Help me resurrect my AR-90s

Check w Madisound.

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!

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.

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

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.

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!

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.

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.

Another resource to check into: www.millersound.net

Before you do anything call Bill LEgall at Miller Sound in PA. 215 412-7700 He knows the speakers well and may be able to fix them or he will know what to replace them with.

by your pic's it looks like a simple refoam is all you need. an earlier poster recommended vintage-ar (Larry Lagace) as a source for surrounds. i've dealt with Larry many times and can second the recommendation. make sure you get a full kit for each pair of drivers. this will include the shims and replacement dustcaps required to refoam them correctly.

i would not pay a shop to refoam AR drivers. its very straightforward and not a complicated process to do yourself. for 3 surround kits and shipping it should put you around $70 or so.

as for recapping the crossover, this should do it...
http://www.classicspeakerpages.net/IP.Board/index.php?showtopic=4174&st=20&p=72384&#entry72384

Yeah, I plan to refoam myself. A local fella has volunteered to help me do the first set for me to learn. He has a garage full of AR stuff! I've ordered the 8" set from vintage-ar, but the 10" set currently on ebay doesn't say it's for the AR-90 model, so I have a message in to ask Larry if they will still fit.

The link you left for the caps didn't work when I cut & pasted it.

it works for me when i just click on the link....

i sent you an email with the link, hopefully one or the other will work.

Got it, thanks!

The link Dingus left works for me also by simply clicking. The forum talks about bypassing the level controls on the 9 and 90. Dingus, have you ever done that? I'd like to but was told that that board was part of the crossover and that it couldn't be bypassed.

i've not done any mods to my AR9's, only replaced surrounds. i've heard of a few folks who've bypassed the level controls, but they were sure they knew what they were doing.

I'm not really sure where the shims go...directions are not very clear to me.

"Place three shims equally spaced around and between the coil and the pole piece. Push then gently all the way down into the air space betwees the coil and pole piece. This will center the voice coil and help hold it centered as you perform your work."

I 'm not quite sure where I'm supposed to be putting these 3 shims.

I see a picture like this: Shimming?

but my AR-90 woofers look different and I dont see how I can stick shims in there as the "black goop" is all around that thing in the center.

Here's a pic of one of my woofers:
Mine

You will have to remove the dust cap. Take acetone or nail polish remover and drop it with an eye dropper on the glue of the dust cap, this will detereorate the glue, then take a razor blade and gently cut away the glue and lift the dust cap. You will then see the voice coil and gaps that are shown in the picture that you provided. Easily put your shims in and your coil is centered. You are now ready to replace your surrounds.
Good Luck, Tim

Ah that is a second dust cap? I thought the domed one I cut off was the dust cap.

One more question...

Do I need to save that dust cap to reinstall it or is the dome replacement one I got sufficient?

The dust cap is the center of the woofer. If you have cut your old one off, the voice coil should be uncovered ready to shim. As far as a replacement dust cap? If the caps are made of a harder material, you will most likely have a bit more extention in the mids. If it is a softer material, you will most likely have a earlier roll off in the mids... I say most likely, it depends on crossover points and slopes.
You said that you had a friend that has done this. Have you gotten him involved?

There was a domed cover over top of the other black circle you see in the picture above. Are they both dust caps or is the flat black circle something I need to remove?
I don't see a gap to slide the shims in as the black goop seems to make a seal all the way around

I haven't heard from the guy that was going to help so I'm winging it!

On the photo that you have provided. The center is a magnet. Around the magnet is a voice coil former. They have slid paper in place between the magnet and former to make an even gap. This is the voice coil gap. Without that gap, your voicecoil will rub when the woofer is working. This must be done. You put the shims to balance this gap, You replace the surround. Then remember to remove the shims before you re glue your dust cap back on. For what ever reason. I get the idea that they had a small dust cap, and another larger dustcap over that. If they did that, then yes, put the second (larger) dust cap back on. It can affect the mid range as well as the bass performance if it has much weight.

Some 90's had larger dustcaps. It is apparent from your pic that the driver had a large dustcap over a smaller one. You will have to replace the dustcap(s)--after you have removed both of them so that you can shim the voicecoil--with the larger alternative dustcap in order to cover the ring of glue. If Larry gave you the smaller dustcap in the kit, you will have to have him send you the larger ones.