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Thread: Altec 620 Cabinets for 604D/C

  1. #1
    Hostboard Member HeathKitPat's Avatar
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    Altec 620 Cabinets for 604D/C

    I just wanted to share these cabinets with the audio community, since it looks to me like there is not that much out there. So here goes, the more the merrier.

    First let me say, I have a pair of Altec 606 cabinets that house a matching pair of 604C speakers (they were purchased from the original owners family). This combination sounds marvelous, but as most of you know the 606 is a monster of a cabinet. I wanted to build a cabinet to house my 604C speakers that I could use in my family room. So I scoured the net for as much info as I could and found a set of plans for the 620 cabinet. I enlisted the help of a friend who is much more knowledgeable than I am to help with the port tuning, the ports are down low as you can see in photos. I then contacted my local High School "Technical Institute" where they have a cabinet making shop. For the cost of materials and a donation to the program, the high school students built the cabinets to my specs out of oak veneer MDF. I must say they did a wonderful job!! Thank goodness for programs like this where students are still learning a trade. Well, needless to say when finished, I couldn't bear the thoughts of tearing down my 606 cabinets and moving the speakers so I installed a pair of early version 604D speakers that I bought for the new cabinets (you can never have enough Altec speakers). All of my 604 speakers are using GPA Crossovers that have been modified to work best with the 604C/D. Although the GPA crossovers are a great "out of the box" solution for most 604 applications they are generic (or more specifically best suited for the 605). I installed a shelving resistor for the HF which I believe is very important in taming the horns especially nearfield. I also added a nice pair of binding posts for the speaker connection. To mount the speakers I had steel rings laser cut to sandwich the MDF. This really locked the speakers to the cabinets and in some way I believe it helped with bass. For cabinet lining I went to the local flooring retailer and asked if they had any carpet padding similar to jute. They had a synthetic material that looked almost like jute. I lined the entire back door, one side and the floor of the cabinet with one half inch layer using 3M spray adhesive and a few strategically placed staples. Leaving the top and one side unlined. I thought sure I would have to experiment, but as it turns out I am very pleased with the results. for the grill covers I turned to Parts Express and bought one of their kits as well as a black grill cloth. Lastly I built a set of solid oak cabinet bases which were glued and screwed to the cabinet bottoms using a Kregs pocket screw bit on drill press and Kregs washer head self drilling screws. This was mainly to prevent chipping out of the MDF when moving the speakers around, plus I like the way it makes the speakers seem like they are floating a few inches from the floor. I then installed sockets for spikes to be installed once the speakers were set up in place. This locks them down to the floor and seems to have helped with the bass. I hope this will help some of you on the quest to build new homes for your 604 style speakers. They are hands down my favorite.

    Pictures to follow.. (files are not uploading as pictures. sorry for the links, I'll try to fix this later.

    - - - Updated - - -

    https://i.gyazo.com/ce7f7e806c1a4acb...5a29a1cf3c.jpg

    - - - Updated - - -

    https://i.gyazo.com/964fc642aa114173...3d5c4882d6.png
    Grills

    https://i.gyazo.com/5444738e80e35f2b...36bfbf4543.png
    Covering Grills

    https://i.gyazo.com/821523f312d1a9c2...2bce06ec34.png
    Grills installed

    https://i.gyazo.com/b70f4b4193162b7d...20e55c75c5.png
    Speaker mounting rings, shelving resistor control, port

    https://i.gyazo.com/c8581729b9a312c8...6a782cae2e.png
    Cabinet inside view, insulation, crossover, port, bracing

    https://i.gyazo.com/18785129328fca8f...da0dfba3c3.png
    back door, binding posts
    Last edited by HeathKitPat; May 7th, 2017 at 09:51 AM.

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    Senior Hostboard Member bowtie427ss's Avatar
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    Re: Altec 620 Cabinets for 604D/C

    In the insert image dialog box select the "from URL" tab and be sure to un-check the little box below it that says "Retrieve remote file and reference locally"

    Love your set-up BTW.

    2
    Not all vegetables make good leaders.

  3. #3
    Hostboard Member HeathKitPat's Avatar
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    Re: Altec 620 Cabinets for 604D/C

    Bowtie, Thanks for the tip and the like!

    1
    Here is the start of the base.

    3
    Finished Bases
    Last edited by HeathKitPat; May 7th, 2017 at 09:37 AM.

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    Senior Hostboard Member bowtie427ss's Avatar
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    Re: Altec 620 Cabinets for 604D/C

    Please tell me about this:

    4
    Not all vegetables make good leaders.

  5. #5
    Hostboard Member HeathKitPat's Avatar
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    Re: Altec 620 Cabinets for 604D/C

    Umm, that's the upper right hand back corner of the speaker cabinet. showing the nice tight fit that the students were able to achieve.. (on topic).. haha







    As to anything else your keen eye should espy.. clear some room in your PM box and I'll send some info and photo's of a 1930 Bowtie Sedan.

    5

    Does this help with the mystery?

    6
    Last edited by HeathKitPat; May 7th, 2017 at 09:33 PM.

  6. #6
    Senior Hostboard Member mah's Avatar
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    Re: Altec 620 Cabinets for 604D/C

    Heathkitpat, Thanks for posting the pics. Those grill frames are just what I have been looking for to finish my Eminence- size cabs.
    Opinion is only as valid as its verifiable supporting evidence.

  7. #7
    Hostboard Member HeathKitPat's Avatar
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    Re: Altec 620 Cabinets for 604D/C

    Quote Originally Posted by mah View Post
    Heathkitpat, Thanks for posting the pics. Those grill frames are just what I have been looking for to finish my Eminence- size cabs.
    2
    3

    Great, hope the pics and idea works out for you. A few things I found.. I used 3m spray adhesive (I sprayed first before laying it on the cloth which was already laid out on a work table), spraying and attaching one long side first, then a short side. Once they were secure and wrinkle free I pulled tight and evenly attaching to the opposite long side, finishing with the last short side. The nice thing about the 3m spray is you can pull the cloth off, stretch it and reattach it. For any areas you need to respray, I just used a card board shield to protect the grill cloth spraying away from the center. The corners are a bit of a challenge since the posts are in the way.. try to keep the cloth from bunching up in this area or it will prevent the posts from seating in their rubber grommets.. the grills will fall off! Also I drilled the holes in the cabinets using a forstner bit, I did not go all the way through. There is what I believe to be an air hole in the rubber grommet. It's a nice tight seal when you put the grills on. I make sure they are seated firmly and slowly to get the air out. I just wasn't sure if they were supposed to be drilled all the way through.
    Mah, if you know all this great.. I just thought to add this commentary for those that need advice.

  8. #8
    Senior Hostboard Member mah's Avatar
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    Re: Altec 620 Cabinets for 604D/C

    Good detail. Thanks, again.
    Opinion is only as valid as its verifiable supporting evidence.

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    Senior Hostboard Member LowOhms's Avatar
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    Re: Altec 620 Cabinets for 604D/C

    Hello,

    Thank you so much for your thread and contribution!!

    I certainly like the nice clean look of your system. As a baby and child, I grew up with my Dad's new 604 and 604B.

    LOL, some spotted the hot rod, I spotted the turntable. Can you tell us a little bit about your experiences with the Thorens TD-124 you own??

    My best friend, and co-worker, found one like yours on Craig's List, only 15 days ago. He bravely took it apart, including the motor, lubricated and cleaned up the entire piece. It truly BLOWS us away how nicely it plays our LPs on his system.

    It is very special, that ancient rim drive table, as to HOW it plays an LP !! What an "eye and ear opener", our recent TD-124 experience has been to both of us. It eliminated his nice Linn turntable out of the audio system, easily, and spoiled us both forever.

    After this most recent TD-124 experience, I am itching to upgrade my belt drive table. 'Am contemplating going either the TD-124 route, OR, getting a brand new Pioneer PLX-1000 and putting a graphite table mat on it ( Extreme Phono's " Speed" mat with the donut ). I just can't make up my mind, which route to take.

    Maybe I will have to do both, over time, and decide for myself.

    Any experienced comments you care to share about the TD-124, or the subject, that may be helpful ??

    Thanks so much,

    Low Ohms.....Jeff Medwin

  10. #10
    Hostboard Member HeathKitPat's Avatar
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    Re: Altec 620 Cabinets for 604D/C

    Hi Low Ohms, for turntables I have the TD-124 and a few Rek O Kuts. Some folks look down on the ROK turntables, but in my opinion if you can tame some of the issues they are wonderful!
    To start with the TD-124.. I just cannot find anything about it I don't like. As you might note in the Pictures I'm using an SME 3009 type II with removable headshell. I have a Shure v15 Type IV with a Jico SAS stylus. I'm also using a slate (that's right slate) armboard and sonically it is dead. I especially love the brake feature on the Thorens. For those not in the know the Thorens has a lever on the side that serves as a brake, it lifts the platter just a bit while the motor keeps spinning. This is great for stopping the platter and changing to another LP quickly. It's also speeds up the process when sampling cuts on different LP's It's a nice HEAVY platter with lots of mass, the framework on the TT is also quite heavy. So transmission of noise is minimal. I had mine serviced professionally by James Campbell. He is found on Ebay and is close enough to me that I drove to him. He also provided me with the slate armboard.

    For other Turntables I have a restored ROK B12H this is the large Ashland Hysterisis motor that can and I am also currently using a restored ROK B12 with factory wooden plinth and a restored Grado Lab series tonearm. This is my secondary system and no complaint here either. Key to these turntables and really all rim drives is a good fresh idler and a new bearing. On the ROK's I'm using the silica nitride ceramic balls available online.

    So in short, I'm a huge fan of vintage idler drive turntables. They are mostly build like tanks! and many have very heavy platters and strong motors. Given a bit of attention when bringing them back to life can make all the difference in the world.

    Here is a pic of one of the Rek O Kut's and my "basement system".. that's a pair of 606 cabinets housing a matching pair of 1957 604C speakers that came from the original owners family. Grandpa had them in his hi-fi store as a back up pair to the ones he used. This pair never saw use other than testing, until I bought them a few years ago.

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