Altec / JBL Valencia's

[jbl4ever]

Purchased some Altec Valencia cabinets in early May this year from a LH member. First task was a complete refinish of the cabinets. Then build out the top baffle 2" and make larger cutout for horn. Then strip off the old grille cloth what a PITA, replace with some new black JBL cloth. Thanks Huntley Audio Steve. Cutout larger crossover hole and add Lpad. Cabinet tuned to 40 hz. Saved some old cabs from being burned possibly and look and sound nice.
82702827038270482705

[Sootshe]

Nice work!

Did you use the same drivers that were in the Valencia's?

:applaud:

[jbl4ever]

Thanks The speakers are loaded with all JBL components. 2225H, 2426J, 2345 Horn 3110A

[Sootshe]

Thanks The speakers are loaded with all JBL components. 2225H, 2426J, 2345 Horn 3110A

Sweet...well done. Good to see some old classics preserved.

[hjames]

Interesting hybrids!
Looks like the later 846B series Valencia with 2 round ports ...

You can always add a pair of JBL slots later to add upper mids and highs to the sound ...

[jbl4ever]

Interesting hybrids!
Looks like the later 846B series Valencia with 2 round ports ...

You can always add a pair of JBL slots later to add upper mids and highs to the sound ...

Thank you everyone for the replies. Heather the 3110A crossover with the high frequency eq does a very good job extending the highs. I think the 2345 horn is better than the Altec 811 it does not suffer the ringing characteristic that it does. Sound dam good for a transplant

[hjames]

Thank you everyone for the replies. Heather the 3110A crossover with the high frequency eq does a very good job extending the highs.
I think the 2345 horn is better than the Altec 811 it does not suffer the ringing characteristic that it does. Sound dam good for a transplant
Kudos on your work!

I just did a full rework on a pair of early Valencias with Heathkit badges on them ...
with a bunch of mods - and the 2405 slots.
I didn't have ringing before or after - but I do play at sensible levels ...

82721

[Mannermusic]

I love 'em. Have done two and three-ways along those lines with different horns but never got around to trying the radial horn. That extra L-pad is key and a necessity in my experience. Have you taken a look at overall system response? Suppose you could design custom crossovers. But, if they sound good, you're there! Mike

[jbl4ever]

To rephrase Heather, I should have said resonance nodes. The Altec 511B and 811B horns i believe were plagued by this more so than the JBL 2345. The JBL is a thicker cast than the Altec. I think you tried to alleviate this by adding more mass to your horn if I recall in your thread

[hjames]

To rephrase Heather, I should have said resonance nodes. The Altec 511B and 811B horns i believe were plagued by this more so than the JBL 2345. The JBL is a thicker cast than the Altec. I think you tried to alleviate this by adding more mass to your horn if I recall in your thread

The guy who gave me all the tips and tricks for updating my Heathkit "Valencias" was my guru based on the exceptional sounding Heath Valencias he demoed for me in January.
I wrapped my horns with Q-pads, a leaded asphalt material used to deaden car door panels. I did that on his recommendation - it was only $30 for enough sheets to doublewrap two horns, even tho I didn't hear a problem beforehand or afterwards. He also had me place a deadener (I used dowels) between the fins of the sectorial horn to avoid ringing there. No complaints from me - I had walnut horns made for the custom JBL L200s nearly 10 years back.

Bottom line is - the Valencias are real nice project cabinets no matter what you build into them -
pretty sure that's what Zilch was telling us way back when!
He'd a loved our systems!

[Cyclotronguy]

Heather

Back in the day we used to cut the center welds in the 511 horn septum's and then rejoin the top and bottom segments with RTV...... that too killed the ringing

A couple layers of dynamat or schute of undercoat on the outside (not forgetting the bell mouth flares and you were all set once they were bolted up snug to a baffle.

About the only thing left of value was to add a strip of PSA felt along the lip of the mouth, top and bottom. They seemed to image better once the felt was there..... 1" wide strip of 3/16" seemed about right. Theory was we were killing off some of the lip diffraction.

Cyclotronguy