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Thread: altec malibus, model 843a

  1. #1
    Junior Member madwing's Avatar
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    altec malibus, model 843a

    i just was blessed with a pair of these, and am wondering if anyone can tell me anything about their age (i think they were from 1963, based on the other parts of the system they came with). they have the 804/2x 414z driver load. they've been out of action for seven years, but i am a little worried about just firing them up. folks at AK suggest nothing to worry about, but i am wondering what experiences people here have had with them, and if there's anything i should do to them other than just hook them up...

    thanks.
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    Senior Member Steve Schell's Avatar
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    Congratulations on scoring the Malibus, madwing. They are very nice speakers. I think you are correct on their age. I had a pair years ago which had the die cut wooden grilles, and those dated a little later, more like 1966.

    My Malibus a problem in that the viscous goop on the 414Z woofer surrounds had migrated to form lumps at the bottom of the suspensions. This immobilized the cones at that point and they had begun to tear from speaker movements. I recommend that you carefully pull each woofer free of the baffle from inside the box to check for this condition. If the goop has migrated the lump can be removed by applying some heat from a hair dryer and scooping up the excess goop, being careful not to damage the accordion cloth suspension.

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    Junior Member madwing's Avatar
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    thanks, steve, i've read that. i'll check it out when i open them up.

    i'll hijack my own thread here: iirc, you're the person to ask about cinaudagraph drivers, yes? my late grandfather's ex-radio cabinet has an su 18-12 in it, and i am wondering how it'd stack up as a mono driver with a stephens trusonic p-15 playing the high end. thoughts?

    best,
    bill

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    Senior Member Steve Schell's Avatar
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    If that Cinaudagraph is in good working condition with original cone then you have a rarity. I never heard one of these working so I cannot vouch for their performance. The couple that I have seen sell brought a lot of money though, so they must do something right.
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    Senior Member Eaulive's Avatar
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    The great power capacity..... 30 to 35W

    Good thing those drivers were usually quite efficient !

  6. #6
    Senior Member Steve Schell's Avatar
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    What I can't figure out is why they would give a range for power handling. Seems that if it can handle 35W that it goes without saying that it would handle 30W.

    These oldies were built before high temperature materials had been developed and applied to loudspeaker construction. It was also a more sane era, before criminally negligent sound monkeys felt the need to blast their audiences into the next time zone with SPLs.

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    I love the look of those speakers. Call me nostalgic or whatever, but those are handsome cabinets.

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    Junior Member madwing's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Schell View Post
    If that Cinaudagraph is in good working condition with original cone then you have a rarity. I never heard one of these working so I cannot vouch for their performance. The couple that I have seen sell brought a lot of money though, so they must do something right.
    steve, it's in perfect working condition. it has been the TV speaker for 40 years, along with a single 3-way from the late 50s. he drove it with a small radio snack horn from the early 70s, to augment the highs.

    i played music from my grandmother a couple years ago, and it sounded brilliant. ellington never sounded so real, on vinyl (dual 1229/shure v15ii through a realistic receiver).

    so the p15 would work as a HF source in mono?

    thanks, btw, for this sheet. it's more information than i've ever had about it.

    best,
    bill

  9. #9
    Junior Member madwing's Avatar
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    maybe it depended on what else was hooked to it?

    i dunno.

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    Junior Member madwing's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JeffW View Post
    I love the look of those speakers. Call me nostalgic or whatever, but those are handsome cabinets.
    very. even moreso in person. HUGE, though (2' wide, 3' tall, and 1.5' deep). i have a couple of small veneer repairs to make, then steel wool and some tung oil over each of them.

  11. #11
    Senior Member Steve Schell's Avatar
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    The P15 should work beautifully with the Cinaudagraph. The compression driver will need to be padded down some, and you may want to experiment with the crossover frequency. The Cin was designed for such wide range response that you have a lot of leeway on where you cross it over. You may prefer running it nearly full range and crossing the Stephens in as a tweeter way up high. Like I said I've never heard the Cin, but it is safe to say that nothing like it has been built since the mid 1940s. As you may know the chief engineer at Cinaudagraph was Rudy Bozak, and he incorporated many of his early innovations into his later speakers.

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