Altec Valencia = Heathkit AS-101 (New Project)

I had a demo of a pair of these a couple weeks back and from all I read and heard about them, it seemed like a holy grail.
The ones I heard were modified and sounded amazing.
I started looking for a pair of them - but, old Heathkit speakers can be pretty rare - Well, I was successful.
Last night I bagged a pair of them - so my new Altec project will begin once I get them home in a couple weeks.
Like any 40+ year old speaker, they are not perfect - some dings and scrapes are there.
And at a minimum, the crossovers need refreshing. But they look to be a good base to start with.

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Congratulations! It's like a smaller version of a Model 19. Have fun.

Wow, those are gorgeous!

I too look forward to reading your progress and impressions with those...

Oh what fun!

Listening party at Heather and Emma's place!

Nice Heather,

Here's the official AS-101 schematic ( should you decide to build new ones ).

http://www.audioheritage.org/vbullet...1&d=1364842180

You can see it's functionally identical to the following :

http://www.audioheritage.org/vbullet...1&d=1248210653

You'll likely be under some pressure to try out the 30923 ( Altec midrange ) taming circuit ( so here it is > use just the top half and transpose it for your higher impedance driver ) :

http://www.audioheritage.org/photopo...923_filter.jpg

One ( good way ) to get more HF out of the basic Valencia format is to replace the current 806a type driver with a new GPA 902-8a ( or 16a ).


:)

(Insert thumbs up emoji here)

Congratulations! Been following the Model 15 thread at dc/diy. Let us know when you're ready to show them off.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Earl K

Nice Heather,

Here's the official AS-101 schematic ( should you decide to build new ones ).
You can see it's functionally identical to the following :

You'll likely be under some pressure to try out the 30923 ( Altec midrange ) taming circuit ( so here it is > use just the top half and transpose it for your higher impedance driver ) :

One ( good way ) to get more HF out of the basic Valencia format is to replace the current 806a type driver with a new GPA 902-8a ( or 16a ).


:)

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Thank you, Earl! Great info!

What a hoot - Guess what I have at home from the Altec Model 15 Project I have been fooling with this month!
I bought the 908-8As mid-December - a previous owner had put the thick felt pads in the rear caps and got rid of the inner cap - making them 902-equivs.

Those 2 holes in the cap were a tip I learned from a local guru - relieves the back-pressure - it really took a lot of harshness out of them!
I had been using them on a pair of 32 horns in some Model 15 cabinets with JBL 2214 as the woofers. Trying to figure if I want to "resto-Mod"
a pair of Model 15s - ... but after I heard a pair of Heathkit/Valencias Jan 6th in Baltimore, I decided to go that route instead!
The Heathkit AS-101s are a much nicer box!
(Kinda like when I moved my 4320 parts into those L200 Cabinets - and we know how that project went!)

Anyway - this was the project I was working until I decided to go Valencia (RIP, Zilch!)

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by hjames

What a hoot - Guess what I have at home from the Altec Model 15 Project I have been fooling with this month!
The I bought the 902/908-8As Mid-December - a previous owner had put the thick felt pads in the rear caps and got rid of the inner cap.
The 2 holes in the cap were a trick I learned from a local guru - relieveing the back-pressure really took a lot of harshness out of them!
I had been using them on a pair of 32 horns in some Model 15 cabinets with JBL 2214 as the woofers. Trying to figure if I want to "resto-Mod"
a pair of Model 15s - ... but after I heard a pair of Heathkit/Valencias Jan 6th in Baltimore, I decided to go that route instead!
The Heathkit AS-101s are a much nicer box!
(Kinda like when I moved my 4320 parts into those L200 Cabinets - and we know how that project went!)

Anyway - this was the project I was working until I decided to go Valencia (RIP, Zilch!)

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Hi,

If you're going to swap those 908 drivers into the Heathkits, I'd recommend first replacing the current ( 908 ) diaphragms with those found within the 806a drivers.

:)

Heh, been posting all the updates to a thread elsewhere, gluing tiles to the back and bottom for a constraint layer, using a fiberglass sheet to form an inner cavity for bass notched to form a "half-ass transmission line" as my guru called it. Even loading the box with lambswool to change the box tuning (different effect than polyfill). And of course, building new crossovers with surplus russian teflon caps and polycarbonate caps. Oh, and swapping in modded drivers my guru buddy tuned for me!
And wrapping the horns with a damping material
My guru had mentioned something called Q-pad - its a self adhesive sheet product used in car soundproofing.
I mentioned dynamat - something my car audio buddies talked about - he replied:
"NOPE! Dynamats will not get the job done. Q-Pads are a lead-impregnated composite sheets. Dynamats and Q-pads are not the same."
Amazon sells small packs of 6 12" x 12" sheets for about $30 - very reasonable!
This is apparently a fiberglass product - sheeting within the tar - But if it damps it, its certainly a cheap enough process.
After I'd cut and wrapped the horns I wacked them with a plastic screwdriver - got a dull thunk and not a metallic ring sound !


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I can hear the Altec fans hissing when they see the mods to the woofers!!
He painted the center area with Varethane to add mass, then a bead of gorilla glue at the outter edge,
plus the lead triangles also added mass - They hit hard now!

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Only 5 pix per post - so - here is the replacement crossover networks. I did use the stock LPad and original iron core chokes -

I am not currently using the ALTEC Bass energizer Modules. I replaced the ancient 100mfd electrolytic cap with a pair of modern 50mfd Bennic caps,
and then on tip I bought a pair of bypass caps for them - but have not installed those additional caps - so they are not in line.

I do have 1 last task - to do. One of the mods was to glue 2 layers of stone to the back and bottom - create a constraint layer to get better bass.
So - I found 16 x 16 tan ceramic tile at home depot, glued that in place, then a few days later I glued 12 x 12 granite tiles to them.
(weighted down as the Silicon glue dried - I had some lead shot from a pair of Sound Anchor speaker stands a few years -
Sold the speakers to someone who was going to ship them overseas and didn't want to pay for the added weight).

The file task is to place a stone top on the cabinet as a final constraint. I checked the local kitchen remodders for some surplus granite or marble from kitchen countertops -
figuring a large sink cutout would be about right, but had no response from many phone calls. Then yesterday, I found Home Depot sells the same Absolute Black granite (with a hint of mica flakes in it)
in 18 x 18 size, instead of the 12 x 12s I used elsewhere on the box - I measure and 18 x 18 will do just fine, so I ordered a box of 5 to be shipped to my local Home Depot for next week!
The tops will get a layer of rubberized toolbox drawer liner material on the bottom and then be "placed" on top, not actually glues to the top..
But I am using a pair of 12 x 12s tiles on top until they get here.



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But with all that, it still sounded a bit light in the low end - so a week back I snagged a pair of 2405 slots for a great price, and over the weekend I bought some small wood boxes from Michaels, drilled them, stained them, painted with Uerethane and built a pair of external "slot boxes," using a 1mfd cap and 8 ohm lPad as seen in that Nelson Pass L300 design. I figured it was a simple design to start with and I can always build a more complex network if needed.

Overall, these modded "Valencias" speakers well exceeded my expectations.
And they are still pretty efficient - I'm still using the 65w/ch Jolida tube amp.

I played some ancient Bonnie Raitt yesterday - her voice was sweet and the guitar strings very delicate -
then played some 80s rock - Big Country, Depeche Mode, Talking Heads and such - those techno-drums hit hard and sharp.
Then Deep Purple Speed King and a bit of Zepp - Not my favorites, but not bad!
Robbie Robertson's 1st album was also very nice.

So - I'm gonna sign off and go listen some more!
Now, if only I could strip that ding-danged 60s moorish dark-pecan finish and redo them in a nice warm maple color ... ;)


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Final update (well, until I build more complex crossovers for the slot tweeters).
The Baltimore guru who has been advising me with all these techniques had recommended larger granite tiles for the top of the cabinets.
Though the 12 x 12 are ok as toppers on the tiles attached to the cabinet bottoms and backs, Larger is better. I'd checked for surplus pieces
with some kitchen remodelers, but had no luck. Then I found out that although Home Depot does not stock the 18 x 18 tiles in the store,
I could order a box of 4 for about $65 delivered to my local store!
So I did a web order for the Absolute Black Granite tiles - they have some mica flakes in the stone that looks really nice - a deep shine!
They came in about a week later, I coated the back with Gorilla Glue (duct) tape - for a nice constraint layer without glueing the tiles to the cabinet tops, positioned them against the back edge and center, then measured to time-align the slot tweeters with the woofer and horn driver inside the cabinet. What a difference the time align made - Imaging is superb!

I finished them June 1st, and have been listening for nearly a month now - they are brilliant!
As folks told me, the mids are magical, and with the woofer treatment (and addition of the slots) they can hit Real hard when needed.
Nice dynamics and percussives - vocals are amazing too - that new Jennifer Warnes disc Phil mentioned is nice (tho its no Famous Blue Raincoat!)
And they're pretty efficient - running them on the Jolida amp with a quad of KT-88s.
Are there flaws? Well, they don't go really really as low as a really good sub would -
but I'm not a club kid anyway, bass is full and they are VERY musical with a really wide range otherwise.

First shot shows the 12 x 12 tiles ... 2nd shows the larger 18 x 18 tile, 3rd pix is the two shot!
I think they look nicer than glass tops, actually. If you wipe the dull cut edges with Orange oil, they look finished!

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