Restoring speakers and vintage Hi-Fi Equipment.

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

So, I'm currently in the middle of my first refinishing job on a par of fantastic vintage Acoustic Research AR-2AX speakers (dated 1975) that used to be my dad's.

I had my first experience with opening them up tearing out the woofer for refoaming, all the fiberglass insulation (which was saved in a bag for later), then removing the pots for restoration and corrosion removal.

Then, last but not least the tweeters were run through their paces and one of them blew halfway through testing. fortunately replacements with modern equivalents are cheaper and in the end will sound a good bit better too.

Has anyone here ever rebuilt or restored vintage speakers or Hi-Fi gear before? Any tips and tricks I should make sure to follow in the process? Any and all help and stories of your escapades will be appreciated!

I stuck a poll up top for you guys to chime in on how you think they would look best when restored. I'm thinking of dying the cabinets either black or rosewood and re-felting the covers this weekend to have it all set for when the new tweeters come in next week.

Here is how they looked as of this morning before they were torn apart (not my pic):

[gtmtnbiker]

Good luck with the project. I have a set of speakers from 1985 that the outside need to be refrished. It has some mold and spotty finish. I was going to sand it and re-polyurethane it.

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

Good luck with the project. I have a set of speakers from 1985 that the outside need to be refrished. It has some mold and spotty finish. I was going to sand it and re-polyurethane it.

If the surrounds on the woofers are foam be prepared to refoam them. Changes in ozone and moisture make foam start dry rotting after about 10-15 years, it's an incredibly simple fix though.

My biggest hurdle is gonna be making sure the potentiometers for adjusting the hi and mid ranges are clean and corrosion free, and replacing the caps for the speaker.

My limit on everything is $60 as I refuse to go anywhere near where it becomes a money pit and I have to spend near or more than a new pair of speakers.

How it breaks down so far:

$20: Pair of new Hi-Vi tweeters

$17.99: Pair of new foam surrounds

$3: Work gloves, and garbage bags (for the fiberglass insulation), and steel wool (for the potentiometer restoration) from the dollar store.

Remaining $19: New caps for the crossover, fresh wiring for the guts and some varnish for the outside.

Might go over by $5-$6 but that's fine with me.

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

Just had fun polishing/restoring the pots for two hours with a scotch brite pad. They look great now and should function as new, but that leads me to wonder......

Who the hell uses UNTREATED COPPER on an electrical connection!?

These guys and their corresponding slide pads each looked like a grimy old penny when I first started with them.

[fastbilly1]

Keep them with the canvas and woodgrain. Its refreshing to see oldstyle speakers instead of the black on black that everyone has nowadays.

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

I'd keep them stock, but they're ugly as sin in person.

[samsonlonghair]

Whether you keep them canvas or replace the canvas with black felt, please keep that beautiful wood grain. Clean it, sand out the nicks, and shellac it. With a few coats of shellac, that wood grain will shine beautifully for years.