Altec 3124 - 12 inch woofers?

[robertbartsch]

Apparently, this is the 12 inch driver that once lived in the Altec Stonehenge II speakers - circa 1975.

Has anyone seen these before?

My original cabinets are in good shape and only need some minor work. The grill cloth needs to be changed but the woofers have been confiscated by persons unknown.

Anyway, should I try to restore these with a vintage Altec 3124s or consider other options?

One option would be to use a GPA duplex 12" I suppose.

[hjames]

Last week's Previous thread on your Stonehenge IIs
http://audioheritage.org/vbulletin/s...ad.php?t=21397

In that thread, SpeakerDave said

The only one of the series that would interest me would be the III, since it uses the 604-8G.

To me, there are some old speakers that are worth the trouble and some that are not. The ones that are have a sound quality that is unique in its way or no longer available at anywhere near the price or are technically interesting in some way. A lot of old speakers, even some of those made by companies who also made very good speakers, are generic efforts, using generic components, at targeting a price point in the market and have no other socially redeeming value, as far as my interests go.

David

Perhaps its not a model worthy of putting a lot of money into?

I guess only you would know that for sure ... but I think a lot of folks here would say there are Altec and JBL models not worthy of repairing/restoring.

We certainly haven't read many posts about the Altec Stonehenge series in here in the past, not like Valencias or Model 15 or 19 ...
That doesn't mean its not a spectacular speaker, but ... odds are, its not ...

You can do most anything you want - but with a speaker that wasn't sold in large numbers and may not have been real popular, ya gotta ask yourself "Do I feel lucky?"

Apparently, this is the 12 inch driver that once lived in the Altec Stonehenge II speakers - circa 1975.

Has anyone seen these before?

My original cabinets are in good shape and only need some minor work. The grill cloth needs to be changed but the woofers have been confiscated by persons unknown.

Anyway, should I try to restore these with a vintage Altec 3124s or consider other options?

One option would be to use a GPA duplex 12" I suppose.

[robertbartsch]

OK, that is good to know - thanks....

I remember hearing Stonehenge IIs when new and they were no slouch, but that was +33 years ago. Back then, the Stony IIs were intended to compete in the marketplace with the JBL 3-way 12" monitors, if memory serves me right.

In fact, the Stonehenge IIIs have 15" duplex Altec 604s (??) which are quite collectible now, I suppose.

So far, my options for the IIs seem to include these:

1. Buy 2 restored Altec 3124s for $180 each
2. Buy 2 GPA duplex 604 - 8H for +$500 each

These will serve as rear or surround units in a 7.1 system and any resotoration is for my own use not for potential resale.

[hjames]

I remember hearing Stonehenge IIs when new and they were no slouch, but that was +33 years ago. Back then, the Stony IIs were intended to compete in the marketplace with the JBL 3-way 12" monitors, if memory serves me right.

So far, my options for the IIs ...

Yeah, but there are a LOT of cool speakers available (Altec or JBL) that were made in the last 30 years and are not horribly expensive at the moment. Sounds like your preference is something along the lines of a tall tower arrangement. Lots of speakers can fit that configuration.

Why start with Stone II cabinets at all? What is the magic there?
Why start with a speaker that didn't have a particularly big legacy? Price alone?

[robertbartsch]

OK, well the CABs were in great shape, the price was $125, and the seller was within a few miles, so it seemed like a good deal, I suppose.

I was hoping to replace or fabricate new baffles and squeeze some 15" JBLs and compression drivers in the boxes but that seems like too much effort now, so I was thinking about just using them as rears or surrounds; my space requirements are for something on the narrrow side and these fit the bill.

CABs seem to be the biggest problem for me now since I do not have any speaker salvage shops in my area and buying and shipping to NY is quite expensive and complicated.

[Zilch]

I was hoping to replace or fabricate new baffles and squeeze some 15" JBLs and compression drivers in the boxes but that seems like too much effort now, so I was thinking about just using them as rears or surrounds; my space requirements are for something on the narrrow side and these fit the bill.

[doodlebug]

OK, well the CABs were in great shape, the price was $125, and the seller was within a few miles, so it seemed like a good deal, I suppose.

I was hoping to replace or fabricate new baffles and squeeze some 15" JBLs and compression drivers in the boxes but that seems like too much effort now, so I was thinking about just using them as rears or surrounds; my space requirements are for something on the narrrow side and these fit the bill.

CABs seem to be the biggest problem for me now since I do not have any speaker salvage shops in my area and buying and shipping to NY is quite expensive and complicated.

Personally, I've been looking for a set of Stonehenge cabinets for a number of years now. I remember _trying_ to sell Stonehenges when they first came when I worked in a small, locally-owned stereo shop in the 70s.

If I were in your shoes, I'd be looking seriously at the 12" coaxial driver that Great Plains Audio has just released. Either that or watch for a set of UREI 809s, which also used a 12" coaxial with a JBL horn tweeter. They show up on eBay occasionally. Then there's the crossover question.....but we've got lots of folks here who would love to 'armchair design' for you.

BTW, one reason I believe there aren't more of the Stonehenges available today is that Altec, frankly, had trouble delivering them to dealers. We always sold the floor models quickly back in the mid-70s and could never keep them in stock.

Cheers,

David

[hmolwitz]

The 3124 is still available from GPA and Todd claims they are an excellent driver. I have a pair of 3156 which are very nice, a 15 but with the higher fs, more designed as a midbass unit.
You could also try a 601 in that cabinet, but for an Altec woofer in the 12" that should give you the best bass performance, any 15 would likely require a larger cabinet in volume.
You could measure the volume of the cabinet and run one of the box plot programs and see if you can find anything you could tune in .
Harry