Altec 803B Question

[pantoramasan]

I have a pair of Altec 803B speakers recently purchased in odd cabinets. I removed them today and was a little surprised. I was wondering if it is worthwhile getting them re coned due to the fact that they are somewhat stained. Although the sound was great when I hooked them up prior to removal. It appears to me to be simply cosmetic issue. So basically will the value be decreased as they are now if I were to sell them this way?

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays

 

[alteclipsch]

Those look fine to my (non-expert) eyes. I have a pair that have a bit of that staining too, and have no problems with them at all. As long as they're intact and perform well, I'd leave them alone. Keeps their originality. Other real Altec experts are sure to chime in...

 

[pantoramasan]

Thanks for your input. I was hoping to hear that...I'm no expert either and they did sound great.

 

[Sam Cogley]

Many older drivers have dirt and staining like that. If it bugs you too much, clean the cone gently with a microfiber cloth or a *very* gently moistened paper towel (you don't want to get the cone wet, just enough to get the dirt to stick to the towel). It would probably be possible to re-dye the cone to even it all out, but I've never tried that.

 

[pantoramasan]

Thanks for the tip. I may give that a try...very carefully.

 

[elitopus]

Yes definitely keep the original cones if they sound good.
Do they have the correct Altec stamps on the back of the cones? The cone stamp should be 21090 or something similar.

 

[pantoramasan]

Yes, they do, definitely original.

 

[bowtie427ss]

Generally, about the only thing i'll touch a vintage cone with is a clean soft dry paint brush.

I am very suspect that those have already been reconed. There's way more dope on those surrounds than would have been applied by a trained Altec employee. Given the vintage of the woofers, over-doping would not make it past QC at the factory.

Since these are late 803B's, i would expect them to carry 21184 cones, same as you'd find in a 416A since a late 803B and 416A are the SAME woofer.

That said, you will find 803B cone numbers all over the map. 803B with the orange surround usually carries a 20876 stamp. But, i have also seen them with stamps where the digits are spaced and don't resemble an Altec cone number at all.

EDIT: OP's frame shows a date code from the first quarter of 1964, that'd be getting near the end of 803B production.

 

[alteclipsch]

I am very suspect that those have already been reconed. There's way more dope on those surrounds than would have been applied by a trained Altec employee. Given the vintage of the woofers, over-doping would not make it past QC at the factory.

If they had never been rotated and had been warm for a while, I'd suspect they'd been reconed too, but those cones look old, so I'm thinking it's just goo sag. Bowtie, you're much more an expert than I though!

 

[pantoramasan]

From what I understand, the original owner had lived here in Tucson all his life and purchased these and a pair of 802D/811's in the 60's and built the cabinets which these came out of. I don't believe they were ever rotated.

 

[bowtie427ss]

It is entirely possible they are spot on original and untouched.

However, if that's the case then the QC on the one pictured is very poor for that time period. The gasket sections don't line up as precisely as they should in addition to the excess goo. In the early 60's Altec still had all of it's pride on board, and QC is generally the standard by which others are judged.

That said, i have a very good life long friend who has lived in Tucson for the last decade or more. By proxy, i know how hot it gets there, and to make matters worse i sold him a big Krell power amp which is going to make Tucson even hotter. It's one of the few parts of the country that could evenly warm them to the point where even a sparing coat of the surround goo would migrate.

It should also be noted that Altec used at least 4 or 5 different varieties of surround dope over the course of time and various applications, this could also be a factor. I just have a hard time looking past the quantity that's represented by the thickness of some of that puddling. But, that may just be my own little hang up.

 

[pantoramasan]

I agree, gravity and heat can definitely move goop. I should also mention that the speaker cabinets were Karlson design and the speakers were at about 45 degree angle as they fit into the cabinet. Which may explain the way the goop was dripping. I am definitely not an expert at these things, so I appreciate all the info I'm getting.

 

[elitopus]

You can clean the excess goop up and make it more even around the surround. There are a few solvents that will do it.
It will not make the cone look any better but it might improve woofer performance and could even lower the Fs back to where it should be.

You would have to have a woofer tester to find our where the are right now as far as specs.

Bowtie: Its interesting to know they switched over to the 21184 cone code pre- 416.

 

[bowtie427ss]

Bowtie: Its interesting to know they switched over to the 21184 cone code pre- 416.

As you well know by now, the Altec rules seldom run hard and fast. it could well be that the 21184, and 21090 are the same cone. Of course, we would have to specify which 21184 as they appear with up to 5 different suffixes on them.

On the supply chain end of the manufacturing imagine a scenario like this: say 21090 was the part number given to the same cone as a 21184, except the intended destination is into a package where it's stocked and sold as a replacement cone. They would be the exact same part. All across Altec's products it can be seen where Altec would sometime pull parts from different categories of inventory. Situations could arise where an order comes in for 500 woofers, but the warehouse only has 150 21184's, but has hundreds of 21090's. They would make the substitution without notation. There are little subtle instances of this all over Altec's history as you have first hand seen.