Altec 802-8G good, bad or ugly

[slxrti]

I have a pair of mint 802G-8G, how do they compare with the 2421 or le85?

What are there value?

slxrti

[Earl K]

Hi Spencer

You're on record as owning 4430 monitors. Have you ever substituted the Altec 802-8g for the JBL 2425 or 2421 on those 2344 horns ? An impedance mismatch would occur with the passive crossover but then you had a Rane AC23 for biamping around this problem .
Have you tried this ?

I own Altec 802-8D and 902-8B drivers ( & some 2344 horns ). I don't own any le85s or 2421 drivers so I can't make the direct comparison you seek . But, IME, typically the Altecs are more extended in the top end ( especially the 902 ) with a better damped midrange . They do exhibit some of the traits that one gets from a smaller-sized magnet - such as a reduction in apparent "torque" within the midband. I find this "torque" signature in itself contributes to the sense of a different spectral balance. It's a balance many might think is a lot more hifi sounding or more "natural" .

Conversely, recent dabbling in the creative application of capacitors for spectral compresson leads me to suggest that one can utilize capacitors and resistors to make one type of driver broadly imitate the other.

Value ? Whatever the market will bear . This seems to change seasonally, plus it seems to be tied to the number of favourable mentions about the driver type on the "Big Three" forums; ie "here" , the Altec User's Board or the High Efficiency segment of the Audio Asylum. Recently a seller ( with 100% feedback ) on eBay failed to get the $ 375.00 he was after for his 811/802-8g combo . Go figure . I'm confident these will eventually sell at that price - but first, there may need to be more snow on the ground .

regards <> Earl K

[slxrti]

The JBL horns I have are three bolt pattern that compounds the problem.

From the research I done, they are the same drivers used in the Model 19, Which were considered one of the best two way of it era. Regardless the altec they are destine for E-Bay.

By the way JBL 1' drivers can sound just as weak in the midrange down right terrible. I was driving it with a citation 7.1 in the biamp mode > 300 watts. The 375 makes the 1" sound silly, but need a tweeter.

The 2445 using the wooden horn was to bright and a bit harsh, but then it was not design for the wooden horn. In my opinion the baby cheeks were the smoothest of all the JBL tweeters. Not bright yet extended with great articulation. The slots after an hour I would have to shut it off. The amp I was using was a citation 16 the large Black monster. Sold it and went with a 7.1 citation. Never look back. Funny thing, the citation 16 sold for top dollar, but did not sound that way. Just like the L65, that was the worst sounding JBL I owned. That design should have never been sold.

spencer

[Doctor_Electron]

"the L65, that was the worst sounding JBL I owned."
Amen. I tried to get a pair of 4311's in 1977, but production was behind demand. Wound up with the Jubals, and asap I swapped them for a mint pair of 4310WX's. Later replaced the tweets with 2405's, as when heard outside of the intended near/mid-field enviornment, they would not image at all. But with the slots, sweet, sweet. I now use 4410's with 2404 babycheeks. I do need a proper crossover to maintain reasonable "q" with the padding needed to get the highs down to the overall 93 Db sensitivity of the 4410's. But beliieve you me, this is much better than with the 035tIa's, at least IMHO.
BTW, who is the resident crossover maven, Gispard??? (sp)