saharadust
Member
Thanks all - don't get me wrong - there's plenty of stuff on offer here. Many of it may just be pricey, that's all.
For some reason most of the interesting stuff is outside of Moscow - that's what I meant when said I needed to travel to audition some of the gear that got me interested.
Regarding Braun - I did read some good things about these. I think it's the 710 that is their speaker of choice? Also Saba and Telefunken have some raving reviews.
Sadly I need to take a 4 hour train ride to audition the Brauns... And that doesn't mean I'll be transporting any speakers on my own if I buy - and shipping does concern me.
I may actually get to travel there but if I can steer clear I will.
For some reason most of the interesting stuff is outside of Moscow - that's what I meant when said I needed to travel to audition some of the gear that got me interested.
Regarding Braun - I did read some good things about these. I think it's the 710 that is their speaker of choice? Also Saba and Telefunken have some raving reviews.
Sadly I need to take a 4 hour train ride to audition the Brauns... And that doesn't mean I'll be transporting any speakers on my own if I buy - and shipping does concern me.
I may actually get to travel there but if I can steer clear I will.
twiiii
Lunatic Member
If both were as new you would find the Altec has at least 13 db more dynamic range and thats a bunch. Now none of the drivers in the Altec are Altec drivers but built by others to Altec specs. The Ar 3a will reach about 10 cycles lower than the Altec but not much higher in the HF spectrum. The Altec is easier to listen to and less fatiguing. The AR has greater dispersion so you have a larger listening area. Either speaker should be located to allow it to focus on the center of the seating area and not just pointing straight for ward. Both should be placed with the tweeter at ear height. The Altec should remain horizontal, the AR will work in any position. The AR had a very ragged response curve, where the Altec is smoother from the bass to about 10 KHZ where it starts to roll off. Which make for a more realistic live reproduction. Low bass for the Altec is a function of room placement especially below 60 HZ it maybe 70 HZ. Same goes for the AR but with less room influence. I would choose the Altec, too. It takes 100 watts to make the AR speakers really become dynamic. You can do almost the same thing with 10 watts from the Altecs. If you love tubes you will love the ALtecs.
bowtie427ss
Lunatic Member
Indeed the 2 x 6 tweeter horn was made by Heppner.
But, the 406 woofers and passives were absolutely built in-house by Altec. They're built on the same basket as the 425-8A/425-8H, and the 406-8Y motor is the same as used on the 414 woofer.
The woofer of the 890C was carefully designed by Altec engineers to mimic the sonic characteristics of the large Altec systems based on motion picture theater components. Besides its 3" voicecoil and 414 motor it also has an unusual dual profile cone which changes from convex at the center to concave at the outer edge. This is one very serious 10" woofer-midrange.
I paid $100 for my Boleros about, oh, 15 years ago. When I owned the 890Cs I also owned several large Altec systems---A7-500s, Model 19s, 605As and Heath AS-21s and can attest that the 890Cs are of the same sonic cloth as the big boys.
I paid $100 for my Boleros about, oh, 15 years ago. When I owned the 890Cs I also owned several large Altec systems---A7-500s, Model 19s, 605As and Heath AS-21s and can attest that the 890Cs are of the same sonic cloth as the big boys.
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lycoming680
tremendous slouch
I totally stumbled upon this (unknown to me) model of Altecs this summer and can't believe my ears to this day, 6 months later. The Hepner horns sound fine and the 406-8Y amazes me. $200 for untouched survivors that seem 100% functionally perfect - sleepers indeed. I have a very basic set up of a Mac1900, wifi through Alexa into tape 1, Denon TT and now, the 890c Boleros. Sleepers if you ask me...
