Altec A7 versus Altec 19 sound

[hcardena]

I have a couple of A7s with a wonderful natural sound. Coloration was not invented yet when they were made. I move them with a magnificent tube amp (8.5 volts per channel at 8 ohm, custom made) and they are terrific!!!. But my pair of Model 19s have a sound that can be described as "nasal", with what appears to be too much medium range and too little high range. Does anybody know how to solve this? Is this sound characteristic of 19s?

[Todd W. White]

The Model 19 did not exhibit a raspy-ness originally. Though not as realistic in the midband, IMHO, as the A7, it has better bottom end, unless you modify the A7's tuning.

That said, BOTH are great speakers - my suspicion is that you have a crossover problem. The original components, due to their age, are probably not meeting spec anymore.

Iconic Manufacturing Company is working on several options for you:

1. Rebuild service: your old crossovers will be rebuilt on their original chassis, but with newer, higher-precision, better sounding components.

2. A newly-designed SUPERCrossoverTM for the Model 19. This will match the electrical characteristics of the original Model 19 crossover, but with substantially improved sonic performance.

Look for an availability announcement soon...

[hcardena]

Many thanks for your information. Of course I am looking forward to the SUPERCrossover TM for the Model 19 that sounds great anyway, specially in the bottom end.

[AL-TEC]

I might interject a thought here on a possible reason your 19's might sound "nasal", and with reduced HF. Have you checked the diaphrams on both of your HF drivers. Maybe someone prior to your ownership of these speakers installed some "Sybiotic" diaphrams???
Of course you might be the only one who ever owned your 19's, but this was just a thought. HF diaprams in the 19's should not be the "Symbiotic" types.... AL-TEC

[Mike D]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size=2 face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><table border="0" width="90%" bgcolor="#333333" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="0"><tr><td width="100%"><table border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" bgcolor="#FF9900"><tr><td width="100%" bgcolor="#DDDDDD"><font size=2 face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Todd W. White:
The Model 19 did not exhibit a raspy-ness originally. Though not as realistic in the midband, IMHO, as the A7, it has better bottom end, unless you modify the A7's tuning.

That said, BOTH are great speakers - my suspicion is that you have a crossover problem. The original components, due to their age, are probably not meeting spec anymore.

Iconic Manufacturing Company is working on several options for you:

1. Rebuild service: your old crossovers will be rebuilt on their original chassis, but with newer, higher-precision, better sounding components.

2. A newly-designed SUPERCrossoverTM for the Model 19. This will match the electrical characteristics of the original Model 19 crossover, but with substantially improved sonic performance.

Look for an availability announcement soon...</font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></BLOCKQUOTE>

[Mike D]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size=2 face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><table border="0" width="90%" bgcolor="#333333" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="0"><tr><td width="100%"><table border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" bgcolor="#FF9900"><tr><td width="100%" bgcolor="#DDDDDD"><font size=2 face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Todd W. White:
The Model 19 did not exhibit a raspy-ness originally. Though not as realistic in the midband, IMHO, as the A7, it has better bottom end, unless you modify the A7's tuning.

That said, BOTH are great speakers - my suspicion is that you have a crossover problem. The original components, due to their age, are probably not meeting spec anymore.

Iconic Manufacturing Company is working on several options for you:

1. Rebuild service: your old crossovers will be rebuilt on their original chassis, but with newer, higher-precision, better sounding components.

2. A newly-designed SUPERCrossoverTM for the Model 19. This will match the electrical characteristics of the original Model 19 crossover, but with substantially improved sonic performance.

Look for an availability announcement soon...</font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></BLOCKQUOTE>

[Mike D]

[QUOTE]Lets try this again....

Todd,

Do you plan on making any other Cross-overs??? I'm the proud owner of Altec Model 15's...I don't plan on replacing them....A new crossover sounds interesting.


Mike

QUOTE]

[RClark]

hugo-----i would seriously suspect that something is really wrong with your 19's or perhaps your amp is too small-------in virtually every respect 19's clobber the A-7's except for sheer loudness---------the LF cabinets were tuned lower, the crossover had inductive compensation for the LF driver, and the horn benefitted from HF shelving in the network to flatten and extend its response---------in contrast to that the A-7's were boomy in the midbass region and harsh in the midrange due to a very elementary crossover network design---------perhaps you should give them a try with a good amp with a little more power------10 watts is not very much to drive the A-7's, let alone the 19's to much of a level------with even 15dB of dynamic headroom you have less than one watt of average power before clipping............RC

[dadofshane]

I see this is an old post, but I'll ask any way. Can you tell me about the Sybiotic diaphragms and why they are not reccomended for the model 19, and can you tell me what they are reccomended for and why. Thanks, Mark

[bowtie427ss]

I see this is an old post, but I'll ask any way. Can you tell me about the Sybiotic diaphragms and why they are not reccomended for the model 19, and can you tell me what they are reccomended for and why. Thanks, Mark

Symbiotik was "ruggedized" for high excursion/high power at the expense of HF extension. They were aimed at the PA/sound reinforcement market and work well for their intended applications. They tend to get a bad rap among the hifi crowd as they have a steep and early roll-off starting around 10k and by 14k they're gone, but i'm aware of at least one fella who uses them in a hifi "midrange" application with excellent results. Compared to cheap PA compression drivers like the Atlas/Klipsch K55 there is simply no contest.

Just my .02......................... maybe worth a penny more adjusted for inflation.