AR-2ax speakers not sounding so well.

[Guest vintage]

Hi everybody,

I am new to this forum, so please be patient with me. I am glad there is support for vintage AR speakers like this web site.

A long long time ago, my dad purchased a set of Acoustic Research AR-2ax speakers. They seen regular use for about 15 years, and then were put in storage. When I found them the woofers had rotted. So I replaced the woofers with 50-watt Radio Shack models. The speakers sounded ok, but over the years they got progressively quieter, and don’t sound as well as they once did. Also, the controls on the back of the speaker crackle a lot when I try to adjust them.

So, I did some investigating today, and looked at the speaker internals. I tried to take the crossover box apart to find some capacitors, but I couldn’t find any. There was something written on the out side of the capacitor box: Industrial Condenser Corp. Chicago, Ill 5203 Green- 6 MFD. 50 V.D.C. Black- 4 MFD. 50 V.D.C. Blue-Common. Like I said though, I couldn’t find any caps inside that box. I really want to keep these speakers, but if I can’t get them to sound better, I will probably end up selling them. Is there any way to update the electrons in the speakers? Or, if anybody has any ideas why these speakers are getting quieter, I am all ears. I am attaching a picture I took of the inside of the speakers.

Thanks,

Brandon

[ninohernes]

The woofers need to be original AR woofers. Radio Shack woofers are not designed to be in the AR sealed cabinet. The only way you can make the speakers sound better, is to get the AR woofers back. Replacing drivers with non AR ones is the worst thing you can do to AR speakers.

Also there is no crossover box, when you open up the speaker, you are looking at the crossover. That box that you opened was the capacitor. They are paper in oil caps, and they pretty much last forever, however, I am not sure if it will work now, since you have opened it. Hopefully you have not destroyed it, and you have just torn off the paper jacket. The crossover consists of that capacitor box, the coil (to the right of your picture) and the level controls. That capacitor box actually has three caps in it, at the values you mentioned in your post.

These are excellent speakers, and when working properly, sound better than most stuff on the market today. Find yourself some AR-2 woofers, and put them in, then see what you think. If they still dont sound right, then you might have some crossover trouble.

Here is a link to an Ebay auction for two AR-2 woofers. They are the older ones with cloth surrounds that never rot. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...5718513676&rd=1

[Guest dogmeninreno]

>Hi everybody,

>

>I am new to this forum, so please be patient with me. I am

>glad there is support for vintage AR speakers like this web

>site.

>

>A long long time ago, my dad purchased a set of Acoustic

>Research AR-2ax speakers. They seen regular use for about 15

>years, and then were put in storage. When I found them the

>woofers had rotted. So I replaced the woofers with 50-watt

>Radio Shack models. The speakers sounded ok, but over the

>years they got progressively quieter, and don’t sound as well

>as they once did. Also, the controls on the back of the

>speaker crackle a lot when I try to adjust them.

>

>So, I did some investigating today, and looked at the speaker

>internals. I tried to take the crossover box apart to find

>some capacitors, but I couldn’t find any. There was something

>written on the out side of the capacitor box: Industrial

>Condenser Corp. Chicago, Ill 5203 Green- 6 MFD. 50 V.D.C.

>Black- 4 MFD. 50 V.D.C. Blue-Common. Like I said though, I

>couldn’t find any caps inside that box. I really want to keep

>these speakers, but if I can’t get them to sound better, I

>will probably end up selling them. Is there any way to update

>the electrons in the speakers? Or, if anybody has any ideas

>why these speakers are getting quieter, I am all ears. I am

>attaching a picture I took of the inside of the speakers.

>

>Thanks,

>

>Brandon

>

Brandon, Joe said it all. The only thing I would advise in addition to getting a couple of original AR woofers is to remove and dissasemble the pots to clean them. There are many posts on this site that address this procedure in detail. Also be sure that the acoustic seal is intact when reassembling and that the fiber fill is correct. Saves a lot of hassle before putting these gems back together. Trust me on this one, Dale

[Guest vintage]

Hey, thanks for the reply fellows.

Dang! I wish I hadn't thrown away the old woofers. Those woofers on eBay look different than the ones I took out. The ones I took out had a Square magnet on the back. Thank for the info on the capacitor. All I did was take it out of the paper Cover, so I'll put the cover back on the cap and re-install it. The next thing I will do is clean the tone controls, then buy original woofers. Is there still a reason why the midrange and tweeters are so quiet? Does anybody know the efficiency rating of these speakers? When I say the AR speakers are quiet, I’m comparing them to my Infinity SM series speakers that are half the size of the AR's

Thanks again for the replies,

Brandon

[ar_pro]

Your mids & tweeters are controlled by those pots - if they're not working properly, they could certainly have an effect on output; but you're going to need to replace those AR woofers in order to accurately evaluate the overall volume.

The 2ax speakers (as all true acoustic suspension designs) are relatively inefficient - AR suggested 20 watts, minimum.