I have a pair of 511b horns. I am not at all impressed with the quality of the welding throughout the horns. I wonder what effect, if any, these rough/messy welds might have on the sound quality. Has anyone smoothed out the welds by grinding, bondo, etc and heard an improvment in sound?
Steve
Last edited by samoore; January 11th, 2017 at 01:09 PM.
Absolutely! Remove all weld splatter from the throat to the bell lip, smooth out the rough throat surface; also remove the brace just outside of the throat. The before and after improvement is sound quality is blatantly obvious.
What is the easiest way to remove that brace in the throat?
Steve
Originally Posted by SD-50
I used a hacksaw blade held flat to the surface and sawed away, you should wear a work glove to protect your hand from the blade and rough surface of the horn. The metal is soft therefore fairly easy to cut.
I cut all the dividers out of my 811's. I used a sawsall with a long blade.
Ditto for that center divider.
Used a sanding block to smooth the areas, then bondo to clean it all up.
Low gloss black paint from DupliColor and you would never know they weren't stock.
Finally, I damped them with layers of latex paint and sand to deaden them completely.
And yes I smoothed out all the casting roughness on the inside.
To my ears, they sound very good!
Ron
Enjoying Altec Speakers since 1972
Can you briefly describe the differences you heard before and after removing the dividers?
Steve
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