AR 2 xi speakers

Great answer from Rich. You can get a lot more info where he says.

I bought a recone kit for my AR2ax woofers from Simply Speakers on eBay. I was going to do the job this weekend... maybe I can still get to it.

Once that's done, if I did a reasonable job I'll be able to tell what else needs attention. (The tweeter level pots are almost sure to need replacing.) You'll find one gent's description of his AR2ax project at the link Rich supplied.

These speakers like muscle IMHO--lots of solid-state grunt. I'm planning to drive mine with a HK930 receiver, but the 45 watts may be a tad low.

Tobias:

Depending on your room size and how loud you listen to your music ... you may be OK with the HK 930. I drive one pair of my AR 302's with a NAD C320BEE which is rated at 50 wpc and I rarely go past the 10 o'clock point on the volume control. The 302's are rated at 85db sensitivity at 8 ohms similar to the AR 2's and can handle from 35 to 250 wpc. The HK 930 was one of HK's great receivers ... super tuner section. If the HK is not powerful enough ... use the HK as a preamp and track down an ADCOM 545 to pair it with.

Regards, Rich

I've got a "newer" system at home right now. A pair of Athena Technology AS-F2's, a Pioneer VSX712 reciever, and a pioneer dvd player. I know my reciever could power them but would it really be worth taking everything apart and hooking these speakers up?

My hunch is, no. Do it if it sounds like fun to do, but as far as I know, Athena made some pretty nice-sounding speakers. The chances seem low to me that you'll prefer a pair of AR-2ax.

Given the components in the AS-F2's (two 8" woofers) and how well reviewed and regarded they seem to be ... I tend to agree with Tobias. Plus, the AR's will probably need some work to sound their best. If it is not too much trouble ... swap them in ... you never know.

Regards, Rich