Altec 9849-8A help

The 9846-8A is somewhat unusual in the Altec family due to the 411-8A woofer. It'll reach into the deep 20s with ease but at a huge penalty in efficiency. In my 20s (house party days) I toyed with the idea of building new baffles for the speakers o accommodate a CV or JBL 18" in an effort to close the huge difference in efficiency between the 411-8A and the 802D/511. But I didn't want to give up the low octave performance so I never did. If I didn't also have the XRT22s, the Altecs would still be in use in the main system.

I'm not at all familiar with yours but that does look to be the same bent horn from the Model 15s. Either way, the Solen caps weren't very expensive so not a super big risk ...

Yeah I have been on the kick of putting in quality parts, but sometimes I can get over board and spend more then most would consider for a marginal improvement.

I guess I just really want to make sure I do it right the first time. I thought about sanding it down and trying to give it a more "home" look. However I also thought about just cleaning it up and sanding to lay on another coat of the same paint. I'm not sure how much 'work" would be involved to make it look more home status.
 
Not to be argumentive, Solens did not sound that great in any Altec i've tried them in, or really anything using a compression driver/horn HF. I find them "edgy" as in being on the edge of "spitty" and sibilant. I'm not saying they sound "bad", just not as good as a healthy stock cap, or Dayton poly, or Erse, or Sonicap, etc.

I have owned and still own other speakers built with Solens from the factory and those are excellent, they are also cones and domes. Seems to be something about compression drivers and Solens that just don't go well together for my ears.

Please don't anyone twist my words to suggest i'm saying Solens sound bad or are not good caps, i haven't said that at all.
 
I use motor run oil caps in all my Altecs. They are super smooth. The only downside is they are much larger than the stock caps.

I use Russian bypass caps also. Once again, big caps. You need an extra board to fit them all.

I have also used Jantzen crosscaps. They are closer in size to the stock caps, and actually fit inside the crossover.

Regardless of what brand you use, I would change out the caps. It makes a big difference.

Stock Callins cap size versus a motor run
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I agree PIO's can also be very good on compression drivers. On this forum i just stick with mentioning products easily sourced from common suppliers and/or site sponsors as so many people will eventually see the thread.

The stock Bennic and Callins caps Altec used were very good in their day. Occasionally, good ones can still be found in situ. But, you have to have the ability to test caps under a load for leakage. Leakage is probably the first and most common failure mode for the stock caps, it's also the most complicated(or expensive) to test for. The larger values also tend to drift in capacitance value as they get well on in age.

Dayton 5% poly's have a sonic character that is very close to healthy originals, and if you're creative you can shoehorn them into the original network chassis in most cases tho they are substantially larger than originals.
 
Not to be argumentive, Solens did not sound that great in any Altec i've tried them in, or really anything using a compression driver/horn HF. I find them "edgy" as in being on the edge of "spitty" and sibilant. I'm not saying they sound "bad", just not as good as a healthy stock cap, or Dayton poly, or Erse, or Sonicap, etc.

I have owned and still own other speakers built with Solens from the factory and those are excellent, they are also cones and domes. Seems to be something about compression drivers and Solens that just don't go well together for my ears.

Please don't anyone twist my words to suggest i'm saying Solens sound bad or are not good caps, i haven't said that at all.
Interesting - I sure didn't experience that. In fact, I was kind of taken aback at the smoothness and effortlessness of the top end after the recap. Of course I haven't compared to the big oil caps either, which undoubtedly would be an even better improvement.
 
In all fairness, with their attenuator networks in addition to the crossover, there's a good bit more going on in the 9846 that may lend to that smoothness as much as cap choice. I would also remind others reading along that we are talking about generally very small sonic differences.
 
In all fairness, with their attenuator networks in addition to the crossover, there's a good bit more going on in the 9846 that may lend to that smoothness as much as cap choice. I would also remind others reading along that we are talking about generally very small sonic differences.
Agreed. What caps do you run in your pair?
 
A mixture of Daytons and Bennic metalized poly's, i tend to stay on the economy side with passives as i'm an active bi-amp guy at heart.
 
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