Newbie-Altec Lansing 421 A

[48woody]

Hello;

New here and I really know almost nothing about speakers and cabinets. I also did this post on DIY Audio, so it may seem repetitive to those who view both sites. Sorry. I picked up two homemade speakers last Sept at an auction. Didn't pay much attention to them as I only paid $5 for them. Finally got around to opening them up and found that the 15" speakers were a pair of Altec Lansing 421A's. They sound really good and seem to have a wide range. I was going to use them in a Cabinet for guitar but have decided I would rather use them for my stereo. They have a 5" realistic speaker used as a tweeter, no crossover. I'm hoping someone can give me some advice on various options. I would like to get rid of the realistic, install a crossover and either a better speaker or ideally a driver/horn setup. I'm open to either one that I can install in the box or something I could mount outside. Also would it be recommended to install a port as these boxes are only about 2.5 -3 cu ft. I've attached a photo of the speaker box, sorry my flash didn't work so quality isn't so good. Thanks in advance for any sugestions

[gearfreak]

Congrats on lucking into those. Here's the starting point in case you've not found it already:

http://www.altecpro.com/pdfs/vintage...%20Speaker.pdf

So it is officially an MI speaker (and your guitar leanings may be better placed with it).
As usual though, "if it sounds good to you... ". Searching the forum (but not 'hostboard' in total) , you will surely find info and opinions on the 421A.

[Old Guy]

If you do a search of this forum for "421" a number of discussions should come up.

I add a paper dome to cove the aluminum for hi-fi use. This gets rid of the "coloration" which is desirable for guitar.

bfish suggested a vented paper dome, should be able to find something similar to the original Altec vented dome but maybe one size up.

Anyway, with a free box design program, and build a tuned box, they sound darned nice. Best with a sub, they are a wonderful mid bass.