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Garage Sale Season


DavidDru

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Ahh, I bet you can suck that tweeter back out :)

Today I was getting some things together to place on That Auction Site. I found the tweeter I pulled from the AR94S my finger poking brother-inlaw gave me. I believe it was Roger who came up with the idea of wetting a dented dome and then placing a tube over the dome and sucking it out. I searched the house for a suitable tube and found one (finally) that was the right diameter. I couldn't have hoped for it to come out any better.

Attached are pictures of the dented dome/still wet right after/and when dried. The tweeter works fine, too.

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Today I was getting some things together to place on That Auction Site. I found the tweeter I pulled from the AR94S my finger poking brother-inlaw gave me. I believe it was Roger who came up with the idea of wetting a dented dome and then placing a tube over the dome and sucking it out. I searched the house for a suitable tube and found one (finally) that was the right diameter. I couldn't have hoped for it to come out any better.

Attached are pictures of the dented dome/still wet right after/and when dried. The tweeter works fine, too.

Very nice result -- now you have a spare.

Are you going in to business? I may send this one over that I picked up yesterday on the auction site for $5.

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I'm not the first dome sucker :rolleyes: ... Kent and others did it before me.

Roger

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Not exactly a garage sale but similar. Another collector here in town gave me these (4 of them). AR48b's. All drivers need foam. Not impressed with anything about them other than they are heavy. I will probably make these available to anyone that just wants them to be fixed up and put in use or if the drivers are useful for anything else.

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Not exactly a garage sale but similar. Another collector here in town gave me these (4 of them). AR48b's. All drivers need foam. Not impressed with anything about them other than they are heavy. I will probably make these available to anyone that just wants them to be fixed up and put in use or if the drivers are useful for anything else.

...

I'd be tempted to part them out to someone who already has a set. RoyC is always saying how hard it is to find those double driver arrays ...

Roger

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It's difficult for me to go too far out on a limb in defense of this AR-48B speaker since I've never heard it myself, but a full assessment of any loudspeaker should really include a fair audible audition. My minimal exposure is limited to the smaller two-way siblings - - the AR-18B and 28B - - and I'd have to say that they are pretty decent performers employing very good drivers. That having been said, I would agree that it is difficult to develop much love for this early 80's "B" series of AR speakers.

As an extension of the lineage of many great 60's and 70's models, the diminished quality of this series is evident in several areas, and they mostly appear to represent challenges with price-points for marketing. First, the styling is pretty bad - - simulated wood vinyl, rounded bullnose edging, plastic badges and unattractive grille cloth. The overall build quality has also suffered - - cheaper particleboard cabinets, fiberfill stuffing, spring-loaded terminals, and minimized crossovers. Audibly, not bad speakers at all, but yes, a little cheap-looking and hard on the eyes.

My take on this windfall is different from post #54, if only b/c I would never "part-out" fully intact specimens, since it smacks of opportuni$m and serves to deplete the endangered species. Your notion to donate them to a willing fixer-upper is noble, but a refoam-then-sell would also keep them in circulation while putting a few bucks in your pocket.

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Hey Ra.ra! Saw your post on AK too. I recently sold that OP'r an amp so I will probably pm him with a more detailed response about these 48b's. In addition to what I stated above, I totally agree with your assessment about the build quality. Most of the veneer is starting to come up at all the corners, one of the 4 has spring loaded connectors while the other a cheap post.....overall they look cheap. What color wood and grain were they going for anyway? When new or if in great shape, they probably looked much better. Of course these particular ones I can't even try due to the foams being gone. Maybe great for the garage or something. Hard for me to even say about AR's. Man I wish the brand had just been put to rest before it got degraded.

Now if someone has a different story about these, or the 38b version, would love to hear it. (Hey, the vinyl veneer on my polk monitor 10's ain't much better)

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Yeah, that vinyl wallpaper is always a buzzkill, and you're right, this particular "B" series flavor of faux-wood is especially unappealing. Other than the normal foam rot, it was difficult to discern the quality of your four AR-48B's, so the peeling vinyl and mismatched wire terminals definitely add to the restoration challenges. Still, for the right person at the right price, these could most likely be resuscitated to be very serviceable loudspeakers. The perfect candidate would be a hands-on teenage tinkerer who is eager to get into "vintage" hi-fi with an entry level investment. Surely, somewhere in Boise there is a 17 year-old boy with a soldering iron and a large bedroom who would love to have two pairs of stacked three-way AR's!

Surprising to see that the 48B crossover appears more complex than the earlier 10" three way models - - - say, the AR-2ax. No tone controls, of course, but schematic shows 12 elements between the wire terminals and the drivers. A re-cap and re-foam and they just could be a perfect project for a budding and budget-minded young audiophile.

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save the vinyl and spring terminals, I don't know if I'd consider the the early 80's AR's as inferior to the classic era as far as sound/performance....

the bullnose makes veneering in real wood a bit of a challenge, but swapping the spring terminals for something mroe substantial should be fairly easy....

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Sounds like michiganpat might have more experience with this series and a stronger opinion than I have, but I think we're both saying the same thing: "Don't necessarily be dismissive of this model....... or.........don't immediately think these are curbside or parts candidates." While my comments are largely focused on aesthetics and build quality, Pat makes a case for their performance, and he has been a strong voice on this forum for some of the smaller and lesser-known AR speaker models that are often overlooked.

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The spec sheet at aphenos has these listed at $550 and 79 pounds. I am assuming that is combined for the pair or they have lead weights in the bottom.

There is a set on the auction site in similar condition for around $250 delivered. Add in $50+ for rebuild. Now you are in the AR-5 price range.

Hmmm, I know which model I would choose :P

Roger

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Not exactly a garage sale but similar. Another collector here in town gave me these (4 of them). AR48b's. All drivers need foam. Not impressed with anything about them other than they are heavy. I will probably make these available to anyone that just wants them to be fixed up and put in use or if the drivers are useful for anything else.

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Looks like foam surrounds will run about $70 on the auction site for eight drivers (291567661835)

I'm sure a fun project for someone ... if they were here, I would be tempted to put some real wood on them.

Roger

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I will probably re-foam a set to see what we got and go from there. I'll drop the other pair off at your place next time though that way for the mere price of an adult beverage or two!

Sounds like a plan ... don't give me an excuse ;)

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Looks like foam surrounds will run about $70 on the auction site for eight drivers (291567661835)

I'm sure a fun project for someone ... if they were here, I would be tempted to put some real wood on them.

Roger

really, the early 80's teledyne AR's aren't bad, and I agree, about the only thing making these lesser are the spring terminals (not that the old classic era brass screws are THAT much better) and the gen-yoooo-wiiiinneee imitation oak(?) veneer....reveneering in wood would be great, the hard part might be the bullnose front. if you contact Rick cobb and buy just the raw foams, I'm guessing you could get them done for about $50, unless those 4" foams are stupid expensive....

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... if you contact Rick cobb and buy just the raw foams, I'm guessing you could get them done for about $50, unless those 4" foams are stupid expensive....

I wasn't familiar with Rick's offerings on the auction site (looneytune2001). Thanks for the reference. The figure I mentioned came from Audiodogs in Canada which I have used in the past for the Boston FF foams.

Roger

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I used a set of these back in the mid-nineties for about four years. They're OK but if you're used to the AR 12" units these probably won't satisfy. To me they sounded like a smoother version of the New Advent Loudspeaker with a little less bass extension.

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Last weekend, small local flea market.

Me: That's a neat little gizmo.
Vendor: New in the box, five bucks.
Me: Don't really need another one.
Vendor: Two bucks and it's yours.
Me: Don't tempt me.
Vendor: One dollar.
Me: OK, talked me into it.

Already have a speaker selector that I use, so despite this sounding like a negotiating session, I really was trying to walk away. O well, it looks like a very nice little device (only 8" wide), so it'll probably mate up well with my tiny receiver and multiple mini speakers that I use for a kitchen system.

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Well, I found a pair of Advent speakers at the Bargain Bin today for $10.99 -- no model number but they look like TSW-210's from what I can gather anyway. Probably will refoam and flip these unless I'm somehow enamored of their sound . I prefer the classic AR sound in my old age. Even the KLH tweeter that recently came installed in an orphan AR-4x sounds strident to me. When I get some time I will rework the baffle and install the appropriate tweeter unless a ribbon catches my attention first ;)

Roger

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  • 7 months later...

Well, the 2016 garage sale season is upon us folks!  We are having our community sale today.  Sold a bunch of other household stuff but nobody seems interested in the Speakerlab Model 2's or Baby Advents I have out.  Nor the Garrard TT.

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The Speakerlab Model 2 is not a speaker that is seen 'out in the wild' very often! Hopefully someone recognizes their rarity and grabs them from you.

The Model 2 was the first decent speaker I owned. Ordered the drivers, crossovers and front boards from Speakerlab in 1976 and with the help of a couple of friends built the cabinets in the high school shop with 3/4" mdf. My one mistake was not leaving enough of a recess to drop a grill in. I did velcro some Radio Shack foam grill material to the front for a while but they never looked 'store bought'. Whenever I pull an older AR woofer from its' cabinet it reminds me of Speakerlabs recommendation to use RTV to mount the woofer, which is a great seal but a pain to undo if needed.

Funny that you mention Advents and a Garrard in the same sale. I had a pair of Advent/3's when I had my Speakerlabs, and a Garrard Zero 92 until I broke it!

Good luck with the sale!

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Jeff,

Since I am in boise I probably see the Speakerlab products a little more than others might as you go east since they were a Seattle shop.  As you mentioned about yours, these were an owner fabrication and I did encounter the clear caulking sealant when removing the woofer drivers to do the re-cap.

I was very pleasantly surprised upon hooking these up to the same system that I have my AR3's in.  They rock!

 

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On 5/7/2016 at 0:11 PM, ar_pro said:

Qu'est-ce que c'est?
Un haut-parleur d'aigus à ruban?
Mon Dieu!
Trouver un autre pourrait être difficile. :mellow:

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Yeah. What he said ;)

That's not a KLH tweeter so even if you do find another 23 they won't match.

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