Altec A7 VOTT I think I got a pair

[Tom Brennan]

Would a simple low pass filter, a second amp, and a passive pre work for this set up too?

I think it would.

As for the 18s you have, the cabinet below the horn gives you better than 6 cubic feet to play with and I'd be surprised if they can't be made to work well given the volume available. Remember, you can always make that volume smaller if need be by where you place the board blanking off the bottom.

 

[Jcricket]

the volume may not be big enough. I'll look through my pm's, but I think I need something like10-12 ft3.

But, even so, I am sure I can figure something out.

 

[doucanoe]

Here is a pic of what I was saying about the 18" sub in the bottom.

Dang it all, Dennis. I just got a lead on a nice pair of 2245's on the cheap. I was planning to taking a pass on them but then you had to go ahead and show me that.

Your a bad man.



RC

 

[Altec Best]

.......... and i hear the new 416-8C's from GPA are real good in VOT's

And you can buy them brand new cheaper than what you would pay on ebay for a pair of 416-8B's that probably would need to be reconed anyway.

I always liked the combo of 416's with 802G's/902-8A's in 19's or the 825/828 Vot cab.They just sound so nice to these ears.

If your 421's have Aluminum dust caps you will want to change them to paper dust cap (no Hole) in a HiFi/HT app. IMHO

 

[Altec Best]

A boilermaker pal of mine who is a hobbyist cabinet maker made these for me from the plans in the old Davis-Badmaieff book "How to Build Speaker Enclosures". The contrasting trim was his idea. They were loaded with 515Bs and thus were A5 bassbins (IMO the 515 is the best load). I used them with a various top ends including JBL 2427 and 2420 drivers, Altec 802, 902 and 288 drivers and Altec, JBL, McCauley and Edgar horns.

WOW Tom ! They are Gorgeous Votts ! It would have broke my heart to have to part with them ! Very Nice,Thanks for Sharing those pics, don't mind if I copy those for posterity. :thmbsp:

I also agree that the tar-filled 1005's sound real nice with 288's ! I have a pair hooked up now, but they have to be shelved with only 1 416.They really need dual 15" woofers to really shine.My 511E's sound nice too ! In a much more compact setup than the huge,heavy Multi's.

 

[Jcricket]

Okay, here are the pics of the inside. Definately a lot of after market screws in these cabinets. You could tell which were the sheetrock and which were the original.

SO, what say you good folk? real, unreal, or close facsimile to real A-7's?

Mark

 

[bowtie427ss]

SO, what say you good folk? real, unreal, or close facsimile to real A-7's?

Close facsimiles to an early 828 cabinet.

From what i see it appears these were "built" then at some point later, "rebuilt".

They are definitely not factory cabinets.

However, they do look like they were built dimensionally correct to the print, and to me they look like perfectly usable platforms.

Consider some good hardwood bracing no matter what route you take with them.

 

[Altec Best]

They look original to me, with the exception of the back panel and a small flat panel above the front port.They have obviously been replaced.Those cardboard pieces with staples in them over the fiberglass insulation looks like factory install to me.My 612C's look like that.Dunno ?

Jcricket are those staples over the cardboard about an inch wide? If they are, they are factory IMHO.I think homebrew cabs would not have those very large (manufacturers) staples in them.But like Bowtie says, they been rebuilt/repaired at some point.

Bowtie where you been ? Some of the guys been asking about you, told them it's summer time ! Only with the morning coffee. How are you ? All well I hope !

 

[Jcricket]

Yeah, those little grey things are about an inch wide, maybe just a little more.The inside also hase that Altec gray overspray. I know the back had a zillion aftermarket screws. I also know the person I bought them from disconnected the original 1/4" input jack and added his own speakers connectors for home stereo use.

 

[bowtie427ss]

They look original to me, with the exception of the back panel and a small flat panel above the front port.They have obviously been replaced.Those cardboard pieces with staples in them over the fiberglass insulation looks like factory install to me.My 612C's look like that.Dunno ?

All is well AB, thanks for asking. You're correct about summertime and all, doesn't leave much time for multiple forums.:tears:

IME, Altec never used pink fiberglass or plywood with open voids/knots(low exterior quality) in VOT's, and the fiberglass they did use was ALWAYS installed after paint. Factory overspray will be found on the cabinet only. Also, the bracing/glue blocks are very different from typical factory protocol.

I'd wager heavily against them being factory cabinets.

That said, it looks like they generally followed an altec print, and the critical points all look to be in proper scale.

Please don't anyone take any of my posts about the factory authenticity as suggesting they're of a lower quality, i feel they're on par with factory cabinets of the same vintage, just not of factory origin.

Just my .02 after all..............................

 

[djnagle]

Dang it all, Dennis. I just got a lead on a nice pair of 2245's on the cheap. I was planning to taking a pass on them but then you had to go ahead and show me that.

Your a bad man.



RC

Those things will rock your world Ron. DennyDog just left my house for a 15 hour trek home to the land of June, July, and Winter.

 

[djnagle]

There is a pro audio shop here in Detroit that use to contract to make the 828 cab for Altec. I am wondering if maybe a tier one supplier didn't make them with sub par materials.

All is well AB, thanks for asking. You're correct about summertime and all, doesn't leave much time for multiple forums.:tears:

IME, Altec never used pink fiberglass or plywood with open voids/knots(low exterior quality) in VOT's, and the fiberglass they did use was ALWAYS installed after paint. Factory overspray will be found on the cabinet only. Also, the bracing/glue blocks are very different from typical factory protocol.

I'd wager heavily against them being factory cabinets.

That said, it looks like they generally followed an altec print, and the critical points all look to be in proper scale.

Please don't anyone take any of my posts about the factory authenticity as suggesting they're of a lower quality, i feel they're on par with factory cabinets of the same vintage, just not of factory origin.

Just my .02 after all..............................

 

[Jcricket]

Hey Folks,
I was looking at the curves for the 421a driver. It says 35-8k. But it looks like it is more suited to go from about 150-1500. That is about 96/97db +/-3db.

So a seperate biamped subwoofer would really do well in this cabinet. Also, an ewave on top might be nice.

I do have a set of EV interface(two way) crossovers. They have a 1.5xover point. I think I'll try them with the selenium d220ti on the altec811's and see how they sound.

Just thinking oout loud here folks.

 

[Jcricket]

Does anyone have a recomendation for a crossover for use with the altec A7's?

I am going to use a subwoofer for below 100hz, I have the 811 horn - I am undecided what driver I will use on it. The woofer in the cabinet will be the 421a.

TIA
Mark

 

[djnagle]

I used an active crossover tri-amped.

 

[bowtie427ss]

2nd order somewhere in the neighborhood of 1khz(if your drivers will do it) should get you off to a good start Mark, i wouldn't go below that with an 811, and with 421 in the bottom you could probably push it closer to 1.2khz to good effect.

 

[dread31]

Mark,

I restored a pair of A7s some time ago. Mine had the 416s and 902-Ts in 511 horns in them. I built my own 500hz x-overs from Hiraga schematics. I do think I should have gone higher with the x-over point, however. Maybe 800hz? Anyhow, good luck with your project. I can't wait to see how it turns out.

Dave

 

[analog addict]

I wouldn't go that high with a sub. First, the A7s will go down to about 60 Hz, and secondly, you're going to get some directionality with a sub kicking in that high. Personally, I'd have it picking up the slack starting somewhere around 60 Hz.

You might wanna ask Bowtie. He runs a set of BIG subs with his A7s....

 

[Jcricket]

Thanks Allan.
I was hearing from folks here that the horn on top was good down to about 90hz, so I decided on an even 100 for the bottom.

I will try whatever Bowtie or anyone else suggests. I will likely just get one of those subwoofer plate amps from parts express, and fidddle with the xover point until it sounds good. I was condsidering a simple low pass filter and then biamping the bottom end with a 150 WPC solid state seperate amp.

 

[Scuzzer]

I was condsidering a simple low pass filter and then biamping the bottom end with a 150 WPC solid state seperate amp.

We could build a Steve Bench crossover and use the DB-20s I'm building for you on top and then build something around those Antek torroids for the 80hz-800hz duty (or wherever you set the crossover points). Maybe a modest 100 watt/channel amp based around Pete's red board.