DIY Acoustic Research AR-2a
- Thread starter THD+N
- Start date
Do It Yourself
Wouldn’t that make them an AR-5?
But functional in their own way , just put the grilles on and all is fine. As for replacement drivers AR's own dome mid range, turns them into getting close to be a 3a , What is marked as a PMT50 sounds good in a 2ax.Having heard a few different drivers I went back to the original 2ax mid range,
What makes the difference is finely adjusting the tweeter and mid range levels, as there is a sweet spot. I also have AR7's which are fascinating to compare to. I just enjoy each.
What makes the difference is finely adjusting the tweeter and mid range levels, as there is a sweet spot. I also have AR7's which are fascinating to compare to. I just enjoy each.
It was the "AR" look or the beehive hairdo in the early 60's. I actually liked the beehive, but not in blue (Marge Simpson). ha ha.
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Closer to an AR-5 than an AR-3, which used a 12" woofer. I may just clean them up the as much as possible. They won't be used that often, just something to tinker with. They were freebies from a friend's father's estate.
More info on retro speakers: Vintage Audio Equipment - Complete Database
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Reminds me of my car audio days when I installed professionally. We did some crazy stuff all for "the customer". Seems like it was yesterday (1987).
I have decided to do a "light" restoration on these speakers. The drivers seem to be in good working order despite their appearance.
I have taken apart cleaned the 16Ω L-Pads and replaced the dual (4uf+6uF) wax impregnated crossover capacitor with discrete 4uF & 6uF Mylar film caps. Cleaned up some wiring and resealed the midrange & woofer with foam rubber window weather stripping for a good leak free seal. One speaker is done, still need to do the other. The one speaker in mono sounds good, but it is so different than my three-way horn system. It's like going from an F1 Indy racer to a Model-T.
Paul Harvey would sound good on these...
I have taken apart cleaned the 16Ω L-Pads and replaced the dual (4uf+6uF) wax impregnated crossover capacitor with discrete 4uF & 6uF Mylar film caps. Cleaned up some wiring and resealed the midrange & woofer with foam rubber window weather stripping for a good leak free seal. One speaker is done, still need to do the other. The one speaker in mono sounds good, but it is so different than my three-way horn system. It's like going from an F1 Indy racer to a Model-T.
Paul Harvey would sound good on these...
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Agreed on the Henry Kloss design of the Original Advent Loudspeaker. That speaker got a lot of people into stereo back in day through its affordable cost and the way they rocked in basements, dorm rooms or living spaces. And they sounded good with all kinds of affordable solid state amps of the day like Dynaco.
The Fs of an original Advent 10" Masonite woofer is around 17Hz. The Fs of this AR-2a woofer is about 29Hz. This will have an impact on how low the AR-2a will go compared to the OLA.
The AR-2a woofer is very nice... cast aluminum frame, AlNiCo magnet, cloth surround. It just needs to have a bit lower Fs for more bottom end grunt.
The AR-2a woofer is very nice... cast aluminum frame, AlNiCo magnet, cloth surround. It just needs to have a bit lower Fs for more bottom end grunt.
I've got both AR-2a's restored. With both mid & tweet at full output, they are very listenable loudspeakers. The 1 3/8" phenolic dome tweeter is very smooth and natural sounding. They don't go much below 50Hz but they still fill the room with "full-range" sound. Very easy to listen to with no fatigue whatsoever.
A comparison that will likely never be written about, or at least will never hear about other than here , is that the AR 2ax and a Sonab OD 11 refurbished with B & W DM308 bass drivers , sound as close as you can get to identical - its uncanny. I have the left speaker as a AR2ax and right as the OD11 that is sitting atop the otherwise fine, but unconnected 2ax.
