New Altec 19 Owner - Some Help Finding Foam, Etc. ?

[polaris26]

After a long journey and some heavy lifting, I finally got the Altec 19's into the living room.

Three things I am wanting to do with these -

1) check out the crossover - may need a rebuild with new/better caps
2) dampen the HF horn if needed
3) find some replacement foam for around the horn

Any help with #3 greatly appreciated! (BTW, I tried contacting the couple in N.C. I saw referenced in several online forums, but did not get a reply).

thanks,
Dave

[Phil-G]

hi dave.
welcome to the forum. what did you have before the model 19s?

[mah]

See this page. http://www.hostboard.com/forums/f700...ms/index4.html

Whilst the Darst foams were not acceptable to sonofagun231, other members have found them to be basically OK. Read the whole thead FWIW.

[Altec Best]

Sonofagun is a competitor.I always take that with a grain of salt. Mine were acceptable..I found that once the foam insert was installed, it damped the edge of the horn (Bell) part of the horn and that was enough for me..It keeps the horn from ringing as the foam touches the horn bell.So IMHO damping the whole horn is unnecessary.Yes the crossovers should be rebuilt.It made a huge difference for my 19's.. Leave the inductors in there and only change the capacitors and resistors.Also the wiring can be upgraded with a little thicker stranded wire.Clean the pots with de-oxit.And bypass the grounding lugs with wire to wire grounds.


http://www.hostboard.com/forums/f700...-revisted.html

http://www.hostboard.com/forums/f700...r-upgrade.html

[polaris26]

Thanks everyone -

I read the referenced thread and I saw the included phone number for the Darsts, so I guess I will have to call them.

This discussion does seems to beg the question though - if the intended purpose of the foam was to absorb acoustic energy that would cause diffraction effects, then it would seem to me that if you made it from 'acoustically transparent foam' ( a term used on the foamspeakergrilles.com website, for example) you would not be achieving the intended effect of absorbing that acoustic energy (I assume transparent = non-absorbent). So I gather the material used, in addition to the fit/finish of the cut pieces determine the overall quality of the end result?

Phil-G - I was using a pair of Klipsch Chorus II's - I am pretty sure they will be going up for sale shortly ;-)

regards,
Dave

[Altec Best]

Yes their Internet connection seems to be intermittent.Phone is the best way to contact.No you want it to absorb acoustic energy.. I don't agree with that site.. The foam insert was also installed cause the edge of the cabinets protrude out a couple inches and acoustic energy could bounce of the edges of the cabinets.The foam on mine touches the outer edge of the horn that kills the ring of the horn with my 19's. The foam is a 2" thick white open cell foam that is painted on the outside unpainted inside.

[Old Guy]

oxymorons

wireless cable

jumbo shrimp

military intelligence



'acoustically transparent foam'

[Newguyat Altec]

Foams are available at usaudiomart and canuckaudiomart. Look for user Mhoyle. Cheers.

[Todd W. White]

The foam does help reduce or eliminate standing waves and unwanted reflections from off of the face of the horn box.

The crossover needs to be checked - it could be just fine. If it's not, you can replace the components with modern parts, as long as they are electrically equivalent to the originals.

We experimented with air core inductors in the Model 19 crossover, and, if memory serves, found that they work really well. You might check with Jim Dickinson about that - he would remember better than I on that.

[Rvito]

Foams are available at usaudiomart and canuckaudiomart. Look for user Mhoyle. Cheers.

Bought a set from Mike. Top Quality, Great fit.