AR3a restoration.

SatinMill · 24th August 2011, 10:19 AM

I have sitting in front of me a pair of AR3a, the woofers appear in decent condition and they have doped fabric surrounds which don't seem like they need anything doing to them.

The issue is that the mid has been replaced with a pair of cones and the tweeters have been replaced with frankly bizarre looking things, they look kind of like horns but with a protruding dome with a horn like slot down the middle of it with the driver in the middle of this slot.

Firstly, it concerns me when I depressed the woofer to test for leaks that the mid shot right up, surely a cone mid is a pretty poor choice for an acoustic suspension design? Secondly, the tweeter is not sealed, pressing down the woofer results in air rushing through the tweeter, I'm not quite sure where.

Given these two things do I have any choice but to simply keep an eye out for replacement drivers on fleabay?

I may take pictures of them later today.

speakerdoctor · 24th August 2011, 12:03 PM

What you've got is a shoddy job of mid/tweet replacement on your hands.

What you also have is an ideal candidate for a Super-Mod. Utilizing Seas mid and tweeter.
Visit here for more info.

Welcome to Carl's Custom Loudspeakers

SatinMill · 24th August 2011, 12:40 PM

That's not within budget I'm afraid, at least not in the short term.

I may be getting my hands on another pair of them for peanuts though the woofers need refoaming. So I may move the tweeters/mids over to the pair with good woofers and leave the other pair as a longer term project.

speakerdoctor · 24th August 2011, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SatinMill

That's not within budget I'm afraid, at least not in the short term.

I may be getting my hands on another pair of them for peanuts though the woofers need refoaming. So I may move the tweeters/mids over to the pair with good woofers and leave the other pair as a longer term project.

There's a great reference document for any 3a restoration work you may do.

Restoring the AR-3a - The Classic Speaker Pages Discussion Forums

SatinMill · 24th August 2011, 01:34 PM

I'm familiar with the document.

Annoyingly the other pair of ar3a were snatched before I could buy them, I'm really quite annoyed about that.

SatinMill · 24th August 2011, 06:53 PM

IDed the tweeters, they're realistic 40-1377 8ohm drivers, the previous owner had put a bipolar electrolytic cap in series with them which would explain why I could only get erratic readings from the thing with a multimeter.

They were attached with double sided tape, and just jammed in there hence the lack of a seal.

Looks like the first thing I'll do is get a pair of new tweeters, get them nicely sealed in place. Replacing the mids seems like a much more challenging problem, I can't find any anywhere so I guess I'll have to just keep looking.

irishiranian · 15th September 2011, 12:33 PM

Have you tried Wembley loudspeaker, which oddly is in Shepherds bush/Acton? I think they deal with AR in the UK, I got the woofers for my 3as resealed there, as well as a few oter things sorted and am very happy with the results. If they don't have the original they will recommend what could do the job.

Good luck, it's worth the hassle, they're great speaker IMO.

Gudmund · 8th June 2012, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SatinMill

IDed the tweeters, they're realistic 40-1377 8ohm drivers, the previous owner had put a bipolar electrolytic cap in series with them which would explain why I could only get erratic readings from the thing with a multimeter.

They were attached with double sided tape, and just jammed in there hence the lack of a seal.

Looks like the first thing I'll do is get a pair of new tweeters, get them nicely sealed in place. Replacing the mids seems like a much more challenging problem, I can't find any anywhere so I guess I'll have to just keep looking.

AR3a repair at:

https://picasaweb.google.com/1031761...55917072786754

https://picasaweb.google.com/1031761...searchAR3aAR11

AR3a repair and crossover schematic:

AR3a

speakerdoctor · 8th June 2012, 11:50 AM

Nice resto job gudmund, but how is this going to help satinmill? He missed out on another pair of 3a's and now has no working mids and tweets to work with.
The Super-mod is the answer.

SatinMill · 8th June 2012, 01:05 PM

I restored these ages ago, cosmetically they're a bit messy but functionally they're in good shape.

I used original domes and some newer soft dome tweeters and I rather like the results.

24th August 2011, 10:19 AM	#1
SatinMill diyAudio Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: York	AR3a restoration. I have sitting in front of me a pair of AR3a, the woofers appear in decent condition and they have doped fabric surrounds which don't seem like they need anything doing to them. The issue is that the mid has been replaced with a pair of cones and the tweeters have been replaced with frankly bizarre looking things, they look kind of like horns but with a protruding dome with a horn like slot down the middle of it with the driver in the middle of this slot. Firstly, it concerns me when I depressed the woofer to test for leaks that the mid shot right up, surely a cone mid is a pretty poor choice for an acoustic suspension design? Secondly, the tweeter is not sealed, pressing down the woofer results in air rushing through the tweeter, I'm not quite sure where. Given these two things do I have any choice but to simply keep an eye out for replacement drivers on fleabay? I may take pictures of them later today.

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24th August 2011, 12:03 PM	#2
speakerdoctor diyAudio Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: New England	What you've got is a shoddy job of mid/tweet replacement on your hands. What you also have is an ideal candidate for a Super-Mod. Utilizing Seas mid and tweeter. Visit here for more info. Welcome to Carl's Custom Loudspeakers

24th August 2011, 12:40 PM	#3
SatinMill diyAudio Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: York	That's not within budget I'm afraid, at least not in the short term. I may be getting my hands on another pair of them for peanuts though the woofers need refoaming. So I may move the tweeters/mids over to the pair with good woofers and leave the other pair as a longer term project.

24th August 2011, 01:34 PM	#5
SatinMill diyAudio Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: York	I'm familiar with the document. Annoyingly the other pair of ar3a were snatched before I could buy them, I'm really quite annoyed about that.

24th August 2011, 06:53 PM	#6
SatinMill diyAudio Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: York	IDed the tweeters, they're realistic 40-1377 8ohm drivers, the previous owner had put a bipolar electrolytic cap in series with them which would explain why I could only get erratic readings from the thing with a multimeter. They were attached with double sided tape, and just jammed in there hence the lack of a seal. Looks like the first thing I'll do is get a pair of new tweeters, get them nicely sealed in place. Replacing the mids seems like a much more challenging problem, I can't find any anywhere so I guess I'll have to just keep looking.

15th September 2011, 12:33 PM	#7
irishiranian diyAudio Member Join Date: Mar 2010	Have you tried Wembley loudspeaker, which oddly is in Shepherds bush/Acton? I think they deal with AR in the UK, I got the woofers for my 3as resealed there, as well as a few oter things sorted and am very happy with the results. If they don't have the original they will recommend what could do the job. Good luck, it's worth the hassle, they're great speaker IMO.

8th June 2012, 11:50 AM	#9
speakerdoctor diyAudio Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: New England	Nice resto job gudmund, but how is this going to help satinmill? He missed out on another pair of 3a's and now has no working mids and tweets to work with. The Super-mod is the answer.

8th June 2012, 01:05 PM	#10
SatinMill diyAudio Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: York	I restored these ages ago, cosmetically they're a bit messy but functionally they're in good shape. I used original domes and some newer soft dome tweeters and I rather like the results.