New Heathkit AS101 owner - First post.

**alancohen** · December 18th, 2012, 11:47 AM

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** · December 18th, 2012, 12:55 PM

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

**alancohen** · December 18th, 2012, 01:13 PM

Originally Posted by VolvoHeretic

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** · December 19th, 2012, 01:48 AM

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** · December 19th, 2012, 12:36 PM

Originally Posted by alancohen

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.....

Originally Posted by 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.

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** · December 19th, 2012, 03:15 PM

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** · December 19th, 2012, 08:19 PM

Originally Posted by 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.

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

**alancohen** · December 23rd, 2012, 12:47 PM

I HATE MOVING!

Now back to your regularly scheduled broadcast....

**cbb** · December 24th, 2012, 03:24 PM

Anyone have any thoughts as to the effect the old burlap sacks, I mean, grills are having on the sound?
I have mine in a 2.1 home theater set up but wonder how much better they would sound with a modern, acoustically transparent, grill.

Pain to remove though as the whole speaker would have to be disassembled...

Great dynamics and power but I doubt they will ever "disappear".

**alancohen** · December 24th, 2012, 07:00 PM

Originally Posted by cbb

Anyone have any thoughts as to the effect the old burlap sacks, I mean, grills are having on the sound?
I have mine in a 2.1 home theater set up but wonder how much better they would sound with a modern, acoustically transparent, grill.

Pain to remove though as the whole speaker would have to be disassembled...

Great dynamics and power but I doubt they will ever "disappear".

Sectoral horns can be fairly directional. The heavily twined burlap might serve to break that up a bit. I put a cheap plastic grille in front of my TangBand full range speakers and it did just that. The "sweet spot" widened more than a little.

I think making them disappear will be more a function of the room than anything else. You can make almost any speaker image better by careful placement, acoustic treatment and seating position.