Need a cover for my (Psuedo) Altec Valencias..Any Ideas..Foam. Cloth ...anything ?

[drummerwill]

I refinished these Altec/Iconinc 846A cakinets. I stuff them with what I had available, 811B horns with Eminence 2002 drivers and a reconed Lafayette/Goodman 15" Alnico woofers and its Xover. They sound pretty good but I need covers if they are to stay upstairs..... Help?

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/wjrive...e2.jpg&.src=ph

Willie

[Earl K]

Hi

- I can't get access to your photos .

- Eminence & Goodmans drivers ? Ever see the 60s' sitcom "BRANDED" ? At least you're in "DIY" / but you're on thin ice mentioning that stuff here

- Member "Zilch" sells official JBL "midnight blue" grill cloth by the yard. You could buy a couple of yards and make frames to strech it over . That would look very nice with the original Walnut veneer of the 846 cabinets .
( BTW ; Steve Gonzales did the original legwork on sourcing this stuff from JBLs' own supplier .)

[drummerwill]

I did say "Psuedo"!
I do have a another pair of 811b's with 807's on them and pair of 421's reconed to 416's, but they are in a larger box. I just wanted to get these cabinets going.
Now if I can get a front for them!
Willie

[garyl]

Grill design is always tuff to decide on material, color, style.
When I built my 19 clones, very similar to your Vals, I sat for many evenings deciding how I wanted them to look.



Since the style present in our room is all oak and very much Mission style, I decided to stay with that and make grills that both covered the fronts but stayed in line with speaker and room furnishing designs.



I think in your room and with your styles, you might actually do well with something along the lines of the Flamenco art deco grills or even the Vals original wood lattice look.
Have no clue how handy you are with wood but if these are too hard to locate and it is not possible for you to produce them, you might consider a nice sculptured foam ordeal which could probably be made by a member here who does foam grills. Zilch has a photo in a thread of his foam grills and they do look quite nice and would probably be the simplest to mount on your speakers.

I am not at all sure if any grill will be happy on nice Altec cabinets like yours with drivers that seem to be completely out of place.
Guess if they sound fine to you then thats all that really matters.

Gary

[Tom Loizeaux]

Altec Valencias are nice, simple speakers that perform suprisingly well.
You've got the cabinets, but things have departed from stock.
The Altec 15s are part of the secret to making these sound great. The Altec 806 drivers are the other part. The additional holes/ports in your cabinets confuse the accuracy of what you're getting. You might want to consider, since you refinished the cabinets nicely, restoring these with correct componants.
In terms of "covers", I think some thought and care should go into what grilles you put on these. They were designed to accept thin wooden grilles that slip into the gap around the front of the cabinet. These grilles curve to follow the front of the baffle frame.
I bought heavy copper mesh, soldered it in a number of spots and slid it into the slots. You're going to struggle with fabric unless you strech it over a very thin frame.
Anyway, good luck and keep us posted.

Tom

[jackgiff]

I have three pairs of Valencia's, one pair bought new at the factory in Anaheim in 1967. The other two pairs have been bought on E-Bay and restored. The grilles on both pairs from E-Bay were shot or missing. I bought several sheets of 4 foot by 8 foot 3/16 inch thick plastic in chocolate brown from a vendor in Kent Washington, had them cut it into smaller pieces and ship it to me. I found a sign company that had a CNC router, and paid their $600 programming charge to route the grilles. I had many pairs made, three of which were used in the two pairs restored and the equipment cabinet in my avatar (alongside one of the restored speakers). Some were sold on E-Bay, leaving me with one pair for the originals in case they ever break. If you want, I could give you the name of the sign company, since they still have the program. The cost would probably be something near $300 a pair, maybe more. They sure look nice if you are into Altec Lansing.