I've found some speakers. Now I'm selling all of my Altecs

[voice of the theater]

......better than most stuff before during and after their time (including Valencias). I would meet you halfway and call them "70s classics." Sorry, I'm a bit of a snob sometimes.

OK, I can live with that assessment. I think we can probably agree that one man's 70's classic ("better than most stuff before during and after their time) is another man's "masterpiece of audio engineering".

Never tried the small Mantaray yself, only heard them in passing, hence I have no firm opinion. I do think it should be better than 811s though!

I've been on the 1" experiments for about 6-8 months. I want to do a smallish 12" + horn monitor in the spirit of the WE 757A or maybe the M15/9849. Digging the 32B horn a lot. It is very low key and has a presentation with a lot of character. I'm split on the metal vs plastic question, leaning metal, but still keeping my options open till I hear the final configuration............I don't think I have experienced the best I can get out of an 802 yet. This is my project for the coming year.,,,,,,,,,,

The 9849 is a great speaker. If you've never owned the small Mantaray, you should check out the 9842-8A. "Better" crossover, Mantaray horn. The small Mantaray really shines with the 902-8A on these speakers. For someone who's currently experimenting with 1" Altec drivers on different horns, dipping into the Mantaray pool with this speaker could be a revelation.....
http://altecpro.com/pdfs/vintage/Spe...r%20System.pdf