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AR series 3a

Jesse Garron

Jesse Garron

You may know my brother
Well, I finally have a "I found a pair of speakers on the curb" thread. I just grabbed a pair of tired and blown out AR 3a speakers. Never heard much about the brand although I did hear a pair of the wedge shaped ones at beercans a while back.

The woofer is pretty well blown out of one, and I haven't looked at the other one yet. I'm guessing it's the same. These suckers are heavy!

Anyway, are these worth keeping & possibly repairing? I already have a few extra speakers, and I don't need to throw $ at these, but I think everyone here has probably said the same thing.

How is the sound on these beasts? I'd be running them off of a Sanui AU int amp if that helps, and I currently have a pair of KG 3.5 series Klipsch.

Thanks!



PS:pics to follow if that would be helpful.
 
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many think the AR 3a is 'one of the best speakers ever made'-- they are a 4 ohm load, so they like plenty of muscle. by 'blown', what exactly do you mean? surrounds are shot, or what?

they are most definitely worth bringing back and you'll find a lot of assistance on this board in doing so.

found on the curb, huh? just wait until some o' these other guys get around to this thread....
 
The legendary AR-3a: Beautiful sounding speakers with exceptionally good bass. They like power...mine are fed by a Marantz 2385, but that is perhaps overkill.

I have read that for a period of time (late sixties/early seventies I think) Acoustic Research had a higher market share than any other speaker manufacturer extant.

A number of AK folks are very knowledgeable, and you should also check out www.classicspeakerpages.net, that has an excellent AR forum.

Definitely worth bringing these speakers back to life.
 
Jesse Garron said:
Anyway, are these worth keeping & possibly repairing?
Click to expand...

Most definitely!

Which Sansui AU (amp) do you have? Funny fact: it's more likely that someone with a LOW-powered amp blew those woofers than someone with a high-powered one...

Lotsa spare parts for sale on the net (you know where) so they shouldn't cost a fortune to fix. Be SURE to stick to original parts, no substitutes...
 
Hooray. I knew that these were keepers as soon as I saw 3 responses within a few minutes! Great! Well, after 4 years of perusing garage sales and thrifts, I found a keeper 50 feet from my house. Funny, I almost walked over there, but decided to drive at the last minute. Good thing as my back hurts from just putting them in the truck.

The amp is an AU-717. Funny, I could see some yahoo running these off of his boombox -- distorting like crazy.

I'll post pics as soon as the camera finishes uploading.

I found a neat site HERE

I'll start taking a look on fleabay for parts, but could probably use some help along the way... Maybe I'll hook them up to see if teh mids and tweeters work -- or would that be a bad idea? Couldn't see how it would hurt them any more...

Thanks!
 
Here are some pics. Man, these are crappy!

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P3070052.jpg
 
Okay, the surrounds are shot (new surrounds = kitchen table repair), but other than that, not bad at all. Cabs look nice, everything is there... Hell, they look better with the grills off than my AR-3's. Even the grills look decent.

Major find my man, MAJOR FIND! Now start reading!

Edit; Don't start tearing into them until you've searched for threads about refoaming, AR potentiometer restoration, dealing with AR rockwool stuffing, woofer testing, etc... Lots of good reading on these speakers, and I'll betcha you still don't know how excited you SHOULD BE right now!
 
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with patience and a little resourcefulness, these can be brought all the way back. you have joined the right community to help with this project
 
Sweet. I've already learned that the 9th grade shop class looking electrical tape is stock, so I'll stop touching it.

I came across a slew of threads when I remebered that the search feature here doesn't bring up diddly for "AR" or "3A" -- have to have 3 or 4 characters, I guess.

The grills are both intact, although one is missing the label. It amazes me given the poor shape of the speakers that the grills are still intact. They smell like hay, but they look nice.

I've never refoamed a speaker before - looks like I'd best start reading... There is a local shop that will re-foam for 50 or so a side... How difficult is it to replace the surrounds?

Any AR gurus in Tampa on here?

This is a new venture for me so any tips would be appreciated.
 
shrinkboy said:
you have joined the right community to help with this project
Click to expand...

Absolutely. I pimp this place often. I'm amazed at the knowledge and generosity of folks here. Plus, lots of members are as cheap as I am which is nice.

shrinkboy said:
with patience and a little resourcefulness...
Click to expand...

D'oh!
 
I'm doing one right now. It's not that bad. If you use shims be sure the replace the cap with an airtight one. I picked up the kit for 25 on the bay. Takes me about an hour each from pulling it to reinstalling it. There are many instructions on how to do it and you will get a set when you get your kit. If you are a rich man, have someone that knows AR's do it. If you are like me and are just plain cheap then doing it yourself is the way to go and you get the satisfaction as well.

Go for it Jesse!

Rick
 
The refoaming is very easy. For your first time I would get a kit off of ebay or from partsexpress (make sure it is designed specifically for the AR3a, since they have an abnormally sized woofer). The kit will have instructions. Just make sure to take it slow, and be careful cleaning the old glue off--any mistakes you make can be done over again EXCEPT if you damage the cone while removing the old glue.

Also, BE CAREFUL of the electrical tape. There are some really fragile wires under there. If the tape seems to be doing its job, I wouldn't mess with it. If the tape is dry and peeling off, just be super careful when replacing it.

While you're getting these up to speed, you'll also want to check out recapping the crossovers and cleaning or bypassing the pots, which are undoubtedly corroded at this point. This can be done very cheaply, and just requires basic soldering skills. There is a ton of information here on AK about doing these things.

When you're done, you will have a truly excellent pair of speakers. Enjoy!
 
:yikes: ON THE CURB!!!

Holy Edgar Villchur, Batman! :tresbon:

GREAT, Great score. Most of the cosmetic issues you're seeing are "stock", and not a problem. Early AR's without their grills look like abused step-children of very nice speakers...

The woofer foam is no sweat, it is actually easy to install. Cleaning the AR woofer cones is a different matter, however. The cones are almost like "pressed lint" and can be very fragile if you subject them to any wet chemistry like acetone or alcohol. Do a dry cleaning with an exacto blade held perpendicular to the cone, and go gently. I like the kits from wooferrepair.com, and they come with proper shims and an instructional DVD to build your confidence. If this is your first time, USE THE SHIMS, guaranteed success. Don't use the included dustcaps, contact ARguy here on the forums, he can provide accurate replacements.

Do the caps, and do the pots while you're in there. Pot cleaning tutorial HERE, view of a similar AR speaker's guts (and how to get in!) HERE.

The arsenal.net link you found is actually http://classicspeakerpages.com now, and you'll find tons of info (and a schematic of your crossover) in the library over there, I highly recommend it.

Good luck, you have made a super score. "On the curb" my a$$... :D

Todd
 
ozmoid said:
Good luck, you have made a super score. "On the curb" my a$$... :D

Todd
Click to expand...


Well, I hope they sound nice as I'm sure I've used up all of my goodwill karma. I knocked on the door of the house where they were... sorry she was good looking too.

Oz, is Mad Momma's mud sling still a going concern?
 
I just had my 3A woofer surrounds done by Carl at Carl's Custom Loudspeakers in CT. His extremely good and reasonably priced. You can find hin on the classicspeakers.net

Nice find:yes:
 
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