Altec 604 Quandary

[sealy]

A gentleman of my acquaintance has a pair of 604's that he will sell me for about $500. The catch? One is a 604D and the other a 604E. The 604E is older, has a different surround, differing impedance and a slightly different high frequency driver. The 604E also has a greater value. I was hesitant until he stated that he would re-cone the D and change the high frequency driver so that the 2 speakers would be essentially identical, save the fact that one is green and the other white.

The price of the matched speakers would consequently jump to $750.

Do you guys think that this would be a fair deal?

 

[bowtie427ss]

500 is certainly fair for the pair.

The 604D is the older of the two.

My own personal preference would be to rebuild both to positively ensure matching parts throughout. I would further recommend having both motors re-magnetized at the time of rebuild.

Just my .02..........

 

[mhardy6647]

They're worth the rebuild for the price you're paying, 'specially if crossovers are included.

I suspect the mismatched pair would sound acceptably fine as is.

 

[sealy]

They're worth the rebuild for the price you're paying, 'specially if crossovers are included.

I suspect the mismatched pair would sound acceptably fine as is.

I guess what you are saying is that the sound difference would be negligible? How about the impedance difference?

 

[sealy]

500 is certainly fair for the pair.

The 604D is the older of the two.

My own personal preference would be to rebuild both to positively ensure matching parts throughout. I would further recommend having both motors re-magnetized at the time of rebuild.

Just my .02..........

Interesting. How do they go about re-magnetizing the motors? Is it expensive?

 

[bowtie427ss]

Interesting. How do they go about re-magnetizing the motors? Is it expensive?

They use a device called a "gausser". Recharging is included at no extra charge with recones at Great Plains Audio, they're also the only maker/supplier of correct Altec parts for rebuilding.

http://www.greatplainsaudio.com/

I'm not sure i understand about the impedance differences.

If they're stock/original, both the HF and LF sections should be 16 ohm on 604D and 604E.

Worthy of note, the "E" model uses the newer style(for it's time) 34852 diaphragm which many folks believe enjoys better HF extension than the 20275 diaphragm used in all models prior to the 604E.

 

[dshoaf]

I had my UREI/Altec 604s reconed by Bill at GPA. I'd suggest that you just have him fully recone both units. This will eliminate any impedance differences due to age or configuration of the existing speakers.

He'll recharge the magnets, and check that the horn diaphrams are proper, too. He does make replacements with the original dies, too, so you have a source for all of that stuff. My old ones came back in fabulous shape and sing just as they used to.

As an alternative, ask Bill about his brand-new 604s he is producing with the Altec tooling. There's been good discussions about them on the some of the DIY boards, too. If I didn't have mine, I'd be seriously considering them myself.

I cannot recommend Bill highly enough in either case.

Cheers,

David

 

[sealy]

I had my UREI/Altec 604s reconed by Bill at GPA. I'd suggest that you just have him fully recone both units. This will eliminate any impedance differences due to age or configuration of the existing speakers.

He'll recharge the magnets, and check that the horn diaphrams are proper, too. He does make replacements with the original dies, too, so you have a source for all of that stuff. My old ones came back in fabulous shape and sing just as they used to.

As an alternative, ask Bill about his brand-new 604s he is producing with the Altec tooling. There's been good discussions about them on the some of the DIY boards, too. If I didn't have mine, I'd be seriously considering them myself.

I cannot recommend Bill highly enough in either case.

Cheers,

David

Thanks, I'll check them out. I've heard a lot of similar comments on AK about Great Plains.

 

[soundmotor]

If you want a set of 604's, get them.

Then look to swap one for the one you need, either an E or a D.

I would not do any rebuild before I at least tried to make a matching set.

 

[mhardy6647]

Are they different impedances? I missed that.

 

[sealy]

Are they different impedances? I missed that.

I believe the seller said one is 16 ohms and the other is 8 ohms.
Is that possible with these speakers considering the vintage?