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New Altec 1208B

MFaughn

MFaughn

Active Member
Hi all,

I just picked up some 1208B's. Well, actually I had help and even with two of us it weren't easy. They have 421-8LF woofers. One of the woofers looks horrible -- a cat attacked it. It still sounds more or less OK but it is hard to tell if it is as OK as it should be. They have particle board cabs that has some very slight water damage but no worries.

My questions...
1) I know these were designed as musical instrument speakers and not for home use. Despite that I see some folks saying that the 421LF has its merits in this application. Could/should I consider different drivers for home use.

2) following on the above...can these be reconed with different cones to achieve different sonic results.

3) should I recap them?

4) anything interesting I should know about these?

THanks,
MIchael
 
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I re-coned both of mine, they came out pretty good! Got the parts through MSound. I did end up using them in home stereo use so I opted for a softer spider and felt dustcaps.
I got the low end to like 38hz/FS
DC
 
I've just been reading about using a different dustcap. Does it matter if I use felt or a screened cap? I'm going to cut the one aluminum cap off because it is beyond help. I therefore intend to cut the other off as well because it makes sense to try and get both speakers to sound the same.

How hard is it to recone these? I've never done a recone but have done some refoams. I'm generally competent with tools and have experience fixing very fiddly stuff (lab instrumentation) but do tend to get a bit ham-fisted when I get in a hurry or am tired -- which is most of the time.

I'll check out MSound.
 
I just gave some attention to the one cat damaged cone. It was worse than it looked. Removed most of the aluminum dust cap and covered with a clean-room wipe (tough, clean, breathable) for temporary protection. The scratches in the cone mostly didn't go all the way through and I applied a bit of white glue to make a few shreds lay down and patched the two holes (one 1mm and one X cut that went back together nicely). That woofer was also loose, held in by two bolts. The horn mounting brackets are in need of work on both speakers but that should work out easily enough.

They are downstairs so my memory might be slightly fallable but:
808-8A (I don't think they were 8B) HF compression drivers
511B horns
421-8LF woofers
N1209-8A crossover -- which I think is not what they are supposed to have according to this.
828 cabinets I guess. They are particle board. They look like the picture in the link.
Will get some pictures going.

Yes, from Asheville craigslist. They are not model 1209 as stated in the ad. 1209B was the powered version or the 1208B. It doesn't look like they ever were either but I could be wrong. They came with paperwork for 1209B but who knows...I live in Sylva...and now my back hurts.
 
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The 421-8LF has a very fine midrange, I'd switch the diaphragms on the drivers to all aluminum #34647 from GPA and see how it all sounds before doing anything else. 421-8LF's can be had pretty cheap from that auction site, CAREFUL, there's also a 421-8H that looks the same but I don't believe it is. Great find!! Dave.
 
N1209-8A crossover -- which I think is not what they are supposed to have according to this.
Click to expand...
These would be the high point of the components in stock form. Whether they "belong" there or not would largely be determined by vintage and the "exact" model these were originally sold as.

How do you know these are 1208's and not 1236's?

http://www.altecpro.com/pdfs/vintage/SpeakerAndMics/systems/1236 Speaker System.pdf

1236 was designed to push vocals hard and far, hence the 421 with augmented midrange loaded in a horn box which significantly boosts the already forward midrange.................. my least favorite Altec woofer for a horn type box like an 828. As power handling became more relevant, the XO frequency was raised to 1200hz.

I'm fairly sure that 1208 would be in 5/8 plywood boxes(825's) and 1236 is in a ruggedized/braced MDF 828 box(3/4 inch material), although early ones could be in 3/4 ply.
 
OK, they are 1236 I think. I had not reached those yet in my research. I was assuming 1208 partly based on the 1209 paperwork that came with them and the fact that they use the same drivers. They have the grillwork of the 1236.

My questions really boil down to this...What could/should/would one do with these to extract the best home listening performance?
 
My questions really boil down to this...What could/should/would one do with these to extract the best home listening performance?
Click to expand...
See Dave W's post #8 regarding the HF, and for me personally i'd go with a different woofer, ideally a 416. You may be able to have the 421's re-coned with 416 parts, but i don't think the 421 motor has the gap length to duplicate the 416's Xmax making it a fairly futile effort. Bill and Steve at GPA have the definitive answers.

This is not a recommendation, just what i'd do if i were "stuck" with 421's. Minimally, i'd glue a felt dustcap right on top of the aluminum dome, ultimately i'd cut the dome away and replace with felt(to keep the moving assembly weight ~equal) and seal off the vent on the back of the magnet, anything to damp some of the mid peak out of those woofers if i were going to run them in horns.
 
Thanks bowtie & dgwojo. I am going to try new diaphragms and cut off the aluminum dustcaps and replace with felt and close off back woofer vent. We'll see how that does.
 
Huh, just got a phone call a few days ago from someone who got the same speakers... save, that they had 420s in them instead of 421s.

Though, he had been recommended already by someone, to recone the 420s to get better bottom end. May wind up reconing them to 416s... that would definitely help the bass.

Nice thing, is that the 420 and 421 can take a 416 kit. Will work fine.

Regards,
Gordon.
 
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