Look at my new babies...Altec 846Bs w/EV Tweeters!

[Storm]

Hey there everyone!

Look at my new toys!

I don't know if anyone was following the eBay auction for the Valencias in Scottsdale, Arizona - but I was. Only a three day auction.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWN:IT&ih=017

Check out my new babies.

And yes, the 846U's are going to be sold.

To everyone who was telling me to add a tweeter; now I completely understand the need for a tweeter on the valencias. They smooth out the harsh highs and bring it down to a listenable level, very pleasurable I might add.

I paid $1200.00, but I think I got a good deal - especially because I got to pick them up only an hour after the auction ended.

Have a look and tell me what you think.

I think the tweeters are EV T-35's?

Thanks!

-Storm.

[Storm]

More pictures...

[SUPERBEE]

Now, wait till Storm hears an L-300 rig or better.

BTW.....

Those are nice speakers. Hit those puppies with a little Howards Restore A Finish then the Feed N Wax and they will look brand new.

[spwal]

those look exactly like the k77 klipsch tweeters (the bell part at least) in both my hereseys and cornwalls...

storm-- get some decent amplification so that you can REALLY get your speakers rocking. You have 1200 bucks to buy another pair of the speakers you pretty much already have, so its not a liquidity issue.

Grats on your new toy , now make it sing! Not sure that a solid state reciever from the 80s can compete with some things that are out there now. Sure the woodwork is pretty, but you really should consider this course of action.

you have an xbox in your signature. i suggest you bump the xbox off the list and get a nice modern amp.

I wonder how those custom tweeters affect the value of the speaker.

[Titanium Dome]

Congratulations, Storm. Glad you're happy with them.

Looks like the tweeters are mirror-imaged. It also appears their placement will impact the dispersion from the original horns a little so try the pair with the horns on the inside and on the outside to see if one arrangement sounds better than the other in the midrange.

Good luck.

[Tom Brennan]

"They smooth out the harsh highs and bring it down to a listenable level"

You think Altec highs are harsh but an EV T-35 isn't? That's interesting. I've heard Altec highs describes as soft, rolled-off or missing (and to some extent I agree) but never harsh.

Whereas if the T-35 had been developed a few years earlier we could have avoided dropping the A-bombs on Japan.

Well it's a subjective hobby, that's for damned sure.

[Storm]

Thanks for the kind words, everyone.

Well, to my ears when I did an A/B test between the U's and these, I found these are much more smoother in the mid and high range. They have a very lovely sound.

The real test is to see if I can crank Pink Floyd: Pulse up to the level I like without the piercing highs. That will really tell me if the highs are tamed. I will hopefully get to do that soon - when everyone is out of the house for a day.

As you can see, the previous owner added the tweeter in a fashion that it could be taken off and not leave a hole. That was very smart.

Do I assume that if they added a tweeter, that the crossover has been changed? I will get some pictures of the crossover later tonight.

-Storm.

[scott fitlin]

What I have always found, either with Altec or JBL horns, is that when they run all the way up, they tend to sound a bit shrill at times. Adding tweeters and rolling the horn off where the tweeter comes in tames this.

We used to use eight Altec 808,s on small Community horns with Al phragms, and tangerine phase plugs as tweeters years ago, and to my ears they had the nicest sound, softish, but shimmering golden top end.

And, with the Altec gear, as well as JBL, it was always dependent on system setup and all the other gear being used. Some drivers sounded better to me on a certain amp, and not so good on a different amp, even though they were the same power rating.

I have heard Altec speakers sound incredible, and the same for JBL, and I have heard systems using both brands sound terrible too. I know one thing for sure, I dont like most modern amps for powering vintage compression drivers or tweeters.

I have this theory that amps and speakers of the same particular era seem to work best together.. Just my opinion!

FFWD to today, I have nice new JBL 2242 loaded ported subs, WidgetWorks Custom, and they sound INCREDIBLE with Crown Macro Tech 3600,s or a QSC Powerlight 6.0II. But I cant stand either amp on my older horn loaded subs. Go figure?

[SEAWOLF97]

Some drivers sounded better to me on a certain amp, and not so good on a different amp.

I tried 4 or 5 power sources with the F's. The SAME ERA Marantz sounded best, was just too low on needed power.

[sourceoneaudio]

I would try moving the tweet top center horizontal, since that is the correct dispersion pattern for that driver. Probably make a huge difference, and like Scott said with rolling of the mid horn, check the x-over for a true band pass so you have no overlapping frequency's and impedance dips.


J/S-S1A

[scott fitlin]

I tried 4 or 5 power sources with the F's. The SAME ERA Marantz sounded best, was just too low on needed power.

I agree, and to add to this, I kind of find many of the older low power amps, say amps up to about 50wpc, seem to have the sweetest sounding top end and midrange.

My solution? Low power amps on highly efficient horns and tweeters, bigger amps with better bass on woofers. Best of both worlds.You gotta find the RIGHT xover too.

I also find alot of todays SS amps, no matter how low or high powered to sound too bright and unforgiving on compression horns and tweeters of the past, but sound terrific on modern speakers using cone mids and modern tweeters. But, still a different sound than vintage.

[spwal]

Its his amplification. hes using a pioneer dvd player and an old altec amp. why is no one else seeing this?

what is the point of having incredibly detailed speakers if they are going to only reflect the shortcomings of the rest of your system.

"They smooth out the harsh highs and bring it down to a listenable level"

You think Altec highs are harsh but an EV T-35 isn't? That's interesting. I've heard Altec highs describes as soft, rolled-off or missing (and to some extent I agree) but never harsh.

Whereas if the T-35 had been developed a few years earlier we could have avoided dropping the A-bombs on Japan.

Well it's a subjective hobby, that's for damned sure.

[SEAWOLF97]

Its his amplification. hes using a pioneer dvd player and an old altec amp. why is no one else seeing this?

what is the point of having incredibly detailed speakers if they are going to only reflect the shortcomings of the rest of your system.

sure, but he JUST bought that Altec receiver for the identical speakers to recover what was missing. He is BIG on bass. Is a 12wpc receiver really going to do that ?

[Tom Brennan]

"I would try moving the tweet top center horizontal, since that is the correct dispersion pattern for that driver."

EV intended the horn to be used with the long axis vertically for widest dispersion and EV usually used it vertically, the only time I recall EV using it horizontally was in the Eliminator.

PWK used the thing horizontally, who knows why.

[SEAWOLF97]

"I would try moving the tweet top center horizontal, since that is the correct dispersion pattern for that driver."

EV intended the horn to be used with the long axis vertically for widest dispersion and EV usually used it vertically, the only time I recall EV using it horizontally was in the Eliminator.

PWK used the thing horizontally, who knows why.

they used it with the wrong orientation so as to fit in the now plugged up port , with no mods. wonder if the xover is right for it ?

shud be real nice for 2 or 3 foot sweet spot until turned as it shud be.