Altec 604-8g cabinet help

[John]

A statement like that says one thing ! Absolutely No Experience with the 604 at all !

See I was trying to help because I have both 19's & 604G's.Awesome clarity and is why the 604's were a staple in recording studios for such a long time.

If by experience you mean listening, I have heard 3 different pairs of 604G's in 3 different rooms and have a pair of 19's in service for over 10 years. I think studios started using them for there sound output which can be argued to mean clarity, but then only continued because engineers became accustomed to there sound even thou it was not accurate. A long came the JBL 4310 and now you have a smaller package with the same sound and studios dropped the Altec

[John]

I never said JBL was better than Altec. I have both

[juniper48]

Thanks, for all of the advice! I built some 612 cabs for testing. I have only been exploring the world of audio for about a year and a half and the one thing I have learned is that none of my speakers that I have owned as of late sound like my 604's as I remember them. They have been sitting for over 15yrs and I still miss them! I also no that none of the speakers I own can do everything. I bought a pair of bose 901 VI (for 29.00$ couldn't pass it up). I also own a pair of Model 19's and cornwalls. All these speakers are very different and all sound ok with the right type of music. Even the 901's with really poor early recordings sound better than the others I have mentioned. When I get some 250Ti's maybe? they will be the "ones" Thanks again

[Altec Best]

Wow that was fast,you built them already ?

[juniper48]

Wow that was fast,you built them already ?

These are just test cab's so they went together fairly quickly! Lots of glue and airnails, and 2 tubes of silicone on the inside! Now I just have to sand them and put them together. I am pretty excited to hear them, they should be done in a few days!!!!!!!

[Altec Best]

Here they are,inside bracing and bevel of the 612C,these are 1975-76 vintage.Don't forget the bevel in the driver opening.It is for the 604.Any full range driver should have this bevel for the Eigenmodes(Normal Mode)Thanks GM .Don't forget also, that all braces in this cabinet, or any cab for that matter should be mounted on end/edge, and not laid flat.There is Less Flex this way.So the result is a more rigid,less resonate cabinet.You should never use nails either,after a period of time,the vibrating will cause them to loosen.The less screws the better also too.If you can avoid using mechanical fasteners you will have a better cabinet in the end.Just use Lots of clamps & glue!


Hope This Helps You Out ! BTW: I would like to very much see some pics if you can on your new cabs !

[juniper48]

ALTECS BEST!Thanks for the info and the pictures, If these sound 9/10ths as interesting as I remember, I will have proper cabs made for them. I am sure they will!!!! When I install the drivers I will post some pictures.

[Altec Best]

ALTECS BEST!Thanks for the info and the pictures, If these sound 9/10ths as interesting as I remember, I will have proper cabs made for them. I am sure they will!!!! When I install the drivers I will post some pictures.

Your Quite Welcome ! I hope all goes smooth and well for your project ! Best Wishes !

Regards ~ AB

[juniper48]

Finally had a chance to listen! These speakers are truly amazing. They are tight accurate and very clear. The upper bass is the best I have heard! With many types of music they out perform my model 19's by a lot. My wife who is a classical trained violinist who could have went to oberlin actually pulled out a hollowbody and was playing along. Most of the time I listen she asks me to turn it off!

[Altec Best]

Finally had a chance to listen! These speakers are truly amazing. They are tight accurate and very clear. The upper bass is the best I have heard! With many types of music they out perform my model 19's by a lot. My wife who is a classical trained violinist who could have went to oberlin actually pulled out a hollowbody and was playing along. Most of the time I listen she asks me to turn it off!

It's the Clarity that grabs me first ! I can almost guarantee that your 19's need to have the crossovers recapped especially if they are still original !Once that is done there won't be much better. You have to do a ground bypass on them too.(Direct Wired Grounds) Trust Me !

That's What I'm talking about !! Keep'em Rockin ! These speakers are 35 years old there is nothing in the world that will touch them for the money (Price Range).Unless you want another mortgage !

[juniper48]

It's the Clarity that grabs me first ! I can almost guarantee that your 19's need to have the crossovers recapped especially if they are still original !Once that is done there won't be much better. You have to do a ground bypass on them too.(Direct Wired Grounds) Trust Me !

That's What I'm talking about !! Keep'em Rockin ! These speakers are 35 years old there is nothing in the world that will touch them for the money (Price Range).Unless you want another mortgage !

Altec Best, My M 19's are amazing also, with some types of music. They are better with jazz and blues and classical. They just dont have that intense hit and separation or imaging with rock and roll,club or dance music. They also seem very, very particular about recordings which I think is a good thing! As far as the x-overs they are copies of the original per the previous owner patched in to the 19's l-pads with much more expensive parts. Would this ground pass still need to be done with this type of configuration? The new x's sit on the "shelf" in the horn section . Thanks

[Altec Best]

[QUOTE=juniper48;309900]

Altec Best, My M 19's are amazing also, with some types of music. They are better with jazz and blues and classical.

Well I'm a Rock-n-Roller ! So they must be missing something ! I helped a few 19 members at Todd's Altec site with this Modification and they all had the same improvements as I did. IMHO it was a night & day difference. As others have agreed with.I feel it was that dramatic.Difference was so obvious.Everything improved,especially the bass,and the highs.

They also seem very, very particular about recordings which I think is a good thing!

It is a good thing.Because they can show you the deficiencies in inferior recordings.They are very clean and if the recordings aren't that good you will hear it.That is a testament to their accuracy and clarity ! Not many speakers can do that.Higher end JBL's & Altec's are prime examples of what can be done with sound reproduction when the effort and commitment are there from the Manufacturer's

As far as the x-overs they are copies of the original per the previous owner patched in to the 19's l-pads with much more expensive parts. Would this ground pass still need to be done with this type of configuration? The new x's sit on the "shelf" in the horn section . Thanks

If it wasn't done,then answer is Yes.The problem is the rivets that mount the terminal bars to the aluminum plate.They become loose and oxidized and therefore don't make good grounds ! In the first picture I forgot to label the ground wire that goes from the top right to bottom right post that runs along the bottom of the yellow wire.If you look there you can see it easily.I used Solen Fast Caps,replaced all resistors,two were out of spec.I also increased the size of the wires in the XO to 14 AWG Stranded.Larger size is not needed and is just more difficult to work with.Clean all pots with De-Oxit 5.And IMHO one of the most important things to do is to leave the original coils in there.They are part of the voicing that gives that Altec sound.Although you can find Air-Core coils in the same values the R value is often different !!! And has been noted by several members on the Altec site that changed the way they sounded when they replaced with AC inductors.So back in went the originals and so did the Altec sound. They very rarely go bad anyway so it is a waste of money to replace them (Inductors/Coils) IMO.One other note, some of the values you can't get like a 21uF cap no one makes.If you come across that just double up use a (10+11) uF or a (12+9) uF caps to reach the correct values.

FWIW- I would remove the XO's in the 19's start with the original.Replace the resistors,Caps w/Solens 400v,increase wire size,do the ground bypass (Hard wired Grounds) clean the pots. Voilà ! Done ! Then come back and talk to us !

Pictures - In the first I tried to show locations I used (Windows Paint Program ) to do it quickly.Try to increase the size of the text,I made it too small, My Apologies ! I also installed new foams from the Darst's IMO they help dampen the 811 horn and do make a difference ! All parts I got from Parts Express with exception of some of the resistors and a couple of caps that weren't available which you can get from Madisound. If you do in the future you will be quite Happy ! Good Luck if you choose to do so ! Best Wishes ~ AB

[juniper48]

Altecs Best! Thanks again for another great response! I will open my 19's up and see if the ground lugs have been taken care of? So with yours the bass is as tight as your 604's? These do have the Darst's inserts for the horns.

[Altec Best]

Your Welcome ! I have been looking for the thread on the Altec site about the XO procedure on the model 19 XO's will post it when I find the right one that I'm looking for,there are so many of them.Just don't have the time right now,my wife wants to take me out to dinner so I have to get ready.You know how birthdays are, just another day that seems to come around faster and faster each year ! .

[juniper48]

Your Welcome ! I have been looking for the thread on the Altec site about the XO procedure on the model 19 XO's will post it when I find the right one that I'm looking for,there are so many of them.Just don't have the time right now,my wife wants to take me out to dinner so I have to get ready.You know how birthdays are, just another day that seems to come around faster and faster each year ! .

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! ENJOY YOUR DAY!!! BUT ANY PERSON WHO HAS A MOTTO LIKE YOURS AND HELPS OTHERS SHOULD NEVER BE SAD ABOUT ANOTHER B-DAY!!! COULD YOU IMAGINE WHAT THE WORLD WOULD BE LIKE WITH A HUNDRED MILLION OF PEOPLE LIKE YOU!!!!!! THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL YOUR HELP!!!