GPA Altec 604H II's ....... Finally have a set in my room!

[charles_hidalgo]

Well after a lot of "break in" time the Great Plains Audio Altec's are sounding amazing and yielding the best results around 18 feet apart toed in quite a bit. Huge soundstage, great detail, and lots of depth all with 3 watts per channel currently via 2A3 tubes. The first photo shows the placement but it's a bit wide for my phone to get everything in the frame. The second photo show them in their initial placement but does show the speakers in their entirety.
Current setup is a James Burgess 45/2A3 S.E.T. amplifier, easily interchangeable to Burgess Eiclone 6550 triode monoblocks, EL34 triode, or Decware Super Zen CKC monoblocks. A James Burgess tube preamp/phono stage, PeachTree Audio 65SE (serving as DAC), Modified AT1240 TT with AT33EV cartridge and Cardas wiring straight to the Burgess phono stage. Media is also served up via an Otari MTR10-2, Teac 1040Sl, Akai 280D-SS and Akai X-150D Reel to Reel machines, a PC music server with over 25 terabytes of Hi-Rez files, and plenty of great vinyl selections. All playing through a pair of 100db efficient GPA Altec 604H II's with custom crossovers, and Stonhenge V cabinets or 105db efficient Klipschorn loudspeakers with an 18? Velodyne sub crossed over around 35Hz. Room is 20x22x8.

[Elitopus1]

Nice looking setup! Man I have wondered how these new 604 sound compared to the classic versions. The only thing I?ve heard about them is from a former Hostboard member, whose ?mentor? loved these new GPA 604. Anyone remember JM?

[Phil-G]

Nice looking setup! Man I have wondered how these new 604 sound compared to the classic versions. The only thing I?ve heard about them is from a former Hostboard member, whose ?mentor? loved these new GPA 604. Anyone remember JM?

i wonder how it would with 20 pavers on top of each one?

[mah]

i wonder how it would with 20 pavers on top of each one?

Shhhhhh.

[mattvandyke]

Nice equipment and setup. Being 18 ft apart and a good size room that that allows those 604's to sing. Enjoy and let us know your thoughts on the 604's. Have you had earlier versions of the 604 before?

[charles_hidalgo]

Nice equipment and setup. Being 18 ft apart and a good size room that that allows those 604's to sing. Enjoy and let us know your thoughts on the 604's. Have you had earlier versions of the 604 before?

Thanks. I have heard different variations of a 602, and the 604. I didnt own them or hear them in my room though.

[GM]

Shhhhhh.

FWIW, for all the 'frustration' he caused, I'm grateful he 'took me to task' re mass loading as I've used his efforts to bust long time myths, convince a lot of naysayers, 'fence sitters', etc., around the world to at least begin to get a clue how to properly design a speaker cab WRT stiffness Vs mass and the balance between the two based on the driver/needs of the app. What's really sad though is there's a fair number who have various types of engineering degrees, professional engineers that were at least exposed to the 'physics of the situation', though admittedly some are just trying to misdirect to justify the cost cutting corners in their products, among other things more heinous IMNSHO.

GM

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Very cool. I?ve wanted to get some corner horns, but lack two good corners to put them in. Lol.

FWIW, PWK proved many decades ago that one can get a goodly amount of a typical room's corner loading [very few homes come close except those with ~below grade basements and castles] using partial height false walls and while I don't recall him stating it, regular speakers too.

GM

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Jeff Markwart xovers here as well.

Very nice! FWIW, while the pillows definitely help with cavity resonances I found that short of completely sealing up the side gaps it took a whole roll of insulation with gaps in the plastic bag [mini bass trap] behind the speakers to completely damp them, though is very room dependent, so YMV as to how much damping is required.

Ditto absorbers on each side of the wall/speaker to lower early reflections in the baffle step bandwidth [BW] that comb filters with the driver's output, 'tightening up' the lower mids and their harmonics, especially with such large/deep cabs.

FWIW, most of the speaker systems I designed/built for others in my short 'career' were tall/'skinny' corner located, then added removable/weighted [industrial strength Velcro] baffle 'wings' to 'square' the corner as much as practical with cavities normally stuffed with old clothes, towels, etc..

GM

[charles_hidalgo]

Well these Thorsten Loesch "legacy" circuit 300B monoblocks are going to get a listen with the GPA 604HII's, I have been waiting for this.