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Layne Audio: Speaker
Parts and Repair .
More AR Info:
under construction...but have a look around
Here is some information and photos that will help identify your AR speakers and their components. The same models were often produced for a number of years, so there are often variations in the drivers/crossovers used. Please realize that AR speakers are "consistently inconsistent", you often find particular woofers/tweeters in cabinet versions they aren't "supposed" to be in. Crossover designs also saw many revisions, so we continually run into new variations.
AR3 and 3a: The "3" series speaker consists of an 11" woofer, 1.5" cloth dome midrange, and 1" or .75" dome tweeter [depending on age]. AR called the woofer a 12", but its really a unique 11" size all its own.
AR3: The woofer had a cast frame, cloth surround, and ribbed cone. The ALNICO magnet structure was a columnar bolted design, quite different from the modern "plate" magnets you see today. The crossover is a simple 6dB design, with level controls for the mid and tweeter. The tweeters were the 1st generation type, 1" cloth dome saturated in a very hard resin. Despite its huge alnico magnet, the early tweeter is horribly inefficient due to the dome materials and construction. A fiberglass pad over the mid dome was used to roll off its top end rather than using a more complex crossover. It did its job, but also hurt efficiency.
AR3a: The woofer used in this later version has a very large [approx. 80 oz.] standard ceramic magnet structure, smooth paper cone, foam surround, and stamped steel frame. The overall sound quality is nearly identical to the original woofer, but efficiency is increased. The tweeter was changed from the earlier 1" hard coated fabric dome to a .75" pressed paper dome. Both efficiency and high frequency response were increased. The crossover changed to a 12/12/6/6 dB arrangement. The woofer low pass filter is 12dB, the mid high pass 12dB, mid low pass 6dB, and tweeter high pass 6dB. With the use of a higher slope between the woofer and mid, the crossover point was lowered from 1kHz to 700Hz. This allowed the dome mid to take over more of the vocal range, improving the overall clarity and tonal balance. The mid dome was still covered by a fiberglass pad, that would disappear in later versions [5 , 58s, entire 9 series].
Photos showing differences between 3 and 3a
woofers: Go Here
The 3a woofer is sans-surround, see
them both here after refoaming.
Original
AR 3 crossover schematic, later version with extra cap added: Go
Here
Original
AR 3a crossover schematic/parts list: Go Here
[Special thanks to John Baltutis for sending in these rare original
schematics]
AR 2, 2a, and 2ax: The earlier 2 and 2a featured a 10" cast frame, cloth surround woofer that was a scaled down version of the "3" woofer. The 2 was a 2-way with no true tweeter, the 2a used the early 1" hard dome tweeter. The 2a was a 3-way design, with the same dual mid-tweeters in an angled sub-enclosure used by the 2. Later 2a's came with a stamped frame/ foam surround woofer. The first stamped frame woofers had an oversized frame matching the size of the the original cast driver, a rather heavy felted paper cone, and an alnico "pot" magnet structure. This woofer was then replaced with version using a standard size frame. How to tell the two apart? The cast and early stamped frame woofers had 6 mounting screw holes, the later versions all had 4 screw holes. Somewhere along the line it became evident that the mid-tweeters used in the 2a were unreliable. AR eventually redesigned the speaker and released the 2ax. The dual mid-tweeters were replaced with a better quality single unit and the tweeter was upgraded to the improved .75" paper dome tweeter. Early 2ax's used the same "pot magnet" woofer as the later 2a's, but this was eventually replaced with a square ceramic magnet woofer that would serve in many AR models through the 70's and 80's.. The cone of this new woofer was lighter and stiffer, and had much stronger midrange output than its predecessor. To compensate for the change, two 3 ohm resistors were wired in series with the mid-tweeter. You also see the occasional 2ax with old 2a type woofers and tweeters.
See a restored 2ax here....and the two different stamped frame woofers here.....mids with and without added resistors here...
AR 4, 4x, 4xa: These were AR's early bargain priced bookshelf speakers. All 8" 2-way, early models had a pot magnet/ cloth surround woofer with very limited power handling. Later models had the standard square ceramic magnet and foam surround. The primitive 2" cone tweeter used in most models was crossed over way too low [1200 Hz], so failures are common. You can easily replace these with a dome tweeter and get much better sound. The 4 series cabinets are a decent size and well built, very good candidates for a complete rebuilt with modern components.
Looking for an original set of AR's? We sell AR replacement parts and drivers, but not whole speaker cabinets. For these, check eBay, local garage sales and thrift stores, or visit Mark Spencer's "Classic Speakers Page", there is a "fore sale" section on the discussion forum.
What's it worth???: Please don't email asking us to appraise a set of speakers, for items like this a speaker's value is simply "market rate", what the buyer is willing to pay. A set of well restored AR 9's will easily fetch $800+, but I know of people finding pairs for as little as $200. Same with the 3 or 3a, restored sets may bring $300 or so, but people also pick them up at thrift stores and garage sales for under $50. If you are the "buyer", pay what you feel comfortable with, but make sure to allow for shipping cost [if applicable], and especially any repairs or replacement drivers that may be needed. ANY speaker over 15 years old is going to need new foam on the woofers/ mids or possibly new replacements. ALL AR's with rotary level controls will need to have them replaced. If you are the seller, ask yourself what they're worth to you, and whether someone else may be willing to pay that much. Ebay is by no means a official price guide, but you can at least do a "completed auctions" search to see what similar speakers have been selling for.
