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Altec Fever!!

sanjib

sanjib

AK Subscriber
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I don't know why, but I bought it!!!
Yet not in hand. One cone is original, and the other one is reconed by GPA. GPA N604-8A crossover, no original crossover. According to seller, all DCR measured 6.5 ohm except one horn measured 8.1 ohm. Waiting for it to open.

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Cool ! :cool: :cool: :cool:

Several of my Audio Pal gets crazy when this name is pronounced... :p

Well, my Altec fever is limited... To the 417-8H, in my 1980 Boogie MKIIA 60-100W Rev. Eq. guitar amplifier! :rolleyes:;)

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Those look nice! What's your inventory looking like for Altec speakers? You have much of the range covered, I think. Bolero 890Cs are nice if you want to try something a little smaller.
 
I received the speakers; one diaphragm has a resistance of 20275 DCR at 6.5 ohms, and the other has a resistance of 23744 DCR at 8.2 ohms.
The bad news is that the 23744 was stuck, and during prying with a flat-head screwdriver, it slipped in! Did I completely ruin this very rare diaphragm, or is there something that can be done to rescue it?
I have attached the pictures. I haven't yet connected the speaker to check the sound. It is still showing DCR 8.2 ohms.

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I have connected the speaker (they are not inside any cabinet), and it seems like the HF is playing fine! Did I escape the worst outcome of my stupidity?
 
I missed out on a pair of these by minutes during an estate sale. The owner had a few acres which had HiFi equipment liberally spread out in the dirt. I did manage to dig thru the junk and pick up another pair of Altec woofers and horns, gladly purchased at a giveaway price!
 
@EarlK , @RonSSNova , @bowtie427ss, @Tom Brennan

Here are some more weired detail regarding the HF drivers. The driver with 20275 diaphragm has a tangerine phase plug, and the other driver with 23744 diaphragm has a different phase plug (see pics), I guess an older circumferential phase plug.

Is there any easy way to remove the older phase plug and replaced with the tangerine one? I have a spare 902-8B with a tangerine phase plug.
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They are not inside the box, and I don't hear any difference in the HF range. Does 2 different phase plugs produce enough difference to notice? If anyone has any experience, please share. I might change both diaphragms to the same 8 ohm ones. I have a pair of original Altec 34647.
 
One of your photos of the 23744 shows that you bent the voice coil. The magnet gap is very tight. I don’t see any way it’s not rubbing in the gap.

The two phase plugs will sound different. Many prefer the earlier machined version.
 
RonSSNova said:
One of your photos of the 23744 shows that you bent the voice coil. The magnet gap is very tight. I don’t see any way it’s not rubbing in the gap.

The two phase plugs will sound different. Many prefer the earlier machined version.
Click to expand...
Yes :(, I think I will replace both diaphragms with 34647.
 
RonSSNova said:
Those will work fine.
It’s interesting that both are -8G yet have different phase plugs.
Click to expand...
Just listen to both speakers for an hour. They are not inside any cabinet; the 16 ohms 20275 diaphragm is replaced with 34647. As they are outside, I was hearing mostly mid-HF, and I personally couldn't notice any difference between the two.
 
bowtie427ss said:
Late model 8G's have the cost saving Tangerines, the rest have the better annular slit, all metal phase plugs.
Click to expand...
Interesting, I thought they introduced 605A for cost-cutting (as many people here say so), but my 605A has metal phase plugs!
 
It came with a pair of GPA crossover. Are these good or do I need to make a pair of Markwart crossovers?

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I’m sure Bow Tie meant the cost of the injection molded plastic tangerine phase plug being much cheaper to make than the original machined phase plug.
There are black ones too. Maybe they are the “We ran out of orange plastic dye” Tangerine phase plug?

I assume the seller didn’t mention one was early and one was late production?
 
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