How do these compare?

[voice of the theater]

Anyone out there have an idea of how these would compare to Model 14's or Model 15's? They have the 902-8t tangerine radial phase plug driver (a phenomenal driver!), but how do the woofers and crossovers compare? Is this the same woofer as in a Model 14 or 15? I see it's a 1500hz crossover but only one EQ control on it compared to two on the Model 14 and 15 crossovers. Do you lose sound quality with a 90 degree bend in the horn? Anyone know what material this horn is made out of (it's not metal)? The price seems right and the location might work for some of our Ohio members....

Altec Lansing 9849-8B (Pair) Working Vintage - eBay (item 330420741805 end time Apr-11-10 16:04:46 PDT)

[bowtie427ss]

My 9849's are a bit older with alnico components, so they're a few db less sensitive than the later ferrite models. IMO, compared to my model 15's, the only place the 15's excel are in LF extension.

The 9849 has much smoother and fuller mids, and a more seamless transition at XO. The 9849 has a well voiced(eq'd/comp'd) network and is a far more honest reproducer at the end of the day.

The model 15's on a good 100 solid state watts are a lot of fun, and can be a pleasure to listen to for hours on end. But, stranded on an island and only able to choose 1 pair that i might have to listen to forever, i'd take the 9849's in a heartbeat.

Worthy to note that here in my listening environment the 9849's are located up high, within a couple inches of the ceiling with the horns where they belong, on the bottom. Either of these models, because of their bent horn's dispersion characteristics are very placement sensitive.

Just my .02......................

[voice of the theater]

Thanks bowtie---interesting how the bent horn affects dispersion....