18" Altec "cinema woofer"

[baldrick]

I've been offered an 18" Altec woofer in a HUGE box of aprox 750litres, both the box and woofer is the original Altec and I would guess it's from the early 80s or late 70s.

At the moment I've no picture or model no, but do anyone know what model this could be and is this something worth buying if it is in OK condition?

[robertbartsch]

I thought Altec's biggest woofer was 15" not 18"

[grumpy]

http://www.altecpro.com/products/vintage/index.htm#speakers (http://www.altecpro.com/products/vintage/index.htm#drivers)

318* ... perhaps others.


Systems using these drivers:

http://www.altecpro.com/pdfs/vintage/SpeakerAndMics/systems/8000%20Series%20LF%20Speaker%20Systems.pdf

[CONVERGENCE]

It's most likely the 3184 sub THX aproved.The cabinet 8184.

http://www.altecpro.com/pdfs/vintage/SpeakerAndMics/speakers/3184%20LF%20Speaker.pdf

There was also the 3182 .

[grumpy]

750l or ~24ft3 would be the twice as large 3182/8182.

No idea on value. Darn big and heavy... makes modern high-power/excursion
units seem almost practical. :)

[baldrick]

I still haven't had the chance to look at it. It was said aprox 750l, but of course that could be wrong. I remember it from when it still was in use at the local cinema as it was huge, but that is 10-15 years ago :)

It's more or less a give away so if it's in OK condition and it's moveable I hopefully will get it maybe next week, just for the fun of it :)

[baldrick]

750l or ~24ft3 would be the twice as large 3182/8182.


According to the papers the 8182 is in fact 24ft3 :bouncy: http://altecpro.com/pdfs/vintage/SpeakerAndMics/systems/8000%20Series%20LF%20Speaker%20Systems.pdf

So I would guess we have a winner her :D

[baldrick]

I've just visited this woofer, and as I was guessing, it is 3182/8182 :bouncy:

The box are just as huge as I remered, (aprox 3 times bigger than a JBL 4645) and was pretty simple. It's made of not very thick ply and there are not much to stiffen the cabinet, and the finish.... well.... pretty simple :p This is absolutely nothing to have in the livingroom, but in the back of an dark room, it may have a shot!

But what concerns me is the foam, it needs to be replaced, I guess it will tear appart when it starts playing after many years of silence.

Can I use foams meant for i.e. JBL 2245 or do anyone have a clue where to get foams for the 3182 woofer? (It doesn't look the same as JBLs I've had so I would think I can not use the 2245 refoam kit)

[Goodwill_HiFi]

It's made of not very thick ply and there are not much to stiffen the cabinet......

Should be 3/4". Many of the Altec cabinets could use extra bracing. That shouldn't be too hard to accomplish.



.....and the finish.... well.... pretty simple :p This is absolutely nothing to have in the livingroom, but in the back of an dark room, it may have a shot!
Nonsense! :D .......I think it would be perfect for the living room!



But what concerns me is the foam, it needs to be replaced, I guess it will tear appart when it starts playing after many years of silence.
I don't know much about the Altec 18" drivers....... I didn't know they had foam surrounds. I wouldn't think it would be too hard to come up with something that would work. I know you're overseas, but you could give Great Plains Audio a call.

[baldrick]

I don't know much about the Altec 18" drivers....... I didn't know they had foam surrounds. I wouldn't think it would be too hard to come up with something that would work. I know you're overseas, but you could give Great Plains Audio a call.

As you can see here, it's foam:

http://www.audioheritage.org/photopost/data//521/Altec3182_front.Jpg

But it doesn't look the same as it normally does on JBL so I'm a bit concerned to use the same, but since I can't find any who seels the correct one, I guess I will need to give it a try with the foam for JBL.

I talked to the owner yesterday so now it's oficially mine (even though I havne't picked it up yet), and the best thing was the price, I got it for free :) They were just glad to get rid of it :bouncy:

[Mr. Widget]

I got it for free :) They were just glad to get rid of it :bouncy:I can understand why.:duck:

Have you contacted Great Plains about the foam? They would most likely be your best bet. Definitely not JBL... you can't actually by JBL foam surrounds anyway.


Widget

[grumpy]

I'd still try to contact Bouska... the pic of his (above) appears to show a fairly current
surround job...

[baldrick]

I can understand why.:duck:

Have you contacted Great Plains about the foam? They would most likely be your best bet. Definitely not JBL... you can't actually by JBL foam surrounds anyway.


I know JBL doesn't make the foams that are for sale today, I just meant foams made to fit JBL, i.e. 2245 ;)

Have tried contacting Great Plains asking for both recone and refoam but no answers yet.


I'd still try to contact Bouska... the pic of his (above) appears to show a fairly current
surround job...

I'll try him and see if I can get an answer cause I agree that they look fairly new! I know Speakerrepair used to have, but not anymore :(

[grumpy]

Re: using a "2245" surround, ... if my eyeballs are calibrated, the 2245 cone is a
bit larger in diameter, and the surround roll narrower... I'd hold out for something that
fits the 3182 measurements (which you'll have prime access to). Material and thickness
are additional parameters that you may have to guess at, or be limited by what is
available. I'm not finding anything (in my admittedly limited search).

Might also ask Edgewound or GordonW.

[baldrick]

Re: using a "2245" surround, ... if my eyeballs are calibrated, the 2245 cone is a
bit larger in diameter, and the surround roll narrower...

Unfortunately I agree with you, that's what I also thought when I took a look at it :(

I just found Queensland Speaker Repairs (http://www.qsr.net.au/index.php?manufacturers_id=14&sort=2a&filter_id=37) and they do in fact list recone kits to 3182, but I don't understand the price, it seems way to cheap and I've never heard of them... but I've sent them an mail so we'll see what they answer :)

[JBL 4645]

What’s with the bottle of NOS is that to boast the sub bass. :D

[CONVERGENCE]

As you can see here, it's foam:

http://www.audioheritage.org/photopost/data//521/Altec3182_front.Jpg

But it doesn't look the same as it normally does on JBL so I'm a bit concerned to use the same, but since I can't find any who seels the correct one, I guess I will need to give it a try with the foam for JBL.

I talked to the owner yesterday so now it's oficially mine (even though I havne't picked it up yet), and the best thing was the price, I got it for free :) They were just glad to get rid of it :bouncy:


You can order the original cone ,spyder etc. kit at Great Plains Audio.It's better if you call.

http://www.greatplainsaudio.com/

...............................................

[baldrick]

You can order the original cone ,spyder etc. kit at Great Plains Audio.It's better if you call.

http://www.greatplainsaudio.com/

...............................................

You see how bad I write english, imagine how bad I talk :bouncy: But if I don't get any answers soon, maybe I'll have to give it a try anyway.. It would be great if they have it!

[baldrick]

I finally got this beat home today, and man are this thing huge and ugly :applaud:
The good news is that the foam was better than I imagined and I also found a recone kit for it, the bad news is that it was even bigger and uglier than I remered :)

Since I returned the QSC amp I was planning to use I don't have any amps for it now so I haven't tried it, but I'll borrow something tomorrow and aslo take some pictures of it :)

[baldrick]

And here it is next to a SVS PB12Plus/2. Suddenly the SVS looks kind of small :D

http://avforum.no/forum/attachments/hoyttalere/47686d1237027710-nar-svs-blir-litt-smatt-p1000718-800x600-.jpg

I have only played it for a few minutes and the first impression is quite good! It sounds totally differnet than my modified SVS, both in good and bad ways.

But I need to use it more before I can conclude with anything :)

[Goodwill_HiFi]

That looks great! It's in better shape than I imagined.

[baldrick]

The box looks shabby and the foam is not very good, but playable, at least for a while.

After a couple of hours with music, I`m very impressed with this monster! It sound real good, much better than I thought it would! It "integrates" very well the 250ti and is very musical!

I still havent tried it for the main purpose, movies... but hopefully it does just as good job there, and it should since it`s mainly made for movie use :)

[jack_bouska]

Bad news, It turns out I'm in the market for a refoam kit as well.
After two years of baking in the heat in their new home in Muscat, Oman (where the outside temperature can top 50degree C), the foam on my 3182's has bit the dust (literally and figuratively). I was listening them tonight and heard major distortion, and investigation revealed major destruction around the circumference on this twenty six year old loudspeaker. (the other unit is just starting to decay). Everything else is intact, so if I can find some new foam, I'm going to try and retrofit it. Otherwise it's a full recone for both sides

So tell me Baldrick, where did you get your recone kit after all?
P.S. sorry for not replying to the private post, since moving to Oman, I have been so busy I rarely go on the web anymore, I only found this post tonight when I used Google to try and see if there were any recone kits for 3182's…….
Jack Bouska

[baldrick]

I didn't end up with a recone after all, the woofer was in better shape than I thought so I'm still useing it. It's missing a bit of aprox 1 cm but that's it. I did find recone for it here in Norway actually, at the Norwegian importer, but I think he only had one left.

I will get a pair of 2245H hopefully next week, so I will than be replacing the 3182 with those I guess.

But if you find foams for the 3182 please tell us because I know a guy with a pair of 3182 that is even worse then yours :)