Rehab of AR3a Speakers Worthwhile?


Due to an amp change-out, I've got a spare set of Quicksilver 90W tube mono amps sitting around. Instead of doing the rational thing and selling 'em on A'gon, I took a looksee around the house and decided I could put together a "study" stereo if I rehabbed a pair of old AR3a speakers salvaged from my parent's house. I know one tweeter is blown, one midrange is blown, both woofers are subject to foam rot, and both of the L pads are probably rotted to garbage. I poked around at looking for replacement parts on the web, and found a place that will sell me new woofers at $120 ea., and a Dynaudio tweeter/mid/crossover upgrade (for both) at $485. So, I could entirely rebuild 'em for $725. My recollection is that the AR3a's sounded pretty good, and I wonder if I could pick up anything today that would sound better for the price of the upgrade (I know, "old" is probably anathema to most audiophiles, but these cabinets are *solid* and the basic 3a design was good). Any opinions?
edesilva
The woofers are fixable with new surrounds - $30 a pair, I'd guess. The mids and tweeters are tougher - call AB Tech in (I think) Hopedale Massachusetts for replacements. They have the pots, too. The 3a is still a fine speaker. Not as refined as today's best, but if you enjoy doing the work and they have sentimental value, why not? There's a reason so many folks fix them up.
Quickies with Vandy 2Ce's? There's no better combo!! A no Brainer! You can sell the AR3A's for parts on EBAY- Probably get more for them unworking. Lots of guys looking for broken AR3a's to fix up.
Ditto to Albertporter's suggestion above. The Vandy 2Ce is a FAR better speaker than the old AR, and makes a lot more sense to me than trying to rehabilitate the AR's.
Your intentions are admirable, but even if these speakers are returned to perfect operating condition they will not perform to the standards of today's best designs.

I just took a look at Audiogon's classified and saw two pair of Vandersteens 2's listed for sale. One pair was priced for considerably less than you are considering spending on your old AR's. I believe that the Vandersteen would provide better performance and save you not only the labor, but the possibility of disappointment after all your hard work.
Ahhh...large diameter woofer acoustic suspension... I know the AR's cost more to begin with, but the large two-way Advents sounded smoother, more dynamic and less polite to me than the 3a's did way back when. If you watch and wait I'll bet ya can find a working pair of the big Advents for about half the cost of your proposed redo. And better still you'll find somebody just itching for those AR cabinets. My 25+ year old big Advents are still in hard daily service with my ex-wife. They're on their second set of replacement woofers as the foams rot out too. Overall, if ya only listen to classical, yeah maybe the AR's are more refined. But if ya wanna rock, find the Advents. Enjoy!