604C's in a small room....

[ejfud]

Long time reader of the forum with the chance to finally enter the Altec world.

I have a chance at a pair of 604c's at a good price. Here is my dilemma, my room is very small. Roughly 9' x 12'. The speakers will be on the 9' wall. I have bothe tube and SS amps, so that should not be a problem.

Would I be happy with these 15" monsters in that small of a room? What cabinets would I build?

Thanks for any help or ideas.

Gary

[Tom Brennan]

Hard to say Gary. My 605As, a similar speaker, have sounded great in some small rooms but don't sound so good in the small room they're in now; a tendancy to sound a somewhat wirey in this room.

But then I gotta wonder if any speakers would sound good in the room anyway.

So my answer is a great big I dunno.

[valhallax]

i cant imagine any situation that you wouldnt be happy with 604c's..in any room

[selmerdave]

My room is 7' x 9', speakers on the 9' wall.

Sounds great (if not as good as a better room). Certainly better than anything else I've had in that room.

Dave

[Fran604g]

I have my 8G's in a room that size, mounted in 620 cabs, and they sound great. From my perspective, the speaker height is critical to get the most out of them in a nearfield environment.

I'd love to have a room twice this size, though...

[ejfud]

Well you are giving me hope, thanks.

620 cabs would be doable I think. Do you have them on stands? I'll have to look for the plans for these.

Would the Stonehenge III cab be a good option?

[DNV47]

I have Model 19's in a room thats just under 12 X 12 and nearfield listening works fine for me but the sweetspot is confined to a one person seat.
But because I normally listen alone it's not a real issue for me.

As someone pointed out to me, the room is on the second floor and the ceiling is sloped so maybe that helps with the dreaded standing waves and room nodes you hear about but I have yet to say I've run them at a listening level you'd expect for a room that size.

In the past I was used to listening to my system LOUDY in a 14 X 21 room with the speakers in the corners of the 14 foot wall and although that worked OK I find the more intimate listening at lower volume levels more engaging and the big wall of sound more than makes up for the lower listening level.

The better recorded LP's like Belafonte at Carnegie Hall sound pretty real to me even in the small room so LOUD only isn't the key to big hall realism.

As another poster pointed out, maybe the 604 needs to be at ear level when sitting like the Model 19 horn is.

[bfish]

The best duplexes in a small room I've heard were built-in the wall IB-style, with a large clothes closet on the back side. The height was right, no floor space lost to boxes, and no baffle step. Way easier to build than boxes too.

[Sounder]

About a year and a half ago, I put some GPA 604's into a Stonehenge V enclosure that I built. Although big honkers, I LOVE the sound (mostly classical music, like pipe organ). More recently, I put some similar speakers (University 15" alnico's) into a 620 cabinet that I built and they sound almost as nice, especially on the low ends. When I joined the two sets of speakers, I thought I was in heaven. I don't think you can go wrong with what you're proposing.

[amandarae]

Agree! Before going OB in my 22 x 20 x 14? with cathedral ceiling listening room, I tried my 604-8G's mounted on 612C cabs in a 12 x 11 feet bedroom as I was re-arranging my listening room at the time, using a Yamaha receiver at first. Near field listening was excellent! I tried hooking my dynaco ST70 and then 2A3/45 amp with similar results, if not better.

I do have to be honest that in my listening room which as you can see is much bigger, even with a 45 amp, the 8G's projects much tighter and authoritative bass and exceptional tone and imaging than when they are in a smaller room. But it all depends how loud you really want to listen in the first place.

regards,

Abe