New Altec speaker boxes Part 2

[Carl Bill]

I have 19's that were built in 1978 in California. They have neither the fabric OR black paint to hide the RED fiberglass. The ones I built in the OKC facility in 1980, used Yellow fiberglass and did not have either the fabric or black paint. Altec farmed out some of the cabinet building in California throughout the 19's manufacturing period. I would assume that there are quite a few small fabrication variations of this type out there.

Availability of red vs. yellow fiberglass was probably not uncommon.

[gamalot]

Great info CarlB, My original 19s from 76-77 had red fiberglass with the black paint. The cabinet I have here now has yellow with the black paint.
I believe you are correct and there is no exact standard for this minor issue. I also think looking through a 19 port hole at either yellow or red is rather unappealing and some form of darkening should be done in this area.

I did some experiments with the magnets (Neo's) from PE. Strong little suckers for sure!
I screwed up on a couple of cuts with the cabinet backs from above. I set the magnets in each corner of the two MDF backs I have as s*****. Each piece is 32" X 22", should have been 22.25", each piece weighs a touch under 14 pounds. Magnets in just each corner will not pick up the second sheet, add two more and I can dead lift the second sheet off my bench.
As for hold strength they are great for direct opposing force but not so great if the grills can slide. My assesment is if the grills have some sort of pearch they sit on that will not allow them to slide up, down or side ways then the magnets work fine. I never saw a grill that would weigh anywhere near 14 pounds and be suspended in mid air and I don't think any other fastener would work much better short of screws.
If I stand both pieces of MDF on my work bench and try to pull them appart the magnets are suprisingly strong and should hold most grills fine. I will certainly use these in the future.

Gary

[bigjunglejim]

Jeff, Welcome to this thread, I'm glad you posted. Thank you for the Model 19 plans and your input for wire selection. Any idea where I can find Vampire long-crystal OFC copper wire?

Gary. Thanks for the information about the magnets. I have though about how to use the magnets with the magnets carrying the weight of the grill. I'm leaning towards locating pins that will carry the weight of the grills and just use the magnets to hold the grill against the cabinet. The thought of grill pins breaking didn't sit well with me. Using screws or Velcro to hold the grills are still options I haven't ruled out. FYI there are different grade of Velcro. There is even a Velcro made to hold bumpers on cars and was considered by car manufacturers.

The problem the factory had with making speaker cabinets before was the people who placed the order. They nit picked everything every step of the way and were very demanding. The boxes that were made had a sprayed on finish like Texturelac or the paint used to line truck beds. The factory is considering doing these boxes because they will be "high end" furniture grade and because they have done a lot of work for and with my brother.

Leaving out the bracing isn't a good idea. I can't see someone spending the kind of money that these will have to sell for and having to anything but load the components. Imagine buying a new Cadillac or Lincoln Town Car and having to install your own radio and mufflers. besides, corner bracing is standard in furniture making. No big deal.

Has anyone one else tried densified polyester batting instead of fiberglass? I'd like to know the pros and cons. I know if I get anywhere near the fiberglass in my 19's, I start itching. That's not good.

I'm posting 4 picture of one of my 19's. Please note the color difference where the speaker mounts compared to the surrounding area and the fabric used. All 5 of my 19 are the same. I'm in California and bought my 19's from local residents. They were probably made here on the West Coast. As state elsewhere in this thread, perhaps these details changed from one cabinet shop to the next. I'd assume it would have been with Altec's OK.

[gamalot]

Thanks for the pics Jim, Apparently they did do so minor differences and it may be dependent upon which factory made which boxes.
I also see another interesting difference from yours and mine. The end grain particle board of your cabinets ports are painted black while mine are not.

When you get to building the 19s you will not be able to use the magnets because they have no strength for slipping side to side or up and down. 19 grills have no pearch to sit upon or frame they go into. It is very hard to pull the magnets appart but they slide off and away from each other easily.
I used the large ball and socket type shown above on my 19 clones but I do have a frame around where the grills sits. I am not particularly satisfied with the balls/sockets arrangement either but I purchased extras for when the ball breaks.

Gary

[LICORNE]

I've seen and heard Altec model 19 and 18 in the mid seventie's.
I WOULD PREFER HAVING CUSTOM FOAM GRILLS made
to specs .

It's lighter than those wooden frames.

..................................

[jmarkwart]

Jim,

Vampire CCC (Continuous Cast Copper) 18 ga. stranded chassis wire is available from Michael Percy at $1/foot. If you're going to be using significant amounts for wiring multiple speakers, consider buying a roll instead from your local Vampire distributor there in LA.

Jeff

[selmerdave]

Originally posted by Jammin Jungle Jim:
[QB]Please note the color difference where the speaker mounts compared to the surrounding area

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Looks to me like the difference between wood that has seen the light of day and wood that hasn't, which would be logical of course.

Dave

[bfish]

Jus' when water's about to run uphill, Dave's gotta come along and apply some logic.

Now I'm gonna haf'ta resubscribe to the funny papers.

[selmerdave]

LOL!

Dave

[bigjunglejim]

Jeff.... right from the Michael Percy Audio online catalog;

* V A M P I R E Cast Copper Interconnect: CCC-II with twin 18ga polyethylene insulated conductors, copper braid shield and 7mm black PVC jacket @$2.60 per mono foot
C a s t Copper 12ga Speaker Cable: ST-1 with six PVC insulated multi-gauge conductors twisted around a central core and 11.5mm black PVC jacket @$6.50 per mono foot