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Thread: Finished my Altec Corona 832A's!

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  1. #1
    Senior Member shaansloan's Avatar
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    Finished my Altec Corona 832A's!

    Sitting in the sweet spot and diggin the Jazz!

    Scored two orphaned Coronas last year and finally had some time to work on them. I had a cabinet guy refinish the cabs and I did the grills. The drivers were in great shape. I found some surprisingly good matched cloth at Mill Outlet fabrics in Colo Springs. I am just missing (1) Altec Corona/Laguna badge...I have looked for a while and hard to find!

    They have that very nice warm vintage sound. I am running them with my C22 Pre and a 1959 Magnavox 4 watt 6BQ5 SE stereo amp. At 101db 1W/1M sensitivity they really light up the room. They really sound good with some cool jazz, female vocals and also classical chamber music. One more piece of history put back into service!

    Here are some before and after pics. I have a few more pics of various stages of the job if anyone is interested. Happy Hi-Fi to ya!





    Vintage JBL and Altec fan

  2. #2
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    Gorgeous!

    Great job on the restoration.

    Now you get to enjoy your hard work

  3. #3
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    Very Nice

  4. #4
    Senior Member Lee in Montreal's Avatar
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    Great job. Definitely look like new.

  5. #5
    Moderator hjames's Avatar
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    Very nice and stylish pair of speakers!
    Great work - and sounds like a fun listen as well!

    Show us what's behind the curtain, please!
    More Pix are always welcome!



    Quote Originally Posted by shaansloan View Post
    Sitting in the sweet spot and diggin the Jazz!

    Scored two orphaned Coronas last year and finally had some time to work on them. I had a cabinet guy refinish the cabs and I did the grills. The drivers were in great shape. I found some surprisingly good matched cloth at Mill Outlet fabrics in Colo Springs. I am just missing (1) Altec Corona/Laguna badge...I have looked for a while and hard to find!

    They have that very nice warm vintage sound. I am running them with my C22 Pre and a 1959 Magnavox 4 watt 6BQ5 SE stereo amp. At 101db 1W/1M sensitivity they really light up the room. They really sound good with some cool jazz, female vocals and also classical chamber music. One more piece of history put back into service!

    Here are some before and after pics. I have a few more pics of various stages of the job if anyone is interested. Happy Hi-Fi to ya!


    2ch: WiiM Pro; Topping E30 II DAC; Oppo, Acurus RL-11, Acurus A200, JBL Dynamics Project - Offline: L212-TwinStack, VonSchweikert VR-4
    7: TIVO, Oppo BDP103D, B&K, 2pr UREI 809A, TF600, JBL B460

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by hjames View Post
    Very nice and stylish pair of speakers!
    Great work - and sounds like a fun listen as well!

    Show us what's behind the curtain, please!
    More Pix are always welcome!
    I second that notion. All in favor?

    Come on, pop the hood.

  7. #7
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    Wow !



    You sure brought those back to life .

    Love the white grill cloth !


  8. #8
    Senior Member shaansloan's Avatar
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    I looked hard to find this grill cloth....

    Quote Originally Posted by Earl K View Post
    Wow ! You sure brought those back to life . Love the white grill cloth !
    It is impossible to find that old Corona/Laguna cloth.... it is a very special color and pattern. However the one I found closely matched the pattern and the weave is perfect as far as sight and sound transparency(you can't see through it). I used the normal technic on contact cement aound the edge of the grill frame and then a hot iron to adhere it... it just works great and I have done this with many grills...it always works and they never come lose at all. Here are a few pics....





    Vintage JBL and Altec fan

  9. #9
    Senior Member audiomagnate's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by shaansloan View Post
    It is impossible to find that old Corona/Laguna cloth.... it is a very special color and pattern. However the one I found closely matched the pattern and the weave is perfect as far as sight and sound transparency(you can't see through it). I used the normal technic on contact cement aound the edge of the grill frame and then a hot iron to adhere it... it just works great and I have done this with many grills...it always works and they never come lose at all. Here are a few pics....





    Where did you get that cloth? I need to redo my Montereys with that stuff.

  10. #10
    Senior Member shaansloan's Avatar
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    Here's what's under the hood...

    Quote Originally Posted by hjames View Post
    Very nice and stylish pair of speakers!
    Great work - and sounds like a fun listen as well!

    Show us what's behind the curtain, please!
    More Pix are always welcome!
    Gladly.... sorry for the delay.... The one kind of unfortunate thing is that they are not a perfectly matched pair. One has the 803A woofer, 811b/802C horn driver, and N-800-D x-over (soldered tone control) and the other has the later 803B woofer, 811b/804 horn driver and the N-800-E x-over(which has the adjustable controller for tone). I think I actually prefer the older unit for the the overall tone and soundstage.... it just has this fabulous nostalgic feel!

    However I must tell you I have them in my living room which is really large, about 25 X 30 with a vaulted 16' ceiling and this babies will light up the whole room with about 1 watt of power and the sound is clear and present just about wherever you walk around the room. Truly is like theater in the living room! But when you are near field in the sweet spot, they are just fabulous and dreamy! The bass response is better than you would expect... I think it has something to do with the triangular cabinet and the way it projects the sound. They could surely use some internal bracing if you turn them up to about 3-4 watts the cabs buzz a little. I recently restored a pair of MC-30's that I am gonna try with them but I am just really diggin these old Hi-Fi beauties!






    Vintage JBL and Altec fan

  11. #11
    Senior Member Audiobeer's Avatar
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    Outstanding job and great craftsmanship. Just beautiful! Now send me your L-65s. Nobody puts baby in the corner!

  12. #12
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    Nice resto on corona!! How did you remove wood grille frame?

  13. #13
    Senior Member shaansloan's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by script56 View Post
    Nice resto on corona!! How did you remove wood grille frame?
    It has screws that hold the frame from the inside. Once you remove the screws, then the grill slides out through the bottom and it must be laying on its back to do this. Hope that helps.
    Vintage JBL and Altec fan

  14. #14
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    Wow, very pretty. The sound must be out of this world.

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