Altec 14 Internal Connections

[AS-21]

Could anybody tell me which lead goes to which terminal on the woofers? There are green and black wires - which goes to + and -? Somebody marked the woofer lead with a ballpoint pen + and - which I verified is the correct polarity. However the factory appears to have marked the leads "-" and "G" as you can see but that conflicts with the polarity of the woofer. The black lead comes from the same point as the black lead to the HF driver and that driver is marked (-) where the black lead is connected while the red lead is connected to the + on the HF driver. These speakers had been apart before I got them and I'm not sure they had everything correct and I am stumped. Thanks.

[AS-21]

Nobody? :confused:

Well, I'm just going to do the logical thing for now and connect the green to the (+) and the black to the (-) unless someone who knows better says otherwise.

[fpitas]

If that's a 2nd order crossover on the woofer and horn, the two are sometimes wired out-of-phase; i.e., one driver (say, the woofer) is wired inverted from the normal polarity. That's done to account for the phase rotation from the crossover sections, 90 degrees from each section, for a total of 180 degrees. That could be the confusion here. Sorry I can't be more definite, but I don't know anything about the Model 14.

[AS-21]

Perhaps this may help shed some light.

Post 8 shows the crossover; Post 11 shows the schematic for the 14's crossover (Original version crossover, there were 3)

http://www.hostboard.com/forums/f700/174905-crossover-help-needed-another-pair-altecs.html

[fpitas]

From that schematic it doesn't look like a simple 2nd order crossover, and the schematic doesn't indicate driver polarities. Oh well. Somebody here probably knows the answer. Of course, if you set up and measure on-axis response you'll find out in a hurry if you have a driver wired backwards.

Francis

[AS-21]

Nevermind - I just spoke with Great Plains who confirmed the green lead is definitely positive.

Thanks.

[fpitas]

Nevermind - I just spoke with Great Plains who confirmed the green lead is definitely positive.

Thanks.

Great! Enjoy...

[AS-21]

Here is my restoration of these Altec 14s I just purchased.

I recently purchased them from a young man who had saved them from being scrapped: They had originally been installed in the auditorium of the college he attended and used them in his dorm room. There were 1/2" holes drilled in the sides of the lower cabinets when they were installed up high in the auditorium; smaller holes in the uppers. Baffles wore a film of slimy scum which could only be cigarette tar.

All things considered they could have been much worse but I purchased them at the behest of a friend who spoke glowingly of the 14 - even going so far to say saying he considers it superior to the 19.

There were fairly local and the price - well - he was rather optimistic at first but soon convinced him the speakers were not worth what he was asking in view of the cosmetic issues, and no grilles. He said he had the full set but one of them was "bad" so he trashed ALL of them. :crying: (No not the sharpest tool in the shed).

After hooking them up to my MX 110 and MC 240, I was soon floored by the performance of these speakers.

A good refinishing of the cabinets was in order as I soon realized they would be staying a while and this morning, I have just applied the second coat of polyurethane so they're almost ready to be reassembled.

[AS-21]

The repaired holes and a quick shot of the electronics.

[grumpy]

Looks like a fun setup! :)

Nice to see things put back into useful/appreciated operation.

[AS-21]

Thanks grumpy. Here are the finished speakers.

The holes are barely noticeable now. I'm very pleased how they turned out.

[AS-21]

Final Chapter: Grilles

After searching eBay daily, I struck gold when one lucky day, an eBay seller had a set of (4) Altec 14 grilles. http://audiokarma.org/forums/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/banana.gif

Unfortunately, the cloth was a bit tattered (to be expected). No matter; the frames were all I needed; a recovering with new grille cloth is easy part. Finding a set was the main battle.

Of course the seller harvested the Altec Lansing badges off before offering the grilles and had offered them separately in another listing. :rolleyes:

His badges were pretty rough condition anyway but I found another set with backing covers in much better condition for less than the grille seller wanted for his rough ones.

The grilles duly came in however my excitement was to be short lived when I had the misfortune to drop one of the larger ones - which most helpfully broke into two "L"s http://audiokarma.org/forums/styles/default/xenforo/clear.png I can appreciate now why so many 14 grilles are missing - the particle board stuff the frames are made is quite brittle - which age I'm sure does them no favors either.

I applied a good amount of wood glue to the two broken corners and rigged up a crude jig with masking tape forming a cross. I used a couple old BIC pens to twist the tape to tighten the two "L"s together. This was a long shot - when particle board breaks, the surfaces where it breaks apart is irregular and does not mate well but thankfully after an overnight setting up, I carefully removed the tape (fingers crossed) and much to my relief, found the joints completely sturdy. PHEW!

That near-disaster now in the rearview mirror, the re cloth job could proceed.

Anyway, here's the finished product. I've been enjoying them ever since.

For my money, it doesn't get much better than Altec + McIntosh. http://audiokarma.org/forums/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/music.gif

**The rear speakers are a pair of Boston Acoustics T1000 with their mids and tweeters disconnected. The help reinforce below 50Hz where the 14s begin rolling off. The arrangement works well together.

Cheers!

[grumpy]

Well done:applaud:

[AS-21]

Thank you Sir. http://www.audioaficionado.org/images/smilies/tiphat.gif

[1audiohack]

Well done:applaud:

Agreed, those look great!

Barry.

[gdmoore28]

Those Fourteens just look fabulous, my friend. You did a beautiful job in restoring them. I've talked to several people who attest to liking the model Fourteen better than the model Nineteen. It's been well over thirty years since I've had the pleasure of listening to model Fourteens, but I still remember appreciating the direction Altec took with them. Thanks for posting pictures of your project.

GeeDeeEmm

[Mr. Widget]

I just stumbled upon this thread. Nicely done! Cool setup too!


Widget

[srm51555]

For my money, it doesn't get much better than Altec + McIntosh.



I always liked this combination too

You did a great job on those.

[AS-21]

Thanks again gents.

The Altec 14 Mantaray is the horn works well for me with all types of musical material. Some Altec experts I've spoken with even felt it compared favorably with the revered 19, as mentioned by gdmoore28.

Whatever the case, they sound simply beautiful - and with the best recordings, they just disappear. :)

-Eric