Speaker Build

[Mcline5804]

Just joined, I am thinking of building a pair of Altec Model 19’s or maybe Valencia’s.
It looks like they both use the 416’s for woofers. I came across a nice pair of vintage
515B’s. I would like to know which is the better speaker and if I do use the 515 do I need to change the cross overs.

[quindecima]

I built two 19 clones and used 416's in one and 515b's in the other, It's been awhile but I remember I like the 515's more than the 416's, that being said I also remember I had different horns and drivers for the highs so that probably colors it a bit. Not to say the 416's sounded bad because they did not.

[withTarragon]

Both woofers sound good and were frequently interchangeable in many systems I have owned and heard the 416s and I like them very much. The 515s I have heard but have not not owned. They sounded even better and I think that seems to be the general consensus.

Please keep in mind that the 515's can be quite expensive. Also, at least for the 416s, they had a long production run, with various versions over the years. IOW, not all are necessary "equal". These variations may become a challenge when designing your eventual cabinet (I assume it will be ported). Do you have a means of measuring the speaker's T/S parameters?

Good luck,
-Tom