Reconed Altec 418b?

[Toxophilite]

HI
I recently picked up an Altec 418b for $20. It's obviously been reconed, or at the very least had a new surround and a paper dust cover installed. It seems to me that somebody was trying to make it into a woofer as the seller said it was in a bass bin used by a church
I was going to use it for guitar and tried it out and it seemed to sound quite nice. maybe not as bright as my D130 but still pleasing and quite full(I've never tried one before)
The number on the back of the cone is hard to make out but seems to be 1883035402-01
The 2nd 8 could be a 0 or an 8)
The serial number is 391834 and it's labelled as a 8 ohm 418B DIA-CONE
As you can see the dust cover is a little askew/not quite round and there's some sloppy glue work on the back where the cone is attached to the surround

I wonder if it's worth the bother to re-cone it with a new kit and are there any recommendations?

[Horn Fanatic]

HI
I recently picked up an Altec 418b for $20. It's obviously been reconed, or at the very least had a new surround and a paper dust cover installed. It seems to me that somebody was trying to make it into a woofer as the seller said it was in a bass bin used by a church
I was going to use it for guitar and tried it out and it seemed to sound quite nice. maybe not as bright as my D130 but still pleasing and quite full(I've never tried one before)
The number on the back of the cone is hard to make out but seems to be 1883035402-01
The 2nd 8 could be a 0 or an 8)
The serial number is 391834 and it's labelled as a 8 ohm 418B DIA-CONE
As you can see the dust cover is a little askew/not quite round and there's some sloppy glue work on the back where the cone is attached to the surround

I wonder if it's worth the bother to re-cone it with a new kit and are there any recommendations?

Greetings -

FYI - The 418B always had an aluminum dome, as it was the competitor to the D130F, not the D130. And the 391834 is not a serial number, it's a production code. You will find 391 on nearly every product ALTEC manufactured because it was the number assigned to ALTEC, as 220 was the number assigned to Jensen. I am not familiar with that mile long number on the back of the cone. It's possible someone had the speaker re-coned in order to convert it to a bass speaker, but I am unsure if the 418 basket assembly would accept a cone kit for a 421A. I have never heard of anyone attempting or claiming to do such a thing. The 421A also had an aluminum dome. As for the sloppy work? Definitely not ALTEC. As a former ALTEC Lansing employee I can tell you the folks on the speaker line, as with every other department on the manufacturing floor, performed top notch work. It appears that you have scored a very good deal.

If you intend to have the speaker re-coned to factory specs, the man to call is Bill Hanuschak at Great Plains Audio. Accept no substitutes!

Check this out: http://www.audioheritage.org/vbullet...-FS-Altec-418B

H.F.

[Toxophilite]

THanks a lot!
I forgot about the manufactures code..which is stupid because I use it all the time to identify speakers..somehow that left my head! So mine's probably a 1968 or 1978 (I'm not familiar with the different 418s)
I knew they were supposed to have aluminum cones, that was an instant sure sign of some sort of recone
and I was pretty sure the work wasn't factory done, it looks like a home job
It's good to have it confirmed
That link seems to be a link to somebody selling another speaker in 2003? yes? I noticed the cone code was very different
I put mine up in case somebody might recognize the brand or cone kit

[Wagner]

As a former ALTEC Lansing employee I can tell you
H.F.

What years were you there and what department/locale?

[Horn Fanatic]

What years were you there and what department/locale?

Why do you need to know?

[Toxophilite]

Sounds like straight up natural curiousity to me.
Regardless
Does anyone have any further insight into what cone kit might be in my speaker??

[Horn Fanatic]

Sounds like straight up natural curiousity to me.
Regardless
Does anyone have any further insight into what cone kit might be in my speaker??

I recommend calling Bill Hanuschak and ask him if he recognizes the part number on the cone. It's possible that TELEX may have assigned a new number superseding the old one. If he doesn't, it's anyone's guess. Waldom cone kits part numbers are usually preceded by a W.

[Toxophilite]

My apologies I though you were recommending him as a re-cone fellow and I can't afford to re-cone right now. i'll look up great plains audio. Thanks

[Wagner]

My apologies I though you were recommending him as a re-cone fellow and I can't afford to re-cone right now. i'll look up great plains audio. Thanks

Your number reads like the same system used on old EV cones (and transducer assemblies); stating with "18" and having a total of 12 digits (for the whole assembly)
Cone numbers (JBL and most others) are usually shorter for a total of 6 to 8 digits (factory and aftermarket) and in the case of some, like MacKenzie, include letters as well (and later on, JBL "kits")
Have a mystery of my own right now similar to yours
The 12 digit numbers MAY be serial numbers too (when dealing with Telex/EV numbering schemes); I don't know yet, still working on it
I think at least 4 of the digits can be discarded, they speak to batch, run, year(s) etc but might hold the answer as to who the original supplier was

Just going by the way the number "reads" and the number of digits it contains, if I had to guess (based solely on that number) I'd say it's an old EV cone (the Telex Communications, EVI Audio connection(s) buyout(s) takeovers; might account for that EV looking part number)

You have any idea when the work was done?

[Horn Fanatic]

My apologies I though you were recommending him as a re-cone fellow and I can't afford to re-cone right now. i'll look up great plains audio. Thanks

LoL! I was recommending him as a re-cone fellow, should you chose to go down that path.

I have read here and there that Bill makes ALTEC "clones". I have to chuckle when I read comments like that. It's comments like that, that imply Bill has reversed engineered ALTEC loud speakers, which is not true. Telex gave Bill the blessing to continue manufacturing ALTEC loud speakers. Bill gets his parts from the same vendors ALTEC used. He owns the tooling and documentation, and even uses the same foundry to cast speaker baskets ALTEC did. Bill actually owns the machine that ALTEC used to stamp out compression driver diaphragms, a machine that was designed and built by Jim Lansing. I saw that machine in operation when I worked at ALTEC. It's probably 70 years old if it's a day, and it keeps spitting out perfect diaphragms.

If you want authentic ALTEC parts, Bill is the one to see.

[Wagner]

If you want authentic ALTEC parts, Bill is the one to see.

You have stated that opinion THREE times now

Do you think you might have the time to take the OP's supplied number and give one of your ALTEC connections a call and see if you could possibly help the OP identify his cone and answer his question? I am certain he would be very appreciative

Is it an ALTEC cone/part number or not?

[Wagner]

Why do you need to know?

You threw it out there; was wondering which period and product line(s) you were involved with, which plant as well

Before, during or after the bankruptcy?

[Toxophilite]

Now now

Well for kicks I did an A/B comparison between my mint JBL D130 (hifi version not fender version) and the mystery recone Altec 418b

Both sound very nice

The D130 is noticeably louder, a tiny bit brighter (not much) with stronger thicker mids and less bottom

The 418b (with the mystery recone) was a fair bit quieter, more bottom, less mids, and a teenie bit less bright...I thought it sounded more transparent

I will say that the JBL D130 is the most efficient of all the speakers I own (loudest!!!!)
And I currently own: (and I've had many many instrument speakers pass through my hands(every species of vintage Jensen, many rolas, heppners 6 D120s a pair of K110s , a few other D123s etc etc)

A couple JBL D123s (another favourite, have them in the two deluxes I built)
A K120
A Utah 12" that looks identical to a Jensen C12N next in line for sheer volume to the D130 louder than the other JBLs!!??)
A d208 (possible the cutest JBL ever!)
various 10 inch speakers (rolas cts etc etc) mostly guitar stuff or used for guitar, clean sounds)

[jbefumo]

Can't speak to the other issues, but as to the desirability of the speaker itself, I would definitely preserve/restore it if at all possible. I buy and sell speakers all the time, but the two that I will never let go are a 417 (15") and a 418. I used to swear by JBLs, and I still love them, but when I discovered these Altecs they absolutely became my favorites. Everything I loved about the JBLs, but with a noticeably smoother high end. I am about to install that 417 into a new cabinet for a properly 'blackfaced' Super Reverb, effectively turning it into a Vibroverb.