Today's $30 Altec Find

[hello9821]

Hello,

Today I found a pair of Altec 14s on Craigslist for $30, in pretty good shape.
The only thing is that the original woofers have been replaced with something else. I was wondering what model I should look for, as I would like to make these original again.

Thanks,
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e230/hello9821a/DSC_0001.jpg Matt

[hello9821]

Upon pulling the woofers, it seems the previous owner cut the cabinet to fit a 15" woofer...

Would a 15" Altec driver be the best way to go?

[CONVERGENCE]

Upon pulling the woofers, it seems the previous owner cut the cabinet to fit a 15" woofer...

Would a 15" Altec driver be the best way to go?


Best thing to do is to stick to original . The cab was tuned for a 414 and the horn would go with a 12" rather than a 15" Although I think theres a
monitor with this kind of combo.

GPA might have some 414 for sale . I would call. There must be a way to
retrofit a 12" into a 15" baffle.

[hello9821]

thank you good sir!

[speakerdave]

Best thing to do is to stick to original . The cab was tuned for a 414 . . . .

I agree with the first part of this statement, but the second part, I think, is not true. That speaker used a 12" cast frame woofer with a foam surround, not the Altec 414. That cabinet might work for the 414, although it could be a little small. He might better try to find a pair of the originals, but to be frank, since the cabinet has been hacked it's a loss; I would say he got a nice bargain on some compression drivers and small mantaray horns, but unfortunately nominated himself to be the one to toss the cabinets into the land fill.

David

[hmolwitz]

http://www.hostboard.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi/ubb/get_topic/f/3729/t/3322
(http://www.hostboard.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi/ubb/get_topic/f/3729/t/3322)
There is a bit on the model 14 woofer with photos, and before pitching the box he might be able to cut a new baffle.
Harry

[richluvsound]

http://www.hostboard.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi/ubb/get_topic/f/3729/t/3322
(http://www.hostboard.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi/ubb/get_topic/f/3729/t/3322)
There is a bit on the model 14 woofer with photos, and before pitching the box he might be able to cut a new baffle.
Harry

Got to agree with you Harry - not that hard to replace the baffle even for someone with limited skills .

Rich

[speakerdave]

. . . . he might be able to cut a new baffle.

It could happen. I don't know what the motivation would be. He already has a better speaker sitting in the background, and as a flip it's a dead dog. Hope he posts the results if it's done, but I ain't countin' on it. He should pull the treble and the crossovers and ebay 'em. It's still a good score. It's sad to have to throw away cabinets like that (and hard to do, so they'll sit in the garage for a while), but the truth is, it's harder to adapt a cabinet than to build from scratch sometimes, and I think this would be one of those times.

David

[speakerdave]

. . . . not that hard to replace the baffle even for someone with limited skills.

I think it would be a great addition to the how-to here to have a step-by-step on that.

David

[Zilch]

I think it would be a great addition to the how-to here to have a step-by-step on that.There's a bunch of stuff here I'd like to mirror-image.

It's shown in the Danish L26 upgrade thread, but, as I recall, he concluded it would be easier to build from scratch.... :dont-know

http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/JBL-L26-3way.htm

[richluvsound]

I think it would be a great addition to the how-to here to have a step-by-step on that.

David

Hi David,

If I needed to replace a baffle I would route a 1" rebate 3/8 deep
around the perimeter of the baffle as close to the edge as possible. Then follow the internal edge of the rebate with a jisaw cutting out the old baffle.

Cut a new baffle to fit the opening . Then route a 1" wide x 3/8 deep rebate in the back of the new baffle. I would use an epoxy adhesive , WEST SYSTEM or

DEVCON . Screw it every 4" .Fill , sand and paint . GOOD TO GO . Cut new opening , fix T-nuts . Slap in the new woof , Crack open a beer and crank'em up .

Rich

[grumpy]

Nice/useful procedure Rich. :)

Hello still needs a source for that 12" woofer though... maybe another
thrashed set of 14's, cores for recone at GPA or ... ?? I don't see any
p/n's to do a T/S search , ... but one could do a port size/volume estimate
and come up with likely replacements if a "restoration" proves too difficult.