Finished my Altec Corona 832A's!

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03-18-2013, 08:36 PM
shaansloan

Finished my Altec Corona 832A's!

Sitting in the sweet spot and diggin the Jazz!

Scored two orphaned Coronas last year and finally had some time to work on them. I had a cabinet guy refinish the cabs and I did the grills. The drivers were in great shape. I found some surprisingly good matched cloth at Mill Outlet fabrics in Colo Springs. I am just missing (1) Altec Corona/Laguna badge...I have looked for a while and hard to find!

They have that very nice warm vintage sound. I am running them with my C22 Pre and a 1959 Magnavox 4 watt 6BQ5 SE stereo amp. At 101db 1W/1M sensitivity they really light up the room. They really sound good with some cool jazz, female vocals and also classical chamber music. One more piece of history put back into service!

Here are some before and after pics. I have a few more pics of various stages of the job if anyone is interested. Happy Hi-Fi to ya!

http://i1305.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5620c731.jpg

http://i1305.photobucket.com/albums/...ps73cfd55d.jpg

http://i1305.photobucket.com/albums/...psc4ab01fa.jpg
03-18-2013, 09:18 PM
wsilva

Gorgeous!

Great job on the restoration.

Now you get to enjoy your hard work :)
03-19-2013, 09:29 AM
NickH

Very Nice
03-19-2013, 09:50 AM
Lee in Montreal

Great job. Definitely look like new.
03-19-2013, 10:30 AM
hjames

Very nice and stylish pair of speakers!
Great work - and sounds like a fun listen as well!

Show us what's behind the curtain, please!
More Pix are always welcome!

Quote:

Originally Posted by shaansloan

Sitting in the sweet spot and diggin the Jazz!

Scored two orphaned Coronas last year and finally had some time to work on them. I had a cabinet guy refinish the cabs and I did the grills. The drivers were in great shape. I found some surprisingly good matched cloth at Mill Outlet fabrics in Colo Springs. I am just missing (1) Altec Corona/Laguna badge...I have looked for a while and hard to find!

They have that very nice warm vintage sound. I am running them with my C22 Pre and a 1959 Magnavox 4 watt 6BQ5 SE stereo amp. At 101db 1W/1M sensitivity they really light up the room. They really sound good with some cool jazz, female vocals and also classical chamber music. One more piece of history put back into service!

Here are some before and after pics. I have a few more pics of various stages of the job if anyone is interested. Happy Hi-Fi to ya!

http://i1305.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5620c731.jpg
03-19-2013, 05:07 PM
NickH

Quote:

Originally Posted by hjames

Very nice and stylish pair of speakers!
Great work - and sounds like a fun listen as well!

Show us what's behind the curtain, please!
More Pix are always welcome!

I second that notion. All in favor?

Come on, pop the hood.
03-19-2013, 05:11 PM
Earl K

Wow !

http://i1305.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5620c731.jpg

You sure brought those back to life .

Love the white grill cloth !

:)
03-20-2013, 06:29 PM
shaansloan

Here's what's under the hood...

Quote:

Originally Posted by hjames

Very nice and stylish pair of speakers!
Great work - and sounds like a fun listen as well!

Show us what's behind the curtain, please!
More Pix are always welcome!

Gladly.... sorry for the delay.... The one kind of unfortunate thing is that they are not a perfectly matched pair. One has the 803A woofer, 811b/802C horn driver, and N-800-D x-over (soldered tone control) and the other has the later 803B woofer, 811b/804 horn driver and the N-800-E x-over(which has the adjustable controller for tone). I think I actually prefer the older unit for the the overall tone and soundstage.... it just has this fabulous nostalgic feel!

However I must tell you I have them in my living room which is really large, about 25 X 30 with a vaulted 16' ceiling and this babies will light up the whole room with about 1 watt of power and the sound is clear and present just about wherever you walk around the room. Truly is like theater in the living room! But when you are near field in the sweet spot, they are just fabulous and dreamy! The bass response is better than you would expect... I think it has something to do with the triangular cabinet and the way it projects the sound. They could surely use some internal bracing if you turn them up to about 3-4 watts the cabs buzz a little. I recently restored a pair of MC-30's that I am gonna try with them but I am just really diggin these old Hi-Fi beauties! :bouncy:

http://i1305.photobucket.com/albums/...ps31c55cef.jpg

http://i1305.photobucket.com/albums/...ps64de6c78.jpg

http://i1305.photobucket.com/albums/...psdf8774ec.jpg
03-20-2013, 06:40 PM
shaansloan

I looked hard to find this grill cloth....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Earl K

Wow ! You sure brought those back to life . Love the white grill cloth ! :)

It is impossible to find that old Corona/Laguna cloth.... it is a very special color and pattern. However the one I found closely matched the pattern and the weave is perfect as far as sight and sound transparency(you can't see through it). I used the normal technic on contact cement aound the edge of the grill frame and then a hot iron to adhere it... it just works great and I have done this with many grills...it always works and they never come lose at all. Here are a few pics....

http://i1305.photobucket.com/albums/...psb35f4598.jpg

http://i1305.photobucket.com/albums/...ps48a9651d.jpg

http://i1305.photobucket.com/albums/...psde6b59a5.jpg
04-23-2014, 01:25 PM
audiomagnate

Quote:

Originally Posted by shaansloan

It is impossible to find that old Corona/Laguna cloth.... it is a very special color and pattern. However the one I found closely matched the pattern and the weave is perfect as far as sight and sound transparency(you can't see through it). I used the normal technic on contact cement aound the edge of the grill frame and then a hot iron to adhere it... it just works great and I have done this with many grills...it always works and they never come lose at all. Here are a few pics....

http://i1305.photobucket.com/albums/...psb35f4598.jpg

http://i1305.photobucket.com/albums/...ps48a9651d.jpg

http://i1305.photobucket.com/albums/...psde6b59a5.jpg

Where did you get that cloth? I need to redo my Montereys with that stuff.
04-23-2014, 03:00 PM
shaansloan

Mill Outlet Fabrics

Quote:

Originally Posted by audiomagnate

Where did you get that cloth? I need to redo my Montereys with that stuff.

Here is where I got it ..... Mill Outlet Fabrics
2906 North Prospect Street
Colorado Springs, CO 80907
(719) 632-6296
[email protected]

I did it all through email and phones calls. I sent them pics and they sent some samples I I ordered the one I thought was best...
04-23-2014, 04:23 PM
Horn Fanatic

Quote:

Originally Posted by shaansloan

Here is where I got it ..... Mill Outlet Fabrics
2906 North Prospect Street
Colorado Springs, CO 80907
(719) 632-6296
[email protected]

I did it all through email and phones calls. I sent them pics and they sent some samples I I ordered the one I thought was best...

I'm re-posting an edited comment from another thread I left for a chap with an 832 Corona question;

"The fabric on the Danish boxes cannot be found anywhere at any price, save for someone who may be sitting on a bolt of NOS. You will also be hard pressed to find a weaver who can duplicate it, if so, the bill would be at least $1000, probably more after a short prototype run to dial in the loom. The fabric has silk threads woven amongst polyester threads, and you would be lucky to find someone who will dye that material. Believe me, I have tried in vane for the last 5 years to have it duplicated, even to the point of having a weaver make inquiries in the U.K."

H.F.
04-23-2014, 07:19 PM
Audiobeer

Outstanding job and great craftsmanship. Just beautiful! Now send me your L-65s. Nobody puts baby in the corner!
04-24-2014, 07:38 PM
audiomagnate

Quote:

Originally Posted by Horn Fanatic

I'm re-posting an edited comment from another thread I left for a chap with an 832 Corona question;

"The fabric on the Danish boxes cannot be found anywhere at any price, save for someone who may be sitting on a bolt of NOS. You will also be hard pressed to find a weaver who can duplicate it, if so, the bill would be at least $1000, probably more after a short prototype run to dial in the loom. The fabric has silk threads woven amongst polyester threads, and you would be lucky to find someone who will dye that material. Believe me, I have tried in vane for the last 5 years to have it duplicated, even to the point of having a weaver make inquiries in the U.K."

H.F.

The cloth on my Monterey's has gold running through it but looks like the cloth in this thread otherwise.
06-10-2019, 11:57 AM
script56

Nice resto on corona!! How did you remove wood grille frame?
06-10-2019, 12:41 PM
shaansloan

Quote:

Originally Posted by script56

Nice resto on corona!! How did you remove wood grille frame?

It has screws that hold the frame from the inside. Once you remove the screws, then the grill slides out through the bottom and it must be laying on its back to do this. Hope that helps.
06-10-2019, 05:37 PM
carpediem

Wow, very pretty. The sound must be out of this world.
10-01-2019, 07:38 AM
rahman

Quote:

Originally Posted by shaansloan

Here is where I got it ..... Mill Outlet Fabrics
2906 North Prospect Street
Colorado Springs, CO 80907
(719) 632-6296
[email protected]

I did it all through email and phones calls. I sent them pics and they sent some samples I I ordered the one I thought was best...

Apols for resurrecting an old thread, but I'm looking at making some custom shelving in which I'll place my DIY altec/renkus speakers.

Love the look of the Corona grill cloth and would be grateful if you could let me know the mfr/brand/name of the cloth you ended up using.

Cheers
Adrian
10-01-2019, 07:44 AM
shaansloan

Quote:

Originally Posted by rahman

Apols for resurrecting an old thread, but I'm looking at making some custom shelving in which I'll place my DIY altec/renkus speakers.

Love the look of the Corona grill cloth and would be grateful if you could let me know the mfr/brand/name of the cloth you ended up using.

Cheers
Adrian

Sorry but this is all I can tell you. I don't know the manufacturer or name of the cloth...

Here is where I got it ..... Mill Outlet Fabrics
2906 North Prospect Street
Colorado Springs, CO 80907
(719) 632-6296
[email protected]

I did it all through email and phones calls. I sent them pics and they sent some samples I I ordered the one I thought was best...
10-01-2019, 09:32 AM
rahman

Quote:

Originally Posted by shaansloan

Sorry but this is all I can tell you. I don't know the manufacturer or name of the cloth...

Here is where I got it ..... Mill Outlet Fabrics
2906 North Prospect Street
Colorado Springs, CO 80907
(719) 632-6296
[email protected]

I did it all through email and phones calls. I sent them pics and they sent some samples I I ordered the one I thought was best...

OK. Thanks for that.