604-8Gs in 620 cabinets, now what? Please help a noob.

**ao371** · July 11th, 2016, 12:45 AM

First off I'm pretty much a total noob in the audio world, but I just picked up a pair of 604-8Gs in original 620 cabinets for a steal out of an old theater. They've been just sitting there abandoned for at least 15 years. The cabinets are pretty trashed, they're scratched, painted and there holes drilled everywhere in addition to smelling like an old persons house. Another issue is crossovers. One has an improper crossover (N501-8A) that was added at some point. These will be used in my home theater. (for now)

So I need to figure out what to do about the crossover. Should I try to get an old original one off ebay? buy new ones from Great Plains Audio or build a Jeff Markwart designed one. I've never built a crossover before, but I do enjoy a challenge. For now I need the best bang for my buck as I wasn't even planning on buying speakers and don't really have much money to throw at them right now.

As far as the cabinets go, for now I don't care what they look like as they'll be behind my screen and won't be visible. However I'm toying with the idea of putting them in my living room at some point in the future if I get new speakers for my theater. When that happens, I'd like to rebuild the boxes so they look nice. (The guy I bought these from also has a pair of JBL 4638TH that I may try to buy for the theater if the price is right.) So far I cleaned up the cabinets and removed all the musty pink fiberglass insulation. Should I just line it again with 1" insulation? I thought I read somewhere that only part of the interior should be lined for these speakers?

Sorry for the rambling and all the questions, I'm just trying to figure this project out so I can start enjoying these! Thanks for the help in advance.

**604man** · July 11th, 2016, 01:58 AM

604's are *TERRIBLE* speakers you should sell them to me :-)

I would not run them with 500hz x-overs you could damage the tweeters.
is there DC continuity through the voice coils ? Is there any rubbing of the
voice coils to the pole pieces?

I would restore to original condition - as money permits how much did you
pay for these?..........GC

**KBergsson** · July 11th, 2016, 02:16 AM

Hi, I have 604-8g in 620 cabinet copies. Great speakers. I tried original filters (with new capacitors) I also built and used Jeff Markwart filters. But the best filters for me where autoformer filters from Werner Jagusch in Germany.

**ao371** · July 11th, 2016, 08:30 AM

I tested both speakers individually with the proper crossover and everything sounded fine to my untrained ears. I won't use the 500hz crossover, don't worry.

The plan now it to just do crossovers to get them up and running properly and next year when my financial situation goes back to normal, to possible send the speakers in to GPA and have them do their thing.

$100 for the pair, did I do OK?

Originally Posted by 604man

604's are *TERRIBLE* speakers you should sell them to me :-)

I would not run them with 500hz x-overs you could damage the tweeters.
is there DC continuity through the voice coils ? Is there any rubbing of the
voice coils to the pole pieces?

I would restore to original condition - as money permits how much did you
pay for these?..........GC

**604man** · July 11th, 2016, 09:03 AM

$100.00 was a steal...You were at the right place at the
right time. GC

**Elitopus1** · July 11th, 2016, 09:17 AM

Originally Posted by ao371

$100 for the pair, did I do OK?

Wow, good job man! And congrats on picking up a great pair of speakers. The guys here will help you get them fixed up real nice

**oface1** · July 11th, 2016, 12:39 PM

I see you took my advice and came here! Welcome aboard, and my god man, you stole those!

You'll be able to find a ton of advice here to get those 604's up to spec when you're ready.

-chris

**gdmoore28** · July 11th, 2016, 03:21 PM

If they "smell like an old person's house," they obviously belong with an old person - like me. $100. You should be ashamed - but not much.

GeeDeeEmm

**604man** · July 11th, 2016, 04:46 PM

Buy it now $6500.00

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Altec-Lansin...-/252358318485

For every dollar you invest in restoration , it will multiply
many times over.........GC

**altec604-8G** · January 22nd, 2017, 04:27 PM

Originally Posted by 604man

Buy it now $6500.00

Altec Lansing Model 17 Speakers, 604-8G Studio Monitors | eBay

For every dollar you invest in restoration , it will multiply
many times over.........GC

I`m new here today. I bought a pair Altec Lansing model 17 last week. I found out at home that one woofer was scratching. Luckely it was not damaged and could be cleaned by Total Speaker Repair in my neighbourhood. Today I installed them in my separate listening room with good results. Although the original crossover did not meet there specs anymore, it still sounded great and the sound can only be better with a new crossover.
I had these speakers 20 years ago and sold them because of a total rebuilding of my house and I had no place to store them. Biggest mistake ever.

greetings from the Netherlands, Bert