New Heathkit AS101 owner - First post.

[voice of the theater]

Thanks VOTT. I'm learning more and more every day!! And the sound is getting better too.

I just tilted them to see and yes, I like it better. Bass is not an issue. The right bass is. More is definitely not always better.

I finally closed on the house yesterday. Whew! Here is a pic of the room I will be setting up in. Or I should say two or three rooms.

My initial thought is to have the speakers against the far wall and my personal listening chair on the other side of the fireplace. Yes, I will have to treat the stone behind my head. The floor they will be on is built up and could be have resonant vibration issues. I will have to wait till I get everything in to measure. I might have a problem. The double glass doors on the right will be a first reflection problem as well. Heavy drapes I'm thinking. I could open them up little by little and see where the best sound is. There is also a cathedral ceiling in that area. That will have to be treated as well.

So I will likely build risers with floor spikes or some other vibration isolation for the time being. It will certainly be an adventure. My big decision is whether to incorporate my home theater or keep audio separate. Decisions, decisions...

Wow--congrats on the new house Alan--it is gorgeous! Glad to hear it's in a quiet neighborhood too--I'm sure you won't miss the constant noise that you mentioned in your old neighborhood. I like your proposed set up plan and I think you're asking all the right questions/have some good ideas as far as heavy drapes for the glass door etc. Yes, the ceiling, floor, and fireplace may be issues--you'll most likely hear the answer to those questions as soon as you crank up your Altecs in that room. Being a professional musician, I've always been fortunate enough to achieve great results doing everything by ear with my three Altec systems as far as set up and tweaking/fine tuning the speakers and the room (largely thanks to help/advice from many good people here), but of course measuring can be a good tool as well. My band has played in rooms with cathedral ceilings, and (untreated) they can add an unbelievable amount of reverb to your sound (not a good thing!). As far as your hardwood floor, an area rug (and maybe tilting the speakers or some risers?) can do wonders...

As far as your home theater debate, two of my Altec systems are not only used for audio, but are also connected to blu-ray players/satellite TV DVR's, and 50" plasma TV's. I love the way movies and music "videos" (DVD/Blu-ray/Satellite TV Broadcasts) sound over my Altec systems, and would consider it a waste to try to enjoy those things with inferior speakers. I'll be interested to hear what you end up doing with your room as far as sound treatments, as well as what you do with your Altecs/crossovers/risers (or tilting)/etc. (and whether or not you incorporate your home theater with your Altecs).....

[alancohen]

Yeah, I think I'm going to need to start collecting Altecs as well. I have a large garage area that will be used for my shop. I need sound out there too. I found a set of 605s w/1600 crossovers for $700 for the pair. I'd have to make cabs. Worth it if they are in NOS condition? 604s just go for stupid money.

[VolvoHeretic]

alancohen, that is an, um, interesting room layout. Good luck.

[alancohen]

alancohen, that is an, um, interesting room layout. Good luck.

Ya think? I can't imagine there can be a lot of stand waves, as much of the LF will be passing me by. We'll see.

[cradeldorf]

That fireplace in the middle of all the rooms is Brilliant. I've had the same design in my mind for years. You can heat the whole place with a couple of logs a night. Very smart grab on your part. Can't wait to see it all setup. If you put the Listening position in front of the fireplace you could put the 101's up on that next tier behind the fireplace and then you wouldn't need risers or tilt them back.

[voice of the theater]

Ya think? I can't imagine there can be a lot of stand waves, as much of the LF will be passing me by. We'll see.

I think your proposed set up (with your listening position behind the fireplace) will work fine as long as you remedy some of the potential acoustic issues of the room (sliding glass door, cathedral ceiling, etc.). As you mentioned, much of the sound will pass by you with the open layout design of that room--so that part of your setup is a definite plus. I'd definitely take an open design like that over a small "boxed in" room which (untreated) will have sound bouncing/echoing all over the place especially when you turn up the volume a little.....

Yeah, I think I'm going to need to start collecting Altecs as well. I have a large garage area that will be used for my shop. I need sound out there too. I found a set of 605s w/1600 crossovers for $700 for the pair. I'd have to make cabs. Worth it if they are in NOS condition? 604s just go for stupid money.

I never really planned on collecting Altecs--it just kind of happened. I've always used Altecs for my band's sound systems, and have always had a pair of Altecs for my home stereo since high school. Most recently I bought a pair of Model 19's for my (finished basement) man cave (811b horns, 416 woofers, 802-8g h.f. drivers--very similar to what you now own thanks to your recent GPA purchase). They sounded so great I bought another pair for my home recording studio (finished basement--the big room). Also own a pair of Santana II's in the recording studio for comparative listening of band mixes. I wanted something that was similar quality to the 19's for my living room (but not too large) so I ended up with a pair of Model 14's which fit the bill nicely. So, I'm up to three Altec systems in my house and couldn't be happier. I would be hard pressed to buy any speakers other than vintage Altecs--I'm hooked....

[alancohen]

I think I'm going to squirrel away some nuts and berries for a pair of 604-8H-IIIs from Bill. I can build my own cabs. They'd make a nice shop speaker. I do spend lots of time out there.

I want a set for the bedroom as well. I probably don't have room for a 15" driver cab. Maybe a 12". If the bi-amping experiment does not work out, I'll have a pair of 1W 300B OTL monoblocks without a home. I thought a bedroom system, where the volume would normally be very low, would be perfect for them. Didn't Altec make a 12" Duplex too? Like you, I'm hooked on horns.

[voice of the theater]

I think I'm going to squirrel away some nuts and berries for a pair of 604-8H-IIIs from Bill. I can build my own cabs. They'd make a nice shop speaker. I do spend lots of time out there.

I want a set for the bedroom as well. I probably don't have room for a 15" driver cab. Maybe a 12". If the bi-amping experiment does not work out, I'll have a pair of 1W 300B OTL monoblocks without a home. I thought a bedroom system, where the volume would normally be very low, would be perfect for them. Didn't Altec make a 12" Duplex too? Like you, I'm hooked on horns.

I'll bet those GPA 604-8H-III's sound phenomenal--they've even got (the modern version of) Tangerines. To answer your question, yes, Altec made multiple 12" duplexes. Most of them were lower quality (IMHO) ceiling speakers, but they did make the 601's which were nice hi-fi/studio monitor speakers. They pop up once in a while on craigslist and Ebay etc. Here are a couple of links.....

http://altecpro.com/pdfs/vintage/Spe...20Speakers.pdf

2 Vintage Altec 601C Speakers in Barzilay Walnut Cabinets N 3000 E Crossovers | eBay

They also made the 601-8D which wasn't as good IIRC.....

http://altecpro.com/pdfs/vintage/Spe...%20Speaker.pdf

GPA also makes a 12" duplex with a single magnet which I haven't heard but doesn't seem to have the extended bandwidth I'd want. I really don't know much about the 212-8A's though....

http://www.greatplainsaudio.com/downloads/212_8A.pdf