Some cool AR restoration photos

[JKent]

One of the great things about this hobby is the interesting people we meet. From my own perspective, I met John(ieo) when he came east, then spent some time with him when I was out west. Later, went with him to meet Minh in NYC. I recently met Adriano in Rome. Then there are all the new friends I haven't met face-to-face but feel like I know (several CSP members).

So I've been corresponding with a fellow classic audio enthusiast who bought some speakers from me and is having me restore his KLH radio. We discovered that we have the same professional background (although I'm retired and he's just starting out) and next month we'll meet in NYC. Fun!

All of this is making a short story long. He found these links. They're in Chinese (he happens to be Taiwanese) so most of us won't be able to read them, but the photos are good and tell much of the story.

This one shows how to make new grilles for the AR-1,-3 and 3a. I see the blogger found "our" Mellotone material

http://blog.xuite.net/hhw1185/twblog/151838961

This one is an AR-4 restoration. Beautiful job and I like the flat black paint on the baffle

http://blog.xuite.net/hhw1185/twblog/151838922

Here's an AR-3 restoration. Nice light cabinets look like they may be birdseye maple but I don't believe that finish was ever offered. Check out the crossover with custom PC board, Mundorf (?) resistors, heavy wiring and those big oil-filled caps. Very professional job! Check out the cable to the front-wire connectors. AND.... on this over-the-top xo it looks like L-pads are used.

http://blog.xuite.net/hhw1185/twblog/151838973

-Kent

[JKent]

Wait--there's more! And apparently our friend Minh has already been there http://blog.xuite.net/hhw1185/twblog/151839430

AND he provided links http://www.classicspeakerpages.net/IP.Board/index.php?showtopic=4096 but unfortunately many of the links in the early posts are dead. Great thread though!

Minh, if you read ths maybe you could explain the answers to the questions you posted. My Taiwanese friend found it too technical to translate.

On each of the following pages, wherever you see (繼續閱讀) click it. It's a hyperlink that means "continue reading".

http://blog.xuite.net/hhw1185/twblog?st=c&p=1&w=5087563

http://blog.xuite.net/hhw1185/twblog?st=c&p=1&w=5087555

-Kent

[stan461]

Thanks Kent.

'Over the top' is putting it mildly.

In particular, the AR3 is most impressive to me.

It's almost a sin to put the woofer back on!

You have to wonder how they sound.

Unfortunately, I can't read Chinese but maybe a forum member that can tell us

if there was some sort of listening evaluation.

Everything feeding these AR3's contributes to the final output. Including the room.

But swapping in a 'stock' pair of AR3's would give one some idea.

With all the attention to detail, I'm assuming that AR speakers are held in very high-regard in the far east.

Also, the use of L-pads here is should alleviate any trepidation for those who are considering a re-build or those

who grow weary of the periodic cleaning of stock AR pots.

These AR3's have not been restored to 'original' or 'factory' standards.

But then again where can you get NOS wax caps?

50+ years later, something has got to give.

Unless it's going into a museum like the Smithsonian, which I have personally seen, I say rebuild and improve an an already great speaker and enjoy the music.

Hats off to these Chinese people for their beautiful and meticulous workmanship.

I am not only impressed, but also inspired.

[alkermes]

Looks fascinating...but I'm having trouble getting any pictures via the URL's. Which browser/version are you using?

I did see the phrase "COSMOS L-Pad" though, sounds out of this world!

[ra.ra]

Thanks, I found this to be a rather interesting link, even if I couldn't tell what was going on more than half the time. The pics are fantastic - - just gotta figure out a way to translate these foreign websites. Two projects that were of interest to me are included below. The 2a project completely alters the crossover frequencies and altho' I'm not certain, it may be using an AR-3 tweeter. The 4x project starts with very early s/n speakers, and then adds some unknown alnico tweeter. All very interesting indeed, but equally curious.....

AR-2a mod

http://blog.xuite.net/hhw1185/twblog/151839585

AR-4x mod

http://blog.xuite.net/hhw1185/twblog/151839610

[stan461]

I used the following link to translate:

http://itools.com/tool/google-translate-web-page-translator

It's not perfect but it does help somewhat.

Also, I had no trouble viewing the pictures in either Firefox (version 27.0.1) or Internet explorer (version 11).

[alkermes]

I used the following link to translate:

http://itools.com/tool/google-translate-web-page-translator

It's not perfect but it does help somewhat.

Also, I had no trouble viewing the pictures in either Firefox (version 27.0.1) or Internet explorer (version 11).

We are stuck with IE 8 at work, must have been a problem because it is an outdated version. However, Chrome on my iPad worked fine, and even offered to translate, which came out pretty well. Cool stuff.

[ra.ra]

Thanks for advice, sounds like each user might need to try several browsers in order to break the code.