Altec Flamenco?

Mike---Very good speaker, the classic Altec home system with VOT parts in a vented box. This basic setup was sold over a 40 year period in a bewildering number of cabinet styles and names--Iconic, Capistrano, Flamenco, Valencia, Model 19 to name a few. A friend has a pair of 1970s era Valencias that have been lovingly massaged into one of the finest, most lifelike rigs I've heard; 3" thick custom baffles, heroic horn damping, felt diffraction treating around the horn mouth. Driven with Conrad-Johnson tubes this is one sweet system. Now if I recall the Flamenco has a fretwork grill on the front, that has to affect the sound. I'd build a new enclosure for the components and store the original boxes against the day I might sell the things to a collector.

Re: Altec Flamenco?, posted on April 7, 2000 at 10:49:07

Mike Bates

Thanks Tom! My thoughts were to get them and leave them looking stock and tweak the innards. Maybe damp the cabinets and horns and upgrade the caps and wiring. That way they still have the classic retro styling. (unless of course they are down right hideous, haven't seen them yet)

Mike Bates

Re: Altec Flamenco?, posted on April 7, 2000 at 15:31:57

Tom Brennan

Mike--Hideousness is in the eye of the beholder. You could probably do some improvements to cabinet rigidity, Altec cabinets, while finished to a standard seldom seen today, are usually not well braced. Adding bracing or turnbuckles inside would be worthwhile. The crossover is inside a potted steel box, best probably to leave it alone and build a seperate new one. I don't know the values but someone on the Joenet proably does.

Re: Altec Flamenco?, posted on April 7, 2000 at 17:27:41

DanQ

Mike- I use a pair with my Fi X. I really like them and have gotten the
the cabinets refinished. The grills are molded plastic over cloth- made to like an iron gate and are removable. I've also replaced the cloth front grill with custom cloth from Antique Electronic Supply that duplicates the 60's style. Now if your going to run less then 10 watts into them I would not bother bracing the cabinets. I've dampened the the horns with Mortite and the Alnico woofer magnets per Gizmo's suggestion. I'm still using the stock X-overs and I'm in the process of
replacement. I have the Altec X-over schematic if you need it.

DanQ

Re: Altec Flamenco?, posted on April 8, 2000 at 10:21:05

Mike Bates

Thanks for the info.. now I need to try and get the guy to "allow" me to buy them from him.. long story, but hopefully I'll have a pair tommorow!

Mike Bates

Re: Altec Flamenco?, posted on April 9, 2000 at 18:26:22

Mike Bates

Hi Dan, I picked the Altec's up today. The cabinets are in pretty good condition, but the fellow that had them (since 1968!) removed the horns and compression drivers and mounted them in seperate enclosures. I pulled out the combo and found the components looked like new! Since I bought the speakers for my living room, my wife insists I put the horns back in the Altec cabinets. I took all the screws out of the back of them and it seems the particle board back won't come out.. I pried on it to the point the particle board cracked about a quarter of an inch and it seems as though the back may be glued in : (.

Is this normal?

Do you know how to remove the "rod iron" grilles? I want to replace them with some different grilles.

It appears the previous owner replaced the cut out for the horn with a piece of plywood. The bass seems pretty strong down to 60 cycles or so in my room. I wonder if the tunings off due to the horn's being removed. Do you know what frequency your boxes are tuned to?

Thanks in advance.

BTW. The speakers sound pretty good, it appears they will really take to some tweaking, the horn's ring like a bell and the cabinets seem to really resonate, I need to go buy a few boxes of Mortite. (provided the back's come off)

Mike Bates

Re: Altec Flamenco?, posted on April 10, 2000 at 18:06:21

DanQ

Hi Mike- My first pair of Flamenco's back panels were tough to get off.
Maybe the owner glued yours on. The grills are pressed on using small nails and you should be able to gently pry the grills off. Getting
back to the back panels- you might want to replace them with baltic
birch and put the original brace back on. Definitely damp the horns and woofer magnet. I'm pushing only 3 watts into them and the cabinets are under pretty good control. They're rated 30 watts max
and that will rock your house! If that's your thing- better diagonally brace the sides and top. I listen mostly to rock, blues, and jazz at moderate levels. What I really like about the Altec's and good horn
systems are the dynamics they offer. Give us a shout when your
through tweaking.

DanQ

Mike.. I have to know, posted on April 11, 2000 at 15:54:50

mikem

Mike.. I remember reading several posts from you about the super eclipse speakers you bought.. Then I saw you sell them rather quickly on the net somewhere.. Can you please tell me why you fell out of favor with them? Just curious.. Would like your opinon on them as I know someone who is interested.. I am also doing some research into a horn loaded system.. just more fuel for the fire..
thanks!
mike

Re: Mike.. I have to know, posted on April 12, 2000 at 08:45:00

Mike Bates

Well I bought some 300B amps and they couldn't drive them to the levels I like in my room. The 300B's (B-Glows) sounded so much more like music to me than all the other amps I've heard I felt I needed to pursue a more sensitive speaker. The SE's probably work best with the PP 300B's Israel Blume recommends. I never tried it but 20-30 of pure triode power should sound fantastic. (Manley Retro's)

I heard some great things about TAD drivers from Phil Seig and Bastas here at AA I figured I'd try to find some used drivers and build a pair of speakers. The Coincidents are fantastic speakers, I really like them but the TAD drivers are IMO on a much different level. The speed, detail, low coloration, and purity from the TAD's is startling to me. I guess they sound like a pair of STAX electrostatic headphones but with life size soundstage and IMPACT. The light nuances of the music combine with bone chilling ( I'm not kiddin') macro dynamics and purity in a way that pulls me into the performance in a BIG way. This is with TAD 4002 compression drivers in an Edgar 500 cycle "salad bowl" horn, and one 15" 1601a woofer per channel. I'm still working on my final design.

Mike Bates

Thanks... I understand, posted on April 12, 2000 at 09:32:32
mikem	I am wondering how the music would sound like in my system with a more sensitive, dynamic speaker.. err.. horn. It never ends. mike

Re: Altec Flamenco?, posted on April 12, 2000 at 23:02:42
belyin	I have med 70's vintage Valencia's. I damped the 811 horn with plumbers putty. Would that be good for the woofer's as well? Any secret to damping the magnet covers, or do you just "load 'em up"?

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Altec Flamenco?

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