered 2 x 10 watt .5 ohm wire wound resistors (22 watts was unnecessary per an AV guru electrical engineer friend)
  • 2 x 22 watt 1.5 ohm resistors in speakers, ordered 2 x 10 watt 1.5 ohm wire wound resistors (22 watts was unnecessary per an AV guru electrical engineer friend)"

    - That was a guide I found online from somebody that did a recap.


Does all look okay with this?


Here are the schematics:
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200809403_10220072002536108_8473007217363702161_n.jpg
 
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Well, despite no answers and no idea what im doing I went ahead and ordered anyways.
The stock on pts-xps keeps changing, so I figured best not wait any longer if I ever want to hear these beauites again.

Per the original 98ls schematic and what I went with below:

 
While I have some nice AR's, that doesn't include the 98's. So, I have to live vicariously through you. You're my expert, and I look forward to posts of your endeavors. Don't let me down...! :)

Oh, well done...! :D
 
StimpyWan said:
While I have some nice AR's, that doesn't include the 98's. So, I have to live vicariously through you. You're my expert, and I look forward to posts of your endeavors. Don't let me down...! :)

Oh, well done...! :D
Click to expand...

These were a gift from my Dad. He bought them when he was in college. First pair of speakers he ever bought actually, I think he paid $200 for both of them o_O Im happy to have them and give them some surely needed love.

Lots of pressure being your expert! I have ZERO clue what im doing. Ive been staring at the crossover for two weeks learning all I can about it and figuring out what is what.

Like I said, caps are ordered, so assuming I got my order right ill be able to start on the recap early next week. Probably Monday.
I will take lots of pictures.

Also where in the Blue Ridge are you? Im in Boone.
 
SamC13 said:
These were a gift from my Dad. He bought them when he was in college. First pair of speakers he ever bought actually, I think he paid $200 for both of them o_O Im happy to have them and give them some surely needed love.

Lots of pressure being your expert! I have ZERO clue what im doing. Ive been staring at the crossover for two weeks learning all I can about it and figuring out what is what.

Like I said, caps are ordered, so assuming I got my order right ill be able to start on the recap early next week. Probably Monday.
I will take lots of pictures.

Also where in the Blue Ridge are you? Im in Boone.
Click to expand...

I'm in Central VA, near Charlottesville. Been here my whole life.

Your Dad's 98's should be a great set of speakers, when complete. I know I love my AR's. And like you, I stressed over how to recap them. I read everything I could find on the Net, mainly following Tony Gee's suggestions at Humble Homemade HiFi. To save a bit of money, when recapping my AR90's, I used poly caps for the series values, and NPE's for the parallel shunts. Mundorf EVO Oils, and Mundorf M-Caps, respectively. Very good caps, with an open, airy presentation. Not overly warm, but very clear. Of the brands I've tried since, I still like the Mundorf EVO Oils best.

Good luck.
 
StimpyWan said:
I'm in Central VA, near Charlottesville. Been here my whole life.

Your Dad's 98's should be a great set of speakers, when complete. I know I love my AR's. And like you, I stressed over how to recap them. I read everything I could find on the Net, mainly following Tony Gee's suggestions at Humble Homemade HiFi. To save a bit of money, when recapping my AR90's, I used poly caps for the series values, and NPE's for the parallel shunts. Mundorf EVO Oils, and Mundorf M-Caps, respectively. Very good caps, with an open, airy presentation. Not overly warm, but very clear. Of the brands I've tried since, I still like the Mundorf EVO Oils best.

Good luck.
Click to expand...
Oh they are fantastic. Ive been listening to them for two years now. That being said, I did get some pretty significant fatigue and found values in the ~4k range to be a little bit bright to me. I never ran them with an EQ to try to adjust that, but from the research ive done, the LS to LSI conversion should correct most all of what I didn't like. I was initially planning to only do the conversion, then figured I might as well recap them since im not using them right now and its never been done. I redid the cabinets on them and they look beautiful. Conversion and recap is about all thats left to do. My father refoamed them a few years ago.

Im jealous of the AR90's! I bet those are sweet. I don't know anything about caps so just went with what I thought would work. Mix of Dayton and NPE. Lots of NPE mainly because of perceived size limitations vs poly.. I never got a clear answer on that but from looking at specs some of the poly caps seemed to be significantly larger.

Im only doing one speaker at a time, so maybe after the first one is done ill give it a listen to just make sure all sounds okay.
 
SamC13 said:
Oh they are fantastic. Ive been listening to them for two years now. That being said, I did get some pretty significant fatigue and found values in the ~4k range to be a little bit bright to me. I never ran them with an EQ to try to adjust that, but from the research ive done, the LS to LSI conversion should correct most all of what I didn't like. I was initially planning to only do the conversion, then figured I might as well recap them since im not using them right now and its never been done. I redid the cabinets on them and they look beautiful. Conversion and recap is about all thats left to do. My father refoamed them a few years ago.
Click to expand...

I've only read positive responses, when owners did the LSi upgrade.

SamC13 said:
Im jealous of the AR90's! I bet those are sweet. I don't know anything about caps so just went with what I thought would work. Mix of Dayton and NPE. Lots of NPE mainly because of perceived size limitations vs poly.. I never got a clear answer on that but from looking at specs some of the poly caps seemed to be significantly larger.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I've owned my 90's since new. I was a Teledyne employee, and the speakers were bought directly from the factory.

SamC13 said:
Im only doing one speaker at a time, so maybe after the first one is done ill give it a listen to just make sure all sounds okay.
Click to expand...

I always recap one at a time. That keeps a speaker that I can use as a reference, for when I forget to take pictures, before I screw everything up! Plus, I like to A/B the recapped speaker, to a stock crossover. That's always surprising for me. Some drastic changes at times. For the better. :)
 
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Started soldering up the caps tonight. Actually finished tinning and doing all the pairs. Going to glue them up tomorrow and hopefully get some installed.

Fitting these on that board is going to be a nightmare. Idk if I’m going to be able to pull it off. Will see.
 
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One speaker about 2/3 done. Going swimmingly. Doing some clean work. If anybody sees any issues please let me know. I wont be able to get this speaker finished out until I get the 2.5ohm resistor I forgot to order for those two 8uF caps that are left.

7C652967-F3C2-45A5-9CDC-472804036601.jpeg
 
Mock up of a finished one. I wanted to be able to position those last two capacitors to make sure it was all gonna fit, that third resistor is just a stand in until the 2.5 gets here Thursday.

3606CA4E-B1D1-4324-BFF5-FBBF8E6321A5.jpeg
 
Number two is to the same place. Will update after thursday when I get my missing components. I wouldve loved to leave one stock and one modified to compare, but with my little ordering mistake im feeling a little bit impatient so went ahead and did the second one.
 
I have a pair doing stand in for my RTR’s until I can get back to my listening room. (Caring for my mother in law)
I find my AR98LS a little bright, and am waiting on your finished project before tackling the crossover. Hoping you find the LSI crossover mellows the top end. I’m too lazy to try it before you say it was worth the time. :)
 
A23gt said:
I have a pair doing stand in for my RTR’s until I can get back to my listening room. (Caring for my mother in law)
I find my AR98LS a little bright, and am waiting on your finished project before tackling the crossover. Hoping you find the LSI crossover mellows the top end. I’m too lazy to try it before you say it was worth the time. :)
Click to expand...


Mine are 98% complete. I’m sitting here right now waiting on that brown truck to bring the last two resistors I need. 4 more solder joints on each, then reverse the blue and yellow wire and they will be done.

NGL, it was a real PITA. All up I’d say it took me 20 hours or so. There were a few things I could’ve done different that might have helped make it easier on me, but it was my first recap job ever so also a good learning experience.

it did occur to me maybe I should’ve tried to learn on my $100 speakers not $1000 speakers but it’s too late now.

I’m going to audition them this afternoon. Wish me luck. To be honest I’m a little nervous.
 
USPS ****ed me over today. My package was held for pickup in the next county over... to say I’m pissed is an understatement.

will update.
 
Since I’m bored and pissed off I decided to hot glue anything that was bare and exposed and anything that could potentially vibrate from the woofer.

63B9B5C3-D679-46B3-9D91-49FD85EE2CD1.jpeg
 
Also hit everything I could with deoxit dl100 just to make sure I got rid of solder oxidizing and gunk. Why not.
 
Was waiting at the door of the PO when they opened to pick up my components. They didn’t have them ‍♂️ They weren’t delivered yesterday because they were using a substitute driver that doesn’t know the routes. Wtf?! According to them my stuff is still on the truck and “should be here today”. For their sake they better hope it is!
 
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