Hello,

I have a pair of Altec Malibu's with the die-cut wood grills. I drive them with McIntosh MC-30s, Scott 299-D, or misc. solid state.

Drivers are 806A and 414Z qty. 2.

They sound "good" except for one complaint, which if resolved, I think they would sound great.

Sounds in the frequency range of a snare drum typically don't sound right to me. The best comparison I can think of is when you clap your hands, there is a snap or a ring to it. If you were to clap with gloves on, that's what I think it sounds like today.

Maybe I should leave them alone and enjoy as-is? I actually really like the highs and the bass.

Upgrade options?

1. Add a tweeter and an external crossover, to let the horn handle just the midrange?
2. Use a 3-way crossover, and split the woofers somehow?
3. Would upgrading from the 806A to the GPA driver (is it a 902?) solve the problem for me?

I read a long thread on a 9844 project, and it made me dizzy. The lesson I learned is that there's more to designing a crossover than just the driver performance specs. You'd have to do the work of the original engineers and take into account the response characteristics from the cabinets etc. It's beyond me!

Whatever I do, I want to keep the efficiency high, I have a few old amps I want to try in the 3-15WPC channel range.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!