Altec Iconic Crossover

[TerryE]

Hi Everyone,

I purchased a pair of Altec Iconic Speakers about a year ago. I like them, but they are a bit shrill. I hope you have time to answer a few questions.

1. The previous owner (who has passed away) replaced the crossovers at some point. I have attached a link to a DropBox file that contains images of the crossover and the inside of the back panel:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/0ihpatqsll8ih0t/45EYEk3YzI

Any idea what these are? It certainly isn't the most professional installation.

2. Can someone recommend a good replacement?

3. The back panel of each speaker has a ~ 6 inch round hole cut out of it that is covered by a rectangular piece of wood. (see pictures in DropBox). The wood patch appears original because it contains the Iconic paper badge on the outside surface. The speakers are also missing the high frequency attenuator pot, although there is a hole drilled for it (which is filled with bathtub caulk, presumable done by the previous owner). What was the purpose of the large round hole?

Thanks for reading my post. I appreciate any help you can give me.


Terry

[cradeldorf]

What type of system are you driving them with? Also we'll need to know what drivers your cabinets have in them. and what horn is in them. can you drop some pictures of the entire box with all the components shown? If the round hole is directly behind the horn driver it might have had a horn setup that wouldn't fit in the cabinet with the back on. So they cut a hole for the driver to stick out the back of the cabinet.

[TerryE]

What type of system are you driving them with? Also we'll need to know what drivers your cabinets have in them. and what horn is in them. can you drop some pictures of the entire box with all the components shown? If the round hole is directly behind the horn driver it might have had a horn setup that wouldn't fit in the cabinet with the back on. So they cut a hole for the driver to stick out the back of the cabinet.

Pretty standard Iconic/Valencia configuration - one 15" 416-16Z woofer, and an 811 horn with an 806A driver ( (I think).

The element (inductor?) marked 3.2 mH is connected to the woofer. The element marked 4.5 mH is connected to the horn.

I'm using an NAD C352 integrated amp.

[rontec]

Difficult to tell from your photos what drivers and crossover components you're using. If 416/811/806 you might try using/building mod 19 type crossover. I never tried this when I owned a pair of Valencias but was tempted to do so.

[HeathKitPat]

Hi Everyone,

I purchased a pair of Altec Iconic Speakers about a year ago. I like them, but they are a bit shrill. I hope you have time to answer a few questions.

1. The previous owner (who has passed away) replaced the crossovers at some point. I have attached a link to a DropBox file that contains images of the crossover and the inside of the back panel:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/0ihpatqsll8ih0t/45EYEk3YzI

Any idea what these are? It certainly isn't the most professional installation.

2. Can someone recommend a good replacement?

3. The back panel of each speaker has a ~ 6 inch round hole cut out of it that is covered by a rectangular piece of wood. (see pictures in DropBox). The wood patch appears original because it contains the Iconic paper badge on the outside surface. The speakers are also missing the high frequency attenuator pot, although there is a hole drilled for it (which is filled with bathtub caulk, presumable done by the previous owner). What was the purpose of the large round hole?

Thanks for reading my post. I appreciate any help you can give me.


Terry

Regarding question three if these are in fact Valencia's the cabinet is not deep enough to accommodate the depth of the HF horn and driver, this is a design feature. My Val's have the same thing. As to not having and attenuator. The Valencia's can be shouty.. those horns are really shrill if left to run wild. I rebuilt new crossovers for mine with attenuators and I now run them with the attenuators almost all the way down! This tames the horns down quite a bit. They are too much for a small room. Also the stock drivers do not have a good top end so even with the attenuator working most will be tempted to turn it up ('cause something's missing).. Look around here or on the Lansing Heritage forum, there are schematics for a crossover. I mounted mine on plexiglass purchased at Home Depot and used standoff's like a computer board would use. New crossovers made a huge difference. I also added GPA drivers and now I get that sweet HF that the stock drivers are missing. Good luck!