'New' Altec Valencias join the collection

[Saint Johnny]

They are repairable.
Great Plains Audio.

Theo, yes I know the drivers themselves are repairable. After a bit research and then checking the GPA website, and after seeing what GPA charges for a complete refurbishing, I thought I might look into some other options as I happen to be a little short on cash.

After further searching I found some posts from dgwojo saying that the phragms themselves , may be fine, it's just the leads are most likely broken, and those can be soldered back together fairly easily. I wanted to know if that's an alternative to a rebuild from GPA? And how hard is it for a novice to do?

 

[theophile]

Just buy the replacement diaphragms.

 

[westend]

I have a non-functioning 806-8a. Was thinking of buying a phragm and soldering the leads. I've heard the lead soldering is an art. The solder joint needs to have the bend of the original lead and tends to fail fairly quickly. Worth the effort vs. $$$$ in my little world.

 

[dgwojo]

What do these cost? And where can I find them? They only place that shows up on google as 'in stock' is, I think, 'US Speaker'(?). And they want something like $135 ea. plus s/h. In another 846 thread someone said they were going for $115.

I'm looking for some HF driver alternatives as my 806's seem to have shot phragms!:tears: But I heard they might be repairable, could this be true?

I see Assistance Audio has removed their driver pricing, my limit was $115 each, I guess I'll pass on them now!! :thumbsdn:

 

[dgwojo]

After further searching I found some posts from dgwojo saying that the phragms themselves , may be fine, it's just the leads are most likely broken, and those can be soldered back together fairly easily. I wanted to know if that's an alternative to a rebuild from GPA? And how hard is it for a novice to do?

They are no fun to repair, I use a small 20 watt low temp soldering iron as those leads will melt if overheated. After soldering I like to coat them for additional durability, here's some before and afters of AMSOIL's 288 diaphragm.

 

[Zilch]

I see Assistance Audio has removed their driver pricing, my limit was $115 each, I guess I'll pass on them now!! :thumbsdn:

eMail Assistance Audio for pricing. The dollar has turned to poop is the problem, I think....

I have a non-functioning 806-8a. Was thinking of buying a phragm and soldering the leads. I've heard the lead soldering is an art. The solder joint needs to have the bend of the original lead and tends to fail fairly quickly. Worth the effort vs. $$$$ in my little world.

If you buy a new diaphragm, you don't have to solder any leads, but there is a connector conversion kit required, as I recall.

Another option: $89 Radian 1228 from PE, Part# 294-724, 8 Ohms. 16 Ohms may be special order, but Radian does make it, apparently:

http://www.radianaudio.com/products/diaphragms/diaphragms.php?viewT=diaphragms

Yeah, I measured one, on and 804A motor, tho, whatever that is (was).... :

http://audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=156257#post156257

Compare to stock 806A response here:

http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?p=1473345#post1473345

So different xovr component values. Thanks. That's what I needed to know.

http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=134651

 

[Punker X]

I previously had Altec 19's here, which I liked a lot, but they went to Radio X when I got tired of the huge size in front of me all the time. The Valencias have probably 60% of the frontal area of the 19's, which is a good thing.

19's still in play here and loving them. Upgraded the crossovers with Auricaps, mills resistors and cardas wiringing.. made quite a difference now that the caps have had time to burn in.

Good luck on the Valencias...

Remember those ratty LaScala's cabnets I got from you years ago? They are for sale on that auction site.. Look totally different now.. Guy I sold them to, does nice work, wish I could get him to do some wood work for me, I can't cut straight piece of wood if my life depended on it.

 

[Sluggo]

Congrats on your new Altec's!
I have a couple of pairs of "Underused" speakers
Im hoping will improve after loosening up some too.
At this last summers Northwest AK mini-meet,
Speakerlabfan had a pair of Bolero's we listened to
and the majority of my attention that afternoon
was focused on them.I have had my antenna's
for a pair since (patience grasshopper....)
Looking forward to your future thoughts on the
Valencia's !?!

 

[theophile]

Just finished listening to the 200gm Classic Records 'Quiex' pressing of Led Zeppelin's first album.

Man,oh man....

 

[dread31]

Congrats on the Valencias!

Love my A7s. Altec forever!

Dave

 

[Bauhausler]

Congrats on your new Altec's!
I have a couple of pairs of "Underused" speakers
Im hoping will improve after loosening up some too.
At this last summers Northwest AK mini-meet,
Speakerlabfan had a pair of Bolero's we listened to
and the majority of my attention that afternoon
was focused on them.I have had my antenna's
for a pair since (patience grasshopper....)
Looking forward to your future thoughts on the
Valencia's !?!

Find Boleros & buy them! Especially the early one with teh 3000G tweeter (little). I don't know what it is about them, but I've had scores of speakers here and the Boleros are by far the simplest thing that had the Midrange Magic. I couldn't believe how good they are. I preferred them to my 605As in a direct comparison every time, which just should not happen.

 

[Bauhausler]

Plan for Valencia renovation

These Valencias have 3 issues tha tI'd like to tackle:
1) Old Crossovers
2) Feeble Speaker Connectors
3) Inadequate Porting

The porting was improved on later models, which have two circular tube ports on teh front panel.
I have a concern about permanently modding them so I'd like to fix these issues and allow them to be returned to stock later if necessary.
My idea is to make a new back panel for each cabinet. I could install big binding posts, build new crossovers directly on the panel and install proper ports (or port) on the new panel. That would preserve the original parts for the sake of originality. To make the new port 'work' I would have to plug up the current 'porting' which consists of the open area around the horn. I think I can just stuff these gaps with stiff foam and achieve a good seal.
In order to do this I would have to find out the dimensions of the ports on the later cabinets and decide whether to use two ports (which Altec may have done because of front panel size restrictions rather than for performance reasons) or go to a single port of appropriately larger size. I see no reason why a back port should perform significantly differently than a front port, as the wavelengths involved exceed the distance from front to back.
Front ports allow the speaker to be placed back against a wall, which I do not need to do in my installation.
The downside of this is that by the time I'm done I'll have spent more money than I paid for the Model 19's (now Punker's). The Valencias will never perform as well of those, and have as their only advantage smaller size.
I carefully removed the plastic grilles, to the accompaniment of alarming cracking noises from teh ancient material. The sound is vastly better this way. In this environment there is no danger to the woofers so I'll keep them this way. The grilles will go into storage. I hope I'll never have to reinstall them, as they have to be bowed out and fitted into side slots under tension. The plastic won't take that stress too many times.

 

[totem]

Lots and lots of recent mod info on these by a few AKers lately.
Might as well take advantage of previous leg work. :yes:

 

[theophile]

If one looks at this page:

http://www.greatplainsaudio.com/downloads.html

Under the heading 'Technical Information',there is a link entitled 'Altec 800-900 Series Diaphragm Replacement Instructions'.
Clicking the link downloads a PDF document,which gives a text and pictures step by step run-through of the procedures to follow when replacing the diaphragm of an 8xx/9xx series driver.
As was mentioned earlier in this thread you will have to puchase a stereo set of replacement leads because the configuration of the correct replacement diaphragm differs slightly from the way the old 806a is manufactured.The replacement leads match the new diaphragm to the older style driver.

This page linked below,shows that the replacement diaphragm for the 806a is the diaphragm #34852

http://www.greatplainsaudio.com/PartsList.html


There are notes at the bottom of the above linked page which should be considered.
For the older 806a drivers the replacement leads need to be purchased simultaneously with the purchase of the new replacement diaphragm.

Hope this helps.

 

[Zilch]

In order to do this I would have to find out the dimensions of the ports on the later cabinets and decide whether to use two ports (which Altec may have done because of front panel size restrictions rather than for performance reasons) or go to a single port of appropriately larger size. I see no reason why a back port should perform significantly differently than a front port, as the wavelengths involved exceed the distance from front to back..

That will work. I recently recalculated Valencia ports in another thread. Sims indicate there's not much to be achieved. The box is just too small for that woofer to make extended bass, if the T/S parameters I'm using are correct:

http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?p=1432063#post1432063

The Valencias will never perform as well as those [Model 19s,] and have as their only advantage smaller size.

Valencias can be modded to perform better than M19s, actually. I get summarily thrashed as heretic here whenever I make the suggestion, so another AK member and I are just doing it, and will report the results. The economics are not so bad as one might suppose....

 

[Hillman]

Congrats on the Valencia’s. I know you will love them. Dave, It is to bad the dollar took a BM, I was also going to buy some BMS drivers for my M19's and was surprised that the price went up. I better get them anyways before the price goes up again. Of course I could sell the 802 G's and get it back +.

 

[dgwojo]

Congrats on the Valencia’s. I know you will love them. Dave, It is to bad the dollar took a BM, I was also going to buy some BMS drivers for my M19's and was surprised that the price went up. I better get them anyways before the price goes up again. Of course I could sell the 802 G's and get it back +.

Maybe we need to combine our demand and buy 4 for $115 each?? :scratch2:

 

[Saint Johnny]

Maybe we need to combine our demand and buy 4 for $115 each?? :scratch2:

Make that 6 please!!:thmbsp:

dgwojo:

I see you've said in other Altec/Valencia threads you felt that the original phragms were worth saving, if they had broken leads?
Does this apply to all Altec original driver phragms or only some of the rarer model ones?

 

[Zilch]

Go direct to Assistance Audio with a combined order for 10 or more, and Jack'll probably be willing to drop ship them in pairs individually.

He's the rep. It's not 100 pcs., but the price is still likely "negotiable" at that level. :yes:

 

[Hillman]

Ok, I am in for 2. Who wants to negotiate the deal?