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In Reply to: RE: Horn Drivers & Phragms - Alternatives to Altec? posted by EL Cheapo on June 17, 2021 at 11:11:12
in my opinion better to bite the bullet and pick up altec drivers for altec horns. if you want to save money, you will end up spending more by mixing and matching. you will probably find out that many drivers are not suitable for a number of different reasons. and the modern drivers are difficult to re-sell. dont know why but they are.
the 1" jbk ferrite drivers(eg 2425 ) are very good and undervalued. not sure if they have the 2-hole configuretion but if they do, they could be a sensible substitute (sound-wise) for an altec 1" driver. i have not tried or seen a 1" EV driver. but all EV drivers are very undervalued now. if you can find a 1" EV you might get lucky. ditto Emilar.
the modern driverss like radian, b&c are very good. possibly better than refurbed altec drivers. but they have a different sound -- in general, more crystalline, more bright, if you will. in general, they wont offer a big price savings. also the modern drivers (in general) seem to be designed (bms is an exception) for rapidly flaring horns like le cleach. so you might not get the match between driver and horn at throat. diyaudio has a post that compares different exit angles of drivers.
the only modern driver that i have heard that might work (sound-wise) as a substitute for altec is bms. its a fine-sounding driver that occupies the middle ground between vintage and modern sound.
Follow Ups:
In general, I agree with you regarding using like/kind manufactures with horns and drivers.But, I can tell you the Altec 32 horn and the 1" Radian 475PB work great together. And FWIW (not much), the 32 is the only 1" Altec horn I like.
Edits: 06/19/21
i feel like i should just stick with the 802's i have. they are just big and make the horns protrude a bit. i could live with it. would like a little better FR though.
Emilar was what inspired my original post. saw some emilar stuff for sale locally for a good price and was curious what you guys thought! i think it's gone now.
i think you're right about keeping altec drivers with altec horns. but i'm balking at the prices of just the altec phragms!
FWIW, I've done a bit of comparison between 1" Altec, Emilar and Renkus Heinz compression drivers and diaphragms.
Personally, I love the old 20275 Altec aluminum diaphragm with aluminized voice coil followed closely by the GPA alum + copper voice coil.
The Emilar EA175 and EC175 sounds similar to the Altec 802 + Symbiotik 'phragm.
No experience with the Radian diaphragm for Altec.
Here's the link to Altec Alum vs. Symbiotik -https://jelabs.blogspot.com/2017/03/altec-small-format-diaphragms-aluminum.html
Hope that helps!
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