908 0r 902?

[Altec Best]

That said, low XO's are where the removal of loading caps and damping the covers really makes the most difference. At 1.2k or above, i'd probably just leave the caps in place. It's an easily enough reversed mod.

Actually i think the loading caps serve a better purpose at Lower XO points.Especially at 500 Hz. Loading caps were designed to protect HF diaphragms at lower crossover points at High volumes.The rear covers and felt seem to have a smoother response IMO.I prefer the felt myself.Since I don't run my drivers at movie theater volumes for hours on end.They really aren't needed in my applications.The loading caps sole purpose was to protect the HF diaphragm from over excursion and damage.

Read Jeff Markwarts experiments on the loading caps. Altec Compression Driver Rear Loading Caps

But, i encourage you to give it a try and see what your own ears say.

Bowties advice here is all you really need.You can't go by other peoples opinions on how something sounds.You will have no better opinion on how something sounds than your OWN !!!

BTW- I personally like the 802G's better with my lite Frams !! But the 902-8A originals sound fabulous too.They are so close it could be a toss up.But in my experiments (blind) i picked the 802G's.. To each his own !


My 19's came with Alnico drivers.The odd thing about my 802-8G's is they came with the old style round rear cover with the screw down terminals.And a white ink stamp of 033952.