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AR3's with more rare grill cloth.....


lakecat

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I picked up a pair of 3's over the weekend and wanted to share the different grill cloth as I had never seen it on a 3 but was on my 2a's. Roy confirmed that it did indeed come from factory this way. So for the newbies such as me, here is a grill cloth you don't see on the 3's very often.

 

 

 

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Thanks ...... was only one for two.....lol. I used a couple of 3" scrapper blades and worked it all so slowly around the perimeter. I still got a crack on the long side on one. Superglue fixed it. I have the brass numbers and badges off to clean and polish. These have consecutive serial numbers also. 1965 time frame.

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Cool. Early AR speakers had a number of choices for cabinet finishes and apparently for grille material also. Here is a pic of my AR-2a's with some real retro grilles with gold threads.

btw--I'm not using these in my vintage setup right now (AR-3a's are in there) but I really like the 2a. Maybe even more than the 2ax.

Kent

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Hi Kent..... I had those exact set of speakers with the gold thread grill covers. I agree on the sound and liked them over the ax's. Of all the pictures of 3's and what I have seen, I never saw this grill cover on the 3's but recognized it from the set of 2a's that I had.

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The brown grill cloth material shown with the AR-3 is actually one of several variations of the AR-2/AR-2a grill material, dating from 1957-1964. It was never used on the AR-3, which was always supplied with the saran/nylon ivory grill material. At first, there was gold thread intertwined with the ivory material; after 1960 or 1961, AR went to ivory saran material without any gold thread. So, the owner of that pair of AR-3s somewhere along the line changed the grill from AR-3 ivory to AR-2 brown; however, it never left the AR factory with that grill.

By the way Kent Hollingsworth has (or had) some AR-3-type grill material that is very close to the original.

Tom Tyson

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Thanks for the reply Tom. I have taken grills off three pairs of 3's now and this one was just as tough and had the same glue as others. This previous owner was no slouch when it comes to audio equipment Since they have consecutive serial numbers, he may have ordered them with this cloth as I just really can't see anyone taking these grills off, stripping the material off, and reapplying this material....and then regluing it back in with same glue.....and not have these in several pieces. Doesn't make sense but crazier things have happened! This owner owned some nice equipment such as a Marantz Model 7 preamp and many other items.

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The brown grill cloth material shown with the AR-3 is actually one of several variations of the AR-2/AR-2a grill material, dating from 1957-1964. It was never used on the AR-3, which was always supplied with the saran/nylon ivory grill material. At first, there was gold thread intertwined with the ivory material; after 1960 or 1961, AR went to ivory saran material without any gold thread. So, the owner of that pair of AR-3s somewhere along the line changed the grill from AR-3 ivory to AR-2 brown; however, it never left the AR factory with that grill.

By the way Kent Hollingsworth has (or had) some AR-3-type grill material that is very close to the original.

Tom Tyson

I've seen a few other AR-3's with this cloth, Tom, with absolutely no signs of it ever having been replaced. The AR-3 plastic grilles were unique, glued, and fragile. If the cloth was replaced it was not likely to have been done by the owners. I'm learning never to say "never" in the world of these old beasts!

Roy

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Roy, you are probably right when you say "never say never with these old beasts." It is vaguely possible that someone special-ordered the AR-3 or even an AR-1 with AR-2 grill material, and I can't prove that they were not ordered that way, but it was never in the price list or general description of either speaker. It was never offered as an option at any time, and I have never seen any reference whatsoever to making this an option for a customer. On the other hand, if you have something that might suggest that it was an option (other than the existence of that grill on an AR-3), I'd love to see it. "Friends" of people at the company could sometimes get certain things done, so this might have been the case a few times with the grill cloth material. Actually, the AR-2 grill would be much easier to wrap around the grill frame than the saran material, but getting it to say put on the speaker might not be so easy.

Nevertheless, specials were done for people over the years. I know a man in Brooklyn who special-ordered a pair of Allison: Ones in oiled teak, and only one pair was ever done that way according to that group, so I suspect that the AR-2 grill cloth on an AR-3 might have been a possibility, especially if someone knew someone at the factory. More likely, however, is that someone requested new AR-3 grill frames and the material, or requested AR to furnish the grill panels to be sent after the fact. It's not likely that a change would be made on the production line for the speaker, but it's certainly possible.

—Tom Tyson

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I went back and looked at the AR Archives and found a hand-written memo from 1960 regarding special-order grill-cloth material:

Grill Cloth: Speakers can be ordered w/o grill cloths; w/grill colths of an AR-1 or AR-3 for an AR-2 or 2a, or any other possible combination of the finishes and grill cloths we make available. Consumer or dealer can supply his own grill cloth. Note: this should be the equivalent, in "transparency," to cloth we use, otherwise consumer's grill cloth may mask the high end slightly. Is available for additional use, e.g. cover cabinet, Light or Dark AR-2, 2a, 50" wide $3.00 per linear yard; Maroon and Gold AR-1, 72" wide, $5.00 per linear yard; Ivory and Gold AR-1 and AR-3, 13-1/4 x 29" $1.00 per piece. Not available in rolls at AR. Special orders cannot be cancelled.

—Tom Tyson

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Hi Tom...... thanks for the effort of finding that info. I am going to print that out for these speakers. Being consecutive serial numbers on this pair, I am thinking this was ordered. Plus...this person had no other sets of grills with these speakers and he had EVERYTHING saved with his audio collection. Much appreciated.

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  • 5 months later...

The majority of AR-3's have plastic grille frames, and others have fiberboard frames. In both cases they were snapped into place, which make them difficult to remove without breaking. The plastic version is particularly troublsesome.

Roy

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Yep..plastic and something I didn't notice until recently when looking them over to see if I can reattach the grill cloth to sides again as the glue had given out. The top and bottom of the grill cloth was stapled to the plastic! I hope you can see it in pics. I don't see any homeowner doing this.......at all. Anyways.......back to the sides and reattaching them. Any ideas what I could use? Surround glue?...afraid of contact glue.

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Yep..plastic and something I didn't notice until recently when looking them over to see if I can reattach the grill cloth to sides again as the glue had given out. The top and bottom of the grill cloth was stapled to the plastic! I hope you can see it in pics. I don't see any homeowner doing this.......at all. Anyways.......back to the sides and reattaching them. Any ideas what I could use? Surround glue?...afraid of contact glue.

Would be nice to use something reversible in case you ever want to get them off. Hide glue comes to mind but you would have to do some research on that one. Seems pva glues and contact cement are commonly used these days.

Roger

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I went a whole different route away from any glues. It dawned on me to use tape!....much less messy and completely removable. I used a sticky electricians tape and it worked well. Here is some pics of the process and the grills in...... :) It goes in and comes out sooooooooooooo easy now. And it is a new music room and not quite done yet.

 

 

 

 

 

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  • 1 year later...

It drove them very carefully....:) I had the mids worked on by Roy and knowing they were rare....treated them that way. I never tested them very loud but they did sound wonderful and the bass....deep. A man in Italy now owns the 3's and enjoys them. The 303's are more suited for the 1980....and I enjoy them without worrying of overdriving them.

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Those 3's look great and rare, though a bit surprised you sold them, but hey the new owner must be very happy.

Regarding power, I recently bought a 2nd power amp putting out 200 wpc, and the 3's are even more amazing now. They will perform very loud If asked though I dont abuse them, they handle the power well.

That Pioneer is gorgeous!

Glenn

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On ‎9‎/‎6‎/‎2014 at 1:53 PM, lakecat said:
7 hours ago, GD70 said:

Those 3's look great and rare, though a bit surprised you sold them, but hey the new owner must be very happy.

Regarding power, I recently bought a 2nd power amp putting out 200 wpc, and the 3's are even more amazing now. They will perform very loud If asked though I dont abuse them, they handle the power well.

That Pioneer is gorgeous!

Glenn

I completely refinished those 3's... plus new caps....but Roy had to really work on the mids to get them to work. He was very unsure if he could fix them.....but the master came through. These were my third pair that I had bought and fixed up...and enjoyed it very much and learned tons. Roy has been a great mentor. I sold them because of the fear of failing drivers on fifty year old speakers...and the rarity of parts and their expense. The money value was more than the sonic value to me....and they brought great money.  I really love their sound but the I like the 303's better with the Pioneer and is a stronger speaker. I loved their look and rarity but the buyer was more appreciative and glad he got them.

Plus...the Heathkits you see in picture are more rare then the 3's.....so they are my collector speaker....:)

 

 

 

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