Interesting Joe Roberts ALTEC discussion......

**LowOhms** · October 12th, 2016, 02:19 PM

see here....

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**BillWojo** · October 12th, 2016, 05:02 PM

My take on it after trying to read that horrible format is that he hates Altec 511 and 811 horns. Plenty of Altec haters out there as well as plenty of Altec lovers.
What was your point?

BillWojo

**Elitopus1** · October 12th, 2016, 06:30 PM

Jeff,
Joe was the one who taught me to run my 414b woofers until they roll off, then add a horn on the top. He has run Altec 414 and WE 728 woofers this way. Sounds great in my low watt livingroom system. I use 414-16b woofers run full range with some Renkus 1" HF crossed 1st order around 6500 hz.

Bill,
There are 511 and 811 horns in Altec factory systems that sound great. The thing is many people who do DIY Altec use other horns. Both Joe and Bowtie convinced me to give Renkus and Emilar a try. I have not gone back to my 511b horns since I switched to Emilar EH800. When I get another EH500 I will switch to those. IMO they sound better right out of the box

**bowtie427ss** · October 13th, 2016, 06:59 AM

What was your point?

My point would be that the 811 is audibly the worst sounding horn Altec produced in quantity. It's also the horn used in some of the best sounding speaker systems Altec produced.

When i do the math i reach pretty much the same conclusion that Joe and many others have.

I have not gone back to my 511b horns since I switched to Emilar EH800.

One immediate advantage the EH-800 has is a significantly shorter path on axis, VHF energy dissipates fast, and a short horn path is one small key to supporting a smooth response with extended HF.

**KBergsson** · October 13th, 2016, 08:08 AM

If I wasn't for Joe Roberts and his Sound Practices magazine. I would probably never have tried horns and SE tube amps. Now I have a pair of Altec 604-8gs in 620 cabs. and a pair of A5s with 1505 horns, driven by pentode PP amps and 300B se amps.
A question if that is good or bad?
I have to ask my wife, she may not like Joe Roberts at all

**je2a3** · October 13th, 2016, 10:51 AM

I used early sand cast (heavy) 811s for more than ten years with 802Ds + Altec 414As in 614 cabinets. Truth be told, even after extensive crossover tweaking, I could never get along with those horns for similar reasons J-Rob and Co. have stated. This system was shipped to Manila when I moved back in '08. As soon as I settled, I got a pair of plastic 32Bs in trade from an audio buddy who is more into large format Altecs and JBLs. He didn't like the "cheap looking" plastic bent horns. But since I've heard and loved the sound of WE753s in the 90s, I knew I was on to something. The Altec 32Bs transformed my Altec 2-way. Then I became busy performing and teaching. Meanwhile in my spare time, I'd search the internet regarding the WE/KS/Altec 32 horn. Actually if one searches the archives, there are informative posts regarding the 32 and Emilar horns in this forum by J-Rob (Geekstar) and bowtie427ss.

Since I moved back to the USA last May, I've built a mono hifi system along similar lines:

J-Rob assisted in the acquisition of the EH800 bowtie horn which I used with an EA175 driver until I got an Altec 32A horn, an 802-8D motor with busted diaphragm which I replaced with a GPA 34852. Both are nice horns!

JE