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I am new to this forum and new to vintage speakers and repair. I recently bought a pair of AR 4X and was thinking of restoring them and need some help. They are in pretty good shape, only issue on cabinets is the rubber mounts on them, I think they will come off easy. The cloth grills are not ripped but stained, the AR badges in place. Only other issue I can see is the tweeter control does not work but I have sound from the tweeters. The outside looks like an easy fix with just some light sanding, not sure what to do about the grill fabric. My main concern is what to do for bringing the woofer and tweeter back to new condition. When the grills are off there a few chips in the front board, and the pain is faded, I want to correct this too,I have hooked the speakers up and they sound good, but I want to get them close to new as possible so I can get a few more years out of them. My questions are
1. Can anyone tell by looking at them if they have been worked on yet?
2. Do I replace the woofer and tweeter with new?
3. Do I refoam existing woofer or do seal with black glue I read about?
4. What is the best website for parts
5. Does anyone have pictures or video on how to remove the drivers?
6. How do you repair or pain the front speaker board
7. What do I do about the grill fabric?
The speakers are not consecutive serial #’s does this matter. ? I am doing this mostly to learn and have fun. My main goal is to re build the speakers for listening purposes I am not concerned with keeping them originally, that is not my main focus but if I can and it’s worthwhile to do so I will.Any help is appreciated.
Edits: 07/06/14Follow Ups:
I used to see those 4x's all over the place at yard sales and even at the dump. Never did like them, though the cabinets are solid and well made.
Having said that, if they sound good to you then that's all that counts.
So, if, as I said, they sound good and reasonably equal I would restore the cabinets cosmetically and not worry about the mismatched drivers for now. You can buy new grill cloth and recover the grill frames. You can paint the cabinet fronts and sand/refinish the rest. You can replace the tweeter level control or just bypass it. (AR used a black sealant around the drivers that can still be flexible to this day but it holds like cement, making it hard to get the drivers out).
Then when you are done with the cosmetic restoration, sit back and enjoy your speakers. Then keep an eye out for others, either single 'orphans' or pairs, especially ones with damaged cabinets, but don't pay too much. Then harvest the drivers and put the best original drivers in your nice cabinets.
good luck,
--Matt
"When you think everything is someone else's fault, you will suffer a lot."
--Dalai Lama
I agree with Realistico & his approach!It seems to make the most sense to me!
I am fairly new here too. I am not sure what the different models of AR speakers are....maybe these guys can help with that. What did you pay for these? Here are some pics of some newer AR speakers I picked up recently for $15. They have 10" woofers. Does everything work? Ever heard the saying "if it ain't broke, don't fix it?" How do they sound? What do you want to improve? The looks or the sound? The first thing I would do if they were mine is mask and paint them. If you need to replace more than 1 set of drivers, it is probably better to walk away now. They do not match exactly so they have probably been worked on. The serial #'s should probably match. Do the identifying badges match? Mine are vinyl covered cabinets. I have never seen "quality" cabinets that are not at least wood veneer. The speakers can be removed "carefully" with a screw gun. The grill cloth can easily be replaced and it probably is the best route if they have holes or stains.
Thanks for the help. They do sound good the way they are . I can only imagine how they would sound with properly matched drivers. I may go ahead with the project just to learn and see how it comes it. If I do what is the best source for the drivers. If I pull them out just to see what the existing ones are , do you need a sealant when you put them back in?
I have found that the best thing is to write to the original maker...they will match the original drivers. Somebody probably has another good source. Some models have a rubber gasket but sealant can make removal difficult later and it is easy to make a mess.
Looks like you have 2 different 4x speakers. Speaker on the left (in the picture) is an earlier version and appears to have a woofer with a cloth surround. Speaker on the right has a woofer with a foam surround that has been replaced. Some say having a mix of different woofers will alter the bass response due to the differing compliance of the surround materials. Tweeters are also different, with the one on the left being older. Tweeter problems are usually the result of corrosion in the level pots. The pots are difficult to restore, but they can be replaced or bypassed.
Best source of information regarding AR speakers is classicspeakerpages.net.
When restored these are wonderful speakers.
Thanks, for your input. I'm going to check these out a little bit closer this afternoon when I get home. Assuming they are two different tweeters into different woofers Is it even worth messing with these ? Is it worth the investment to buy OEM tweeters and woofers? I did mention this is my first restore, and I am new to vintage equipment. So I'm not embarrassed to say I paid $90 for these. Did I get ripped off?
Thanks for anyone's help and input
I was scrounging around on ebay. AR 4X speaker pairs in good condition are selling for $200 and up, higher than I had thought. Single speakers go for $100 and up. The options here are to find a single speaker that is a closer match to one of those you have or find a better-matched separate woofer and tweter, and then you should be able either to sell the entire speaker that doesn't match, or sell it parted out, and you should be able to recover most if not all of the money you spent on the stuff you buy.
$90 for your not-well-mstched pair was not a bad price given the prices I see on ebay.
I've always thought of the epi 100 and an "improved" version of the AR 4x since Winslow Burhoe designed both, and they are similar size, both two- ways with 8-inch woofers. The tweeter in the epi 100 is more sophisticated than trhe AR 4x tweeter. I think you can get a pair of decent epi 100s for less money than I am seeing for the AR speakers, largely because the supply is greater. Also, the AR name fetches a premium price.
I have seen EPI 100s lately go for less that $100.
Very good advice from everyone here. i am 50/50 on what to do. I know i dont have a collectors item, but part of me wants to go ahead and try a restore mostly for the challenge. At minimum i would have to buy two woofers at $60/ each and two tweeters @ $25/each, not sure about cross overs. I would be out about $210. this is the quickest solution. i am not sure if i want to search for another orphan speaker and then part mine out, that seems like a long process.
Am out of my mind ?
another pictrue of my AR X4
Well.....FMV for a restored pair is about $250.
If it were me, I would look for a single 4x that is close to either of your speakers- close in serial number, so,that you would have the same woofer and tweeter in each. Then sell off your orphan. They are excellent speakers when working well. Frequency response is from about 50hz-15khz on axis, with very smooth midrange reproduction. Restoration is an easy project. You can go crazy with cap choices, but you don't have to.
Enjoy.
I had a set of these. They had cloth surrounds. I liked them. If they sound good to you, you might just enjoy them the way they are. I wouldn't be too concerned about getting them back to the original state. If you want to fiddle, you might check the tweeter control, or consider replacing the caps in the control. A new pair of woofers and tweeters, will set you back much more than you paid for the speakers. I wouldn't put much more money in these, but it is up to you. At one time in the AR ads, Judy Collins had a pair. You can get replacement cloth at a fabric store cheaply.
There is lots of information on vintage equipment in the forum, and you can just use the search function.
David
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