Difference Between 806 and 802 Drivers

**bowtie427ss** · January 20th, 2011, 12:59 PM

Stretching the topic a bit, i notice that in any of the catalogs posted on the net, the 806 is never shown or offered outside of the 1975 catalog.

Would it be safe to assume that the 806 was not offered as a raw driver, but only as an OEM in those systems that incorporated it?

Same/similar disposition for the 807?

**Old Guy** · January 20th, 2011, 01:46 PM

Originally Posted by bowtie427ss

Stretching the topic a bit, i notice that in any of the catalogs posted on the net, the 806 is never shown or offered outside of the 1975 catalog.

Would it be safe to assume that the 806 was not offered as a raw driver, but only as an OEM in those systems that incorporated it?

Same/similar disposition for the 807?

Unfortunately catalogs available are far from complete, but you may well be right re the 806...

OTOH certainly the 807 was readily available raw. I sold lots of them. Sometimes against my better judgment.

**Earl K** · January 20th, 2011, 02:29 PM

The 1975 altec parts reference chart shows the 9849A using the 23744 diaphragm in the 23746 driver ( oem 806-8A ) .

The 9849A monitor is found in the following catalogue ;

Specifically, here's the page ;

The 604E is also featured in the same 1971 catalogue ;

This info suggests the existence of the 23744 diaphragm was well established before the 604-8G was released .

All other references for the 806-8A ( or 806A ) show that the 21597 ( or 20275 ) diaphragm was stock ( somewhat shooting down in flames, my previous conjecture ) .

<> EarlK

**Altec Best** · January 20th, 2011, 03:32 PM

Earl I was looking in those catalogs but nowhere in the '71 does it mention the 23744 and I'm almost certain the 23744 diaphragm was first introduced in 1975.That parts list is November '75 so almost '76 and as we all know Altec literature isn't 100% accurate.The 806-8A got the 23744 late in it's production run before being phased out altogether.IIRC the lite Fram was in production from '75 to '77-'78 just a couple years.

And in '75 or around late '75 giv'er take a few months one way or the other the 806-8A (23746) 604-8G and the 802-8G all got the diaphragm (23744) and I'm almost certain but not 100% maybe 99.99 %

And I think the 604-8G was the first to receive it followed by the 802 and then the (23746 / 806-8A). And I need to stress IIRC. But this will always be up for debate IME.When it comes to all original drivers of the era there are still surprises that seem to turn up all the time.I think whatever was the closest diaphragm on the table to the tech at the time is what they received.The same thing can be said for the phase plugs as well,when they were switching to Tangerines if they still had some of the metal annulars laying around they were used.There are so many variations it is impossible to keep up.I have an older pair of 23746/806-8A's with 23744 lites and the older round caps with just an ink stamp and have no other labels/stickers on them that I'm willing to bet came out of a 9849 or another closed/sealed monitor.

**bfish** · January 20th, 2011, 07:46 PM

Originally Posted by Altec Best

...IIRC the...

...And I need to stress IIRC...

AB, would you kindly elaborate on the basis of your recollections please?

I only ask because the normal use of "IIRC" (at least in this forum) usually implies a long-past personal experience that establishes fact, such as;

"IIRC, back in '73, when I was on the Altec production line, we installed XXXXX diaphragms in XXX-XX drivers..."

or

"IIRC, when I bought my Model XXs new from Altec in '78, they came with XXX installed..."

GM · January 21st, 2011, 12:00 AM

FWIW, I had what I believe was a good semi-business relationship with Baker Audio, the local Altec distributor/system designer/installer, in that they were good about letting me know what/when the latest n' greatest was coming 'down the pike' in case I wanted to be the 'first on my block' to own it and give me a bit of a discount to boot, I guess mostly because I was on the Tech Letters mailing list.

Anyway, one such call was about a new 'HIFI' 'ultra light' diaphragm to upgrade from the 34647 I'd been using. Don't recall when the call came, those were tumultuous, life/career changing times for me, but the receipt when I picked them up is dated 2-26-76, so lacking any concrete proof to the contrary, I'm satisfied that this is probably about the earliest it was at least officially available to the general public as an 'upgrade'/field replacement.

GM

**Earl K** · January 21st, 2011, 09:28 AM

Here ya go ,

- Gone Now !

**Altec Best** · January 22nd, 2011, 11:01 AM

Originally Posted by bfish

AB, would you kindly elaborate on the basis of your recollections please?

For you Brad sure ! Only that the gray matter isn't what it used to be so I may be wrong ! But I don't think so !

:lollipop: Based on drivers I own,that are original and the date codes they have.I just haven't opened up a lot of them in a long time.But I know what they have in them IIRC.

I couldn't resist !!!

**Old Guy** · January 25th, 2011, 11:14 AM

Originally Posted by amandarae

Hello guys,

I look up at the literature, compared the two and it is obvious that the 802 has a bigger magnet(higher SPL) and higher sensitivity. So I wonder why the 806, particularly the "A" sells much more than say 802D? Am I missing something?

Thanks,

Abe

Well, I think we can put to bed the rumor 802-D won't bring a good price.

2 Altec 802-D 802D 16 ohms High Frequency Drivers - eBay (item 200567441651 end time Jan-27-11 08:32:12 PST)