Model 19 Foams

[voice of the theater]

I have replacement foams installed on my Model 19's (purchased from Paul and Debbie Darst). I have noticed that they fit perfectly at the top and bottom of the horns, but they overlap the sides of the horn on both sides by approx. 3/4 of an inch (I didn't measure but something like that). Hard to describe but they cover/overlap the edge of the horns on both sides of the horn by about 3/4 of an inch. Did the original foams do that or is that just the way the Darsts make them? Should I trim them back on both sides so that they're "flush" with the left and right sides of the horn? I'm wondering if it's a good idea for them to cover/overlap the horn by 3/4 of an inch on both sides. I would think that might effect the sound or at least the dispersion characteristics of the horn. Does anyone know is this how the originals were/is it a problem/should they be trimmed/what is the best way to trim them?
Here's a few photos but unfortunately, not only is it hard to describe, it's also hard to see that they overlap in the photos but you can kind of see that they partially cover/block the left and right sides of the horns in these pics......

[cradeldorf]

I'd leave it.

P.S. Those sure are pretty speakers.

[GM]

http://www.lansingheritage.org/image...l-19/page1.jpg

[Altec Best]

Where the foams touch the outer part of the bell it keeps them from resonating, mine have them as well. LEAVE THEM ALONE !!

@ GM, I have sent you numerous emails and PM's over the past few weeks,haven't seen you on any of the boards either. Are you OK ? I Hope all is well with you My Friend !

[GM]

Greets!

Sorry, but the computer melted down in a big way during a back-up a month or so ago, possibly destroying much of my various 'libraries' in the process [the local data recovery business said it could cost me thousands to only maybe retrieve a portion of it], so all I have ATM is crappy yahoo mail with literally a 100+ emails daily stacking up and only the occasional use of a buddy's old/slow computer he hadn’t gotten around to recycling yet for now to pay bills, etc., though in a quick search just now I only see one new email from you. With no Outlook Express on this machine, not sure how to access the bellsouth.net account.

I’ve been/will be spending virtually all my quality time having to deal with repeated storm damage to my recent/ongoing property rehab project since no one occurrence has been bad enough to file an insurance claim, so combined with being ‘under the gun’ by the insurance co. to get my property back up to their minimum standards or incur either a huge rate increase or maybe even being dropped, I’ll be mostly MIA until the weather forces a slowdown.

Did you finally get your system finished?

Anyway, hope all ya’ll have ‘weathered’ all these storms trashing the country. For sure, I’ve ‘dodged numerous bullets’ with my numerous fairly large shade trees overhanging the house, driveway; with locales around me suffering repeated major damage to house and/or vehicle[s] and/or personal injury[s] from uprooted trees and/or flooding and/or large hail.

GM

[Altec Best]

Did you finally get your system finished?
GM

Yes, getting close,cabs damped,port tubes installed.I also installed a 2" dowel in the center of cab top to bottom.I'm at the point now where I have to start on the XO so I have to start taking measurements on the box.I have to get together with Pano on that though.

The spring time is usually the stormiest.Now that we are heading into the July/August summer months hopefully the severe Tstorms will slow down a bit !

I'll Keep in touch on the telephone then,until your computer issues are ironed out.Glad to hear that your Ok though, health wise !

[voice of the theater]

Thanks for the link GM. I zoomed in on the photo you provided and it looks like the originals were "flush" with the "open" part of the horn and did not cover any portion of the horn opening whereas the pair I have (from the Darsts) do cover about 3/4 of an inch of the "open" part of the horn on both sides of the horn so they have to be blocking some of the sound, don't they? I would think this would be audible and/or affect dispersion characteristics of the horns? Any opinions? (zoom in on the photo in GM's link).......


AB, thanks for your photo--it's hard to tell from your photo (just like it's hard to see in my photos) how much, if any, of the "open" part of the horn is being blocked by the foams..... But I know in my case, even though it's hard to see in the photos, the foams do cover about 3/4 of an inch of the open part of the horn on both sides of the horn.....

[GM]

Thanks for the link GM. I zoomed in on the photo you provided and it looks like the originals were "flush" with the "open" part of the horn and did not cover any portion of the horn opening whereas the pair I have (from the Darsts) do cover about 3/4 of an inch of the "open" part of the horn on both sides of the horn so they have to be blocking some of the sound, don't they? I would think this would be audible and/or affect dispersion characteristics of the horns? Any opinions? (zoom in on the photo in GM's link).......

You're welcome!

Yes, that's what I remember.

OK, wasn't sure what you meant............

Unless they are using much denser foam and assuming it's open cell same as the original, it will only help to quell any theoretically unwanted extreme HF mouth reflections up where only young folks have a hope of hearing its subtle improvement, so in the scheme of things they are doing you a favor SQ wise and what Altec should have done originally IME.

If their foam is dense enough though, it will affect way off axis response way up high, but this is normally a moot point since their designed in rising on axis response requires toeing them in for best overall performance.

Frankly, as thin in thickness as this protuberance must be, I'd be surprised if there's any measurable difference even with 24 dB/octave resolution which is well above a typical human's ~6 dB/octave perception.

GM

[voice of the theater]

STEVEN, CAN WE GET OUR "THANK YOU" FEATURE BACK? I'd like to thank a couple people for their input on this thread for example......

[GM]

I'll Keep in touch on the telephone then,until your computer issues are ironed out.Glad to hear that your Ok though, health wise !

I'll pm soon since catching me near enough to hear the phone would be a crap-shoot at best and don't have any long distance service for returning calls.

Actually, arguably better in some ways due to ongoing weight loss/increased exercise, but 'oldtimers', arthritis is advancing at a pretty good clip now.

GM