Altec Valencia shrillness

**Altec Best** · September 19th, 2010, 12:35 PM

The tar-filled XO is a Heathkit the other Altec, now that is a blown Cap literally blown apart.

As Bowtie has suggested that looks like a very early model "Iconic" That woofer is old maybe late 50's very early 60's

WRT to tar-filled XO IME they (Caps) should be replaced as they are still original.And quite old, caps have an effective life of 20-25 years give or take.

**haryn** · September 19th, 2010, 12:55 PM

I didn't see how to replace them, as they were all encased in the tar or whatever. What about a Behringer? That is an "active" crossover? Does one unit do 2 speakers, and let you adjust the sound?

**LICORNE** · September 19th, 2010, 08:38 PM

Originally Posted by haryn

By shrillness, I mean it hurts your ears. But I only hear it on certain songs. What do I need to get to make these old speakers sound new again?

Yes it's normal. That is what the Voice Of The Theater is all about.My 604-8G do that on some recordings. Especially ABBA .

Enjoy

**Old Guy** · September 19th, 2010, 09:08 PM

Originally Posted by haryn

What about a Behringer? That is an "active" crossover? Does one unit do 2 speakers, and let you adjust the sound?

There are lots of actives, there are good used ones for cheap, and some decent cheap ones...

Active crossovers go ahead of the amp. you would need a second amp. and use your current amp for lows or highs depending on it's power and sonic qualities.

If this is too complex, just ask here...the glossary of terms at least will be useful

http://sound.westhost.com/bi-amp.htm

Don't worry about dumb questions, the dumbest question is the one not asked. We are here to help.

**Panomaniac** · September 19th, 2010, 11:26 PM

Model 19 crossovers (or active) Tube amps. Shrillness gone. Easy.

**haryn** · September 20th, 2010, 12:18 AM

After reading the article mentioned by Old Guy, I am inclined to go to bi-amping.

Where would I buy the Model 19 xovers, and do you know what they cost? That option would be simplier.

Right now I have 2 500W per channel at 8 ohm power amps, a 10 year old Pioneer 150W a channel receiver, and the AVR635 Harman Kardon which is 75W x 7 channels. My plan is when my center speaker comes in this week, to have it driven by the HK center channel for listening to the radio, and maybe also my KLH915's on the front channel. That leaves the 4 Valencias and 3 amps that I run off the preamp of the HK's surround channels, that I could turn on when listening to loud music. Things sound pretty good right now, with the exception of a song like Aqualung. Adn although I can hear the cymbals, they aren't as loud as I think they should be compared to the bass.

When I looked at Behringers, I am totally lost, and don't even know what kind of connectors they are talking about. My pre-amp has RCA type plugs, but they have inputs of XLR. I guess someone sells a cable with both ends that I would need.

The HK sounded good by itself, driving all six speakers, but would turn itself off when driven high. My adding the power amps and the old Pioneer was a step to take some of the heat and pressure off it, and just use it as a pre-amp. It worked, and sounds better at a much higher level, but I still think that I could get a better sound by tweaking the xovers that are decades old.

I have the amps for bi-amping, if that would give the best sound. I could run the woofers of the Valencias off the power amps, and the horns off the A B speaker outputs of the Pioneer since they would need less power. It appears that all I would need is 2 of the Behringers, and the cables to hook things up.

What do you guys suggest?

**Old Guy** · September 20th, 2010, 12:42 AM

One option:

Iconic Speaker Manufacturing - Speaker Crossovers

Originals show up on eBay from time to time

**SOOTSHE** · September 20th, 2010, 01:50 AM

Originally Posted by haryn

After reading the article mentioned by Old Guy, I am inclined to go to bi-amping.

Where would I buy the Model 19 xovers, and do you know what they cost? That option would be simplier.

Right now I have 2 500W per channel at 8 ohm power amps, a 10 year old Pioneer 150W a channel receiver, and the AVR635 Harman Kardon which is 75W x 7 channels. My plan is when my center speaker comes in this week, to have it driven by the HK center channel for listening to the radio, and maybe also my KLH915's on the front channel. That leaves the 4 Valencias and 3 amps that I run off the preamp of the HK's surround channels, that I could turn on when listening to loud music. Things sound pretty good right now, with the exception of a song like Aqualung. Adn although I can hear the cymbals, they aren't as loud as I think they should be compared to the bass.

When I looked at Behringers, I am totally lost, and don't even know what kind of connectors they are talking about. My pre-amp has RCA type plugs, but they have inputs of XLR. I guess someone sells a cable with both ends that I would need.

The HK sounded good by itself, driving all six speakers, but would turn itself off when driven high. My adding the power amps and the old Pioneer was a step to take some of the heat and pressure off it, and just use it as a pre-amp. It worked, and sounds better at a much higher level, but I still think that I could get a better sound by tweaking the xovers that are decades old.

I have the amps for bi-amping, if that would give the best sound. I could run the woofers of the Valencias off the power amps, and the horns off the A B speaker outputs of the Pioneer since they would need less power. It appears that all I would need is 2 of the Behringers, and the cables to hook things up.

What do you guys suggest?

At this stage I think you would be wise to keep things simple until you get your head around this. The model 19 crossover would be the easiest way & they come up on E Bay from time to time....you just need to be patient.

You have the power amps to go active & therefore you would just need the Behringer X-over. A local tech could easily make the XLR to RCA connectors for you, but I suspect that you will need someone to set up the parameters for you.

Keep in mind that not everyone has favourable results with the Behringer as it can produce it's own brand of glare into the mix, being a fairly affordable digital component.

Also keep in mind that not all recordings are going to sound pristine, regardless of the quality or value of your speakers & components....I just hope you're not being too critical of the Valencias when other things could be to blame.

You are correct in your assumption that the crossovers would be in need of a refresh...so personally I would pursue that road. The Valencias are a fine speaker straight out of the box, but they won't sound perfect on every recording.
Cheers,
John

**Altec Best** · September 20th, 2010, 03:19 AM

Originally Posted by haryn

Where would I buy the Model 19 xovers, and do you know what they cost? That option would be simplier.

The model 19 X-overs come up on eBay quite often maybe once every 1-2 months thereabouts. Price range $150-$250 give or take.Or if you prefer to build your own,here are a couple schematics for you.