New (Old) Flamencos

[MarkTobakMD]

Fulfilled a lifelong dream and bought a pair of Flamenco VOTTs off eBay. They're intact. They play to theatre levels with very realistic voice reproduction, an immediacy beyond electrostatics...BUT
1) They seem to have taken awhile to "warm up" and sound much better after several days of use and;
2) One speaker always did and still does sound louder and fuller than the other so that phantom center channel images may sometimes wander over.
Where do I start tinkering? Crossover?
Sage advice welcome.

[bowtie427ss]

Is the weakness limited to just the bass driver or horn, or does the entire speaker seem less sensitive?

Sadly, one of the only drawbacks of vintage Altec is the tempermental stability of the alnico magnets.

However, there could be, and likely are other causes. After closely examining ALL wiring connections and verifying they are intact, I would then experiment with swapping components between the 2 cabinets. For example, if you think speaker "A" is working correctly, then take the woofer out of speaker "B" and swap it with the "A" woofer. If speaker "A" sounds the same with woofer "B" loaded in it, then you have eliminated woofer "B" as a source of problem, Do this with each component until you introduce the symptom into speaker "A", then you will have identified the problematic component(s). This is a very simple procedure that anyone with a steady screwdriver can do, it requires no other tools or technical knowhow, and is what many of us would do in the field where we don't have access to test equipment and/or repair facilities.

If the crossover electronics are original, i'd consider recapping wether i noticed any issues or not.

This of course is entirely just one opinion..........

[bowtie427ss]

I failed to address the "warming up" issue......... could this just be a human factor?

[MarkTobakMD]

Thank you, Bowtie. Opened the back of the errant Flamenco and found the woofer hanging by one bolt! The other bolts were strewn around the interior of the cabinet. Must have occurred in transit. Pretty simple. Sounds much improved. Duh!
Now do I still do the caps?

[gamalot]

Hi Fat, One thing I would caution anyone on with 30+ year old Altecs and particularly you with one hanging. Check the surround and rotate both woofers at least 90 degrees.
The black goo tends to run toward the bottom of the woofer and could adhere to the cabinet. When the woofer is removed, or in your case gets loose, this could tear the surround because it was stuck at the bottom.

Caps are pretty reasonably priced and not that hard to unsolder and resolder so I would replace them just for the experience and peace of mind and clean the Lpad with good spray contact cleaner while there, deoxit-D5 is my preference but others like their own favorites.

Gary

[gamalot]

OH YEA, Be very carefull removing the one that was not loose so you don't tear it if it is stuck by GOO.
Direct sun or being by a heat register is a big enemy with Altec accordion style/black tar coated surrounds. Rotate as necessary!

Gary

[dgwojo]

Regarding capacitor upgrades, that model system normally used the N800F crossover, it's a pain to upgrade as they're riveted together and have very little space inside, nice speakers, Dave.