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VOTT overkill at Blue Bottle Cafe in North Oakland

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toxcrusadr said:
I just had an idea. We got all these hipsters who think they like obscure old stuff. Someone needs to make a website to post all the wrong ideas hipsters have about old stuff. They could call it Wrongster. This article can be the first post. :scratch2:
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Good idea in theory, unfortunately in execution, you'd probably only have 10 hits a day by Hipsters. They are too "Hip" to be wasting time researching how wrong they may be when it comes to vintage things. ;)

Regarding the OP's post, hey, I'm a fan of VOT's, and in the picture posted, they do indeed look BAD AZZ, but I agree with a previous post that VOT's are not always the best HiFi Stereo Speakers available - audio purist wise.
I used mine for Bass Amplification in a Rock Band when I was a teen. I'd not use them for home or office or restaurant or bar music playback. For Concerts or to crank the living crap out of some music, heck yes. Rock on.
 
But, seriously, I would never even have made such statement if I didn't have a few years of paychecks from Altec, and feel it was a GREAT brand. My comments about the VOTT's are what they are. They don't relate to any other speaker. That's just not how speakers work, to my way of thinking. One can change the mass of cone by several percent, or alter a couple of cap values in a crossover, and totally change the voicing of a speaker, so I would honestly never think about a Model 9 as particularly similar to the VOTT design.

As to the Model 9 itself... I would guess that I have less than an hour of quality face time with them, so I don't have fully formed opinion. While perhaps not my ultimate cup of tea, they were obviously a very high performance audiophile loudspeaker.

-k
 
ken kantor said:
Yes! And, even worse, I am saying that pretty much all speakers and speaker companies that begin with the letter "A" are garbage. I don't know if this is scientific, or just how it worked out. In general, you want to avoid vowels at the helm of your audio monikers, if at all possible.

-k
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annoying and cloying. :D
 
ken kantor said:
Yes! And, even worse, I am saying that pretty much all speakers and speaker companies that begin with the letter "A" are garbage. I don't know if this is scientific, or just how it worked out. In general, you want to avoid vowels at the helm of your audio monikers, if at all possible.

-k
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Apparently this was said with such a straight face that it went right over my head with a WHOOSH. :scratch2:
 
ken kantor said:
But, seriously, I would never even have made such statement if I didn't have a few years of paychecks from Altec, and feel it was a GREAT brand. My comments about the VOTT's are what they are. They don't relate to any other speaker. That's just not how speakers work, to my way of thinking. One can change the mass of cone by several percent, or alter a couple of cap values in a crossover, and totally change the voicing of a speaker, so I would honestly never think about a Model 9 as particularly similar to the VOTT design.

As to the Model 9 itself... I would guess that I have less than an hour of quality face time with them, so I don't have fully formed opinion. While perhaps not my ultimate cup of tea, they were obviously a very high performance audiophile loudspeaker.

-k
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Good to hear! :D

<cough>19<cough>
 
Sorry, but anyone who thinks the votts can't do hi-fi duty is sadly mistaken. Like the (VOTT OWNERS) are saying it will take a little effort to get them there,but once tweeked properly they are amazing as hi-fi speakers, the only down side to a vott is their size.
 
theebadone said:
Sorry, but anyone who thinks the votts can't do hi-fi duty is sadly mistaken. Like the (VOTT OWNERS) are saying it will take a little effort to get them there,but once tweeked properly they are amazing as hi-fi speakers, the only down side to a vott is their size.
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I am not so bold as to argue objective performance with Ken. Preference, yeah, sure.

That most VOTs owners concede they need augmentation and modification to meet objective modern notions of high fidelity (and often subjective ones as well) reinforces Ken's views. Myself, I owned several VOT rigs, including A5s, and IMO my Model 19s were superior to VOTs in terms of natural tone and frequency extension on both ends; a considerably better speaker overall, and the company's best <high fidelity> use of the formidable Altec components.
 
ken kantor said:
Well, at least you can spell when you cut and paste. That's a start. Next we can fix you up with some reading glasses and hearing aids, and you will be on your way!

-k
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when did you quit wetting the bed?
honestly i don't know you, or you me for that matter. but what i have been most impressed by is the pompous nature of the insults you seem to dish out. i've read a few of your posts on other threads.
so tell me about this distortion you hear in votts? were the ones you listened to bone stock or were they modified? to be honest i don't believe i've heard any of your bookshelf speakers. i sure they must sound fantastic. ;)
 
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ken kantor said:
Thank you, Sir! (Have you seen a recent photo? That would be Megatons now...)

-k
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All jokes aside, your life experience is a plus here. :yes:

Let's all be really honest, speaker technology, and especially cabinet construction, has taken a giant leap forward.

I love the heft and size of those speakers, but I think they'd scorch my tinnitus-plagued ears pretty quick.

Still, I know nothing, haven't heard them. Local Craigslist has a guy trying to sell a pair of Klipsch La Scala's for 800 bones, and I just can't see it working for me. House too small, all solid state at my house. Would end up facilitating a divorce, as well.
 
Someone should try to pitch them on buying a set of nicely-constructed Z-19 crossovers. With the adjustability of those crossover units, IME, most VOTTs can be brought into good control across the range...

That said, as long as the horns are above the woofers- it not really going to sound "good" unless you're on top of a step-ladder... they really do need to hang the horns from the bottoms of the cabinets...

Regards,
Gordon.
 
I got the last pair of VOTs I owned to blend well at a close listening position by a severe downward tilt of the high frequency horn. Of course that was a modification. ;-) The speakers had a little history; Bruce Edgar gave them to Rich Drysdale, the fella who with Steve Shell makes the Cogent field coil horn speakers, and Rich gave them to me. Rich had modified the old vertical vent 825s using Tom Danley's port modifications.

With stock mounting


Modified mount


Danley design modified vent
 
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onwardjames said:
How'd they sound with the port mod and downward tilt, Tom?

And what were you powering them with?
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With the tilt I had better highs and a better blended sound at my somewhat close listening position, it was worthwhile. The bass was typical A7; good upper bass, weak lower bass. I heard a little bit deeper better bass with the modded ports but it was no big deal, still sounded like an A7.

The speakers were powered at various times by a SS Denon HT receiver, a Fisher 500B tube receiver and a Jolida 102B tube integrated amp.

In any event once I bought Model 19s the VOTs were gone, no hesitation. I sold them to a fella for use as playback speakers in a recording studio.
 
Tom Brennan said:
I got the last pair of VOTs I owned to blend well at a close listening position by a severe downward tilt of the high frequency horn. Of course that was a modification. ;-) The speakers had a little history; Bruce Edgar gave them to Rich Drysdale, the fella who with Steve Shell makes the Cogent field coil horn speakers, and Rich gave them to me. Rich had modified the old vertical vent 825s using Tom Danley's port modifications.

With stock mounting


Modified mount


Danley design modified vent
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those appear to be 4 4"x4" tubes.after asking a few questians and doing a little research. i settled on 1 8"x 9" tube after trying a couple different lengths. i'm getting a nice smooth bass reponse.
 
Tom Brennan said:
I am not so bold as to argue objective performance with Ken. Preference, yeah, sure.

That most VOTs owners concede they need augmentation and modification to meet objective modern notions of high fidelity (and often subjective ones as well) reinforces Ken's views. Myself, I owned several VOT rigs, including A5s, and IMO my Model 19s were superior to VOTs in terms of natural tone and frequency extension on both ends; a considerably better speaker overall, and the company's best <high fidelity> use of the formidable Altec components.
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We certainly agree here. But, FWIW- I consider you a worthy and capable argumenter. especially in areas, (such as this), where you know a lot more than me.

-k
 
phil-g said:
when did you quit wetting the bed?
honestly i don't know you, or you me for that matter. but what i have been most impressed by is the pompous nature of the insults you seem to dish out. i've read a few of your posts on other threads.
so tell me about this distortion you hear in votts? were the ones you listened to bone stock or were they modified? to be honest i don't believe i've heard any of your bookshelf speakers. i sure they must sound fantastic. ;)
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I love the smell of butthurt in the morning... it smells like Victory!

Nobody asked you to read my posts, let alone critique them. So, Caveat Emptor.

"so tell me about this distortion you hear in votts?" Uh, why?

"to be honest i don't believe i've heard any of your bookshelf speakers." To be honest, I don't believe you >could< hear any of my bookshelf speakers.

-k

"to bleat, or not to bleat. That is the questian."
-phil-g
 
Do they sell their single origin beans by the pound? I will be over at BANC UCB tomorrow and would like to check them out. And perhaps get an ear full of noise.
 
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