Poor man's Altec?

[martyh45]

700 a pair? That is pretty **** reasonable for the quality. The fostex 15? are over 500 each

[gamalot]

Certainly a phone call to Bill can clear this up!
I know there are MI baskets that are identicle in every way and all that needs to be done is change the cone to the 416 specs.

I've also heard that he is working on some new stuff that will or does have alnico magnets but I have not yet seen any.

I love it when I get a nice pair of woofers rebuilt at GPA and they always sound as good as new and the service is very reasonable. Not sure I would pay top dollar for an unknown vintage altec woofer knowing it might need this service.

Just because a speaker is shown with a good DC reading on a meter does not tell much of how it will sound or function.

Gary

[bfish]

Originally posted by gamalot:
...I know there are MI baskets that are identicle in every way and all that needs to be done is change the cone to the 416 specs.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">If it's got ALL the right parts, it ain't a hybrid is it?

[gamalot]

Well said Bfish but I have to admit it is pretty wierd when you see and hear a nice 416-8B and then look inside and find a white basket!

Gary

[GM]

Originally posted by bfish:

As to Altec intentionally designing in distortion for MI apps, that's something I doubt. Personally, I don't think Altec ever "got it" as far as many musicians' preference for various types of distortion.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Greets!

Well, they intentionally did it somewhat in that the MI units I used had much less Xmax with a strongly rising rate suspension, not to mention alum. DCs, so at the levels we were listening to here they would have been quite 'colorful' even with a 500 Hz XO, so at the much higher SPLs of a prosound app they would be in constant high levels of distortion compared to a 515 or 416 series, though as you noted it would be mild compared to some other popular brands.

Not being familiar with all the various Altec motor design's details, this begs the Q, what Xmax, Xsus, Xmech does a re-coned 421 with a 416 kit have? The 416's, the 421's, or something in-between?

GM

[timp]

Hey ya'll

Well. I made a pilgrimage to an "altec sound" today. I met up with GM at his house running a pair of 515 (two each side) and 511 horns. I got so sucked into the sound I forgot that I had to go pick my son up. He only had to wait 20 mins or so. Not so bad! Wow! That's all I can say. If my memory serves me right, they sounded better than some expensive european made pairs. It was my first time hearing such a set. I still can vividly remember the strings, guitar, drums and etc. So where do I go from here? I read an article in a magazine about a guy who took 7 years to build his A7 together. He commented in the end that his audio journey finally came to an end with that. May be that's what I need to do. Anyways.

B fish I will give you a call.

Thanks GM!

Tim

[bfish]

Originally posted by GM:
Not being familiar with all the various Altec motor design's details, this begs the Q, what Xmax, Xsus, Xmech does a re-coned 421 with a 416 kit have? The 416's, the 421's, or something in-between?

GM

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I live in both the MI/HIFI worlds, which can cause some serious conflicts, internal and otherwise. So as not to become (overly) schizo', I favor the MI half. I like Altec MI drivers just fine in MI apps, so I can't/won't assist in anything that might tip that balance.

I constantly hear the HIFI crowd dumping on musicians for hording popular tubes, and can easily imagine that abuse extending to speakers. They seem to forget that the glorious music they listen to comes from musicians instead of their HIFI system. Even The Bird could only do so much with a plastic sax...

The "just a couple for me won't change anything" attitude is how it starts. Nip it in the bud and call me Barney.

(or do it on the QT)

ADDED;
Guess I could always spray a few guitar forums with instructions on converting 414s into 417s, 416s into 418s, and 515s into 421s...

Let the bidding begin...

Just be aware, to many musicians, ALL income is disposable.

<font color="#FFFFFF" size="1">[ December 18, 2007 02:11 AM: Message edited by: bfish ]</font>

[bfish]

Originally posted by timp:
...So where do I go from here?...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Just the other side of Doraville is a durn good bbq...

Decide for yourself what will define the end of the road for you. If you just heard it, duplicate it. Otherwise, put on "The Road Goes on Forever, and the Party Never Ends" (who did that one???)

Are you a roofer by any chance?

Call away. I'm usually 'out', but I answer anyway.

[timp]

Hey B Fish

Have you heard of Eminence deltalites and kappalites? any big difference? I heard some of you were talking about this while ago. They look really good.

Thanks

Tim

[timp]

By the way. I am not a roofer.

Tim