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I thought that some of you would like to see one of the three Altec 817 enclosures that I have just built. I know that they are not part of the Voice of the Theatre series of speakers but the labels look cool. They each have a pair of the Altec 515E speakers. I now have to build the hometheatre room for these animals. I will be using Altec 805 horns with 288K drivers for the high end.
http://home.new.rr.com/timetraveler/...tsmallfile.jpg
Thanks for looking. Reed
Hello Reed,
this is really a great work, gratulation!
What was your trick building the horn?
Do you think you need a subwoofer for the low end?
Best
Wolf
Very nice, or as they say here in Maine WICKED GOOD.
Regards,
Very nice looking reconstruction of the 817A! But, they are indeed " Voice of the Theatre " cabinets. I have two of these and I like them, too!
OUTSTANDING cabinet work. I'm sure you're proud, as you should be.
There was a trick building the horns. The horns were built first. I cut the 4 curved plywood ribs per the radius of 30 31/32". The corner is 9 7/8" on one side and 13 1/2" on the other side. I then used plenty of Gorilla Glue and attached both the backs and sides of the horns to the 4 curved plywood ribs. I cut 3 holes in the back side so that I could fill the horns with foam insulation. Next I cut 1/2 way through the 3/8" plywood for the horn curved pieces every 1". I used a lot of Gorilla Glue and about 6 ratchet straps to bend the 3/8" plywood around the plywood ribs. When the glue dried I removed the excess glue and used a router to trim the front and back edge of the horn assemblies. I filled the horns with expanding foam while the straps were holding the curved piece. I filled about 1/3 with foam and let dry. The next day I filled another 1/3 and the last day the last 1/3. The horns are now dead. They do not ring or resonate at all. My next step was to attach some small temporary tops and bottoms to each horn side. I did this to get the 8" spacing between the back opening of the horn and also I glued the baffle to the horn sides at this time. When the Gorilla Glue dried I removed the temporary tops and bottoms and Gorilla Glued and screwed the real tops and bottoms to the horn assembly. The sides were then attached and the rear frame for the back was installed. I used a lot of Gorilla Glue and a lot of screws. Now that the fiberglass insulation is installed and the backs are on the enclosures almost seem as if they were made in a mold. Tomorrow I am going to start making the sleds for the H.F. horns. Later this summer I will be building 4 modified versions of the Altec 8182 enclosures. Each will have the Altec 3182 18" woofer. I will be using the Audio Control "Phase Coupled Activator" as a crossover and bass enhancer for my left, center and right channels. The 4th 8182 will be for the LFE channel. I will have to lay the 8182's on their back and install the 3182's in the end. I don't like to do it that way but this is the only way that I will be able to use them. The 4 8182's on the floor, the 817's on top of them and the horns on the very top. Thanks for the nice comments. Reed
Very nice! That's a lot of speaker for a HT small enough to need the horizontal dispersion of 805s. In every one I've been involved in where a CC was used, 40-60deg was the limit so I had to DIY the horns.
GM
I have never seen the Altec 817 listed in the Altec "Voice of the Theatre" catalogs. I believe that thay were intended for commercial sound, P.A. or locations other than the motion picture theatres. They would be weak on the low end but with the subs that I will be using with the 817's they will be my "Voice of the Theatre". The "Voice of the Theatre" series include the A4, A7, A8.
Hello Reed,
Congratulations on your excellent work with the 817's.
I aggree that they were not part of the VOTT range, but were desgined for PA applications.
The 817 is a reduced size version of the 211 cabinet and the 816 is a reduced size version of the 828 cabinet.
I use a very similar combination of Altec loudspeakers for both live and installed applications.
My system uses the 817 loaded with 2 x 515-8GHP and the Mid/High cabinet uses either the 805 or 1005 horn. One horn uses the 290 driver and the other uses the 288. The system is run 3 way active and crosses over at 500Hz from the 817 to the 290 and 6000Hz from the 290 to the 288.
I have found that the low end performance is quite good from the 817 if you are in large room or outdoors. You may find the low end to be lacking if your listening area is "small".
A bit if "eq" does wonders for the very low end performance of the 817, if you do not want to run sub-woofers.
For our live work we do often run sub-woofers and our sub-woofers have 2 x 3184 woofers in a 24 cubic foot cabinet. They deliver an amazing sub-woofer sound.
If you want to see pictures of this system you can go to www.cpcproductions.com and look in the ALtec Lansing section. The 817/1005 system is called the "Arena" system.
Please post some pictures of the completed system.
Have fun.
Murray.
I will be equalizing with 1/3 octave equalizers. This is a photo of all 3 enclosures. I will post more photos as I complete the project. http://home.new.rr.com/timetraveler/...3smallfile.jpg
Excellent job, Reed! Your vision in using these will not be faulty...I have used the 817 for years in all sorts of environments and have never been let down. It is decidedly easier to move & implement than a 210 with very little percieved difference in bottom end. I always thought this was due to smaller sides were easier to fab stiffer.
The 515 woofer paired up can move an incredible amount of air, and if you need a bit more "crunch", bump up the EQ and they will gladly comply.
Bravo!
DG
For EQ I REALLY, REALLY recomend finding a pair of White 4400,s! They come up on Ebay from time to time, and can be had for reasonable money.
White Instruments are the finest sounding 1/3 octave EQ,s I have ever used.
I see you are in the basement. Try putting a cabinet facing into one of the corners of the room and leave about a 6 to 8 inch gap between the front of the cabinet and the cement walls on each side. The cement walls will act as extensions of the horn and Oh what bass volume you should get.
Regards,
All I can say is wow, those are some NICE cabinets. I wish I could be so lucky to be able to build nice looking stuff like that!
Wow~~~~Excellent job http://www.hostboard.com/forums/
WOW!!! Greatest compositions.
Your 817 cabinets with VOTT decals look so great.
You are a real enthusiast in this field.
Congratulations! You make me jealousy. http://www.hostboard.com/forums/
Hi Reed.
Excellent work. Looks outstanding!!!
What type, color name & make of paint do you used?
I decided to use an oil based paint and I wanted a flat paint. I will eventually be putting the enclosures behind a dark grill cloth wall and a perforated front projection screen in front of that. I don't want any reflections of light from the cabinets. I went to Sherwin Williams and bought their B49W2 Preprite primer for the primer and final coat thus it will be flat. I had him mix a gallon with 4 oz. black added. He then put a little sample on a test card and dried it with a hair dryer. This is exactly what I want. He could have put more black in it and made it darker but I like it the way it is. It is a battleship grey color. On my monitor the color looks like the actual enclosures.
Those cabinets look (and I'll wager) sound fantastic! You should be very proud. If I ever get the space and time to move off my Nineteen's to something even bigger, 817's have always been on my short list as bass cabs. Once again, great job!
Two thumbs up!
Nice workmanship Reed, congrats.
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Quote:
Originally posted by Reed G. Hinton:
I will be equalizing with 1/3 octave equalizers. This is a photo of all 3 enclosures. I will post more photos as I complete the project. http://home.new.rr.com/timetraveler/...3smallfile.jpg
Hi there
Nice looking cabs... I built 4 817's with all the dado joints listed in the plans. A lot of work but worth the effort. They sounded great. I loaded them with 421 & 421 LF. When all four were side by side on the the ground, they had excellent punch that hit hard at high SPL. If you haven't had a chance to play with 8182's, I'd try one first.. Better yet, if you can get you hands on one or two. Try them before you go through the trouble and cost of building some. I have two 8184's loaded with 3184's that I bought new. I've never been happy with them. They are slow and lack attack. Only my humble opinion expressed here. If you like BIG organ music, they are fine. I've never tried the 8182, perhaps it has better attack than the 8184. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress. Jammmin Jungle Jim
Hello again...
I keep thinking about your horn sections being filled with foam. That changes the internal volume of the cabinet. I wounder how much difference it will make in the system's frequency response curve. Would you happen to have an original box that you could do some comparisons?
subtle hint: This thread is almost 3 years old, he might have built them a couple years ago already!
Hi,
will the 817 enclosure work with the 416-8a?
What is the max. crossover frequency?
And my last question, do the have better bass than the original Voice of the theatre?
Kind regards
Barossi
Jim, I have the 4 8182's in their originally designed cabinets that I built. They seem to operate fine in my home theater system. They have been reconed by Bill in Okcy with the accordion edge. I do not have other 817's to compare my systems to. The horns rang like a bell before I filled the the back sides with foam.
Charles, I do check this site from time-to-time. It is educational for me to read the comments. Thank you.
Barossi
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">The 817 B with a 416-C has a Fr response of 45 to 1000 Hz.Quote:
Hi,
will the 817 enclosure work with the 416-8a?
What is the max. crossover frequency?
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">SINCE IT IS NOT A BASS REFLEX HORN LOADED SYSTEM LIKE THE A-7 I WOULD SAY NO TO YOUR SECOND QUESTION.Quote:
And my last question, do the have better bass than the original Voice of the theatre?
..........................................
Perhaps I should keep an eye on posting dates.
I do not have another 817 to compare mine with. They sound fine in my home theater. I do check this site from time to time. I get good ideas from the comments. I have 4 8182's in factory designed cabinets that I built. They really fill in the low end. I am happy with my system.
Hi,
where could i find plans for the 817 enclosure?
Kind Regards
Barossi
Plans are here. http://www.altecpro.com/pdfs/vintage...net%20Plan.pdf
Reed, your 817s look like the sound of experience! Do you have any pictures of the 3182 subs (8182 cabs?). I have a pair of altec DTS 182s (dual 3184s) that I currently use, and have a bunch of 3182s (NOS and GPA recones with cloth surround) that I want to build some cabinets for. Just curious, the factory cabinet plans are available, but a bit large and unusual geometry for a single sub to say the least. Did you use the 8182 plans or did you modify them?? Thanks for your comments and I look forward to more updates on your current project. Curt
I used the Altec cabinet plans for the 3182's. I did a modification. I did not mount the speaker in the front but on the top. I laid the cabinets down on what would normally be the back so the speaker is facing toward the front. This gives me a cabinet that is about 3' wide, 2' high and 5' deep approx. I have 4 of these cabinets side by side with the three 817's on top. I am sorry that I did not get any pictures of the completed system. I tried but the walls, the cabinets, the horns are all flat black. You can get the idea of what my system looks like by going into a basement without windows on a moonless night and opening your eyes. That is what the picture looked like. Now I have black grill cloth (wall to wall, floor to ceiling) surrounding my perforated theater screen and there is no way to see anything. The subwoofers are attenuated about 9 db compared to the other speakers. Oh---I did repaint the 817's. I wanted everything behind the theater screen to be flat black.
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">But it looks like the original poster ressurected his own thread with a quote form an earlier post.Quote:
Originally posted by Charles Clark:
subtle hint: This thread is almost 3 years old, he might have built them a couple years ago already!
Ugh! nevermind, I didn't get to page 2 before I replied
Resurrected this thread since Reed has them listed for sale on FeeBay ! It's interesting to see the folk's that had posted in this thread.
There's gotta be more than one thread, or some of this one is missing. I KNOW i posted in the thread, and i distinctly remember a pic of Reed standing with the newly finished 817's in his fairly new looking unfinished basement.Quote:
Originally Posted by Altec Best