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Be sure to study for finals. They will be accumulative.
8^)
Good to know you're still around. How about an update on your recent build.
Regards,
David
David,Things are going very well these days. Last Sunday I brought home a pair of ALTEC A7 early (model number 825) enclosures, in ultra-good condition, that were GIVEN to me FREE by a fellow I had mentored 25 years ago with his first SET 2A3 amp build.
My "new to me" A7s only saw duty in one KC, MO movie theatre, so they are not all beat-up. They are sitting in my living room, awaiting my ALTEC driver installation.
The fellow who gave me the A7 enclosures uses a huge ALTEC A4 system in his residence. ( That is a two-way HORN system, bass horn loaded with double ALTEC 515C woofers, a large vintage ten cell tar upper horn, with ALTEC 288 drivers. )
I was told by another audio friend to use his A4 system - to evaluate a prototype DC SET Type 45 amp I have been DIYing in mid 2015.
What a room this fellow has. He bought a historic Kansas City fire station built in 1911 and has a listening room of 45 feet by 25 feet with 14 feet high ceilings, perfect for that A4 ALTEC horn system. He is running a Yamomoto A-08 Type 45 amp on his A4s, and I was able to bring "my" DC 45 amp over for evaluation. I have done two visits there so far.
The first visit / evaluation was to get a general feel for his hi fi. It needed lotsa help. It needed crossover tap adjustments and it was wired with CHEEZY wire he normally used in his Pro Sound installations. Also, I had to teach the fellow the difference between in and out of absolute sound, that shot one evening, one visit.
The second visit I had him replace the wiring between the 45 amp and his ALTEC crossovers. ( Went to 12 AWG Copper stranded ). BANG, a 15% subjective system improvement with an eight foot run of wire, exiting the Type 45 amp - to each crossover !! Next, we replaced the wires between his crossovers and the 288 compression drivers. BAM. Another subjective 10 percent improvement. His ALTECS are starting to sound very good now to us, and the biggest offender of all, the woofers, are still wired with the CHEEZY wire.
The bass enclosures may weigh 400 pounds each, and we are not ready to move them quite yet - to re-wire to the woofers.
However, his four 15s WILL very soon get a dose of " DOUBLE 12 AWG " to each ALTEC 515C. That is, two runs of 12 AWG to the positive terminal ( from the crossover ) and two runs of 12 AWG to the negative terminal, for each woofer.
This type of wiring above, BTW, is the most cost-effective and BEST ways I know, to operate "any and all" ALTEC high efficiency speakers. Doubled-up runs to each woofer terminal becomes effectively .... 9 AWG, and it couples instantaneous peak energy to the ALTEC woofers, ( especially from "my" type of two watt Type 45 amp ), in a very compelling-to-hear manner. It gives us easily-audible dynamic resolution that you can't get, any other way, in my experience.
TRY this re-wiring on your Valencias, David.
DrummerWill in Saint Louis has done this in 2015 for both his 604 MLTLS and Valencias, and he seems to like it, ask him.
In an upcoming third visit on 11-8, I hope to finally be able to A-B and LISTEN to my 45 amp versus his Yamomoto A-08. Gee, I wonder how a couple of sub-ten-Ohm power supply chokes will compare to his single 80 to 120 Ohm power supply choke ?? I think I know already, but really need to listen. :-)
His huge A4 system is cool, very impressive to me to hear, with DHT SET amps.
Cheers,
Jeff
Edits: 10/31/15 10/31/15 11/01/15
Crossover caps. Those thing are probably toast by now.
I think the caps in at least some of the old Altec crossovers were PIO and are basically good forever.
I have 3 Altec N-500 crossovers rebranded IPC Simplex and the caps are PIO.
These were taken from the Altec speakers that Richard Fowle and myself pulled from Paramount Pictures back in the early 1990's.
Each speaker system used 2 Altec 515's and a pair of 288's with the "Y" adapter on the big tar filled horn.
Paramount had just replaced the sound system in their on-site theater.
We also pulled about 40 Altec 421A 15" woofers and all of the AB Systems amplifiers that drove the system.
We left all the enclosures behind. I could have built a house with all that wood!
Tre'
Have Fun and Enjoy the Music
"Still Working the Problem"
And sometimes not as stable as other construction methods.
I've seen quite a few Russian NOS PIO's leaky.
For low voltage speaker crossover, maybe not so much?
Edits: 11/01/15
Wow. Have bought hundreds and none have leaked thus far.
The Mind has No Firewall~ U.S. Army War College.
Electrolytics would be toast for sure.
Tre'
Have Fun and Enjoy the Music
"Still Working the Problem"
Agree 100%.
Its a manditory upgrade in a vintage ALTEC crossover.
Jeff
Yep, still working
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