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Posts: 83
Location: Oakland, CA
Joined: April 29, 2003
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I do not have Model 19 but my Altec Valencias 846B use the same components and their crossovers have been modded to the same crossover point as the 19, so I believe some of my experience may be relevant if not translate directly. I have used them for a few months extensively before the modifications, too. Most of the below applies to both.
I have them in a room much like yours in terms of size, albeit with low slanted ceilings -- something that helps a lot in this small room.
Here's what I can state based on my experience (and preferences) -- and a lot of it simply concurs with the experience of others in this thread: I do not have a problem with them in a room this size and enjoy them tremendously, experiencing a coherent wall of sound, as long as the system has been optimized as follows:
- you sit at least 7 feet away from them
- the speakers are spaced apart at least 6 feet
- they are toed in nearly or exactly 45 degrees, pointing right at your ears
- they are RAISED off the floor so your ears are at a level of the point exactly between the horn and the woofer's edge
- you control the amount of bass coupling by the material of the stands; in my case there was too much boom, so instead of solid heavy stands i had first, I got a pair of two IKEA carts (forget the model, can look up) that have these rubber casters and put the speakers on that. Also bitumen dots in between the speaker and the top surface of the cart. This took off the boom and optimized the sound in my room. The speakers's vertical position was crucial to me, however, as otherwise the system sounded "low" and darker, and I hate that.
This is without going into other mods that can be done (and I believe are worthwhile IME) -- some will consider modding anything on these a sacrilege, and I would not argue. But I myself am all for smart modifications, especially when it comes to aged components that do age badly. One modification that I learned and tried on several box speakers that used to have old fiberglass involves replacing it with small bubblewrap on three sides glued to the walls with 3M 77 adhesive, a square sheet of carpet felt the size of the woofer right behind it, and, of all things, styrofoam peanuts on the bottom -- to taste, and in a mesh bag from the grapefruits in a grocery store if need be. This sounded ridiculous to me when I first heard it, and still does when I type it but it works amazingly well. The general perceived effect is that of much cleaner sound all around and a extra octave of bass. I was advised of this by Don Allen but apparently this was the idea of a guy who designed the hammer dynamics speakers...
Hope it helps...
Oh, and to my taste, a 45 SET is NOT enough for these for all music. 2A3 does better but even then a step up in power in the form of a 300B SET or a 47 pushpull works much better to my taste. Also work very well with various EL84 PP of which I am a great fan, and McIntosh MC225 -- also a wonderful match; that amp is great in general on horn-based efficient speakers I think.
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