AR-2ax. On the Prowl. Typical Issues???

Don't bother with them,I got a pair in a package deal..mushy is the perfect term IMO...way better off with modern speakers

I've learned a few things:

early woofers were cloth surrounds

later woofers were foam surrounds

woofers had pieces of screen on the rear spider cutouts to keep debris away from the back of the cone

mid driver has some diffusing stuffing in front of the driver, behind a grille, looks weird

tweeters coil wires were on the face of the front mounting board (rather than tabs inside). tape over the wires, looks weird

the two level controls were wire wound rheostats, corrosion a common problem.

front fabric wrapped panel was both glued and stapled on, not easily removed.

factory veneer: depending on which era:

unfinished pine, unfinished walnut, oiled walnut, birch, mahogany, cherry

thinking more about it, not looking for a project, just the memories and decent sound when working in the garage.

I found a pair in unfinished pine in upstate NY, my friend could pick up for me, I visit him later in the spring when the snow melt gets the waterfalls flowing.

Found a pair with new linen cloth, decent walnut boxes. I replaced the capacitors, re-stuffed with polyfil, put photos here

great project..enjoy !!!

One Tweeter was burnt out,

1 level control looked great but would not pass juice

1 new capacitor from Parts Express wouldn’t pass any juice.

.............................

New Tweeters, New Level Controls, Parts Express rushed me a free capacitor: done, they sound really good, the level controls beneficial to be sure. Wharfedales and Subwoofer in the pile of ’extra stuff’ downstairs.

My sound pressure meter came in handy measuring the output of the old tweeter against the new one, compared to the midrange. Old working tweeter was weak.

The Original Midranges have 1/2" thick fiberglass layer in front of them. The original paper cones behind that show no cracks, nothing, sound terrific,

So, $744. total. I would not have spent that much up front, but I’m glad I did,

$240. very nice walnut enclosures, excellent new linen faces, re-coned woofers, still terrific midranges, surprise blown tweeter, bad level control

-50. credit from seller

$20. Parts Express 6 new Capacitors

$260. ups pack and ship from Illinois to NJ

$260. two new tweeters and 4 new level controls, this seller

$14. polyfil from Walmart