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Altec 3182 subwoofers

Aptone

Aptone

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I was able to get some Altec 3182 18" sub woofers in good condition. They were used in a home theater setup, built into boxes in the back wall, along with a 100" projection TV and some Genesis Quartet speakers. It must have been a heck of an experience to watch and listen to that system!

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So I need to build boxes. I have a wookworking shop (I was a pro cabinetmaker in my youth) so I have the tools. I have enough space in the basement for some big boxes. The question: is there any other good choice than to build the recommended Altec 8182 cabinet?

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I will add that I like bass a lot. I am currently running a pair of Definitive Technologies PF12 subs, which I like, but the opportunity to go all Altec was too much to resist. The main speakers are Altec A7 with MR II 594a horns.

I listen to a lot of reggae, rock, and some bluegrass. Has anyone else run the 3182 subs as part of a home system? Thanks
 
I'd start with the t/s parameters and model something based on those to suit the space. The big Altec cabs are down 6dB at 20Hz, which may simply be a function of the Fs of the driver.

Don't see many 3182s in the wild. Was one on CL here for a while for $100 ... albeit not nearly as nice as either of yours.
 
damacman said:
I'd start with the t/s parameters and model something based on those to suit the space.
Click to expand...

Thanks Damac, do you have a recommended modeling tool? It would be interesting to see if I end up modeling something identical to the 8182 cabinet in the end.
 
Well, physics hasn't changed much since 24ft^3 vented enclosures were the norm for such drivers. 3dB down at 23hz sure sounds lots better than -6dB and 20Hz! However, both are merely a function of the steep roll off below tuning.

I kinda like Infinite Baffle setups with large drivers. The Qts of this driver is a bit low
for that but that wouldn't stop me from experimenting. It would seem impractical to tune the enclosure any lower ...

Bass Box Pro is popular. We used to use TermPro back in the day.
 
By the way they work great powered by a MC 2500. MC 2600 and MC 602 can be a bit to much for them used continually as in Disco clubs, where I used them. I Imagine for HT where its most ly about an occasional special effect and MC 2600 or 602 would work perfectly and the Power Guard would keep the 3182's from melting. QSC amps with their form of limiting works almost as well. There is a difference. MAc amps compare the input and out puts and correct levels to prevent clipping. QSC amps just have built in limiters. I normally used two 421's with double front gaskets in horn loaded enclosures because the horns weren't any good below 30 Hz and most Disco music stops around 35 to 40 HZ. 3182's are pretty inefficient compared to an A-7. They need almost 10 times the power of the 416 in the 825 or 828 A-7 woofer box. Placing the 3182 in corners will help tremendously increasing the output level below 100 HZ. I crossed them at 70 HZ when using them with split La Scala bottoms in pairs as the mid woofer. Did the same thing with Altec 817 boxes one time except they turned out to be to large so went back to using two La Scala bottems bolted together. What did we do with the La Scala tops. We used them as fill speakers where there was just way to much bass. We normally used 311 X 90 horns with a 291-16B as the mid horn and 4 MR 902-16 HF as the tweeters for the dance floor. The 511 and 811 horns even covered with tar rang to much for me. Where the 311 horns we very neutral sounding. We used Urei Electronic crossovers set at 70 Z, 700 HZ and 7000 hz. The 700 HZ crossover allowed us to double the power to the 291 with out any failures using Mac amps with Power Guard. Same for the MR-902's. I learned that from Don Davis at a Syn-aud-com School. A MC 2125 ratted at 125 watts that would put out 160 all night long from each channel with the power guard light barely flashing and ran two 291 on each channel without ever a diaphragm failure. You could run 8 tweeters off a Mac 2205 or 2255, using the 2 ohm taps.
 
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twiiii said:
By the way they work great powered by a MC 2500
Click to expand...

Hey twiiii, I have a SAE P250 I was thinking I would use to power the 3182s. Wish I could afford Mac stuff! I have a Berringer electronic crossover so the suggested crossover points are appreciated.

Have been thinking about building some 817 boxes and populating them with new Great Plains 515s, to use instead of the A-7 as the mids, but that is a dream for the moment.

Love hearing about your experiences!
 
You will gain 2 db in out put level at 1 watt over a 825 box and another 3 db using 515B or 927's which use ceramic magnets instead. So you could gain 4 to 5db with 1 watt. I don't trust SAE amps, much preferring Haflers if you are on a Budget. I have friends who Have DH 500's and they have a great sound even better than the Crowns I had for a while. If it were me I would want a MC 7200 for the bottom that can put out 356 watt peaks before the power Guard kicks in at 8 ohms. At 4 ohms its over 524 watts peak per channel before the Power Guard kicks in. Both Power levels are way to much for 515's. They roll off starting around 65 or 55 HZ depending on which version of the 515 you have. The HPLN rolls of starting around 65 HZ as I remember in an 817 box. I used 421 in pairs stacking two boxes and the speakers were flat to 40 HZ and were down about 6 db at 30 hz. So I didn't need subs for discos. Altec made a box with Dual 3182's and it would take one each to keep up with a 817.

What you really want is the NON anniversary version of the Klipsch Jubilee some day. The horn goes from 300 to 19,000 flat with 108 or 9 db sensitivity using a New Celestion Driver with a 2 " throat and a Klipsch throat wave guide to prevent destructive interference. . The woofer box uses two 12 inch woofers in a tuned ported box thats is inserted in a very large horn so reaches down to 18 HZ with 104 or 5 db sensitivity. The speakers comes with a stereo electronics crossover based on an EV design. All you would ever need isimages-1.jpg images.jpg about four 50 watts per channel 4 channels of amp or on the outside 100 watts per channel. But the speakers are large.
 
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