Croweproduction
05-09-2015, 10:23 AM
Hi everyone, this is my first post on this blog, however I've been browsing it for quite some time learning about Altec history and products. I've really become a big fan of Altec and love the history behind them.
I want to share a recent restoration project. A local threatre gave me their Altec speakers, which consisted of an MDF A7 enclosure with a 515-8g, 288-alnico on a 805 multicell horn. This single speaker used to fill the 500 seat theatre with sound for over 40 years. But, lucky for me, they upgraded to a modern EV surround system. Later that week we found the older voice of the theatre speaker in the theatre basement, without the horn, but with a much older plywood cabinet with vertical slots and a 803-16 woofer! All for free because the guy knew I would appreciate Altec.
Up to that point I had scoured ebay and built over time and Onken/416 woofer and 511b horns and 802-8a setup with a custom crossover. But when I heard for the first time the 515/288 multicell combo, I was hooked! I needed to find a stereo pair! I put an A.B.B. Out for altec trades and I met another Altec fan who even traded me my 803 woofer for another 288 alnico and a set of new in box 806 compression driver which he said I could sell on ebay if I wanted to. Seemed like a fair deal, others may disagree, but oh well.
I also bought another mint multicell 805 from a guy in Quebec, and I was off to the races. Up until this point I have been using the single 515 and a 416 in stereo, but another 515-8g is in the mail with original faded bluish cone to match.
So what to do with the a7 cabinets? They are not worth much locally as a shell, and I had the 416 and 511b horns to go with them. So I decided to restore them. One problem is they looked different with the slots ports on the bottom, so i modified to newer one to match the older one! I also have new decals.
so the Onkens are not really meant for the 515 woofer, but I really prefer the midrange clarity and dynamics of this driver. Using my miniDSP bi amped, I'm able to dial in a bass hump clean down to 20hz, steep 48db slopes at 450hz, phase alignment, and a slight ramp up in the highs to allow the ribbon tweeters to compete with the horns, which just have a single cap as a high pass at 10khz.
The benefits of the miniDSP far outweigh any cons.
pictures of everything to follow!
I want to share a recent restoration project. A local threatre gave me their Altec speakers, which consisted of an MDF A7 enclosure with a 515-8g, 288-alnico on a 805 multicell horn. This single speaker used to fill the 500 seat theatre with sound for over 40 years. But, lucky for me, they upgraded to a modern EV surround system. Later that week we found the older voice of the theatre speaker in the theatre basement, without the horn, but with a much older plywood cabinet with vertical slots and a 803-16 woofer! All for free because the guy knew I would appreciate Altec.
Up to that point I had scoured ebay and built over time and Onken/416 woofer and 511b horns and 802-8a setup with a custom crossover. But when I heard for the first time the 515/288 multicell combo, I was hooked! I needed to find a stereo pair! I put an A.B.B. Out for altec trades and I met another Altec fan who even traded me my 803 woofer for another 288 alnico and a set of new in box 806 compression driver which he said I could sell on ebay if I wanted to. Seemed like a fair deal, others may disagree, but oh well.
I also bought another mint multicell 805 from a guy in Quebec, and I was off to the races. Up until this point I have been using the single 515 and a 416 in stereo, but another 515-8g is in the mail with original faded bluish cone to match.
So what to do with the a7 cabinets? They are not worth much locally as a shell, and I had the 416 and 511b horns to go with them. So I decided to restore them. One problem is they looked different with the slots ports on the bottom, so i modified to newer one to match the older one! I also have new decals.
so the Onkens are not really meant for the 515 woofer, but I really prefer the midrange clarity and dynamics of this driver. Using my miniDSP bi amped, I'm able to dial in a bass hump clean down to 20hz, steep 48db slopes at 450hz, phase alignment, and a slight ramp up in the highs to allow the ribbon tweeters to compete with the horns, which just have a single cap as a high pass at 10khz.
The benefits of the miniDSP far outweigh any cons.
pictures of everything to follow!