Choice of 515 in a 210 center cabinet

[bowtie427ss]

NO I WOULDN'T !! If I had to go through all that effort i would just buy new ones from GPA...By the time your done with all the shipping charges how much would I be saving ?

I haven't had a trashed driver yet that came within 150 of the cost of a new driver. And since you cannot buy a new driver that says "Altec" on it, and i prefer drivers that say "Altec" on them, i would still pursue this venue to a few bucks beyond the break even point.

I would think a true "Altec or nothing" guy would feel a sense of loyalty to the name as well as a degree of responsibility to preserve what can be saved.

[analog addict]

What do yours measure? In theory there should be virtually no audible difference down low until the original begins distorting, which will happen at much lower power than the Gs, so as to whether to 'upgrade', I guess it boils down to how loud down around/at the cab's ~35 Hz tuning you need them to go and even then I recommend using 15" frames.

Excluding the 'G', which I've no 'hands on' experience with and is supposed to be a modern day version of the original 515 AlNiCo WRT horn cab loading, mids/HF extension, the rest of the 515s trade some mids/HF 'snap' for LF extension. Back when I could hear pretty good, the difference was subjectively about the same as between the 416A, B and the mid '50s 515B series I compared them all to [~20 Hz Fs, 20 ft^3 Vas, 0.2 Qts].

Also, the electronics can make a significant difference, i.e. system impedance and whether or not tubes.

GM

I don't have the gear to measure the freq response. Maybe I can get Pano to make a trip out this way. Last I looked, I couldn't find a spec sheet on the original 515 either. I also forgot the 15" vs 16" issue, which prolly seals the deal.

I'm running the center on a PP 7189A powered tube amp, one channel for the highs, one channel for the lows. This should put out somewhere around 15-18 WPC, and the SC-ASR-433 does have a 16 ohm tap, which is what I'm using.

[Altec Best]

I haven't had a trashed driver yet that came within 150 of the cost of a new driver. And since you cannot buy a new driver that says "Altec" on it, and i prefer drivers that say "Altec" on them, i would still pursue this venue to a few bucks beyond the break even point.

I would think a true "Altec or nothing" guy would feel a sense of loyalty to the name as well as a degree of responsibility to preserve what can be saved.

C'mon B . A frame that is cut all the way into the accordion ? Really ? We are talking about this particular woofer at the moment aren't we ? That was started in this thread. Sure I'm an Altec guy first,always have been. And the Altec purist that I am I would never consider cutting into an Altec product ever.I would be more apt to mount something that already fits.You can warp an intact frame just by over tightening the screws.How easy would it be to do that with cut frames ? Just to fit them in an A4..I would be more apt to drop 15" 515B's or any other 15" Altec designed for the job in them, instead of breaking out my hack saw. Try reselling those cut woofers and see if you get your return out of them.

This isn't a justification for cutting woofers to fit in your A4's is it ? Personally I would like to see this practice of butchering perfectly good Altec woofers to end and not advocate it ! That's how I'm going to try and save them..


Just my ?.02

[VolvoHeretic]

I wonder how they would sound with a couple of 416-8As?

[bowtie427ss]

C'mon B . A frame that is cut all the way into the accordion ? Really ? We are talking about this particular woofer at the moment aren't we ? That was started in this thread. Sure I'm an Altec guy first,always have been. And the Altec purist that I am I would never consider cutting into an Altec product ever.I would be more apt to mount something that already fits.You can warp an intact frame just by over tightening the screws.How easy would it be to do that with cut frames ? Just to fit them in an A4..I would be more apt to drop 15" 515B's or any other 15" Altec designed for the job in them, instead of breaking out my hack saw. Try reselling those cut woofers and see if you get your return out of them.

This isn't a justification for cutting woofers to fit in your A4's is it ? Personally I would like to see this practice of butchering perfectly good Altec woofers to end and not advocate it ! That's how I'm going to try and save them..


Just my ?.02

I can't find any points to argue here.

Hacked frames offend me too, i like to make them go away.

AB, you're overlooking the keywords in my post that started this exchange "if the price was right and the motor viable". I agree that the seller of the woofer in question is out of his blooming mind. But when he gets down to a realistic price of 100 or less, that's a fixer and a keeper.

I'm not sure what Bill is charging for a new 16 inch frame these days. But a few years back a new frame added well under 100 bucks to the cost of a recone.

[Altec Best]

Agreed !

[Phil-G]

I'm not sure what Bill is charging for a new 16 inch frame these days. But a few years back a new frame added well under 100 bucks to the cost of a recone.

so what your saying is; "jack up the horn and put a new car under it". JK
so if you change the cone and the basket. your starting back with the magnet and id sticker, and putting a new speaker on it. i love altecs.

[bowtie427ss]

so what your saying is; "jack up the horn and put a new car under it". JK
so if you change the cone and the basket. your starting back with the magnet and id sticker, and putting a new speaker on it. i love altecs.

It's not quite as ridiculous as it sounds. The motor is the most costly part of a speaker to build. A good motor(like an Altec) is worth building a new car(or speaker) around.

[Audio_by_Goodwill]

so what your saying is; "jack up the horn and put a new car under it". JK
so if you change the cone and the basket. your starting back with the magnet and id sticker, and putting a new speaker on it. i love altecs.

Not really. There is more to the motor than just a magnet, such as the plates, and pole piece. There's really more to a motor than there is to a frame.

[Phil-G]

It's not quite as ridiculous as it sounds. The motor is the most costly part of a speaker to build. A good motor(like an Altec) is worth building a new car(or speaker) around.

yeah i figured that, but i couldn't help but throw that one out.