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AR-5 ?


owlsplace

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I still have my original AR-5's that I purchased new in March, 1974 at the Navy Exchange. A couple of years ago, I updated the Tweeters with the HiVI's. Back in the early 90's the woofer's needed refoamed and I took them to a local speaker shop that replaced them with Dyna-Drive woofers. They assured me they were better than new:)......yea sure. Actually, they did sound good. When I replaced the tweeters with the HiVi's I also found refoamed late model 2ax woofers on Ebay and put them in. I could hear better bass with the 2ax woofers, though it took awhile to get use to the "new" sound. I love my AR-5's and hope to have them many more years. They are currently being driven by a modern Denon AVR. I also still have my original Pioneer SX-727 that I purchased at the same time as the AR-5's. It is boxed up, not sure if I want to sell it or just keep it for old time's sake.

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From my limited experience with AR's, I find the 5's are excellent acoustical speakers in an average sized room. The mids shine in that environment and ample bass. But......they cannot compete with the 3a in a larger room and pushing louder music with great bass material. For example, last night my wife and I had a rare night to ourselves and had a few drinks. I had the 3a's I have been redoing in the great room and wanted to test them. I put on Ian Dury's "Beat Me With Your Rhythm Stick"..... Alabama 3's "Woke Up This Morning"....and Peter Gabriels' "Growing Up". We sat about twenty feet away and had volume around 40-50 watts.

The sound was incredible and the bass shook the metal in the couch frames. My wife hates loud music because it gets so shrill but she loved this sound. It was crystal clear but yet forceful. I went over to turn it up a notch more to the Sansui G-8000 that is completely recapped....and as I sat down to "Woke Up This Morning"......those 3a's shut it down!...lol. The 4 ohms was too much for it.....which shocked me. They really delivered it though as I turned it down to listen for a while more.

Anyways....the 5's could never deliver that experience. Will I always play music that loud and with that kind of bass?....hell no.... but it is a treat when you can.

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  • 1 month later...

Just acquired a pair of AR5.

The cabinets have been painted white, so may have a hard time removing the paint.

There are also legs and a handle attached.

Just hope the screws haven't damaged the crossover board.

Will be picking them up tomorrow.

More updates when I get them.

Then I will go through the same journey Roger went through.

Best regards,

David.

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Hi Roy,

ust picked up the speakers.

You are absolutely correct !

The legs are indeed attached to the top of the cabinets and luckily they are just screwed on.

First look at the grill suggest that they are installed tight up against the frame.

Any tips on how to get the grills off without damaging them too much?

I am still at work, so will have a closer look this evening.

I will check what kind of paint is on the cabs.

Best regards,

David.

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Some appreciate the authenticity of things but others see the practical side of it.

Apart from the 16 drywall screws on the TOP, there is also a door handle on the back side :blink: .

Thanks Roy, I have looked through the AR3 restoration document and will try removing the grill this evening.

Will post more pictures when I get to it.

Best regards,

David.

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We haven't forgotten that this is owl's thread, but David's 5's are certainly worthy of comments. I like this project since it is more than the normal 'restoration' - - - it is almost a 'reclamation' considering the aesthetic cabinet challenges involved. If desirable, paint-stripping efforts may be very worthwhile, particularly if you find walnut (or mahogany?) under that paint. Even unfinished pine may be worth the stripping effort. Most likely, Roy is correct about top/bottom of cabinet, but there is the possibility that a previous owner removed/flipped/replaced the grilles and simply wanted the badges displayed at top rather than bottom. Considering the thickness of the back panel plywood, I'd be surprised if the added lift handle screws posed any serious problem to the cabinet integrity or the crossover components. Speaking of plywood, it's worth noting that your pair thusfar displays no MDF or particle board.

Nice find, looking forward to your progress.

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Hi all,

I will start a new thread so not to hijack Roger's discussion.

Not a problem .. listening to the "unfinished pines" here everyday. They have ADS L980s for feet. The grills on these were tight but they did come off without breaking by running a screw into the badge screw hole. They ended up with grills from another set of speakers with the original cloth intact. They are looking very "period" at the moment. Still haven't decided whether or not to remove the Formica and have another set 5s awaiting rebuild anyway. Toying with the idea of reveneering but not sure it is worth the tool-up cost.

Roger

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  • 2 months later...

Well, back to the AR-5's. I knew stripping the Formica would be a challenge but since the weather is so nice here I decided to take on the project. I am also working on a pair of AR-6's in Unfinished Pine so I thought I would do them both at the same time. Formica didn't seem dignified enough for the AR-5 so I stripped them.

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So far, so good. This cabinet has a nice burl finish on the top and zebra stripped sides. The other one is a bit different and I wasn't able to remove all the contact cement today. It will require a patch on the front veneer strip which shouldn't be too difficult.

For the love of time,

Roger

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Yeah, the speaker looks good with straight corners and all. Love out weather here in the NW for sure right now. Kids in shorts!

How did you get the backs so cleaned up without the ruining the stickers?

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that sure looks better Roger. The Formica look was hideous in my opinion. My pine 4x set is going to get a bold color treatment, wondering if you will leave yours unfinished or not?

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Yeah, the speaker looks good with straight corners and all. Love out weather here in the NW for sure right now. Kids in shorts!

How did you get the backs so cleaned up without the ruining the stickers?

Haven't touched the backs. I think the only way to really do the backs would be to make a hi-res photo before stripping the labels. They are really hard to get off without damage. Then you can print out a copy and paste it on when you are done refinishing.

that sure looks better Roger. The Formica look was hideous in my opinion. My pine 4x set is going to get a bold color treatment, wondering if you will leave yours unfinished or not?

I think I am sticking to my shellac plan. You could definitely go wild with color on these if you wanted to -- let's see, maybe modulating some contrasting colors, red, green, blue, etc. :)

http://woodworker.com/pdf/clrcharth2o.pdf

http://www.kedadyeinc.com/stain-powder-photogallery.php#dye%20stain

Roger

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This is approximately the look I will be trying to achieve on my 4x set.

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although probably going for a richer (deeper darker) red. Diane is working on an old fireplace mantle that we found at a salvage yard, and will be giving it the same treatment. A theme of sorts.

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This is approximately the look I will be trying to achieve on my 4x set....

post-170704-0-80008600-1425912574.jpg

although probably going for a richer (deeper darker) red. Diane is working on an old fireplace mantle that we found at a salvage yard, and will be giving it the same treatment. A theme of sorts.

Hmmm, looks like a burned finish then the soft pulp wood removed to accentuate the grain and the red dye. Or does the dye make the grain pop that much?

Really hard to do an even burned finish. I'm curious to see how you make out with this as I've never worked with the dyes before.

Roger

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Okay, now I'm inspired.

The 5's will get a white pickling finish. I decided a patriotic theme is in order for my towers. The 5's are in the middle so the 6's on top will get a Sea Blue aniline dye and the ADS L-980's on the bottom will get a Red aniline dye probably accented with some black to cover the blems.

There will be a seal undercoat so if anyone after me wants to go back to Unfinished Pine it should be fairly easy to do. depending on what topcoat I use.

Roger

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  • 3 weeks later...

I had a few other AR's jump into the mix so the 5's are still waiting warmer weather and their color coat. Now after adding the 6's to the top of the stack I'm am noticing how weak the 5's tweeters have become.

I guess I need to track down a test cd and sound pressure level meter to be more specific about the problem.

Looks like tweeter replacements are in order sometime this year.

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