If you are using a passive crossover...in effect one amp for multiple driversOriginally Posted by westend9
then efficiency and power become VERY important.
If you are using a passive crossover...in effect one amp for multiple drivers
then efficiency and power become VERY important.
Understood!
I should have qualified my intended use by noting it will be active with multiple amplifiers and not assumed Gearfreak was using just one amp.
hey steve.. im running 4 way, with an ashly active crossover that has adjustable crossover slopes. allways fiddling with something, trying to blend the horns. voice clarity is important, so is the timing. im crossing out of my 292 driven 311-90's at about 6000hz into some 802-8t's on some 811's. between an eq and the extra amp you can acheive great results
"those sounds to which no definite pitch can be assigned are usually classified as noise"<br />harvey fletcher-1928
I thought I was somewhat aware of the large format variations...I have not heard of a 292!
I do wonder what the large format sounds like pushed below 500hz...and mebbe someday i can get a good set for a decent price. Sometimes I feel like the poster boy who pays too much for altec gear.
I have heard 811horns with 806 and 807 drivers but never heard a setup where the highs were comparable to the effortlessness and wide coverage of ribbons or the ev t350s that my dad ran in his systems back in the good old days. Maybe I haven't experienced an altec solution set up properly...that's certainly possible.
Re: A pair of ribbon tweeters on top of an Altec
I have used tweeters with 806A's with excellent results, I used the stock 800 hz Altec crossover for the 416-16z woofer and the 806A and just added the tweeters using a 1 or 1.5 uf capacitor (I can't remember which) to high pass to the tweeters and turned the L-pad for the 806 on the x-over to the 1/2 way point. I was using 4 piezo tweeters at the time and the system sounded awsome with a little EQ adjustment.
I have used the same setup with Radian 850PB compression drivers and two Aurum Cantus G3si ribbon tweeters and it was breath taking. The only problem is when I cranked the system up (2400 watts per double 18's, 2000 watts per double 15's (18 sound), about 600 watts per double 8's and whatever was going into the single radian to balance with the rest, the ribbon diaphragm would flatten right out on a loud cymbal crash (Fleetwood Mac "Dreams"). I tried using a 24db octave electronic x-over to the ribbon but still had the same problem, even croosing them over at 12K. I wouldn't have minded trying four ribbons but the cost was just too much. I am still trying to find something that sounds as great as the ribbons and that handle the power.
For most systems this setup should work great! Beyma has a horn loaded ribbon that I am going to try soon which is suppose to be sturdier than the Aurum Cantus.
One more thing, when I tried using an electronic x-over between the horn and tweeters so that the horns rolled off on the high end not covering the same frequencies that the tweeters covered, the highs lost their awsome sound no matter where I crossed them over at.
Ubiquitousness, and the range of sounds offered within the first 10 seconds of Dreams seems to make it something of a standard for testing. I find it indispensable.
Other than spatial (decay of the first cymbal hit) and overall tonal balance, if I don't hear Stevie's mmm, mmm, mmm @ 0:03... I know something's probably up.
Hah. I've never listened to mine loud enough to notice the ribbon even moving, but I'll check/try if/next time they're setup.
The Smiths 'How Soon is Now' is another, though admittedly not as well suited, nor as well produced IMO.
Edit: * Realizing now that perhaps the flattening would not occur on the G1 per it's different design.
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