Belvedere2 241 Posted February 21, 2013 Posted February 21, 2013 Anybody have any experience with AR-90s? Checking out a pair tomm and looking for anything I should look out for. I've heard AR-9s before so I pretty much know what they sound like; planning on bringing my Led Zeppelin. Woofers and whatnot have been refoamed so I hope there shouldn't be any issues. Thanks!
soulofsound 40 Posted February 21, 2013 Posted February 21, 2013 I had a pair of AR-10s years ago bought them new and sounded great to me. But you needed some real power to run them. I used a M 400 !
stereo_dog 1,578 Posted February 21, 2013 Posted February 21, 2013 I have a pair of AR-90's. I like them alot. They are being driven by my Dynaco mono-blocks, and at 60 wpc, they do very well. More power is always better for these speakers. Good high frequency reproduction and excellent bass extension. Mine are very accurate, not boomy or anything like that. They are good "rock & roll" speakers, for sure. Good luck. Here are some pics of mine for comparison: http://photobucket.com/AR-90
Belvedere2 241 Posted February 22, 2013 Author Posted February 22, 2013 Decided to get them. Listening to Kashmir at the moment. Using the Spec gear so its showing 50 watts. Need to wait till I fuse em to really crank em. I can run em with my Carver gear when I get my C-1 back from Dennis. 1
soulofsound 40 Posted February 22, 2013 Posted February 22, 2013 Your AR,s with a C1 with a Carver power amp! You will hear them sing. That Carver power was great for my AR 10,s. soulofsound 1
Belvedere2 241 Posted February 22, 2013 Author Posted February 22, 2013 Your AR,s with a C1 with a Carver power amp! You will hear them sing. That Carver power was great for my AR 10,s. soulofsound Excellent!
soulofsound 40 Posted February 22, 2013 Posted February 22, 2013 I got my AR,s about 80 or 81 ! I already had a Keenwood KA3500 and two La Scala,s ! Broke two windows showing off with it. Louder than a club and much clearer. I loved my M 400!
stereo_dog 1,578 Posted February 22, 2013 Posted February 22, 2013 Please post pics when you get a chance.
Belvedere2 241 Posted February 22, 2013 Author Posted February 22, 2013 I'll post up some pictures tomm. Too dark in my house
hipmomk 1 Posted February 23, 2013 Posted February 23, 2013 Good luck with the AR-90's. Like all vintage AR's of the 70's, they like a lot of good clean power by an amp comfortable handling complex and low impedances (like your 1.0 mk2). More power is much better than not enough power. I happen to have a set of AR9's & AR90's, and are very happy with both. The 9's will go slightly deeper, but he 90's are no slouch. From lower mid up, they are about the same, the 90's are easier to fit in a room. They will play very clean & loud, but do remember they are over 30 years old. They will probably take everything the 1.0 can dish out - but I am not suggesting constantly running the amp with the lights high up the scale, dynamic range is a funny thing, and even though the amp hasn't lit the headroom exhausted bit, it is probably already clipping a bit on consistently high volume playback. Mid & high range drivers don't like that, especially older ones. Couple of suggestions. You probably want to pull one of the side woofers out and see if the caps look original. These things are over 30 years old, and the drivers are getting rare. If the caps look to be original Spragues or worse Callins, or are the black and red things they really need to be replaced. The crossover network is very complex (side firing woofers intentionally are out of phase with the other drivers for one thing). Cap replacement is not fun but can be done with half ass skills, but it is tight in the cabinet. The tweeter midrange board is on the back of the cabinet, the woofer on the bottom. You really need to be concerned with the tweeter midrange caps, because original drivers are hard to get (replacements are available but don't quite sound the same), and old caps drift in values enough to overload drivers, or can short open and blow them. Being sealed in design, make sure the drivers have the gaskets on them and so on, it makes a difference. Have a good time, Joe
Belvedere2 241 Posted February 23, 2013 Author Posted February 23, 2013 Good luck with the AR-90's. Like all vintage AR's of the 70's, they like a lot of good clean power by an amp comfortable handling complex and low impedances (like your 1.0 mk2). More power is much better than not enough power. I happen to have a set of AR9's & AR90's, and are very happy with both. The 9's will go slightly deeper, but he 90's are no slouch. From lower mid up, they are about the same, the 90's are easier to fit in a room. They will play very clean & loud, but do remember they are over 30 years old. They will probably take everything the 1.0 can dish out - but I am not suggesting constantly running the amp with the lights high up the scale, dynamic range is a funny thing, and even though the amp hasn't lit the headroom exhausted bit, it is probably already clipping a bit on consistently high volume playback. Mid & high range drivers don't like that, especially older ones. Couple of suggestions. You probably want to pull one of the side woofers out and see if the caps look original. These things are over 30 years old, and the drivers are getting rare. If the caps look to be original Spragues or worse Callins, or are the black and red things they really need to be replaced. The crossover network is very complex (side firing woofers intentionally are out of phase with the other drivers for one thing). Cap replacement is not fun but can be done with half ass skills, but it is tight in the cabinet. The tweeter midrange board is on the back of the cabinet, the woofer on the bottom. You really need to be concerned with the tweeter midrange caps, because original drivers are hard to get (replacements are available but don't quite sound the same), and old caps drift in values enough to overload drivers, or can short open and blow them. Being sealed in design, make sure the drivers have the gaskets on them and so on, it makes a difference. Have a good time, Joe Thanks. Don't think they've been recapped. He mentioned leaving them alone when I bought them. Already thought of getting them done just need a shop that will do it. I have no skills myself. I keep the amp out of the yellow; popped the fuses on my Maggies once so that's not going to happen again. Paranoid. My 901s get the abuse; just take whatever power I throw at them. Those I know I can replace.
Belvedere2 241 Posted February 23, 2013 Author Posted February 23, 2013 Should try to take photos from the other side; too much light now. Took the grills off to oil down the wood.
Belvedere2 241 Posted March 9, 2013 Author Posted March 9, 2013 90s are off for a recap. Using Solen caps throughout. New binding posts as well. Should be back in a couple weeks.
Belvedere2 241 Posted March 27, 2013 Author Posted March 27, 2013 Just a couple pics I was sent tonight on the progress. Bass section and a before and after pic of the upper crossover. Much better pics than any of mine. Should be done in a couple weeks.
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