Altec 413-8A

[bfish]

I never saw either till the '80s so I can't speak with authority, but I believe both, when introduced as the DF series, shared the doomed cloth half-roll, which has a very similar cross-section as the later foam. By around '75, the 413 was done for, and the 411 got foam for the remainder of production. The rogue appearances of accordians were aftermarket refits, regardless of the semi-recent troll post claiming otherwise. GPAs' are foam, and indestinguishable from older Altecs.

AFAIK, the same foam from GPA for 411s should work on 413s, and if so (easy to tell with a measurement and a phone call) would be a recommended refit. The 4 411s I've reconed all suffered from serious spider fatigue, but that issue seems limited to the 4" offset spiders.

As to the developement issue, my speculation is the 411 outperformed the 413 enough that they saw no reason to keep the 413. As to production cost, Altec wasn't making their own software anyway, so ordering different parts to spec is just that. For the frames, I've never noticed a difference. The std frame opening for the coil and spider land is sufficietly large enough to accept a 4" VC, only the front plate and pole would need to differ.

...grain of salt...

Added...

For the OP, if unhappy with the 413s, just spring for some new 3154s from Bill and be done with it...

[theebadone]

Thanks for all the info. guys. I'm happy with the performance of the 413s in the santiagos. I wanted to recap the XOs and put a refoam on the 413s and get them up to specs, as you guys know they are almost 40 years old and could use a little maintenance. But to have a set of nice sounding speaker that you cant get parts for is a little irritating, to say the least. I called G.P.A. yesterday and was told no parts are available for the 413, and nothing else will work on them. If i decide to replace them i guess i will go with the 411-8A, as thats the driver that was used in this cabinet also. So now my 200.00 update just turned into a 600-700 dollar project, as the last set of 411s i seen on epay just sold for 500. Thanks again everyone, guess i'll just start looking for some 411s

[bowtie427ss]

So now my 200.00 update just turned into a 600-700 dollar project, as the last set of 411s i seen on epay just sold for 500. Thanks again everyone, guess i'll just start looking for some 411s

Patience Grasshopper, if you really want to put some 411's in there, set yourself up some auto-searches at scumbay and pursue your 411's during the warm outdoor activity months. You'll be surprised how inexpensively you can buy them with a little patience. Don't be afraid to buy them one at a time, as singles almost always sell for less than half the price of pairs.