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Restoring my DIY AR-3a Pair

DonQuixote99

DonQuixote99

just give me some truth
Otherwise known as the Heathkit AS-103.

Here's the 'before' picture, fresh from the GWO:
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So far all that I've done is driver testing. Five are good, one tweeter is open.

So I'm looking for a tweeter, Heathkit P/N 401-157, better known as AR P/N 4600-1, second type (the one that was in the AR-3a from 70 to 73. See pics below).

And there will be more issues I'm sure. Haven't cracked the pots yet, for one thing....

(But these are MY "AR-3a" speakers! Got them for almost nothing at the thrift! I am stoked!)
 

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Cool find!

Those tweeters show up on fleabay pretty often.

Re-foam should be straight forward, and yes, those pesky pots will most likely need a good cleaning or replacement.

Keep the progress pics coming!

Glenn
 
Great buy! I have a mint pair of those and love them. The cabs are furniture grade and every bit as nice as the AR's. He'll...the grill cloth still looks new and is killer. These are also very rare and future value should be high. I never see them for sale.
 
And, the grilles are easier to get off than on the AR version!
Good luck with those. Those are the typical condition of you gotta wonder how many that got thrown in the dumpster.
 
It is typical condition when they come out of Goodwill, in any case. They handle stuff by dumping it from one bin to another.... :(

Centless, I think it's fair to call these 'AR-3a in better cabinets.' Alas, I only got one grill, and there's a bleached streak on it--cat mark, I figure. And the masonite is broken. Will be making new grills. Will have to find some new killer fabric--not quite as killer as the orange/black checkerboard, I don't think....
 

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DonQuixote99 said:
It is typical condition when they come out of Goodwill, in any case. They handle stuff by dumping it from one bin to another.... :(

Centless, I think it's fair to call these 'AR-3a in better cabinets.' Alas, I only got one grill, and there's a bleached streak on it--cat mark, I figure. And the masonite is broken. Will be making new grills. Will have to find some new killer fabric--not quite as killer as the orange/black checkerboard, I don't think....
Click to expand...
Looks similar to what RS sold. Might want to check eBay for RS grill cloth. People sell that stuff from time to time.

Many threads, including mine, you can reference for restoration. How did you test the tweeter? Many have been a broken lead. If not in the surround you might be able to fix. Now that I'm winding down on a couple projects I have to get back to my AR tweeter rebuild and update the thread I started.
 
michiganpat said:
parts express has some nifty grille fabrics...how about burgundy?

http://www.parts-express.com/speaker-grill-cloth-fabric-burgundy-beige-stripe-yard-36--261-815
Click to expand...
I say "guitar" and immediately thought guitar grill cloth and sure enough there is a marvelous selection for guitar amps. Makes a lot of sense too, given the application.

Check these out...

https://www.tubesandmore.com/products/grill_cloth_tolex_piping?filters=Type=Grill Cloth

There are all kinds of suppliers for guitar amps.
 
Copa1934 said:
Looks similar to what RS sold. Might want to check eBay for RS grill cloth. People sell that stuff from time to time.

Many threads, including mine, you can reference for restoration. How did you test the tweeter? Many have been a broken lead. If not in the surround you might be able to fix. Now that I'm winding down on a couple projects I have to get back to my AR tweeter rebuild and update the thread I started.
Click to expand...

Mids and tweets tested by clipping directly onto the front-wired leads. It's not a problem in the box somewhere, alas--that would be fixable. One lead of the bad tweeter is loose, so there was no problem testing it for continunity from the front. As I mentioned, it flunked that one. Unless I remove the tape on the front and find a break under there, it's a coil fault.
 
What I found under the tape:

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I assume that was factory work, attaching tinsel to the hair-thin leads from the coil. Anyway, I can test continuity from the end of the tinsel into the thin leads, so I'm still thinking 'unrepairable tweeter' at this time.
 

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Nice find. That midrange on the left speaker looks a little funky, but you say it's working OK? Post some pics of the innards when you can.
 
Seems to me it's like the other one, except the grill and the 'hat' are lost. Sounds OK. Have no real idea yet what I'm going to do with it, but I will want them both to be the same ultimately, I think.
 
Back to this project a little. My plan is to try to acquire someone's dead midrange, so I can get the grill and damping off it to restore that one of mine to a condition matching the other.

And it looks like the tweeter solution is to buy a pair of the HiVi tweeters, prob from Parts Express: http://www.parts-express.com/hivi-q1r-1-1-8-textile-dome-tweeter--297-417

BUT I'm not sure what size inductor to put in parallel with it. Parts Express and some folks here say .07mh 18 guage (and I assume guage isn't critical). Other people here, however, say .05mh? Is there a current consensus on that inductor spec?

And too, I haven't totally dismissed the idea of these more expensive drivers, "Factory Acoustic Research Speaker Dome Tweeter Part # 12000840 (12151300)," available from Simply Speakers: http://www.simplyspeakers.com/acoustic-research-replacement-tweeter-12000840.html

I'm attracted to the higher power-handling capability of these, but I don't like the extensive list of applications. How can the same part be right for all those different speakers?
 
Nice speakers! Reminds me of my own AR-3a restoration, many, many moons ago.

Holler if you need any assistance!

If you go the Hi-Vii route for tweeters, I wouldn't worry too much over the .02 mH difference. You could always listen to and measure each, or just say "the hell with it" and pick one. I know the Hi-Vi is the "accepted" fix for these (that sort of thing used to matter to me a lot), but if I were approaching the problem now, I'd probably make a custom mounting ring for a Vifa and engineer a crossover solution. Better tweets.

I should mention, linking to that thread, that the AR-3a were ultimately disappointing to me, since during the restoration process, I found a pair of AR-90. The AR-90 (and, later, AR-9) blew the older AR speakers out of the water in every regard except appearance. That's the danger of shifting reference points, I suppose.

The Simply Speakers tweeter is the same one AB Tech used to sell. I'm betting Simply Speakers bought out the surplus. It's been widely panned by the AR cognoscenti on CSP.
 
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DonQuixote99 said:
Back to this project a little. My plan is to try to acquire someone's dead midrange, so I can get the grill and damping off it to restore that one of mine to a condition matching the other.

And it looks like the tweeter solution is to buy a pair of the HiVi tweeters, prob from Parts Express: http://www.parts-express.com/hivi-q1r-1-1-8-textile-dome-tweeter--297-417

BUT I'm not sure what size inductor to put in parallel with it. Parts Express and some folks here say .07mh 18 guage (and I assume guage isn't critical). Other people here, however, say .05mh? Is there a current consensus on that inductor spec?

And too, I haven't totally dismissed the idea of these more expensive drivers, "Factory Acoustic Research Speaker Dome Tweeter Part # 12000840 (12151300)," available from Simply Speakers: http://www.simplyspeakers.com/acoustic-research-replacement-tweeter-12000840.html

I'm attracted to the higher power-handling capability of these, but I don't like the extensive list of applications. How can the same part be right for all those different speakers?
Click to expand...
That tweeter from Simply looks like a good candidate. I think the "efficiency" is more in line with the other drivers. One thing people have mentioned about the HiVi (which by the way there were two, and at one time three drivers chosen). One of the more highly regarded was discontinued, but people believed the replacement to be a comparable replacement. I think with the value of the cap you need to go back and check which of the HiVi tweeters it was suggested for.
 
The Heath cabinets are more decorative on the outside, but once you get the woofers out you'll see that they aren't as heavily braced on the inside as AR's version. The Heath kit versions were sold at lower price points than their AR equivalents, and since they used the same drivers and almost the same crossover components (the Heaths used different caps), the cost reductions were almost all in the cabinetry.
 
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