Valencia in a Model 19

**les winter** · February 14th, 2010, 07:52 AM

A bit over $200 each plus shipping.

**Mustang Marvin** · February 14th, 2010, 10:04 AM

I have a pair of 846B's and considered replacing the 806's with the 902's. This was suggested as the best improvement I could make. I thought about it and decided to keep my Valencias stock. Still, I know this would make a big improvement. I use the 902's in my A7's. They are great.

If you truly want to make the change, the 902's are the way to go. IMHO.

**voice of the theater** · February 15th, 2010, 03:38 PM

Would the 902's work with the "stock" Valencia crossovers (800hz) or would you also need model 19 (1200hz) crossovers to upgrade a pair of Valencias with the 902 drivers?

**Altec Best** · February 15th, 2010, 03:56 PM

Originally Posted by les winter

Here are my Valencia components mounted in a Model 19 type enclosure. I will be getting 802-8G drivers in the future. The bass cabinet is made of 3/4" baltic birch. Lots of bracing inside. Bi amped 24dB/oct LR at 1200hz. The hf horn has a copy of the model 19 shaping network in front. The vents are 3-inch id pvc, 2 inches long. They are not installed in the attached photo.

I'm still adjusting the fiberglass damping inside.

I got lots of help on this forum. Thanks.

Les

Hi Les, Very Nice !!! One other thing I wanted to mention other than the fiberglas you asked about is that the 416's are front mounted and not rear mounted I don't know if it would make much differance but as I think you are trying to be as close to original as poss.I thought I would mention.Great Job Regards John

**les winter** · February 15th, 2010, 04:33 PM

Thanks.

I compensated for the front mount, which moved the woofer back by further recessing the horn baffle board. The horn sits a little deeper in its enclosure than the original.

**Mustang Marvin** · February 16th, 2010, 10:04 AM

According to what I have been told, the 902's are a direct replacement for the 806's. I have 902's in my A7's crossed at 800Hz and they sound great. I believe much better than the 806's. I may consider putting them in my Valencias at some point. As soon as I get an extra $400.

**MikeInNH** · February 16th, 2010, 12:14 PM

I thought the 902s were a direct replacement for the 802's.

GM · February 16th, 2010, 01:50 PM

The 804, 806, 900 series don't load down low as much as the 802 series, so there is no direct Altec/GPA replacement for the 802 when used with a 500 Hz XO unless either a loading cap is used or mounted on a MR994 or larger horn and even then the 994 sounds too harsh for my tastes at piano bar/HT reference SPLs. With no PWT measurements to compare, this assumes of course that the GPA is a NOS Altec in materials, construction.

BTW, who wound up with Altec's test lab in general and PWT system in particular?

GM

**voice of the theater** · February 17th, 2010, 02:38 PM

I went to the Altec pro site and looked up the specs for the 806 (stock Valencia) h.f. driver. It shows the pressure/sensitivity (i.e. efficiency) is 109.5 db at one watt input. The pressure/sensitivity for the 902 is only 104 db (105.7 on the GPA website) at one watt input which makes me think that the 902 wouldn't be "loud" enough to replace an 806 using the stock Valencia crossover--I'm guessing I would need a model 19 crossover to compensate for the difference in high frequency driver efficiency if I swap out two 806's for two 902's? Am I right in assuming that at the same power level the 806 will be "louder" than a 902 or are they comparable efficiency and it's just that they were measured differently which caused the difference between 109.5 db and 105.7 db?? I'm seriously considering upgrading my Valencias with 902's but not sure if the stock 800 hz Valencia crossover will work?? Besides the efficiency factor, another factor to consider is that I've heard that the 902's don't sound good with a 500hz crossover point--would they be fine with an 800hz crossover point (stock Valencia) or do I need the 1200 hz crossover point that a Model 19 crossover provides? Also, in the same vein, the Model 19's use 416-8B woofers. The Valencias use 416-8A woofers. Are they going to be comparable or do I disqualify the Model 19 crossover for a Valencia/AS-101 upgrade because it was designed for 416-8B's and not for 416-8A's?? And lastly, the Altec 902 is rated at 104 db with one watt input, the GPA 902 is rated at 105.7 db at one watt input. Again, do I disqualify the model 19 crossover for this upgrade because it's specifically designed for use with the Altec 902, or are the Altec 902 and the GPA 902 comparable and just measured differently (one with current measuring technology and one with older measuring technology?)??? It would be nice if I could just use the stock Valencia (and AS 101) crossover (800hz) but I don't want what's easy (and less expensive), if I do this I want to do it right..... It just occurred to me that since the cabinets are different for a Valencia than a Model 19, does that disqualify the Model 19 crossover as a candidate? Are there enough questions posed in this post???

p.s. I just posted (pretty much) these same questions as a new thread--I feel like I'm hijacking Les's thread....