Bringing 828 cabs up to snuff...

**Altec Best** · June 20th, 2013, 01:44 PM

Originally Posted by alancohen

Maybe I'll paint the 515 surrounds phenolic red to match

No No say it ain't so ! If they are original cones don't go anywhere near them... I may not recover !

**alancohen** · June 20th, 2013, 06:12 PM

Fear not...no paint shall don these speakers, recones though they may be.

N1285s w/ new binding posts installed.

One is already playing along with one 604. What an odd combination. I walked back and forth across the room from one to the other. When I was in front of the A7s I thought, 'yep, they definitely sound better. Then when I got to the 604s I changed my mind. And back and forth. Hum...

I think I'd have to give the A7s the edge due to the "rear port technology".

**alancohen** · June 20th, 2013, 07:18 PM

Locked and loaded...

Big sound...

**alancohen** · June 21st, 2013, 08:15 AM

So after a few hours listening I can conservatively say...Wow! They come together much better than the A6s. And even at only 9' I can taste more than a hint of sound stage. I think I have to try the 288s again and change the XO to 500Hz for comparison.

Question: Being that the horns are mounted on separate boards and I have the ability to slide them back and forth, how do I measure the delay. Right now I have them back a bit, with the VCs approximately aligned vertically. They sound wonderful. I guess I can go by ear, but I wouldn't mind trying a bit more empirical approach.

BTW, I could swear I caught a glimpse the 515Bs smiling, happy to have their hearts beating once again.

**Altec Best** · June 21st, 2013, 10:30 AM

Think you need a bigger HF horn for wider dispersion.

**alancohen** · June 21st, 2013, 11:14 AM

Originally Posted by Altec Best

Think you need a bigger HF horn for wider dispersion.

I've been looking. Although I don't know if in my application whether wider will be better. The speakers are only 9' apart and I'm 9' away. Wider might just bounce things off the wall more.

I'm still stewing about missing out on those free 1005Bs by a day. I'll take that disappointment to the grave.

But I'm open to suggestions as to what anyone/everyone thinks might be my best choice of horn.

**voice of the theater** · June 21st, 2013, 06:51 PM

Originally Posted by alancohen

Not a clue. There's the bracing as well as added padding. I'm going on faith.

Understandable--sometimes the "best" tunings are done by ear anyways. After all, successfully tuning them by ear means the tuning works well with your room/acoustics. In this day of digital tuners, I still like to tune my guitar by ear.

You may have hit a home run first try -- right out of the gate.

**alancohen** · June 21st, 2013, 07:20 PM

I don't know about a home run, but I'm rockin' the whole neighborhood at the moment. I hope they like the Dregs. I know my "A7"s do.

**voice of the theater** · June 21st, 2013, 07:57 PM

Originally Posted by alancohen

I don't know about a home run, but I'm rockin' the whole neighborhood at the moment. I hope they like the Dregs. I know my "A7"s do.

If it's not a home run yet, I'll bet you'll be tweaking them eventually after you enjoy them for a while/establish a baseline for comparison. BTW, Steve Morse is a great guitarist IMHO. I also like Steve's work with Neal Morse (no relation)......

GM · June 21st, 2013, 09:29 PM

Originally Posted by voice of the theater

Do you know (approx.) what frequency the cabs are tuned to with the reduced port size and reduced internal cabinet volume (from all of the added bracing)?

Looks like way too much damping, so maybe lower than the sim, but otherwise it should be down around/at driver Fs [~25 Hz], which is where it needs to be if driven with a high output impedance.

GM