Mr. Widgets Sevilles live again.

[jackgiff]

These Altec Seville cabinets were given to me by Mr. Widget about 5 years ago. Zilch kept them for me for well over a year before I finally made it to the Bay Area to pick them up. Then they just took up space in my shop til about a month ago.

Finally decided to clear out some stuff, and just had to finally finish these guys. They will be loaded with a pair of Coral 12TET-1's, which have also just been consuming space. I tried them with the triax's loaded before re-veneering them. They will make someone very happy.

They have just been re-veneered in walnut, and need to sit for couple days before oiling them. The grilles have been refinished, and are ready to insert when all else is done.

Thanks again, Mr Widget. Old cabinets never need die.


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[Mr. Widget]

It is nice to see you putting some life back into them! :thmbsup:

Sorry I bogarted the 414s... I still haven't put them to use, but if I live long enough...
What will you be doing with the fretwork grilles? Are you going to refinish them or are you thinking of some other solution?


Widget

[jackgiff]

I couldn't believe how well the Seville grilles were held in place. Twice as many nails as Altec used in the larger Valencia's. And with the smaller package, the fit was much tighter. I broke off several corners getting them out of the cabinets. But all the pieces were saved, and eventually ended up being glued back into place. Now, after sanding the thickness in the corners so that they fit better, all that needs be done is to replace the black cloth on the backs. They have been sanded both front and back, painted on the fronts to "sort of" match the original colors, and are ready to have the new black cloth installed on the backs. The grilles are the "unobtainium" pieces of these early Altec designs.

I will include some more pics when they are finished. Love them CorAltecs.

[Audiobeer]

Jack Those look beautiful! Great job! :applaud:

[ReffuB]

Very nice job :)

Where did you buy the veneer?

[Wardsweb]

Wow very nice work indeed. I love bringing old gear back to life and even more so when its better than original. You sir have skills.

[Jim Hodgson]

Very, very nice! :applaud: If we lived closer, *my* Sevilles would be your next project ... LOL!

I can't quite figure out what's been done to the baffle/port configuration(?) Looks like you closed off the bottom rectangular hole and the upper opening for the 3000 tweeter -- and added round port tubes?

[jackgiff]

ReffuB, the veneer is made by Formwood Industries. It is paper backed which simplifies the application in many ways. Their website is <www.formwood.com>.

Jim, the two rectangular holes were sealed off with 3/4 inch thick fibreboard plugs, which were cut to fit and epoxied in place. One of the cabinets had served as a test bed, so it had a few extra holes to fill. The tuning ports are 3 inch round, which were added below the triax's.

Both cabinets are now oiled, and should be finished in the next few days. Grilles are ready to be inserted. They had to be trimmed a bit at the top to allow for the extra layer of veneer at the bottom. There is less material to cut at the top.5413654137

[Titanium Dome]

Yes, very nice. :)

[jackgiff]

I had hoped to be through with these today, but one grille broke while installing it. Now it will be a few more days while the broken grille is glued and allowed to cure.

"Dear Santa, All I want for Christmas is this grille installed in one piece."541765417754178

[Mr. Widget]

I looked at the picture before I read your post... dang? I think stronger words are appropriate here.
A bit of glue and some patience and you'll be good to go!


Widget

[jackgiff]

This morning the last grille went in without any problems.

Altec certainly made some classic cabinets.

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[Wardsweb]

Those came out awesome. Makes me want to do something with the pair in my garage. Poor things been out there for 10 years.

[Altec Best]

This morning the last grille went in without any problems.

Altec certainly made some classic cabinets.

54189


WoW ! Beautiful Job There Jack ! Those look like they just came off the showroom floor today ! I love the veneer and grilles ! :applaud:

[shaansloan]

This morning the last grille went in without any problems.

Altec certainly made some classic cabinets.

54189

Beautiful work....great to see these vintage beauties alive again!

[hjames]

You did some gorgeous work with those cabinets -
beautiful furniture will make marvelous music even better!

Kudos to you!!



This morning the last grille went in without any problems.

Altec certainly made some classic cabinets.

54189

[JoMoCo]

Beautiful work as always Jack ... I got to know, how do they sound?

[jackgiff]

Beautiful work as always Jack ... I got to know, how do they sound?

They sound absolutely great. The first pair of stereo speakers that I owned had Calrad drivers with a whizzer cone. After those, none were less than two ways, with separate HF and LF drivers. I have never heard an Altec Duplex, but have read a lot of hype about them. I can believe that hype now.

These, properly set up, image nicely. And what Altec calls "a point source of sound" for it's Duplex speakers is also true here with the Coral triax. They do play to the knees though, and really need to be about a foot or so higher.

All in all, a very satisfying pair of speakers. Maybe not Rock speakers, but for an old guy like me who never liked Rock n Roll, they are keepers.