Formula for the Perfect AR3a Grill Cloth

fwardell

AK Member
So, I've been looking around for some time for grill cloth for my AR3as. Finally found the right cloth - a linen with vertical "slubs". Got it from Vintage AR on eBay (and yes, it was expensive, like $69 for two speakers' worth!). Trouble was, it was pure white. The wife says to dye it a little. After much experimentation, here's the formula: buy tan Rit dye. Gently wash the cloth in the sink and rinse well - leave wet. Add one teaspoon of dye to six pints of hot water on the stove. Add cloth and gently stir for 10-15 minutes. Remove cloth, rinse well and hang to dry. When dry, iron smooth and mount on speaker grills. Viola - looks like the original! Check out the picture. Makes the ARs sound that much sweeter, too. Warning: do not try this at home . . . unless you experiment some first. :banana:
 

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Glad to hear a report!

I was hesitant to plunk down the money for grill cloth from Vintage AR (even though I think the $69 package gets you complete grills with cloth and badges) because the business won't provide a sample swatch. Instead, they are returnable if the customer is dissatisfied.

I was skeptical because I've tried three other cloths being touted either in forums or by sellers as AR replacement and not been very impressed. The closest thing I've found is some linen at Hobby Lobby, which looks indistinguishable to me from the later linen AR was using circa '74.

Even considering you had to dye them yourself to get the desired color, yours look very, very good! Congrats!
 
Glad to hear a report!

I was hesitant to plunk down the money for grill cloth from Vintage AR (even though I think the $69 package gets you complete grills with cloth and badges) because the business won't provide a sample swatch. Instead, they are returnable if the customer is dissatisfied.

I was skeptical because I've tried three other cloths being touted either in forums or by sellers as AR replacement and not been very impressed. The closest thing I've found is some linen at Hobby Lobby, which looks indistinguishable to me from the later linen AR was using circa '74.

Larry is very good about returns. I returned a massively heavy AR amplifier that didn't work out for me and he not only refunded my money, he even paid the $40 return shipping! The shipping for a piece of fabric is negligible by comparison.

The fabric Larry sells is a close match to the off-white linen AR used in the 60's; a bit lighter but it'll only take a few years for natural linen to yellow to the "right" shade (or you could dye them the way fwardell did, I've been thinking about trying tea-dying on some scraps I still have left to see how that looks, but my concern is that since the linen will still yellow it might get too dark as time passes). The fabric used on the last classic models up until 1976 is the tough one, because it is non-uniform in color, with darker brown fibers randomly spun into the threads to produce a sort of "oatmeal" appearance. I'm still hunting for that one.
 
The fabric used on the last classic models up until 1976 is the tough one, because it is non-uniform in color, with darker brown fibers randomly spun into the threads to produce a sort of "oatmeal" appearance. I'm still hunting for that one.

Hobby Lobby! :thmbsp:
 
Go to a large city fabric store and ask for Irish linen. Take a sample of what you are looking for. They will have some on hand and several more choices they can order.
 
Or, You could try sitting them in a stinky smoke-filled room for the next 30 years!

That would be a good formula to sticky here. I bought nice used grills for my AR-2AX speakers just for the nice off-white patina.
 
i was hoping you'd say:

it added much more clarity to the highs and mids; the bass firmed up nicely!
 
So, I've been looking around for some time for grill cloth for my AR3as. Finally found the right cloth - a linen with vertical "slubs". Got it from Vintage AR on eBay (and yes, it was expensive, like $69 for two speakers' worth!). Trouble was, it was pure white. The wife says to dye it a little. After much experimentation, here's the formula: buy tan Rit dye. Gently wash the cloth in the sink and rinse well - leave wet. Add one teaspoon of dye to six pints of hot water on the stove. Add cloth and gently stir for 10-15 minutes. Remove cloth, rinse well and hang to dry. When dry, iron smooth and mount on speaker grills. Viola - looks like the original! Check out the picture. Makes the ARs sound that much sweeter, too. Warning: do not try this at home . . . unless you experiment some first. :banana:
Devils Advocate, by what gauge do you use for "color". I ask because being in the business that I am, I know full well that materials, especially white, shift in color over the years. Ask any woman who has pulled a formerly white wedding dress to find it yellowed due to age, environment, etc.

So, what is your base reference? I don't trust photo images, mostly because I'm a photographer and know that images aren't always printed/published accurately. Honestly I would think that Vintage AR chose to sell the cloth they have because it was closest to what the speakers looked like new, fresh out of the box.

That said, your speakers look a hellova lot better than my AR3a speakers. Grills and finish are the last things for me to do. Rebuilt the networks and pots and have been enjoying them a lot lately.

Nice work.
 
VERY nice! AR-3a's have a special spot in my heart because they were the first good speakers I ever heard. My dad had a pair when I was 12, powered by a Heathkit AR-29 receiver he had built. Heaven!
 
You want cheap, buy white 'linen' curtains at a thrift store, dye with strong coffee.

Did a pair of Smaller Advents. Total investment under $4.00, and I've got fabric enough for a couple more goes.
 

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I would use left over old off-white Magnepan fabric. Enough to cove a number of speakers. I got the speakers with rips in the fabric and redid the socks. This is my source. I did A25s but my ARs have great dark grilles so no need to replace them. Now maybe if I trip over a pair of 3s or 5s I could put new cloth on that that looks almost as good as these dyed ones the OP has shown us. Nice work.
 
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