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I thought this was an interesting read.. They talk about the Cinerama theater in Los Angles,Ca. that sounded fantastic they said but didn't know what the speakers were.. They were 3 A2's with 2 tar filled Multicells on each..:cool:
Film-Tech Forum: Altec 802 and power handling math session
http://www.leesound.com/bw_photos/photo13.jpg
Steve Guttag is a very wise man and well respected on Film-Tech.
The bonus is that he recognises the quality of Altec speakers, even when many others have been brainwashed into thinking they are bad.
What you have to remember here is the digital difference.From the old standard 100 feet down to 40 feet.The MR 94 with 299 must be used for the digital age.
quote:
Now's the real test...Digital(103dB)
We are down to 40 feet! That is a pretty small theatre by any standards! The A-7 in the digital era is now religated to screening rooms. Does this mean that in a 60 foot long theatre the speaker will die instantly? No but it is being driven very hard and will tend to fail a bit often, depending on if your theatre sets is fader to 7 and what films you tend to run...art films arn't as taxing as whiz-bang special effects laden films.
Oh, and if you give yourself a 3-dB safety margin...you are down to about 28.5 feet! Dropping in a 909 diaphragm will get you about 57 feet without the safety margin or about 40.5 feet with the safety margin.
Your last ditch effort would be to raise the crossover point to 800Hz...that will get you about a 33% increase in power handling...so with the 909 and at 800Hz...with a 3-dB safety margin...46.68 feet.
One last point on the above...all of this presumes a "FLAT" EQ setting...no boosts on any EQ...boosts on the EQ come off the power handling! How many of you find you have to boost the high-end to push the sound through the screen? If you are like me and find that yup, even in the best environments a little treble shelving is needed to offset the screen loss...you have even less to work with.
Compare the above with the Altec 299 (1.4") with a MR94B Mantaray and you get out to 147 feet or 104 feet with a 3-dB safety margin. Check out the Lyric's photos in the galley to see the Altec 229 on an MR-94B
I went to go see the latest Die Hard movie a few weeks ago. I sat pretty much in the middle of the theater, maybe two seats right of center screen. The theater was one of those new-fangled long and narrow modern rooms.
Well I tell ya. I'd of taken 2 A7s behind the screen any day over those nasty things mounted to the walls and blasting distorted, harsh noise into my ears...the right one mainly, 'cuz I could barely hear the left. If I wasn't there with my Dad while visiting him in FLA, I would have walked out.
Sound in most theaters today sucks, plain and simple.
Yup Nat ,he says that JBL's have a little higher SPL's but the sound quality goes to Altec even to this day.. But those posts were back in 2002 but IMO still relevant today. Cause most of those theater installs they work on are from that or earlier era... :smile2:Quote:
Originally Posted by magnarc