What to do with Altec A7 cabs..?
- Thread starter titanstats
- Start date
You have a pair of my favorite cabinets, I have the paint mix that looks very close to the original (computer match at the Home Depot). I use 511b horns, BMS 45552ND 8 ohm drivers, 18db high-pass/12db low-pass 800hz crossovers, and vintage 515-8LF alnico magnet woofers, the only thing I'll play with in the future is removing the crossovers and bi-amping, I have the BBE DS26 for that. The BMS drivers blew away my 902-8B's, they were a real bargain on the group buy, I practically stopped buying Altec drivers after test driving the 4552's. Don't rule out the use of certain 416-8C's, the ones with the nicer magnets sound exceptional, and they're much cheaper than 515's, BTW, Bill at GPA is offering the 515-8LF alnico's again as the classic series (515C), I wonder what they cost?? Dave. :yes:
GPA 515C Classic Series
GPA 515C Classic Series
m4rz
Well-Known Member
I never thought of Home Depot Paint Matching. Mine are the older dark grey. I love that blue color though....would it be blasphemy to repaint mine that color dgwojo? I am in the process of trying to get 511's as I love the look. And I am sure mine are much older as they don't have the front grills, just the bottom port.
It might be blasphemy but those white ones in the background were the factory gray before the prior owner painted them white for a little WAF, after he did it, she still made him sell them, his loss, my gain!! I plan to use the left-over paint on them, it takes less than a half gallon of paint to roller these, imagine, cabinets so large you a roller?? Dave.
m4rz
Well-Known Member
Excellent! I am gonna go to home depot this weekend and see if they can match the dark grey paint...do a little restore on the cabs while I am hunting down some 511's. Can't wait to take the roller to them....although I will have to tape off (or find some better way) the original stickers. Glad I saw that picture Dave!
I must say though I am having a hard time not liking that blue alot. I might have to get the color mix numbers from you!
I must say though I am having a hard time not liking that blue alot. I might have to get the color mix numbers from you!
Russellc
Addicted Member
As an experiment, I put a pair of those econowaveguides on top of my A7s, I used JBL 2425H as it was on hand, and was shocked at how well it worked!
Russellc
So many choices...
After going from zero to warp speed in a relatively short period of time, if I was going to choose from what I have and what I've heard, I'd say look for a pair of 203B horns for your high end. They are typically way cheaper than big tar filleds. In limited listening/comparison time, the 203B's sound about the same as the 1005B's, but just don't disperse the sound as well
There was a pair of 203B's that didn't sell at $79 on E-pray 10 days ago, and the only reason I didn't pull the trigger was that shipping from TX was going to run $130-150. I would have loved to have a second set. The seller relisted them and as I was making him an offer, someone bid on them and they eventually went for ~$130 +S/H
The question then becomes drivers. Either a 416-8* or a 515 of some type would prolly do the trick for you, combined with a 288* up top. I don't know whether it would be worth the time and trouble to modify the large format horn to take the smaller 2 bolt drivers, but that might be an option, and save you some $$$, and could be combined with BMS drivers.
Many will tell you that the Altec woofers don't dig low enough and the compression drivers don't reach high enough, but until you have heard them in all their glory, (SET/tube amps come to mind) there is no describing them to the uninitiated. I have not heard the BMS drivers yet, so I can't render an opinion. If you wanted to do earth shaking lows and crystal breaking highs, you can always play with extra drivers to pick up the ends of the audio spectrum.....
Best to hear as many different types of combos as you can and let your ears and wallet make the decision for you.
Any and all would be welcome if passing through NC to stop by and listen to my Altec combos....
....:thmbsp:
HTH...and of course, YMMV...
PS: My rehabbed 291-16B's now 288-16G's have arrived back from GPA yesterday, and I am too busy until at least Weds evening to even hook them up and hear how they sound....:tears:
After going from zero to warp speed in a relatively short period of time, if I was going to choose from what I have and what I've heard, I'd say look for a pair of 203B horns for your high end. They are typically way cheaper than big tar filleds. In limited listening/comparison time, the 203B's sound about the same as the 1005B's, but just don't disperse the sound as well
There was a pair of 203B's that didn't sell at $79 on E-pray 10 days ago, and the only reason I didn't pull the trigger was that shipping from TX was going to run $130-150. I would have loved to have a second set. The seller relisted them and as I was making him an offer, someone bid on them and they eventually went for ~$130 +S/H
The question then becomes drivers. Either a 416-8* or a 515 of some type would prolly do the trick for you, combined with a 288* up top. I don't know whether it would be worth the time and trouble to modify the large format horn to take the smaller 2 bolt drivers, but that might be an option, and save you some $$$, and could be combined with BMS drivers.
Many will tell you that the Altec woofers don't dig low enough and the compression drivers don't reach high enough, but until you have heard them in all their glory, (SET/tube amps come to mind) there is no describing them to the uninitiated. I have not heard the BMS drivers yet, so I can't render an opinion. If you wanted to do earth shaking lows and crystal breaking highs, you can always play with extra drivers to pick up the ends of the audio spectrum.....
Best to hear as many different types of combos as you can and let your ears and wallet make the decision for you.
Any and all would be welcome if passing through NC to stop by and listen to my Altec combos....
....:thmbsp:HTH...and of course, YMMV...
PS: My rehabbed 291-16B's now 288-16G's have arrived back from GPA yesterday, and I am too busy until at least Weds evening to even hook them up and hear how they sound....:tears:
angel mercado
New Member
whatever you do do not fill the horn throat with concrete like someone i know did (me) talk about heavy i think they weighed over 300 a piece not good for resale :nono:
Russellc
Addicted Member
I have 416 8C and 802 8G. Crossover is a PE 800 hz unit, with all the caps changed out to Daytons. Then there is a compensation circuit on the high end that PaulC suggested. I am thinking of getting the Behringer 3400 electronic crossover and may give it a whirl in this application, but I am getting that more for working out future projects in conjunction with the Behringer DEQ 2496.
Russellc
bowtie427ss
Lunatic Member
Altec made throat adapters that maintain the proper throat angle for doing just this. The downfall here is that most new 1 inch drivers have no business playing below 1200hz, and most vintage 1 inch drivers aren't practical to use below 800hz. Of course there are always exceptions, but generally speaking large format horns were designed for .......................... wait for it.................................... here it comes........................ large format drivers.
.................. and you'll find the "good" adapters to be rather scarce and those of us who have them in our possession are most reluctant to let them go.
m4rz
Well-Known Member
Yeah, Zilch suggested the Behringer crossover. I personally have decided that I will take my time and try and get original horns...or at least Altec horns. I will sit with my eminence woofers for the time and then make a decision. I recently have regained my 2 amps back from the wife, so bi-amping isn't going to be an issue now.
I probably will restore the cabs as they are kinda rough. I can't wait to get these suckers breathing again.
I probably will restore the cabs as they are kinda rough. I can't wait to get these suckers breathing again.
203B is a long-throw horn with a 40° x 20° dispersion pattern, most suited for listening from across the stadium, or, at minimum, half way down the driveway.
In a normal listening room, they would have to be toed-in and aimed at the listener, and would develop no soundstage or ambience.
Headphones are a somewhat more practical approach to this experience....
In a normal listening room, they would have to be toed-in and aimed at the listener, and would develop no soundstage or ambience.
Headphones are a somewhat more practical approach to this experience....
Ya got me....
I do have to admit I've spent even less time with the 1005B's in closer proximity. I'm led to believe that if the 203B's are targeted towards a listening "sweet spot" they do an admirable job, but do have the directional shortcoming compared to the 1005B's.....:scratch2:
203B is a long-throw horn with a 40° x 20° dispersion pattern, most suited for listening from across the stadium, or, at minimum, half way down the driveway.
In a normal listening room, they would have to be toed-in and aimed at the listener, and would develop no soundstage or ambience.
Headphones are a somewhat more practical approach to this experience....
I do have to admit I've spent even less time with the 1005B's in closer proximity. I'm led to believe that if the 203B's are targeted towards a listening "sweet spot" they do an admirable job, but do have the directional shortcoming compared to the 1005B's.....:scratch2:
It's really narrow, is all, somewhat like the JBL bullet tweeter, which has a 30° conical pattern.
60° H x 40° V is probably minimum for typical listening rooms, but I find that too beamy. 90° x 50° is more conventional. Wider develops more "ambience" from room reflections but power response becomes more important.
There are two schools at the extremes: one says spray the room with max dispersion, imaging be damned, and the other says focus like a laser on the listener. For most, there's an appropriate pattern compromise somewhere in between.... :yes:
Looks like I have a bit of thinking to do. Thanks for the ideas guys -- there's plenty of options it seems. I'm thinking Altec horns of some sort, with BMS drivers -- I just like the Altec aesthetic. Would a JBL driver do a better job down below? I'm not too concerned about starting out with an original driver set; this would be a good opportunity to experiment a bit this summer, and I could always go back to original in the future, or when I win the lottery. 
bowtie427ss
Lunatic Member
If i remember correctly(some days are better than others), Mr Danley suggests the JBL 2225, which while under analysis might offer better bass extension, IMO sounds like ass in the A7, pulling a close second to the 2226. While Mr. Danley might be the "God" of subwoofers, i don't think he ever "listened" to the 2225 in the A7.
It's my WAG that 2225/2226 were designed as direct radiators for ported boxes, where 2225 sounds very good, and 2226 sounds fairly good, but more importantly strokes those impressed with big power handling numbers.
If you want to go Altec on a budget, look for nice clean 421-8LF's, seal off the vent thru the magnet, cut out the aluminum dome and replace it with the vented paper dustcap used on the 416/515 woofers, this will give you full altec cosmetics and significant low end. The LF version of the 421 will stomp all over the 416, 2225 and 2226 in the A7 box in terms of LF, but it's upper midrange can be a bit too forward or bright with the aluminum dome in place (and it don't look right in A7).
I've "listened" to at least a dozen different woofers/drivers in the A7 box. I knew from the start that i was going to use subs, so i was looking for the best mid-bass and low midrange i could get. 515's are pretty awesome, 515-8G(ferrite) was the best of the 515's for mids.
Ultimately i discovered JBL 2035 which was fully on par with the 515's midrange at about 1/5 the price of 515's, and has the flattest impedance curve of any woofer i've seen which makes it perfect for the Altec straight 2nd order crossover networks. I stayed with the JBL's because i at first used a passive network between the horn and A7.
When they're on sale at PE, the Dayton 400 watt cast frame pro woofer is a great deal that works very well in the Altec horn boxes. I also know some guys that have been very happy with some entries from Usher, Goldwood, 18sound, and B&C in their midbass horns. Goldwood makes some very good performing woofers that are visually very hard to differentiate from JBL's from a front view, at a fraction of the cost.
Just my .02 y'all understand...........................
It's my WAG that 2225/2226 were designed as direct radiators for ported boxes, where 2225 sounds very good, and 2226 sounds fairly good, but more importantly strokes those impressed with big power handling numbers.
If you want to go Altec on a budget, look for nice clean 421-8LF's, seal off the vent thru the magnet, cut out the aluminum dome and replace it with the vented paper dustcap used on the 416/515 woofers, this will give you full altec cosmetics and significant low end. The LF version of the 421 will stomp all over the 416, 2225 and 2226 in the A7 box in terms of LF, but it's upper midrange can be a bit too forward or bright with the aluminum dome in place (and it don't look right in A7).
I've "listened" to at least a dozen different woofers/drivers in the A7 box. I knew from the start that i was going to use subs, so i was looking for the best mid-bass and low midrange i could get. 515's are pretty awesome, 515-8G(ferrite) was the best of the 515's for mids.
Ultimately i discovered JBL 2035 which was fully on par with the 515's midrange at about 1/5 the price of 515's, and has the flattest impedance curve of any woofer i've seen which makes it perfect for the Altec straight 2nd order crossover networks. I stayed with the JBL's because i at first used a passive network between the horn and A7.
When they're on sale at PE, the Dayton 400 watt cast frame pro woofer is a great deal that works very well in the Altec horn boxes. I also know some guys that have been very happy with some entries from Usher, Goldwood, 18sound, and B&C in their midbass horns. Goldwood makes some very good performing woofers that are visually very hard to differentiate from JBL's from a front view, at a fraction of the cost.
Just my .02 y'all understand...........................
Great post,bowtie. :thmbsp: