Santana 1 Altec Project Advice

[hmolwitz]

I scored a set of 515-8g and 299-8a drivers and a matching crossover, and I am attempting to insert them into a set of Santana 1 non-ported cabinets.
When I punch this into (I pushed down the volume to allow for the HF an a Horn) unibox I get this which seems fine.
[img]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/HARRYM/LOCALS%7E1/TEMP/moz-screenshot.jpg[/img]http://images.andale.com/f2/117/107/6383143/1129959725034_VB_Response_Altec_515_8g.gif

I ran horn calulators to create the horn for this HF unit, but I would like to know if there is anything off the shelf in a small form factor which could be easily adapted. This is a 1.4" driver.
These are the contours.
Tractrix Contour for Horn



Distance Radius Square Area Contour Width

0.0 1.8 3.1 9.9 0.3

1.0 2.1 3.7 13.5 0.5

2.0 2.4 4.3 18.3 0.6

3.0 2.8 5.0 25.3 0.8

4.0 3.3 5.9 34.9 1.2

5.0 4.0 7.0 49.4 1.6

6.0 4.8 8.5 72.2 2.4

7.0 6.1 10.8 117.5 3.9



Exponential Contour

Throat = 9.9308, fo = 800.0, sizeFactor = 1



Distance Radius Area Contour Width

0.0 1.8 9.9 0.3

1.0 2.1 13.3 0.4

2.0 2.4 17.8 0.6

3.0 2.8 23.9 0.8

4.0 3.2 32.0 1.1

5.0 3.7 42.8 1.4

6.0 4.3 57.3 1.9

7.0 4.9 76.8 2.6

8.0 5.7 102.9 3.4

9.0 6.6 137.8 4.6

10.0 7.7 184.6 6.2

This is my first attempt at anything at all like this, I was going to flog these drivers on Ebay, but was advised that I would probably never get my hands on anything like these again so I should make a serious attempt to listen first.
I am trying to keep the size down.
Currently running Dalquist DQM 9 and Bose 1800 Amp off my computer .

[hmolwitz]

Lets try this

[speakerdave]

I think I saw a suggestion somewhere in all that data that your choice of crossover frequency is 800 Hz. The smallest Altec horn I am aware of that will mount the 1.4" driver is the 511E. It is like the 511B except that 1) it has the 1.4" throat opening; 2) it has a thick external coating of aquaplas which dampens it quite effectively; 3) the joining welds of the mouth webs have been replaced by (I think) aquaplas; 4) whereas the 511B is nearly ubiquitous the 511E was produced in small numbers and is quite hard to come by.

If you are handy with metal fabrication you might be able to modify a 511B throat and apply external damping and grind out the throat webs and replace with something rubbery. I know the dampening measures have often been carried out by people using the 511B with 1' drivers.

The next size up I believe is the 805 which is made with a detachable throat so that a special throat mounting two drivers can be used. Jammin Jersey has some with single-driver throats for $500 EACH.

There are many 1.5" horns (and some 1.4") available from other manufacturers, but I'm not specifically familiar with any of them. One of the forum members has in the past reported good results with DDS horns. They certainly make a large variety. I don't think they are inexpensive. Here is their website URL:
http://www.ddshorns.com/content.php?page=home

You could also explore custom-made wooden horns. Here is the Martinelli URL: http://www.woodhorn.com/

David

P.S. I can sell you a pair of 511E's, NOS in a factory box with an envelop of mounting hardware, but they won't be cheap. Send me a PM if interested.

sd

[Cyclotronguy]

Speaker Dave,

511B's can absolutley have the driver mounting flange cut off and a new one welded on to fit 1.4 inch throat drivers.

Cyclotronguy

[spkrman57]

I have a pair of them, they are aquaplas coated and don't ring like the 511/811 series.

Downfall if the 60 degree coverage compared to the 511/811 90 degreaa coverage.

They were made for the 288/290/292/299 series AFAIK!

Ron

[speakerdave]

Yeah, those will work, but I think he's looking for small.

David

[speakerdave]

511B's can absolutley have the driver mounting flange cut off and a new one welded on to fit 1.4 inch throat drivers.

I believe it could be done, yes. Lessee, now where was that cutting torch?

David

[hmolwitz]

Thus far they are all on the large size for what I was considering, I emailed the folks @ DDS, and I will see what they have to say.
I wanted to flushmount the horn in the cabinet and for phasing I am supposed to align the drivers which gives me about a 5" depth after remeasuring to the base of the dust cap from the face of the baffle.
The horn should provide acoustic coupling to the driver and enough dispersion to prevent beaming.
Am I outside the realm of reality in this attempt?
Or should I just attempt to roll my own from the horn calculator?
Altec did this sort of thing in speakers like the model 14, but as far as I can tell they always user a 1" compression driver.
As far as the crossover, I may need to go three way as this driver doesn't seem to go past 16,000 HZ, though my hearing may not warrant it.