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Help me resurrect my AR-90s

So, I pulled my AR90s out after many years of storage and it looks like the woofers as well as the surround need to be replaced.

My dad bought these back in England in the late 70s for $350 for the pair..."the only time I ever bounced a check he says!" Anyway, he gave them to me in 1997 when I joined the Air Force and I've drug them all over the world from Maine to Pennsylvania to Colorado to Italy to Alaska and now back to Colorado. I haven't used them for over 10 years. I've recently gotten back into vinyl records and I'm wanting to set up as system with the old AR-90s.

Where can I find replacement woofers that won't change the factory sound? Anything else I should check on them before I crank them (once the woofers are fixed?
dtotheatothevtothee
czbbcl's avatar
czbbcl
1,699 posts
 
Here is a link to vintage-ar on e-bay ... Very reputable and knowledgeable about ar speakers.

http://stores.ebay.com/VINTAGE-AR-PARTS-AND-SERVICE?_rdc=1
shay123
72 posts
 
You may be able to get the original drivers reconed and refoamed. That is a better alternative than using different drivers. AR made their own woofers and they are a much better quality than aftermarket replacements. Try googling speaker repair and see what comes up. Also I know parts express and madisound do some reconing but there are many independent shops that recone speakers and some are pretty reasonable.
dtotheatothevtothee OP
18 posts
 
Here are some links to pictures. Please let me know what you think replacement/repair wise. Can the ones with the pushed in cones be fixed somehow?

Do you feel it's worth putting $500 or so in these to "resurrect" them?

http://tinypic.com/r/o8w7ro/7 - Right 8"
http://tinypic.com/r/jfzujm/7 - Right 10" A
http://tinypic.com/r/51xczp/7 - Right 10" B

http://tinypic.com/r/27xnkpd/7 - Left 8"
http://tinypic.com/r/314uzuv/7 - Left 10" A
http://tinypic.com/r/xp62o7/7 - Left 10" B

Thanks...this is a very helpful forum!
dtotheatothevtothee OP
18 posts
 
Also, I was told to replace the capacitors. I've read to go with thin-film types. I was wondering what values and how many I need for each speaker.
arnettpartners
312 posts
 
The "cones" look fine in your pics. Refoaming would be no problem. The dented dustcap is replaced--all the dustcaps are normally replaced with refoaming. You want to avoid reconing if possible. You would only need that repair if the voice coil was damaged. Reconing does not have the same electrical properties of the original but is an approximation based on "one size fits several" except in cases of rare coincidence. Back in the day (before reconing kits) damaged voice coils were rewound to exact specifications. I think the practice is as rare as hens teeth now but I've heard that the craft is still practiced if you can find such individual. I had a driver reconed once and the result was less than successful. Was not happy.
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