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Vintage A7's Repair - Horns Won't Work

In addition to enhanced imaginary gonadotrophic effect, 511s will play better down to 800 Hz than 811s.... :yes:
 
Cool, here's the list of components i'll be using. 802-8A, 416A, 511B, and crossed at 500HZ. So these should sound better than what i have now, which is 802-8A, 515B, 811B, crossed at 800HZ.?
 
you really don't want to cross that at 500... 800 at the least.. and 1200 would probably sound about the best, maybe 1100...
 
The 800 drivers had that designation for a reason.. you drop them to 500 and you're gonna start looking at damage if you apply much power to them there..
 
Ahh ok, did Altec ever cross that combination of drivers at 500? And how much power are we talkin about? I'll be using a mcintosh mc-250, rated at 50 w.p.c. but actually tests out at 70 to power them with. And whats the advantage of crossing them at 1200 besides being able to handle more power?
 
let me back that up a bit.. I was kinda wrong there.. .but seriously, mosrt of their drivers sound crossed at a lot higher than 500hz.. not really going to damage them so much as not sound right. But some drivers at 500hz and too much SPL will break..
 
Altec crossed 802 drivers at 500hz on 511B horns. I've even used 802s on 511s crossed at 500hz first order without any distress or clacking and at pretty loud volumes too.

IMO&E the sound is generally a little more concise and sharp with a lower crossover and a little fuller and mellower with a higher one. If one has an active crossover experiment and use whatever crossover point sounds best to you.

Remember that directivity and imaging can change as well as tonality when changing crossover points.
 
I'd strongly recommend a BBE DS24 or DS26 over the analog behringer, not knocking the beri, the BBE just does a lot more for not a lot more money and is just as good sounding.

http://www.bbesound.com/products/speaker-management/ds24.htm

If you shop them, you can find the DS24 for not a lot more than the CX3400, and it's vastly more flexible.

Member dgwojo can give a little insight on the BBE, i think he's still very happily using one.
 
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bowtie427ss said:
I'd strongly recommend a BBE DS24 or DS26 over the analog behringer, not knocking the beri, the BBE just does a lot more for not a lot more money and is just as good sounding.

http://www.bbesound.com/products/speaker-management/ds24.htm

If you shop them, you can find the DS24 for not a lot more than the CX3400, and it's vastly more flexible.

Member dgwojo can give a little insight on the BBE, i think he's still very happily using one.
Click to expand...

I like the BBE DS26 with PC design capability so much that I might snag another, they can be had with a 5 year warranty for under $200 with Bing Cash, yes!!! :thmbsp:

BBE DS26 PC Pictures
 
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hatrack71 said:
Has anyone tried the 802-8g driver on a set of 511's? They are a nice sounding driver as well as the 902's.
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Yes. And yes, in my opinion. I had them all, and eventually sold all but the 802 8G. 902 was excellent too, I just prefered the 802 8g. It should be noted the the 802 8G had the tangerine phase plug of the 902, but the alnico mags of the 802. The diaphragms are best replaced with the Great Plains parts. The Radians arent bad either, but the price has gone up until it makes no sense to me not to go with Great Plains. I'm not sure if their was that much difference listening, and could have been happy with either for Altec purposes.

As I recall, somewhere on some thread Zilch measured all these, and I believe the 902 measured "better" than the 802 8G, for what ever that's worth. Altecs can definately measure "funny" but they can listen very nicely! If ruler flat response is what you seek, there are other places to look. However, they can capture the heart of a "live" performance in a very convincing fashion.

Yes, constant directivity is superior for imaging stability and all that, and the Altecs do things a little more primatively in terms of sweet spot, but if you like them, you've probably noticed they are a little more "live" sounding. Listening to Joni Mitchel and the LA express "Miles of Aisles" on vinyl yesterday, Large 60-70 watt push-pull 6550 amp, Van Alstein Super Pass III. sounded very excellent, very live. No it doesnt play as flat or as low as the modern waveguide setup upstairs, but very faithfull to a live performance, which rarely measure flat either!

Having tried both, I vastly prefer tube to solid state driving the Altecs. One exception would be if you Bi amped, which I havent tried, and put a large solid state amp on the woofer, tubes to the top. Another exception may very well be the F-5 DIY Pass amp I'm building. 25 watts, (50 midband) class A, rumoured to be exceedingly sweet!

I would probably for go the small 800 series drivers and stick with the larger magnet 802 or 902 drivers. The plastic thing you see is the phase cap. Its a plastic dome which fits right by the actual diaphragm, and unless you remove and seperate it from the cap you wont be able to see the actual diaphragm. Many ( and Altec as well in various versions of the same driver) like to remove the phase plug. You'll need shorter screws to do this, with the thickness of the loading cap removed the existing screws will be too long. You must also install a felt in the back of the removable cap when doing this. Again, Great Plains can provide all this stuff if you want to try it.
I did this on a pair of 902 8Bs and thought there was a mild improvement.

Lastly, I think the advice on obtaining the 511B over the 811B is good advice. Some may disagree, but to me in my setups I prefer it over the smaller 811B. Your mileage may vary on this one.

Russellc
 
Agreed, very excellent post Russelc! I just happen to have a pair of 802-8g's sitting on 31 horns. I was thinking about swapping them out in a pair of Magnificents I have which have the 802-8d's in them. I believe I will now.
 
hatrack71 said:
Agreed, very excellent post Russelc! I just happen to have a pair of 802-8g's sitting on 31 horns. I was thinking about swapping them out in a pair of Magnificents I have which have the 802-8d's in them. I believe I will now.
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Thanks guys....

I had some 802 8Ds as well, sold now, but I always liked them just fine. I also like the look of the 802 family better than the pancake shape of the 902...which resembles most modern compression drivers, by the way! The shape of the 802 (and I guess 808 as well) family has the longer, industrial look. Especially the early 802 with the Altec script lettering on the rear caps!
The 802 8Gs, at least the later ones, had the rear cap like the 902 drivers, as well as the 808 8B drivers I've had. I think I have seen 802 8G drivers with the older style rear caps as well?

Russellc
 
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