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I have heard rumors that a 416 Alnico version is in the pipeline but never heard it was available yet. I would think if they build a 416 Alnico that the 604 won't be far behind.
On another note, all of my altecs are vintage alnicos so I can't honestly say I have any info to offer either positive or negative about ferrite motors.
Other threads have discussed the differences and I believe cost is the factor holding up the reissue of alnico.
Gary
Does anyone know if GPA is planning to make ALNICO magnet versions of their 604s? That would be sweet.
To me it doesn't seem like it'd make much sense for a couple reasons.
a) recent changes in material supplies and their prices make alnico cost prohibitive........... again.
b) the all ferrite series II and series III versions of 604-8H are reported to be significant improvements over their alnico predecessors.
If money is no object, and you have a sentimental love for alnico 604's that you cannot overcome, simply buy old ones and have GPA restore them for you.
Hey guys,
Maybe I can shed a little light here, since I just got off the phone with Steve at GPA inquiring about this very issue. Reason being, I need a pair of new 416-8B's for my model 19's. He told me they make new alnico and ferrite versions. He told me the alnico mags are new, and not leftovers from back in the day. He also told me that thier latest shipment of alnico magnets were subject to a new surcharge that they had previously not been charged. He said the new surcharge is actually more than the cost of the magnet itself. And they may have to raise the price of the new alnico 416 by as much as $100.00.
FWIW, thier current price for 416-8B is $360.00 for the alnico version, and $280.00 for the ferrite version.
In regards to new alnico 604's, I really don't expect to see this because when I spoke with Bill, I could tell he was really sold on the virtues of the new ferrite 604's. Reason being, the ferrite magnets are flatter than the alnico motors, which means less time alignment issues.
Todd, I hope I'm not breaking any forum rules by posting the prices. I just wanted to give people some idea as to the price of new alnico vs. ferrite.
RK--I never heard a difference in Altec compression drivers I'd attribute to magnet material.
It's said that in woofers the material might make a bigger difference but I don't know, I never owned ferrite versions of Altec woofers.
I don't think it has to do with magnets but rather
pot casting. It was noticed that large pot castings that used ALNICO magnets had less distortion than the ceramic small pot.
Here is a copy of a quote that I copied but forgot
who wrote it. I think it's in our site under ALNICO probably Todd White.
QUOTE
"OK, here's the deal:
1. The large pot casting on the large format drivers reduces the mechanical resonance to a point way below the lowest USABLE crossover.
2. This results in NO audible sub-harmonic distortion being generated by the mechanical portion of the driver.
3. If you remove the large pot casting, as Bill Hayes and his team at Altec did when they were developing the ceramic 288's in Anaheim, it sounds AWFUL! This is because the large internal volume, as Jerry Hubbard will tell you also (they found out the same thing in OKC when they were looking to improve the 288 and came up with the 299), is essential to preventing subharmonic's from setting themselves up as fundamentals and generating all kinds of ugly distortion.
In short, YES the large format drivers with the large pot casting DO have less distortion - irrespective of their crossover frequency or the bandwidth they are being asked to produce - than do the IDENTICAL units WITHOUT the pot casting."
..............
<font color="#FFFFFF" size="1">[ August 09, 2008 09:44 AM: Message edited by: CONVERGENCE ]</font>
Agree and second Convergence's post, the measurable and audible(claimed by some) differences have more to do with the differing magnet structures than with the magnetic material.
This thread and Greg Timbers' post shed's a lot of info in a short read: http://audioheritage.org/vbulletin/s...ead.php?t=4031
Just my .02.................
Thanks for the responses and the information. I have a pair of ALNICO 416s that Bill re-coned for me a few years ago and ALNICO 802s to go with. Never have gotten the crossover right on those guys though.
I am currently using PHY-HP 12" co-axials (KM30 SAG) with ALNICO mags and silver VCs. These drivers are just incredible. I've always been curious about the 604 and was just wondering about an ALNICO version.
I can hear Tom laughing at me as I type this but triodes and ALNICO go together so perfectly; just like whiskey and cigars!
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Originally posted by EZ_Angus:
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I can hear Tom laughing at me as I type this but triodes and ALNICO go together so perfectly; just like whiskey and cigars!
But perhaps the good sound of your speakers has nothing to do with their "Alniconess", might be that it's other factors of the design, might be they'd sound just as good with ferrite magnets.