More A7 questions

**Altec Best** · August 14th, 2011, 02:22 PM

That is a nice sounding combo. You really can't go wrong with 416's & 802's.

**VolvoHeretic** · September 21st, 2011, 02:49 PM

I’m trying to find a cardboard box to ship out my one blown 416-8A to Great Plains. They said I didn't have to recone the good one, but should I still send it in to be remagnetized? It also has the dust cap ripped out when my cat jumped up into the bass horn and clawed it to shreds while the volume was cranked up and he thought the extreme TT rumble cone movement looked like fun. Or can I just carefully cut out the cap out of the blown one and glue it in place of the bad one? And how would I? Should a guy think about spaying something(clear urethane enamel spray paint) on the 35 year old paper cone to maybe help restore the paper's integrity after all of those years exposure to sunlight and ozone?

Also, since I had the 8 piezos per A7 wired wrong in a combination of in-series and parallel, and I know I want to at least use some of them, and I know how people hate them, I was thinking that a low pass crossover with a potentiometer (?) would be a good thing since I don't think they need to extend down to 3.5Khz and it would be nice to control their volume. I assume that the 511b horn should just self attenuate up where it does. I also want to add a resistor to each tweeter to protect the amp from high frequency overload. Any suggestions and maybe a parts list for my first electronics wiring project?

**DSauro** · September 21st, 2011, 03:43 PM

Sorry VolvoHeretic, a little off topic here, but my curiosity has gotten the better of me, concerning the photo of your 416-8A. Is there anyone with vintage Heathkit 416 versions that can verify the color being (or not being) the same as the 416 pictured? Could it be that it's not a repainted 416-8A, but an original colored Heathkit 416-8A?

**VolvoHeretic** · September 21st, 2011, 07:03 PM

Originally Posted by DSauro

Sorry VolvoHeretic,...

That's alright, I've off topiced every one else's threads with my ignorant questions. But you just reminded me, my next door neighbor built a kit speaker back in the early '70's and I wonder if it might just be that Heathkit you mention. I can't remember ever seeing the grill off and they just listen to The Four Seasons on it, but it sounded pretty good from my yard when I wasn't drowning them out with my Fusion Jazz/Rock.

**voice of the theater** · September 21st, 2011, 07:44 PM

Originally Posted by DSauro

Sorry VolvoHeretic, a little off topic here, but my curiosity has gotten the better of me, concerning the photo of your 416-8A. Is there anyone with vintage Heathkit 416 versions that can verify the color being (or not being) the same as the 416 pictured? Could it be that it's not a repainted 416-8A, but an original colored Heathkit 416-8A?

I sold my Heathkit AS 101's going on two years ago to pay for my Model 19's but I do still have several photos of them. All the 8 ohm Altec drivers in mine were grey (416-8A manufactured for Heathkit by Altec Lansing)--but AFAIK there were earlier 16 ohm versions of the As 101's with Altec Green drivers. You can see the color of mine pretty clearly in these photos.....

Here are photos of my 16 ohm Valencia drivers (sold the Valencias to pay for my Model 14's). As you can see, these 416Z woofers (as well as the horns and h.f. drivers) are Altec Green -- same color as the 16 ohm drivers Altec manufactured for Heathkit AFAIK.....

**VolvoHeretic** · September 21st, 2011, 08:06 PM

Originally Posted by voice of the theater

I sold my Heathkit AS 101's going on two years ago to pay for my Model 19's but I do still have several photos of them. All the 8 ohm Altec drivers in mine were grey (manufactured for Heathkit by Altec Lansing)--but AFAIK there were earlier 16 ohm versions of the As 101's with Altec Green drivers. You can see the color of mine pretty clearly in these photos.....

The color is sure right for my 416's. The next doorers just bought the components and had a super duper master cabinet maker make the enclosures (who also taught me to be the most meticulous, slowest carpentered on Earth, but nothing I ever built was out of plumb or blew over), so hard to tell. This weekend I am bringing over my portable CD player with Chick Corea and I'm going to play.

By the way, I know these are real Altec A7's because after I bought them and sent in the warranty, Altec asked me to fill out a customer satisfaction survey and asked how I liked these beauties and how the craftsmanship of the cabinets was. I said other than the woofer baffle cut-outs on the sides didn't quite line up with the horn flares, I loved them.

**DSauro** · September 21st, 2011, 08:17 PM

Thanks for the great photos. I thought the color of VolvoHeretic's 416-8A might be close enough to the Heathkit color to take a closer look. Lighting is everything. It still looks a little closer to the Heathkit grey color than an Altec green repaint to my old eyes (IMHO).