Altec 421 woofer

[Old Guy]

I see the 815 cabinet was available with either driver and the specs available for the day were remarkably similar.

Agreed, but bear in mind that is without the reflex port...that is where most of the effect of the 421 would show.

The 815 is a "truncated" 210 horn according to the early Altec sheets. They dropped that description later, but we are looking at an 80 Hz horn.

Either 15 will get to 80 no sweat.

[Ronald Lee]

I wonder how would a 421 function in a single woofer 816 cab rather than a dual woofer 815?

[Audio_by_Goodwill]

I wonder how would a 421 function in a single woofer 816 cab rather than a dual woofer 815?

It's a smaller horn, so it's not a single driver (smaller) 815, if that's what you're after.

[GM]

It plays loud enough at low distortion for home use, but still sounds like a PA driver when pushed hard. For HIFI/HT the DC needs a coat of rubber cement to damp its excessive HF 'shout'/'ringing'.

GM

[mah]

I have a pair of 421-8H and a pair of 416B. Any comments on the quality of vocals of each, below 500Hz?
My 15 cu.ft. vented enclosures are almost ready for assembly. WIN ISD shows these drivers to be close with a 32Hz tuning.

Cheers, Marshall.

[GM]

The major difference is the 421 goes non-linear in a reflex like right now, so great for 'stretching out' the bass line which adds some harmonic distortion to the mids of a MI, but not my 'cup o' tea' for vocals. Only one way to know for sure which you prefer though.

GM

[mah]

Thanks, GM.

Marshall.

PS. Shouldn't you be in bed at this hour?

[Ronald Lee]

It's a smaller horn, so it's not a single driver (smaller) 815, if that's what you're after.

Yeah, thanks, that is what I wanted to hear.

[GM]

Thanks, GM.

Marshall.

PS. Shouldn't you be in bed at this hour?

You're welcome!

Dunno, I mean it's 11.37 pm EST as I type this and typically went to bed between 1-3 am during my working career with its 7.30 am start, but then I've been an insomniac for as long as I can remember. Even in my dotage I only average ~5 hrs/night, though nowadays I do occasionally 'cat nap' during the heat of the day for 20-30 min..

What are you building? Seems like we've discussed it, but can't remember much of anything for any length of time nowadays.

Oh well, just took a break from watching Butch Cassidy to browse/post a bit, so back to being a 'couch potato'.

GM

[mah]

Hi again, GM,

Oops. Hostboard showed a post time around 3AM. Should have checked time zones for myself.

Re my project: yes we have exchanged communications. When I am at the tuning stage I would welcome your input.

Regards, Marshall.