A7 cabinets in NY, NY

I just received my reconed 515B from GPA and I noticed it does not appear to be the same motor. Here is a pic of the drivers when I first received them:

http://www.hostboard.com/forums/hbmc...2013/03/24.jpg

And here is a pic of them now.

http://www.hostboard.com/forums/hbmc...2013/03/25.jpg

The one on the left is the recone. The trim ring at the base of the magnet is quite rusted. It was not like that before. Not that the rust is a big issue, but if I ever go to sell them, this one looks like crap. I'm not sure what to make of this. I was planning on calling Bill in the AM, but I thought I'd solicit some feedback from the board first.

Call Bill first thing and address your concerns.. Always send in your drivers with exactly what you want done with them and always record the serials for yourself and Bill..

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Originally Posted by Altec Best

Call Bill first thing and address your concerns.. Always send in your drivers with exactly what you want done with them and always record the serials for yourself and Bill..

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+1 - give GPA a call - they will get you straight. One possibility is that the motor you sent wouldn't take a charge and they swapped it for one that is better, but who knows until you speak with them.

Mystery solved. I called Bill today. He had two 515Bs in for reconing and got them mixed up.

To his credit he is shipping me mine and I'll be returning the other one. He offered to eat the freight, but these drivers weigh a ton and it's a big shipping hit. Although it wasn't really my fault, I feel kind of bad. I think I'll pay the return shipping and leave it at that. He's a good man and I know what it's like being in a service business these days. Gratitude and appreciation are rare birds indeed.

Bill is good like that.He always stands behind his stuff..

So I ended up buying some 15" grilles from Parts Express for my A6s. They only had 15 and 18", no 16s so I opted for the smaller size. I've been procrastinating drilling holes in the baffles to install then, but I heard a strange crackling sound last night and looked over to see the puppy trying to sniff out where the sound was coming from by pushing his nose into the VC dust cover. That did it.

This morning I installed the first one and will finish up tonight. I think they look better with the grilles. They look somehow incomplete without.

http://www.hostboard.com/forums/hbmc...2013/03/32.jpg

I think I'm going to try some 5" PVC in the ports to see what difference it would make.

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To his credit he is shipping me mine and I'll be returning the other one. He offered to eat the freight, but these drivers weigh a ton and it's a big shipping hit. Although it wasn't really my fault, I feel kind of bad. I think I'll pay the return shipping and leave it at that. He's a good man and I know what it's like being in a service business these days. Gratitude and appreciation are rare birds indeed.

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It's a karmic thing, paying it forward. You're a good man and a credit/asset to the Altec enthusiast community.

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Originally Posted by bowtie427ss

It's a karmic thing, paying it forward. You're a good man and a credit/asset to the Altec enthusiast community.

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Aw shucks :o

So I'm playing around with the tuning of the A6s. Nothing empirical, I just wanted to see what adding some polyfill would do as well as adding port tubes.

I found these little guys at HD. They measured 5" OD and were rubber so I thought I might have some wiggle room.

http://www.hostboard.com/forums/hbmc...2013/03/33.jpg

They fit perfectly and even had a recess that snugged them into the port like they were made to be there.

http://www.hostboard.com/forums/hbmc...2013/03/34.jpg

The pics a little blurry, but they look very industrial, just like the speaker.

http://www.hostboard.com/forums/hbmc...2013/03/35.jpg

And with the grilles they are Oliver-proof...well as Oliver-proof as you get with a border collie. I'm sure if he wanted to he could carefully remove the 288 backs, take out the diaphragm and delicately chew it to pieces if he wanted to.

http://www.hostboard.com/forums/hbmc...2013/03/36.jpg

The sound is quite a bit different. Significantly lower, but a bit boomier as well. One of my bass-check reference songs is Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key, by Billy Bragg and Wilco. After the first verse there is a 40Hz bass note that repeats every other measure for the remainder of the song. I never knew it was there till I started this Altec thing. My sub picked it up before but the A6s alone barely passed it. Now it's almost too much without the sub. I'll listen a little to a variety of music and maybe have to trim some off.

And as a bonus, I got a lifetime supply of 5" hose clamps for my dryer.

experimenting is fun. :)