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Altec Segovia Speakers

MadcapLaughs

MadcapLaughs

Active Member
Hi all,

Can my Scott lk 72 handle 4ohm speakers that have a high efficiency rating?? (I know there are 4ohm taps but can it actually handle it)? I'm looking at Altec Segovias and they are 4ohm but rated in the mid 90s for efficiency, can anyone verify efficiency specs?. Also, Will the increase in current or lowering of the impedance cause an accelerated loss of tube life from the power 7591 tubes????

I really want these speakers but I'm hoping the tube amp will have good synergy. On a side note, I also have a Kenwood supreme 600 SS amp at 130wpc. Would this be a better match for theses? I recognize that ohm ratings have more to do with the need for high current levels rather than watts alone. Looking for anyone with experience with this rare model (874a Segovia).

Thanks
 
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Things will be fine. Output transformer loads the amp in a way that it's practically immune from speaker loads.
 
I have a pair, and they play all types of music well. Live music, to me is exceptional. The high and mid attenuators help with room acoustics.
 
I have used mine with my Scott 299C and they worked / sounded great. 299c and LK72 are basically the same amp. I actually thought they sounded better hooked up to the 8 ohm taps, though. Currently my Segovias are powered by my Dynaco ST35, again with the 8 ohm taps. Both combinations are really, really good! You will have no problems.
 
For reference, the Altec Segovia:

th


GeeDeeEmm
 
Thanks for the replies, I am looking for a reasonably accurate efficiency rating. I cannot find this spec anywhere, someone on this forum claimed his Segovias were 87db effieicent, which I am hoping is not true, since so many others are claiming these don't need much to pick up and go, so throw me a guess or if you have actual specs please tell!!
 
Update,

I ended up going for the Segovia’s and was incredibly disappointed in the matchup with my Scott 299d amplifier, it took damn near everything that amp had to bring the volume to barely fill my modestly sized living room. Clearly clipping and struggling throughout . Everything in my system was functioning properly the Scott with nos tubes and full recap, but it’s quite apparent to me that these Segovia’s must rate somewhere close to AR-3s in terms of efficiency, like 85db. Hard to believe they could be any higher. lucky for me the seller took them back for a refund, I think they definitely need closer to 250-300 wpc amp to wake them up. They almost swallowed up my Yamaha A-1000 integrated amp at 120wpc too, although it pushed them a little better than the Scott....and again these speakers had a refoamed, with new caps in crossovers, and all original otherwise, serviced by a top speaker repair tech in the Midwest. I will be much more careful on speaker pairings down the road, I was able to find KLH 6 speakers which are also acoustic suspension like the Segovia’s, but these speakers absolutely rocked with my Scott amp, and haven’t even received a lick of service since the 60s, so efficient smooth yet able to retain dynamics with a wide range of amplification compared to the Segovia’s.
 
The model 6 are really hard to best for a highly efficient acoustic suspension option with tube gear.
 
I have the Segovias, Sorry to hear they didn't do you justice! My were really roached boxes but I re-veneered Mahogany, re-foamed. They have sounded excellent with my Kenwood Model Eleven III's, my Mc 2100, and are singing sweetly now with my Marantz 2285B. I think they were designed to compete with the AR3a's But until I find a tweeter for them, I'll be unable to do a side by side! Happy to hear you find the sixes good!
 
scoville said:
I have the Segovias, Sorry to hear they didn't do you justice! My were really roached boxes but I re-veneered Mahogany, re-foamed. They have sounded excellent with my Kenwood Model Eleven III's, my Mc 2100, and are singing sweetly now with my Marantz 2285B. I think they were designed to compete with the AR3a's But until I find a tweeter for them, I'll be unable to do a side by side! Happy to hear you find the sixes good!
Click to expand...

Just curious, how would you rank the SQ of the above 3 receivers paired with the Segovia?
 
MadcapLaughs said:
Update,

I ended up going for the Segovia’s and was incredibly disappointed in the matchup with my Scott 299d amplifier, it took damn near everything that amp had to bring the volume to barely fill my modestly sized living room. Clearly clipping and struggling throughout . Everything in my system was functioning properly the Scott with nos tubes and full recap, but it’s quite apparent to me that these Segovia’s must rate somewhere close to AR-3s in terms of efficiency, like 85db. Hard to believe they could be any higher. lucky for me the seller took them back for a refund, I think they definitely need closer to 250-300 wpc amp to wake them up. They almost swallowed up my Yamaha A-1000 integrated amp at 120wpc too, although it pushed them a little better than the Scott....and again these speakers had a refoamed, with new caps in crossovers, and all original otherwise, serviced by a top speaker repair tech in the Midwest. I will be much more careful on speaker pairings down the road, I was able to find KLH 6 speakers which are also acoustic suspension like the Segovia’s, but these speakers absolutely rocked with my Scott amp, and haven’t even received a lick of service since the 60s, so efficient smooth yet able to retain dynamics with a wide range of amplification compared to the Segovia’s.
Click to expand...
If you put aside the issue of amplifier power, how would you describe the clean output you were able to enjoy before amplifier breakup? I haven't heard any Segovias in many, many years, so I've completely forgotten how they initially sounded.

GeeDeeEmm
 
Audiosignal, I think the 4 Ohm draw on these is what makes them special. I have them in the bedroom with the Marantz now. They were bumped by my AR 90's. The Kenwood was in bedroom bumped by the Marantz. The Kenwood was my first big receiver, Full Re-cap. Very costly. It's a beauty, sounds great, sitting Idle!!! I find the 3a tweeter it will be a very hard choice. I love AR's, I have 5's in the office powered by MC2205. That is the slot for the 3a's. It will come down to the 5's or Segovias I guess. It will be a very hard decision. I paid 20 I think for them. Vintage Mahogany veneer I already had, homemade grills, Garage sale Vintage Altec Lansing badges. they look nothing like original! A couple years back I powered them with Soundcraftsmen S860. Around 300 WPC.
I'm not so sure about using that big wooden grill the original's had. Might impede SQ.
 
gdmoore28 said:
If you put aside the issue of amplifier power, how would you describe the clean output you were able to enjoy before amplifier breakup? I haven't heard any Segovias in many, many years, so I've completely forgotten how they initially sounded.

GeeDeeEmm
Click to expand...


I though sound wise they reminded me much more of a JBL L100 / 4312 type sound, I honestly can’t say they made a great impression on me but I know we all have different preferences for sound, and the Segovia’s have a durability and weight to them that screams high quality design. I did have the feeling that these had the potential to put out absolutely monsterous sound with the right amps, and are not asking to be played at low volumes, much like the JBL l100s. As far as matching other altecs I did not hear any family resemblance to the horns at all (I currently have model 14s and used to have boleros 890s)
 
scoville said:
I have the Segovias, Sorry to hear they didn't do you justice! My were really roached boxes but I re-veneered Mahogany, re-foamed. They have sounded excellent with my Kenwood Model Eleven III's, my Mc 2100, and are singing sweetly now with my Marantz 2285B. I think they were designed to compete with the AR3a's But until I find a tweeter for them, I'll be unable to do a side by side! Happy to hear you find the sixes good!
Click to expand...

I’ve had an MC 2100 that I really really regret selling. It honestly is the best vintage solid state amp I’ve ever heard, and I’ve tried Accuphase, Kenwood supremes etc. it’s better not spec wise perhaps, it’s not super revealing by any stretch, but because it brought out the best in every speaker I’ve tried it with, with lots of gain and power with absolutely ZERO listening fatigue. I believe their isn’t a speaker out there horn or otherwise that the MC2100 can’t tame, I can’t even say the same of a lot of tube amps.
 
MadcapLaughs said:
Update,

I ended up going for the Segovia’s and was incredibly disappointed in the matchup with my Scott 299d amplifier, it took damn near everything that amp had to bring the volume to barely fill my modestly sized living room. Clearly clipping and struggling throughout . Everything in my system was functioning properly the Scott with nos tubes and full recap, but it’s quite apparent to me that these Segovia’s must rate somewhere close to AR-3s in terms of efficiency, like 85db. Hard to believe they could be any higher. lucky for me the seller took them back for a refund, I think they definitely need closer to 250-300 wpc amp to wake them up. They almost swallowed up my Yamaha A-1000 integrated amp at 120wpc too, although it pushed them a little better than the Scott....and again these speakers had a refoamed, with new caps in crossovers, and all original otherwise, serviced by a top speaker repair tech in the Midwest. I will be much more careful on speaker pairings down the road, I was able to find KLH 6 speakers which are also acoustic suspension like the Segovia’s, but these speakers absolutely rocked with my Scott amp, and haven’t even received a lick of service since the 60s, so efficient smooth yet able to retain dynamics with a wide range of amplification compared to the Segovia’s.
Click to expand...
Hi,
i own a pair of Altec Segovia and i drive them with a Rogers Cadet 3 (output power is 8watt on 8ohm) tubes integrated ampli: I've never rotated the volume knob more than half of it's range; i listen in a room of 20 square meters, and sometimes i like to listen music very very loud.
I am very sure that these speakers don't rate 85db of efficency (but at least 93/95db) and they absolutely don't need 250/300watt to be driven properly (if it were not so, the Cadet it would not be able to drive them).
 
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Hi, just wanted to say that we all have our own opinions of speaker synergy and that, I would still strongly advise that those with Segovia’s choose higher powered amplifiers. Either my set of speakers had some crossover issues that affected my experience negatively, or it is in fact true that they simply do not have much output with lower powered amps and especially tube amps. Not saying your experience wasn’t valid, but My living room is not large by any means but I could barely get decent output with the 30wpc Scott driven all the way (it pumps plenty of volume into the Klh six). I would hold to my opinion to not drive these with anything low to mid wattage.
 
I'm not talking about the sinergy between amplifier and speakers in terms of quality (of course everyone has their own preferences about), but in terms of "quantity".
My Segovia sound so loud - with the 8 watts of the Cadet and the volume knob not even halfway - that 2 meters away I can't hear what the person who is sitting in next to me says.
Believe me, the speakers you tried had certainly crossover issues.
 
Ugh. Was considering a pair of Segovias for a Scott 299b. After reading this thread, I'm more confused than ever!
 
Segovia comes from a period of time where Altec was try to maintain its share of the consumer market. The tweeter was out sourced and the woofer was an attempt to extend bass with out loosing to much dynamic range in a smaller cabinet. They attempted to keep the same voicing as the true Altec two way systems. But you lost approximately 8 db of sensitivity. Any better integrated unit should be able to drive a 4 ohm load. But there were a lot of units from the 70's and early 80's that couldn't. So be careful. After the FTC got involved with the rating of Hifi components labels had to be placed on units describing their capabilities. Some were rated for 6 ohms but not 4. As I remember a Scott LK-72 was a 299 kit. I owned 299's and 222's and both performed rather miserably even at half power with new tubes. Yes the put out 90% of the rated power before clipping in the midrange, but bass performance and high frequency performance above 7 kHz was pretty miserable. You might look for restore Dyna MK III rated at 60 watts. Your best bet as Always for tube units is either Marantz 8b or any of the Mac power amps from the period. The dual 60 watt Citation wasn't a bad amp it just wasn't a Marantz or Mac. Mac and tube Marantz amps from the period are pricey. A sleeper is the little MA 230 Mac if its been updated. A MA 5100 is a sweet sounding early all SS unit. I preferred the flexibility and options with the MA 6200. But I was very happy with my MA 230 for 5 or 6 years. Its only rated at 30 watts, but clipped around 40 and exceeded Mac specs by a large margin at 30 watts. The phono section like all from that period is a little noisy and why I used high output Ortofons SPU series in the 60's for better signal to noise.
 
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