Ideas or concerns about upgrading a pair of 9849A's

[Old Guy]

His stock XO's should cross at 1500hz, they even have a bit of EQ built in to help smooth and perceivably extend the HF a bit with those 806's.

Scratch my last comment then, stocker prolly OK. I have only owned 900 Hz crossover versions, so was thinking of that. Recapping should be done AFTER the other mods. Might not be necessary.

[wolfenbit]

Hello again,
I have written two posts, but have been mysteriously logged out both times before they went through. (Wouldn't be such a big deal if I could type worth a damn.) Anyways, the 9849A crosses over at 800hz, with a top end that extends only to 15khz, per an old Altec brochure. If they had the 902-8t's in them for hf drivers, that would take them out to 20khz, and I would leave them alone. I purchased the 908-8b's for replacements. I have not been able to get them apart to check for loading caps, I don't want to pry on them and damage them.
I understand the concern about the banana plug conversion. I would definitely expect problems if the speakers were connected and disconnected often. I have them on a pair of Wharfdale diamonds, and haven't had any issues. They are also on the Perreaux amp which will eventually be used to drive the Altecs.
If the 908-8b's require a higher crossover point, I will gladly rebuild the crossovers. And the final project will be new cabinets, I have a lot if furniture grade 3/4" plywood I scored for free from work.
It would be a shame if the final product didn't look as good as it sounds.
Thanks for your input, all feedback from the audiophile legends is appreciated.

[bowtie427ss]

Anyways, the 9849A crosses over at 800hz, with a top end that extends only to 15khz, per an old Altec brochure.

I'd double check the component values in your networks. It's possible their evolution took place in steps, possibly the 414 came along before they raised the crossover point. But, i am doubtful of this.

Can you post an internal pic of a network?

The 1975 reference guide(one of the most trusted pieces of Altec lit) says 9849A uses the 32343 network. http://www.lansingheritage.org/image...ers/page11.jpg

The 1500hz 32343/9849 network is fairly unique and fairly easy to recognize with an internal pic, also not a bad idea to inspect for broken solder joints/lugs, i've encountered more than one on this model.

It's been brought to light several times on this forum that the Altec literature is not 100% accurate, and we also have to consider that changes and revisions were ongoing, often after catalogs and brochures were printed.

One of the big advantages of the evolution into the 414 woofer would have been the 414's ability to smoothly play up to a much higher crossover point than the previous woofer in a sealed alignment. So, my logic wants to believe the 414 and 1500hz XO point came along at the same time.

Just my .02 .................