Model 19's...A rave and some questions.

[boltupright]

Congrats on your great deal on those 19's.
I too have both the 19's & A7-500 & am partial to the 19's bass but the midbass of the A7's is stunning with more defifnition IMO, But in a smaller room the 19's are indeed the better speaker.
I would have to use subs with the A7's to get as low as the 19's, but if I had the room I would use the A7's with a sub, JBL 2245 or the like.
The 19's have bases & they are the same dimensions as the divider between the bass cab & the horn cab with the same black vinyl covering on it.
As for the foam around the horn, I believe there is something to them as far as sound is concerned but I'm not technically able to tell you what it is, reproduced ones used to be available on Ebay but I havn't seen any lately.
They sound fine without them.

[conductor]

I Just recently purchased a pair of Model Nineteens. The following is a gleeful post to the Vintage Asylum after returning home with them:

[Stopped into the Davenport Iowa D.A.V. thrift store today. I almost passed it by because all previous visits have been fruitless. I was pleased to find many nice albums for 70 cents each and was about to pay for them when I decided to walk back to the large back room where they keep the electronics and such. Almost didn't because I have never seen anything there but total junk. As I walked into the large room, I spotted two very large speakers up on a bench about 4 feet above the floor. They looked like Altec model 19's. Surely not, I thought, they must be some kind of light-weight knockoff/copy/clone of the 19's. Cause why would they hoist 150 lb each speakers that high off the floor? As I approached them I saw the Altec Lansing on the grill badges and the Model Nineteen on the crossovers. My knees got shaky as I frantically looked for a price tag. There was the price written on one cabinet in red grease pencil...$450...for the pair!! Not the 100 or so I was hoping to see, but a fantastic price nevertheless as they are in near perfect condition except, of course, for the foam surrounding the 811 horns. I couldn't pay for them fast enough. Two of the guys there helped me load them into my pickup truck and provided me with old sheets and a blanket to pad them with. I bound them together with nylon cargo straps that I carry for such purpose and drove the 50 miles to my home where the 19's are safely ensconced in my garage awaiting space in my house. I've a feeling they may end up replacing the A7-500W-II's I am using now. No way do I have room for both...**** ]

This evening I had a chance to inspect them and take them for a spin. They have the oak cabs and the poop-brown grills (I would rather have black. Anyone want to trade?) and what appears to be the older alnico 802-8G (determined by looking through the port to see the larger size of the driver and by looking down the throat to see the tangerine plug) as for the woofer, I imagine it to be the 416-8B or 416-8A. It does have the hex bolt behind the hole in the dust cap indicating that it is an older Alnico type. It also has a black basket. I have not removed one to see what it has stamped on it (if anything).
I still have them in my garage as my A7-500W-II's (Magnificents) are still holding there place in my living room. (no room for the new kids). I hooked the 19's up to a stock Dynaco ST-70 fed straight from a Denon DCD-1520 cd player using the Denon's variable output. With the L-pads both set at half way for starters, I let rip with John Fogerty's "Blue Moon Swamp"

Ok, I have read much about the Model 19's because of my interest in all things Altec, and have owned A7-500's with the 902 HF drivers and now the A7-500W-II's with the 802D's. I did not think the 19's could or would be an improvement over the A7-500's. They are. They are as smooth as the A7-500's, but with more extended highs. Voices are more realistic with the 19's. The 19's are much more 3 dimensional. Much more. Way more than I ever expected. These things just disappear. But what grabbed my immediate attention and put a smile on my face was the bass. Much tighter and more defined than the A-7's. The detail and presence in and of the upper bass/lower midrange is the best I have ever heard. I used to own Klipschorns and one thing I miss about them is way they reproduced the upper bass/ lower midrange and what they did for the lower register of a piano. The 19's are as good as the Khorns in this area, I think. They got slam. They got bottom. They give great weight to the music without being bloated. They go deeper than the A7-500s or the Khorns. I am also impressed by how detailed, full, and balanced they sound at very low levels. I think they will be replacing the A7-500W-II's soon.

They did not have bases with them, but were sitting flat on their bottoms. What are these bases? I see them in pictures. They look to be 3 or 4 inches high and recessed. I cant see where anything was ever attached to the bottoms. Do the 19's just sit on these square frames or what is the deal. Did some 19's come without bases? Also how do you model 19 users position yours as far as height, tow-in, room position, etc? Also, how much difference does the lack of foam around the horn make? They sounded great without it. And in my garage at that. Can't wait to hear them in the house... with vinyl!

[Altec19]

My 19's also came to me minus the foam surrounds. The originals are good for maybe 20 years and then they disintegrate. I bought a set from someone on eBay who was making excellent reproductions. I was curious about any sonic benefits but I wanted them, if for no other reason, than to make the speakers "original". I was very surprised at the difference they made. I believe the surrounds provide at least two sonic benefits:

1. They dampen any ringing from the 811's by contacting the rim of the horn flares in four places. When I tap the horns now, they just go "thunk".

2. The foam seems to absorb or prevent any near reflections from the baffle board or the protruding cabinetry surrounding the horn. These early reflections can really mess up imaging and the foam seemed to "sharpen" the image a fair bit.

If you want to try to contact the person making the surrounds, send me a private message through this message board and I'll see if I can locate an email address for you.

As for attaching the bases, there are two screws per base, one in the middle of each side board going straight up into the bottom of the main cabinet.

Later . . .

[Altec19]

By the way, I like the way you drive the Nineteens. I have a similar configuration with a Cambridge Audio Azur 640 driving a Creek passive pre-amp and then on to this:

Link to . . .

A little Harry James and away we go . . .

[boltupright]

Nice work on those Dynaco's

[RonSSS]

Nice score!
We are all jealous......
But sometimes you just have to be inthe right place at the right time. and you were.
The bases are simple picture frame construction. I have my 19's apart right now and would be happy to measure the bases and post it here.
Have fun!
Ron