ALtec 870B-420Y information

[MartinV56]

Hello to all the members of this forum, I acquired old cabins altec, the reference is 870B Speaker System, Serial 892, Number 391916, AL75. The woofer is 420Y. somebody could give me the technical specifications of the same ones, I have connected them to a Set 2A3 seems to me that my altec Nine behaved better, thanks Martin

[clmrt]

http://www.lansingheritage.org/html/altec/specs/components/419-8b-420a.htm

[MartinV56]

clrmt, Thanks, I have thought to place to them to supertweeter, I believe that it is a good option. Cabins very similar to which it buys I saw in ebay:http://cgi.ebay.com/PAIR-OF-ALTEC-VALENCIA-WALNUT-SPEAKER-CABINETS-420Y_W0QQitemZ130070668428QQihZ003QQcategoryZ50597 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohos ting

[hmolwitz]

I think the 420Y are the biflex woofer with a tweeter on a strap across the front of the woofer.
I wouldn't be surprised if the tweeter is blown as they were fairly wimpy, and the crossover is nothing but a capacitor.
They would likely be fine with a real crossover and tweeter.
Any fans of the biflex woofer out there?
I had a pair of Santanas but never gave them a fair shake as the tweets were blown.
http://www.hostboard.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi/ubb/get_topic/f/3729/t/1935

Harry

[MartinV56]

Thanks Guys, best regards, Martin

[UreiCollector]

Any fans of the biflex woofer out there?


I've owned both the 415C and 420A, and I definately preferred the 420A. A little more extended in the high end thanks to the metal dome, though not much. I thought they were enjoyable speakers, but they would "break up" if driven with too much low end....and they aren't very flat across their range.

A good concept for full range on the cheap, but the mechanical crossover definately has it's drawbacks....though I have to say I'm supprised I havn't seen it used more frequently.

It's a great woofer if you use it below the mechanical crossover point. :) I've considered using the 420's in a "Urei 813 copy" (ha ha ha) along with a pair of 604E's that I own. But the wife thinks I have enough speakers allready. I'm still training her to know better. :applaud:

[MartinV56]

I think the 420Y are the biflex woofer with a tweeter on a strap across the front of the woofer.
I wouldn't be surprised if the tweeter is blown as they were fairly wimpy, and the crossover is nothing but a capacitor.
They would likely be fine with a real crossover and tweeter.
Any fans of the biflex woofer out there?
I had a pair of Santanas but never gave them a fair shake as the tweets were blown.
http://www.hostboard.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi/ubb/get_topic/f/3729/t/1935

Harry

Thanks, Exactly, the 420Y are the biflex woofer with a tweeter on a strap across the front of the woofer. I make my set amps 2A3, 300B, and 45, My loudspeakers are Altec Lansing 97db 420y biflex, with EVoice 35T tweeter and XO EV 36, the cabin is 861B, I not if could add a HF horn driver?, that you think, Any comment advice is very much welcome. Thanks, again, Martin

[derik736]

Hi there,
i just ordered the VOTT A7 type enclosures, they will be made by a professional caprenter, exact copy of the original. My question is: does it make sense to use just altec biflex 420y as full range in this type of enclosure??I got a pair of 420y in very good shape, which on paper. going down to 28Hz up to 18k, so actually it suppose to work i think. ANyone tried such combination??

[spkrman57]

the Altec 420 driver was designed for use in a sealed cabinet.

Ron

[hmolwitz]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Derik

I think the hinged biflex woofer would just be so wrong in a horn loaded cabinet that I cannot begin to fathom how bad it would be. The hinge is a mechanical crossover to decouple the outer edge at higher frequency, if you horn load it you will alter that response curve in an unknown way. For your cabinets you should get the correct drivers, 416 or 515, and you will be in a known good place.

Enjoy the biflex for what it was designed for, thumping bass without a rising response curve in a modest room in a sealed cabinet

[derik736]

hi hmolwitz :) thanks for your response, worse scenario than i thought. Well, recently i'm looking for a decent pair of 416s and some 811s (or 511s) plus 802s for the top. The biflex idea in A7 is probably not the case here. I was wondering if it would work at all, since i don't have 416s yet (can takes a while since those woofers are not easy to find in Europe, as well as all altecs that i just mentioned). Anyway my biflex works well as a mid-fullrange on my open baffles. Woofer is sansui w-146 crossed on 250Hz, on the top there's a vintage isophon alnico super tweeter. These "vintage driver" baffles are just great. I love vintage sound, very open, fast and direct. My crossovers are made of oil-paper huge like a cans, russian capacitors which i love and admire :applaud: i'll post some pictures, as soon as i'll find vista drivers for my digital camera :banghead: Anyone using biflex drivers in open baffles? If so i suggest you to visit this cool site: www.lampizator.eu Lot of great DIY ideas here.

Greets

[hmolwitz]

You could certainly try it and it shouldn't damage anything, but it is unlikely to produce optimal results.
Enjoy!
Harry

[MartinV56]

I found these brochurehttp://img407.imageshack.us/img407/324/ca361av9.jpg