AR 5 - I'm Going In

shacky

shacky

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
AR 5's are my only AR's that I've not recapped. And since I wasn't overly impressed till now, and so many of you praise the 5's, I've decided to recap them and see if it improves their sound. I have 2AX (older version) and 3a's that are recapped and I love them.

Here are some pics of crossover before I start. I'm replacing all of them including the big woofer box. I plan to take the big woofer cap box out. The replacement caps are large but not that large. Might cahnge the internal demensions a tad but I would assume that could only help bass response.

Any tips as I start these babies :scratch2:

IMGP3915.jpg

IMGP3909.jpg
 
Now that I look at Carl's AR 5 schematic, looks like that big box is the 4/24 hi/mid cap and that cylindrical tan cap is the 72 woofer cap. How did they make a 72 uf so small? On surface lookes like one of the old sand filled caps.
 

Attachments

  • ar-5_schematic.pdf
    430.1 KB · Views: 49
Shacky, I looked at Carl's schematic and it looks very nice, except ... except I think he mis-labeled terminals 2 and T.

As long as you are in there, you might just as well bring out that 4th terminal. This gains you flexibility, especially if you ever want to try "tubes on top".

Regards,
Jerry
 
shacky said:
Might cahnge the internal demensions a tad but I would assume that could only help bass response.
Click to expand...

Not sure why you would assume this. I might have missed something, but offhand I can't recall ever seeing anyone say that a recap made their bass better. Mostly people talk about recaps improving their speakers' mid and high performance.
 
gkimeng said:
Not sure why you would assume this. I might have missed something, but offhand I can't recall ever seeing anyone say that a recap made their bass better. Mostly people talk about recaps improving their speakers' mid and high performance.
Click to expand...

Didn't mean the caps would improve bass though certainly since I'm replacing the 72 uf cap that is part of the woofer crossover I am hoping that's the case.

I meant that the big wax capacitor "box" takes up internal space and removing it and replacing with smaller volume replacement caps will effective increase internal demensions - though marginally.
 
Zilch said:
PM Carl and ask him to fix that schematic, please.... :eek:
Click to expand...

I think the schematic is correct in all the wiring. It's just # 2 terminal is next to #1 and T is furthest away as far as location. The wiring is all correct.

Boy the 5 and 3a crossovers are a heck of a lot more complicated than the other speakers I've worked on. Simplest is the EPI - just a cap on the tweeter and woofer runs till it falls off by itself :D
 
shacky said:
I think the schematic is correct in all the wiring. It's just # 2 terminal is next to #1 and T is furthest away as far as location. The wiring is all correct.
Click to expand...
Nope. "T" is not the woofer wiring; he's got "T" and "2" reversed, and "Pos" should go with "2" once he corrects that.

Clearly, his intent was to provide visual cues distinguishing the block cap from the smaller can one. It's the 4 uF should be the can, not the 72 uF as you've already discerned.

It doesn't make sense to me that the common connection between inductors #11 and #2 both connect through the 1.35 Ohm resistor and 24 uF to neg, but you have the actual speaker to verify that path. :dunno:
 
Zilch said:
It doesn't make sense to me that the common connection between inductors #11 and #2 both connect through the 1.35 Ohm resistor and 24 uF to neg, but you have the actual speaker to verify that path. :dunno:
Click to expand...

Hi, Zilch!

Actually Carl's schematic looks correct. This is AR's standard band pass filter and it's identical to the filter in the AR-3a.

PS: T and 2 are simply mis-labeled.

Regards,
Jerry
 
I sent Carl a note to take a look at our discussion when he gets a chance. Hope I'm not showing an outdated version. But thought I just downloaded this recently.
 
I agree the 2 and T should be reversed. I'll work with Mark at CSP to get it corrected. Nice catch guys!
:yes:
 
To document what I'm doing, here are the caps I'm using. Daton 60+12=72 for the woofer, Solens 24 for the mid, and Solens 3.9 for the tweeter.

IMGP3920.jpg


and here's the original tweeter cap:

IMGP3922.jpg
 
And I know I'm not getting bonus points for making it look pretty in there, but here's the new crossover setup:

IMGP3925.jpg
 
Ran into a quanrdy. I can't tell if this tweeter is working. I know these AR tweets are not all that loud. But I put a paper towel tube up to it so I could check it and I don't hear anything.

Checked the terminals - from front though this is newer tweeter with wires in cabinet. From these outer terminals I'm reading 4.6 so doesn't appear open.

Also got some weird white droplets on the tweeter cone. Anybody ever see this?

IMGP3926.jpg
 
shacky said:
Checked the terminals - from front though this is newer tweeter with wires in cabinet. From these outer terminals I'm reading 4.6 so doesn't appear open.

Also got some weird white droplets on the tweeter cone. Anybody ever see this?
Click to expand...

Did you disconnect the tweeter? If you're measuring an open tweeter that is still connected, you're getting the DCR of the rest of the system.

My guess on the white spots is bits of styrofoam packing that have adhered to the surface of the dome.
 
Nope I didn't disconnect. I was wondering about that. So I'll need to pull it?

If it's open I have a beater pair of 2AX's I could rob one from. But I'd have to change wiring back to front of cab.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

frankj389
In Need of AR-5 Replacement Woofer
Replies
13
Views
1K
Pete B
Pete B
winters860
Confirm or deny: AR-2ax, AR-5 basically identical
Replies
14
Views
3K
winters860
winters860
frankj389
Woofer Replacements For My AR-5's
Replies
2
Views
175
johnjhazel
johnjhazel
Flammaster
AR or A-25
2
Replies
28
Views
3K
shacky
shacky
L
AR 2ax - AR 5 - AR 3a - Difference ? Opinions ?
Replies
1
Views
947
kirk57
kirk57
Back
Top Bottom