416 specs

**yves farge** · May 23rd, 2003, 09:07 AM

May be somebody you can help me before I use my 416 loudspeakers

I have bought in the early 80s a pair of 416 8B loudspeakers in a small shop in New York City as I intended to build a pair of ONKEN bass enclosure. Unfortunately I could not do because of the size of the enclosure which was too big.

I then decided to build the smaller model based on the 414 8A which I still use today with a 291-16B and a 2405H.

Now I have moved to a new house and I am back with building my ONKEN (or may a VOT bass enclosure if I can find precise enough plans).

The two loudspeakers do not have a close serial number and I would like to know if it is possible to identify what they are and if they can be used together in a stereo set.

One 416 has
serial number : 26283
There is a stamp on the spider : 102478
There is a lable inside the spider showing : 53243 - 391841
The paper con is grey color and has a stamp on it 21184 4
The part which glues the cone to the spider is black
Inside the paper cone I can see a octogonal piece of metal

One 416 has
serial number : 33744
There is a stamp on the spider : AL85
There is a lable inside the spider showing : 53055 - 391830
The paper con is brown/grey color and has a stamp on it 21184 4
The part which glues the cone to the spider is dark brown
Inside the paper cone I can see a round piece of metal

Do you think those are the same (alnico or ferrite)
How many years (months) between the two units

Thanks in advance for any info you can provide me.

**[email protected]** · May 23rd, 2003, 09:41 AM

From what I see the EIA codes say they're practically twins: 391841 (the 41st week of (196?)8 and 391830 (the 30th week of (196?)8.

**yves farge** · May 23rd, 2003, 10:18 AM

So the serial number is meaningless ?

Also I did not ask on my previous post but I was told by a hi fi shop here that if they are alnico then they need to be magnetized again as probably have lost there magnet properties.

Is this true and does it affect the sound ?

Of course the man who told me this said they can be re magnetized (for $80 each)

**eibei** · May 23rd, 2003, 02:37 PM

Good Morning yvf:::

$80.00 - someone wants to get rich fast. The recone & re-edge specialist I use provides this service for $10.00.

I hope you can find a place with a price that is more inline with the service provided.

Lynn

**HarryBriscoe** · May 23rd, 2003, 05:09 PM

YVF,

Send them to Great Planes Audio in OKC. Bill will bring them back as good as new. He has good prices.

Harry

**yves farge** · May 26th, 2003, 06:42 AM

Lynn, Harry
Thanks for your answer.
Unfortunatelly shiping from Paris, France to the US would be too expensive.

The real question for me is : Should I take the risk to build either the ONKEN or VOT boxes ??

Do you know by experience if 416 Alnico speakers which are 25 years old and which have never been used (kept in a clean and dry place) need to be remagnetized before they can be used in a home system?

Building the enclosures is a one month effort and lot of money so I don't want to take the risk of been disapointed.

**Fitts** · May 28th, 2003, 08:30 AM

I have a pair of VOT cabinets that I built and I like them a lot. I have a detailed set of plans that I can mail to you if you decide to go with the VOT. They do seem to work best in big rooms and they do take up a lot of space so be sure you have room for them.

Alnico magnets that I have owned have held their magnetic strenght well and only needed remagnetizing when badly mistreated. If you can find any evidence that the speaker was dropped or hit hard with a solid object then remagnetization would be recommended but probably not needed from your description.

**Roland N R** · May 28th, 2003, 12:57 PM

Do not need remagnitizing since no overuse or trauma.

The 825-828 cabs do not provide deep bass below 50Hz so consider that before building. Best bet is a vented 9-10 cu ft cab like in the model 19
with a horn XO at 500Hz. Use T/S speaker calculator to figure out tuning/vents etc and make dimensions fit your decor. Onkens are basically the same and usually need two 15"/cab.