Altec 9815-8A repurpose

Furiousedge

New Member
Good morning ladies and gents. I have been contemplating on whether I could repurpose a pair of 9815-8A speakers into bass bins for a home theater system. As they are, the crossover seems to need some work. I get all of the low end, but the highs seem extremely muffled and not the same output as the subwoofer (volume wise). By the way the subwoofers are 15 inch and one can really feel it in their chest when playing at moderate volume. What would you do in my situation? Any input shall be truly appreciated.
 
I've no experience with these particular Altecs but I can think of no reason why not. Their specs show they don't go all that deep in the bass but I assume they have the virtues of formidable dynamics and low distortion.

I'd bypass the crossovers and run them with a Parts Express subwoofer plate amp wired directly to the driver terminals of the woofers.
 
I've no experience with these particular Altecs but I can think of no reason why not. Their specs show they don't go all that deep in the bass but I assume they have the virtues of formidable dynamics and low distortion.


I'd bypass the crossovers and run them with a Parts Express subwoofer plate amp wired directly to the driver terminals of the woofers.
That sounds like a great idea. Now the next question is should I leave the mantaray horn in place or remove it and roughly fill with material to try to get the same displacement of the horn and just "plug" the hole? Mantaray is still in working order...
 
What Tom said. His plate amp suggestion will do exactly what you are looking for.

And, yeah, removing the Manta Rays will change the cabinet tuning a bit. Being the lazy tinkerer that I am, I would initially block off the horn cutout and try them with the plate amp. If the results are not pleasing, then you can undertake filling the cavity.

Selling the Manta Rays will offset the cost of the plate amps. Looks like they have 909 series drivers.

GeeDeeEmm

http://www.lansingheritage.org/images/altec/catalogs/1993-pro/1993-37.JPG
 
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