Altec 604E ... going to be buying them in 2 days...

I don't mean to detail this thread but what about open baffles?I have a 604b I recently aqquired in a very small box and i may not be a carpenter I could certainly try a open baffle arraingment

http://jelabsarch.blogspot.com/2012/06/open-baffle.html

Dingsys1.jpg


http://www.hifihaven.org/index.php?threads/altec-604-8g-sanity-check.3822/page-2#post-72442
 
Wow 604 man ,please give some details on that and what tuning the box fb and f3 is ,I remember the honorable altec man Greg Montfort or GM on the altec board had some big boxes and mass loaded designs,
The big boxes I remember were usually the urei copies with the 604 and a helper driver from jbl,gauss,ev,Martin,etc

The box dimensions are 33in X 53in and 21in deep. 33X53in is the Golden ratio which is has
been used in architecture and design for centuries.

The cabinets were built using Baltic birch plywood made in Russia , that comes in 5x5 foot sheets, 3/4in thick. Bracing is edge mounted Baltic Birch, front , sides and back. no problems
with flexing.

There is fiberglass padding on the top inside, back and one side.

The duct is made out of PVC pipe 6in diameter and as I recall, about 8in long . I have A PVC
coupling that I can put on the the end of the duct for a tune-able response.

An ideal tuning is the inverse of your room gain , which is probably +3 to +20 DB depending on your room size and leakage.

The center of the horn on the 604-8G is 45in above the floor which puts the 604 at ear height
when seated.

Subtracting the 604, braces & crossover , Vb is about 20.5 cubic inches which is close to the
Vas of the 604-8G.

The honorable GM drew the line at Vb = Vas , this could be a rule of thumb .
 
Well I sanded them down, and put on the first coat of Linseed oil. This made all the wood-glue slop quite evident... seems like I'm gonna need a lot more sand paper . Oh well, I guess the elbow grease will just make me appreciate them that much more :D.
 
Here is one with two coats of Linseed. After the first coat showed all the glue, I used a scraper and a light sanding with 240 . The other is still untouched.
IMG_0181.JPG

Strange how a clear-amber liquid can make the wood transform, revealing its dark inner soul.
Walnut, a magical wood!



.
 
Last edited:
Stunning. My father was a great believer in linseed oil and a great carpenter. Unfortunately he's in the USA now and I'm here in canada otherwise I'd get him to build me a cabinet for my 604b.
 
Stunning. My father was a great believer in linseed oil and a great carpenter. Unfortunately he's in the USA now and I'm here in canada otherwise I'd get him to build me a cabinet for my 604b.

I must tell all to not heed lightly, the flammability warnings on Linseed Oil... we had a 92f degree day on Sunday, I left the wadded rag I used on the concrete floor. In about 4 hours I smelt a funny smell and picked up the rag. It was HOT, the center of the rag was black, flaky ash. I never saw flames , but spontaneous combustion is real. The garage was about 105f . I now keep those rags on metal outside away from everything :no:.
 
I must tell all to not heed lightly, the flammability warnings on Linseed Oil... we had a 92f degree day on Sunday, I left the wadded rag I used on the concrete floor. In about 4 hours I smelt a funny smell and picked up the rag. It was HOT, the center of the rag was black, flaky ash. I never saw flames , but spontaneous combustion is real. The garage was about 105f . I now keep those rags on metal outside away from everything :no:.
yes, im all too familar with the combustabilty with linseed oil and other products and thanks for pointing that out to others who might of not known.
 
I must tell all to not heed lightly, the flammability warnings on Linseed Oil... we had a 92f degree day on Sunday, I left the wadded rag I used on the concrete floor. In about 4 hours I smelt a funny smell and picked up the rag. It was HOT, the center of the rag was black, flaky ash. I never saw flames , but spontaneous combustion is real. The garage was about 105f . I now keep those rags on metal outside away from everything :no:.


I have heard of spontaneous combustion with Watco oil on rags too. very odd that it is flammable in this manner.
 
Wouldn't it be fun to have three. Then you could give Paul's 3 speaker systems a real challenge. You might be 3 db short in out put levels, but it would be a great contest. A 604 in a large cabinet is a true wonder especially if you have the LF cones with a 27 hz free air resonance. I bet your two are the equal of any Cornwalls out there. With better dispersion characteristics I bet your 604's would allow more people to enjoy the sound in your space too.
 
Wouldn't it be fun to have three. Then you could give Paul's 3 speaker systems a real challenge. You might be 3 db short in out put levels, but it would be a great contest. A 604 in a large cabinet is a true wonder especially if you have the LF cones with a 27 hz free air resonance. I bet your two are the equal of any Cornwalls out there. With better dispersion characteristics I bet your 604's would allow more people to enjoy the sound in your space too.

I can't wait to be able to compare the cornwalls and the 604s. I can tell you the cabinets on the 604s win out by a long shot. I also just finally got the 8b dialed in. So we'll see (I mean hear)
 
Last edited:
Hey
Not trying to stir the pot or anything, but my Cornwalls went to the garage then to Oklahoma.
Oh yeah mine are actually great plains audio 604s that came out of Houston. I'm sure there's a few that can figure out the lineage of them.
I think the folks that built the cabinets were out of San Antonio. They could be the same ones you see on ebay.
Eric
 
Sometimes the old ways are the best. A little more effort for sure, but the results are spectacular! I can appreciate the new look with the custom coated metal enclosures with the diamond coated tweeter cones and the synthetic mids and Aluminum woofer cones. But aren't these 604's in their custom cabinets with a natural finish just glorious. If they sound as good as they look you really have a one of a kind system. Now all you need is a pair of MC 30's or a restored 8B. A nice 7C with a new SME Synergy with a built in phono stage, Ortofon, Cartridge and you will be on top of the analog world. Throw in a Magnecord 1048 or an Ampex 354-2/4 and your ready for analog. I guess you'd want a 10B tuner, too.

You could go state of the art with A Mcintosh C-1100 with a matching integral D1100 for everything digital with a MCT 600 for sounds and a MVP 901 for video. Then you need a big OLED display. And to finish things off a MC 275 Mk VI. You could still use the SME Synergy, but might prefer the larger cousins, where you pick which cartridge you might like. And with all that Mcintosh stuff, you might want a MR-88, or if you want a bit of old school from the past. a restored MR-78.

Imagine spending all that money just to make your 604s reach their full potential. They deserve it don't they? Never sell them short.
 
Sometimes the old ways are the best. A little more effort for sure, but the results are spectacular! I can appreciate the new look with the custom coated metal enclosures with the diamond coated tweeter cones and the synthetic mids and Aluminum woofer cones. But aren't these 604's in their custom cabinets with a natural finish just glorious. If they sound as good as they look you really have a one of a kind system. Now all you need is a pair of MC 30's or a restored 8B. A nice 7C with a new SME Synergy with a built in phono stage, Ortofon, Cartridge and you will be on top of the analog world. Throw in a Magnecord 1048 or an Ampex 354-2/4 and your ready for analog. I guess you'd want a 10B tuner, too.

You could go state of the art with A Mcintosh C-1100 with a matching integral D1100 for everything digital with a MCT 600 for sounds and a MVP 901 for video. Then you need a big OLED display. And to finish things off a MC 275 Mk VI. You could still use the SME Synergy, but might prefer the larger cousins, where you pick which cartridge you might like. And with all that Mcintosh stuff, you might want a MR-88, or if you want a bit of old school from the past. a restored MR-78.

Imagine spending all that money just to make your 604s reach their full potential. They deserve it don't they? Never sell them short.

I have a few of those that you mention, and yesterday I got rid of another console and a gem of a '55 tv... just to make room for these behemoths. The only thing tha I really lack, is a marquee pre-amp. But I have a couple macs that aren't too shabby, and I've gone down the passive trail...
 
I was thinking back to a time at an Altec Seminar, when they had three clusters of 817 woofer boxes filled with 604 HPLN with a 311 horn on top with a 291 driver with ceramic magnets. Tri amped, with 9440 amplifiers. I amp channel for each pair of 604 woofer section per 817, , One channel for each quad of 604 tweeters, and one channel for each 291 driver. There were 10 or 12 816's with 421 woofers with an extra cork surround to prevent slapping of the cone against the woofer baffle and each pair of 421 woofers was driven by a 9440 channel. to say the sound was glorious is almost an under statement. 120 db at 75 ft or maybe 100 ft , my memory fails me at 32 hz. But I never had anything but positive things to say about 604's after that. 1976 or 7 I believe. They introduced Mantaray Horns that year at the Seminar. That was a big revelation. The big MR42 was shocking. It was like a quartz halogen flash lite piercing the night.
 
Back
Top Bottom