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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
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
Check w Madisound.
dingus
28 posts
 
are you sure the drivers are shot and simply dont need the surrounds replaced? make sure before you pay for replacement drivers. if you want to maintain the factory sound, you'll want original drivers. using any other driver will not get you there. you may also want to consider re-capping the crossover.

your best source for original drivers and surrounds will be ebay. the part# for the AR90 woofer is 200031-0, but the AR92 (and other models) used a similar woofer that would be a suitable replacement, part# 210033-0. best of luck getting them up and running!
arnettpartners
312 posts
 
I have a pair of 90's and replaced the surrounds with a kit that I got from vintageAR. Larry Lilgace is the owner and an expert on vintage ar speakers. He is good to work with. You can probably find surrounds cheaper but I was assured that by getting the kit I would have the right surrounds and quality surrounds and quality glue. The kit comes with good directions and with shims which you will need. If you get into trouble you can contact Larry and he will help you. If you don't want to tackle the refoaming, you can have them refoamed at considerable more cost--maybe as much as $500. for all six drivers if you can't find someone local and they need to be shipped out. The drivers are very heavy.
You don't want to replace the drivers. OEM drivers are no longer available new. The drivers available are only OEM in the sense that they will fit into the cabinets and will be much lower in quality. They won't be 90's anymore. The only way you can get original drivers is to watch for them on ebay or maybe oaktree. Good luck. They are worth refurbishing.
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