Acoustic Research AR-3a

AR-3a Home Stereo Speakers (refurbished) with original AR-3a Boxes

Things that I did to refurbish the speakers:
1.  I paid Stereo Workshop, located in Eugene, OR, to check out the tweeter, mid-range and woofer in each speaker cabinet to make sure they were all in good working order--which the were and are. But some of the L-pads didn't work very well, as I expected.
2.  I pulled the woofers, removed all four L-pads (potentiometers), replaced three of the four potentiometers with used, identical AR-3a potentiometers, disassembled the potentiometers, cleaned each with Deoxit 5 (D5), polished all of the appropriate electrical contacts with a small power rotary tool with a fine brass brush attachment, coated all metal electrical contacts with a dielectric silicone liquid to inhibit corrosion, reassembled the potentiometers, reinstalled them and soldered them back into the speaker wiring. All four potentiometers are in excellent physical condition and excellent working condition and all four L-pads work through their entire turning radius with NO "dead spots". I then reinstalled and resealed the woofers with DS-130 electrical duct sealant, which, as near as I could tell, is what Acoustic Research used to seal the woofers to begin with.
3.  I refinished each originally walnut stained speaker cabinet with Howard Restor-a-Finish (walnut) and then applied Howard Feed-n-Wax to each cabinet as an extra touch. Wow! What a difference. The cabinets "jumped back to life".
4.  I replaced the much deteriorated original grille cloth with a 100% open weave, European Linen with the correct thread count (18 per inch) as recommended and sold by Vintage ar. The color is off-white as per the original covers. It is supposed to closely match one of the three linen cloths originally used by Acoustic Research. (See the "Vintage ar" blurb on the internet for additional information.) The grille cloth is absolutely gorgeous, complete with the little "slubs" (heavy pieces of threads) that run up and down the grille as per the original linen coverings.
5.  I also bought replacement "AR-3a" replica emblems from Vintage ar and attached them to the front of the original screw-in emblem plates.
6.  Rather than hot glue the speaker grilles to the speaker cabinets (as was originally done by Acoustic Research) I slightly shimmed and Velcroed to speaker grilles so that they "lay" flush with the inside front of the speaker cabinet (as per the original installation by Acoustic Research) rather than having a recessed grille presentation that many of the refurbished AR-3a's have. With Velcro, the grille frames can be easily removed.

With the exception of a few minor dings and a few small scratches, and a small chip in the lower back corner of each speaker cabinet that doesn't appear to be seen from the front, they look fabulous and work great. I bought the speakers new in or around 1972 or 1973 and I am the original owner. For the past 38 years or so, these speakers have been stored in their original boxes in a dry closet and not used. It is my opinion that the speaker cabinets are in Very Good to Excellent condition. If you are an AR buff, you will love the look and the sound of these speakers.

The buyer is responsible for all packing, shipping and insurance costs. The internet says that an AR-3a speaker, by itself, weighs 53 lbs. (I have not weighted these speakers, but they are heavy to lift.) In terms of packaging for shipping, I will put each speaker into its original AR-3a box. I will then put each speaker and AR-3a box into an additional shipping box for added protection. There will be two shipping containers, each weighing, in my estimation, 60 lbs.--give or take. I speculate it will take me 4-7 days to get these speakers ready for shipping, after the transaction has been finalized. It is up to the buyer to tell how much each speaker should be insured for, as the speaker sale transaction will be final, with NO RETURNS. These speakers will be shipped from Eugene, OR, USA via a professional shipping company such as UPS or FedEx, unless otherwise specified by the buyer.

Speaker Dimensions:                        11-1/2" x 14" x 25"
AR-3a Box Dimensions:                     14" x 16-1/4" x 29-1/4"
Estimated Outer Box Dimensions:     17" x 19-1/4" x 32-1/4"

As for payment method, I will accept: cash, PayPal or a certified check that I can verify is legitimate. I am a private seller and have no way to accept debit or credit cards. This is my first posting on Audiogon, so there may be additional payment options offered by Audiogon that I am not presently privy to, given that I am an "old school", "O-tipped", binary knuckle-dragger.

Contact information: My name is Jim. I am assuming you will be able to contact me through Audiogon. Additionally (and probably easier for me to deal with), you can contact me via email at: [email protected] or by telephone at: 541-461-2022 (Eugene, OR USA).