My next project

[NickH]

Ive got the appropriate home for my GPA 416-8b woofers thanks too Esoteric Junkie.

Now comes the refurb. Does anyone have any advice on refurbing a pair of altec 828's?

I was planning on changing how the back panel attaches. Glued around the parameter with a opening a little bigger then the 416 in the back. And add more bracing on the back and side panels too. Im thinking I might add an extra layer of plywood on the outside to increase the rigidity too.

Nick

[sbjacob]

Ive got the appropriate home for my GPA 416-8b woofers thanks too Esoteric Junkie.

Now comes the refurb. Does anyone have any advice on refurbing a pair of altec 828's?

I was planning on changing how the back panel attaches. Glued around the parameter with a opening a little bigger then the 416 in the back. And add more bracing on the back and side panels too. Im thinking I might add an extra layer of plywood on the outside to increase the rigidity too.

Nick

Very nice look forward to more photo's on the restore .

[Lee in Montreal]

I would be curious to see how an A7 can be tuned thru proper Bass reflex. I wonder what would happen with a 2234 in there.

[NickH]

Ive added some bracing to the cabinet. This is what I have done so far. More is needed thought on the top of the cabinet. It resonate when I put a sander to it. Havent figured out how Im going to do it though. Sorry for the fuzzy pictures.
Nick

[Ear4life]

Hey Nick!

Looking good so far! Is it possible to take off the sidepanels and glue them on agen? and did you heare them sing before you took them apart? I must say that I´m clapping my small hands.. those vott speakers will never die!! (hopefully)... By the way, what HF driver/horn du you have? Sorry for all the questions

Martin

[NickH]

Hi Martin,

I did not take the sides off. Im sure someone could do it, but I wouldnt try. I realize the bracing is a tad overboard. What you cant tell in the other pictures is the cabinets had become a bit flimsy do to the beating that had endured over the years. Not they are nice and sturdy.


As for horns I have a pair of altec MRII 542 mantarays Im going to use at first. Im using jbl 2440's as the mid drivers so Im using an adapter to put them together. I want some jbl 2397's or 2360a's in the future.

Nick

Hey Nick!

Looking good so far! Is it possible to take off the sidepanels and glue them on agen? and did you heare them sing before you took them apart? I must say that I´m clapping my small hands.. those vott speakers will never die!! (hopefully)... By the way, what HF driver/horn du you have? Sorry for all the questions

Martin

[NickH]

Well I glued some 3/4" birch ply on the sides of one cabinet this weekend. Went well. There getting heavy, LOL. I also got some asphalt roof flashing cement to try for dampening the horn flares. I put the stuff on a piece of 1/4" plywood. Im surprised that the stuff doent really have much of an odor. It takes a long time to cure but so far it works prtty well. Looks like goose poop though, . But I can knock on the wood pretty hard and all I get is a thud. So it looks like it

Today I started filling in the gaps on the front of the cabinet. The original plywoods corners are rounded over from years of road use. So theres a little gap on the periphery.



Here are some photos of the progress. The dampening material I tried. And the experiment.

Not in any particular order.

Nick

[NickH]

Nothing much to report on the progress. Im filling in defects at the moment. Im working on one cabinet at a time now. Otherwise it seems like im not getting anything done.

I did decided Im going to put 3/4" baltic birch ply on the sides and bottom of the cabinets. It going to make them heavy but I have most of the ply on hand so I only have to buy a little bit.

Ill post some pictures soon.


Nick

[NickH]

Thanks Ara,

Ears,

there wonlt be much of any paint on them. Im going to put wood veneer on them. The only part that will be painted is the front of the baffle board on the back of the horn. It wouldnt be very wasy to put veneer on it with the glue block at the top.

Still alot more work to do. I also decided I am going to put a piece of 3/4" ply on the tops of them. The top still resonates when the sander touches it. They are getting nice and heavy though. Good thing they arent going to move much once they are in place.


Nick

[sbjacob]

Thanks Ara,

Ears,

there wonlt be much of any paint on them. Im going to put wood veneer on them. The only part that will be painted is the front of the baffle board on the back of the horn. It wouldnt be very wasy to put veneer on it with the glue block at the top.

Still alot more work to do. I also decided I am going to put a piece of 3/4" ply on the tops of them. The top still resonates when the sander touches it. They are getting nice and heavy though. Good thing they arent going to move much once they are in place.


Nick

Nick have you considered staining them and hitting them with a few coats of water base poly they would look very nice and would save time as veneering can be very time consuming well let me rephrase that "Time consuming for me" it may not be for you ether way they will look awesome and sound great I love my Altec's wish I had more room

[NickH]

I saw that thread with the diy a7's with the reflex ports.

I though about trying something like that, and I still may. But the way I'm looking at it for the moment is altec knew what they were doing. I'll keep them stock, for now. I was already planning on running a subwoofer anyways.

I was going to start stripper the cabinets today, but my wife had other plans for me.

what's a guy going to do.

There at the shop I work at. So looks like I'll be working late this week.

I will post pictures of my progress as I go.

[Ear4life]

Hello NickH

Exiting project!
I love the 828! It for sure does good thing for the low mid and lows.
When it comes to the the bass port question, the standard opening in the front was only to get so much sensitivity out of the box as possible. They are from a time where extended lows wasn´t invented yet. The opening in the front lets a lot of midrange escape out there. I will not say it was a bassreflex hole, because it has "no tuning". I have "replaced" that open front on my 828 with three bassports. So I have lows now . Have you thought about adding some wings on the sides of the cab?
Looking forward to read about your project, and subwoofer and stuff!

Best
Martin

[NickH]

Hello NickH

Exiting project!
I love the 828! It for sure does good thing for the low mid and lows.
When it comes to the the bass port question, the standard opening in the front was only to get so much sensitivity out of the box as possible. They are from a time where extended lows wasn´t invented yet. The opening in the front lets a lot of midrange escape out there. I will not say it was a bassreflex hole, because it has "no tuning". I have "replaced" that open front on my 828 with three bassports. So I have lows now . Have you thought about adding some wings on the sides of the cab?
Looking forward to read about your project, and subwoofer and stuff!

Best
Martin

Hi Martin,

I have thought about the wing, just dont know how well they would fly with the wife. Did you get that, wings, fly, LOL. Corny. I am goping to try the though, one day. I figured that If I restricted the reflex port it would probably lower the sensativity.

But Im a long way away from this step. Ill try out a few things when I get there.

Nick

[NickH]

What is the best way to attach dampening material? Staples or adhesive? Im planning on using plan old fiberglass..

This is the stuff I was thinking about using.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_35136-1722-B...roduct_price|0


Or would that not be a good choice?



Thanks,
Nick

[sbjacob]

Hello NickH

Exiting project!
I love the 828! It for sure does good thing for the low mid and lows.
When it comes to the the bass port question, the standard opening in the front was only to get so much sensitivity out of the box as possible. They are from a time where extended lows wasn´t invented yet. The opening in the front lets a lot of midrange escape out there. I will not say it was a bassreflex hole, because it has "no tuning". I have "replaced" that open front on my 828 with three bassports. So I have lows now . Have you thought about adding some wings on the sides of the cab?
Looking forward to read about your project, and subwoofer and stuff!

Best
Martin

Martin what size ports did you use and can you post some photo's also did you run any tests and if so would you mind posting the results? Thanks