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Altec Valencias almost done!

I love how these kind of posts tend to start out with the OP all coy and end up with the the OP all seasoned bench tech savvy in less than two weeks. Funny that.
Hey, nice find. Thanks for sharing. I hope you enjoy them. Very desireable speakers!
 
I would really like to hear these when Dave gets back to see how they compare to my dual ported Valencias with 416-8as and 811/802-8gs. Stock Altec crossover. I suspect the bass output will be a little better out of the 416s but who knows.
 
libertycaps said:
I love how these kind of posts tend to start out with the OP all coy and end up with the the OP all seasoned bench tech savvy in less than two weeks. Funny that.
Hey, nice find. Thanks for sharing. I hope you enjoy them. Very desireable speakers!
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Don't know about you, but I've been working in electronics both at the systems and component levels since 1981, so it take a little longer than 2 weeks!

Zilch is the master at crossovers. My specialty is in tube amplifiers. Zilch knows his stuff and shows the math to prove it, so when he says something I tend to listen.
 
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hatrack71 said:
I would really like to hear these when Dave gets back to see how they compare to my dual ported Valencias with 416-8as and 811/802-8gs. Stock Altec crossover. I suspect the bass output will be a little better out of the 416s but who knows.
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That would indeed be a very fun comparison. Have your crossovers been recapped on your Vals?
 
ab0ez said:
Hi Grainger. Let me know what crossovers he has and I can offer some advice on rebuilding them. All vintage crossovers need to be updated with fresh and better capacitors. Sometimes the original inductors are nothing to write home about either.

Watch here over the Thanksgiving holiday as I build some new grills. They will not be the lattice type (I think they attenuate high frequencies) but will be of the same type similar to what is used in Klipsch Cornwalls and similar speakers. They'll also be removable.

BTW, my crossovers are not the original Altecs that came with the Valencias, I upgraded them to the N-809-8A crossovers.
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I should have asked earlier. How do we know what crossover he has? Is there some identification on the outside of the can? Everything inside is covered with black hard goo.
 
Recapping crossovers can be an interesting experience. Sometimes, especially if you have had an older set of speakers for a long time, you get used to how they sound, for lack of a better explanation.

On first listening quite often you may not like they way they sound after recapping...at first, but with time they just sound better and better. Is it the new components running in, or is it all in how we hear over time and essentially re-learn to listen? Who knows?

Sometimes after recapping the difference is instantly to your liking. Why? Who exactly knows? Hence the old saying "Your Mileage May Vary".
 
Nice job on the Altecs. A1 cabinet refinishing! Ziltch, if you're ever in the neighborhood, I'll buy you a few cold ones.:banana:
 
One thing I will say though. If Dave is a bass type of guy, he will enjoy his Cornwalls for that aspect more. I'm listening to mine right now with a new tweeter. Oh, and I forgot to mention stacked tweeter to tweeter with another pair of Cornwalls. Quite the impressive wall of sound. Definitely will have to upgrade the two caps in the crossover. They have a ton of nice bass. I had a set of Heathkit branded Valencias on CL for a while but everyone kept lowballing me and wanting to trade for chain store garbage. The reason I pulled them from being for sale is to build the dual ported cabs as in my other Vals and stack these two pair. The Heathkit AS-101 cabs do not sound as nice as dual ported Val cabs and they are rough. They will go to someone who can use a big cab for either more Altecs or some sort of econowave. I just can't toss this stuff. I might even pull the 806s and use 802-8gs as in the other pair to match. Actually, talking to Dave got me thinking about working on my Altecs. Go figure. Hey Jim, just to mess with Dave, tell him I scored a McIntosh 240 at the thrift for $10. I always see him there. He will be bummed he missed it even though it wasn't really there. LOL
 
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Grainger, if you can, send a few pics of the crossovers to ab0ez at comcast dot net and I'll see if I can match them up with the tons of documentation I have.
 
hatrack71 said:
One thing I will say though. If Dave is a bass type of guy, he will enjoy his Cornwalls for that aspect more. I'm listening to mine right now with a new tweeter. Oh, and I forgot to mention stacked tweeter to tweeter with another pair of Cornwalls. Quite the impressive wall of sound. Definitely will have to upgrade the two caps in the crossover. They have a ton of nice bass. I had a set of Heathkit branded Valencias on CL for a while but everyone kept lowballing me and wanting to trade for chain store garbage. The reason I pulled them from being for sale is to build the dual ported cabs as in my other Vals and stack these two pair. The Heathkit AS-101 cabs do not sound as nice as dual ported Val cabs and they are rough. They will go to someone who can use a big cab for either more Altecs or some sort of econowave. I just can't toss this stuff. I might even pull the 806s and use 802-8gs as in the other pair to match. Actually, talking to Dave got me thinking about working on my Altecs. Go figure. Hey Jim, just to mess with Dave, tell him I scored a McIntosh 240 at the thrift for $10. I always see him there. He will be bummed he missed it even though it wasn't really there. LOL
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Toss stuff out???? NEVER!!!!!

We're both kinda bass crazy. Not heavy sloppy nasty bass, but tight, articulate bass and lots of it. I'm running 4 Khorns in my basement with T-350 tweeters, gimongous EV HP9040 midrange horns and EV DH1012 drivers. Dave will be running his Cornwalls and the Valencias driven by 4 of the Bogen DB-130 power amps with 6FW5 outputs I mentioned earlier. Should be interesting. I'd really love to find a pair of University Classic folded horns for him. His listening room doesn't have the corners/layout for K's.

Packing the car now and getting ready to head out!
 
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Thank you all for the compliments on the cab refinish job. It really is satisfying when a project comes out the way you want it to.

We made the trip over to Idaho, Dave gets here tomorrow, and we'll see how long it takes for the cops to show up once we start testing the Altecs!
 
Well, what a bummer. Dave couldn't get over here due to the weather. He got about halfway here and had to turn around. So, the Altec Valencia rebuild story will be put on hold until sometime in the spring. In the meantime, I think I can find plenty to keep entertained with in my Dad's basement sound room....
 

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