Newbie ISO 806A&811

[Ronald Lee]

Originally posted by gamalot:
.
.
Correct me if I am wrong here but my thought is you want to build some nice speakers for your own personal tastes and it will be best to do it right the first time.

19s are big but need not be as big as they are and you can certainly do as I have done and change width, height and depth to acheive proper box volume. If 19s were what I wanted and in their exact form I would buy a used set and just restore them. Same thing with Valencia's or Flamencos. You can find them at the auction site all the time and save a bundle.

I enjoy building my own cabinets and once done I load them with nothing but Vintage Altec drivers, horns and XOs but spend my money sending them to GPA for recharging, reconeing and rebuilding. This way I am sure everything is as good as it can be.

Gary

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">In my Altec manual on how to self build your own cabinet, it mentions that you can many times self build a cabinet that is superior to the factory because you can put in extra stiffeners.

[Old Guy]

http://cgi.ebay.com/mint-ALTEC-LANSI...QQcmdZViewItem

[JSP]

Originally posted by Old Guy:
http://cgi.ebay.com/mint-ALTEC-LANSI...QQcmdZViewItem

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Has anyone here had experience using altec drivers in Onken design cabinets? I have seen positive comments on some of the other boards?

JP

[Old Guy]

I think 15" with 16" frame is the best way to describe Altecs...not saying everybody has to do that.

I don't like 16" just because the cone is exactly the same. You pays yer money...

The 416B is my fave, again opinion.

[gamalot]

Regarding the 15"-16" thing!

I think the entire purpose of the wider flange is to allow for front mounting. As far as I can tell there is no difference in the cones at all, just a wider flange that is flat on the rear.

I have 2 pairs of 416-8As, one is the narrow flange and the other is the wide flange. I can't hear a bit of difference in any of them.

I do like the magnet structure of the 8B baskets so would have to agree with OG on favorites.

There is also alot of cosmetic differences with 802-8G drivers. The ones I like best have the nice label on the rear cover but I have a number of them that have just 033952 stenciled on the back and even one that has 23744 stenciled. They all sound the same and once it is loaded into a cabinet it makes little difference. I do see the ones with the 802-8G label bring higher prices.

Gary

[Old Guy]

IMHO it's still a 15" and always will be- I just specify the frame size to alert folks they may haave to mod their cabinet.

Calling it a 16" IMHO may mislead the buyer into thinking it's a bigger speaker.

Not a big issue, I just like to keep things clear.

[bfish]

The old parts lists show different part numbers for 15" and 16" kits, but it's just because of the different gaskets.

Where it does make a difference is when you have an existing hole to fit. 16"s won't fit in some early horn cabs either.

[JSP]

Originally posted by Old Guy:
IMHO it's still a 15" and always will be- I just specify the frame size to alert folks they may haave to mod their cabinet.

Calling it a 16" IMHO may mislead the buyer into thinking it's a bigger speaker.

Not a big issue, I just like to keep things clear.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">yes I would agree. I have read that sonicly the all the 416's are the same. Bill at GPA told me that most folks cannot tell the difference. What is the consensus here?

[intotubes]

I am using 416-8A with the larger flange in my 19's. I also heard (from here) that there is no diff between large flange 416-8A and 418-8B. Mine sound wonderful to my ear. Also using 902-8G in the 811. If I were modifying or building a Flamenco, I would use a matching LF driver but replace the HF with 802-8G or 902-8G (the latter available from Bill) and use a 1200HZ XO.