Altec Lansing 846b Valencia Questions

[BaseDeville]

I'm interested in the Valencias and have been reading good and bad things about them here. The good points mentioned are a live in the room presence and a palpable physical presentation. The bad includes horn honk, shouty midrange, aggressive and fatiguing upper mids and lower treble, and roll off at the frequency extremes. In pictures and you tube videos of the Valencias it seems that they're always placed up against a wall and quite close together. My room is 18 feet by 29 feet so I have a lot of room. What would be the ideal distance between the two speakers? What would be the ideal distance to the listener? What would be the optimum distance to the wall behind them and to the side walls? I know that this is all room dependent and that experimentation is required, I'm just asking in general terms here.

 

[Nyjblbob]

There are lots of AKers that has/had them. My self also. No set rules, other than what sounds good to you in your room.
A gentle tilt up helps. a wider spacing can also improve imaging . If you go to the Great Plains website, they have a great right-up on how to improve them. Bass energy can be helped by corner placement.
Good luck. if you score them for a decent price, start a thread on the Lancing forum.
One thing I should bring out is they are very tube amp friendly!

 

[Dswankey]

https://www.audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?forums/the-lansing-legacy.212/

 

[twiiii]

The horns re more efficient than the woofers so if you turn the HF balance control all the way up they will definitely honk and shout at you. If the caps have changed value do to age that will further compromise the sound. Newer diaphragms will have less distortion and handle more power. If the speakers were driven hard in the past the woofers should be removed and recharged at Great Plains audio. They can check the performance and re-cone them at the same time. Moving the speaker toward or away from a corner can make a big difference in bass performance. Over a magnitude in some instances. Its not an easy task. The ear is easily fooled.

 

[hjames]

Well, there is a project I posted a year or so back about a pair of Heathkit branded Altec Valencia 846B speakers I reworked,
based on help from the owner of an amazing pair I heard north of Baltimore

https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/altec-valencia-heathkit-as-101.806226/

 

[gdmoore28]

The horns re more efficient than the woofers so if you turn the HF balance control all the way up they will definitely honk and shout at you.

This exactly. However, you can vastly improve the sound of the horn (believe me on this!) by adding the Altec 30923 eq/attenuation circuit on the horn leg of the crossover. This simple circuit will absolutely remove all vestiges of "honky" sound from the horn, along with slightly extending the high frequency response. (Well, not really; it actually makes the high frequencies more apparent by dramatically lowering the mids, but you get the idea.)

If you can find some Valencias for a reasonable price (it still happens . . . sometimes), you owe it to yourself to try them. They are fun to listen to and to experiment with, and if you don't like them, you'll have no problems selling them.

GeeDeeEmm

 

[BaseDeville]

Does the Altec 30923 attenuator also remove some of the impact and room presence that these speakers are renowned for? With regards to getting a pair of Valencias at a reasonable price, where I live. here in the great white north they don't come up for sale very often. Currently there is a pair for sale near me for $2700 USD. Audio equipment both new and old costs more here.

 

[Nyjblbob]

For that $$$ get 604's in big cabinets
there's a pair of 846 's in Michigan on that other site no connection
for less than 1500
upgraded x-overs and nice cabs

 

[Tom Brennan]

Does the Altec 30923 attenuator also remove some of the impact and room presence that these speakers are renowned for?...

IMO&E, no. The Technicolor midrange is still present.

Note that the Model 19 uses a similar EQ circuit to depress the midrange, thus in effect extending the highs and smoothing the response.

 

[GordonW]

The "technicolor" midrange is more a factor of the woofer, than the horn.

All the EQ does, is make the horn response more even and linear. IMHO, there's absolutely no reason to NOT have that, in speakers like these.

Regards,
Gordon.

 

[Leben]

I’ve recently upgraded my DIY Altecs with the 30923 circuit that @gdmoore28 suggested. IMO, It is a very worthwhile upgrade that made the speakers more balanced while still retaining theIr best attributes.