VOTT not sounding good

O.K., let me try again:

We can buy A pair of competent modern drivers that WILL get there for the cost of a pair of Altec replacement diaphragms alone, no?

And still have the 808-8As to set on the mantle, or whatever?
 
The 902 is definately the better driver, IMO. Much better HF extension than the 808-8a. Mine were the 902-8t which I believe had the Tangerine phase plugs. They were also crossed over at 500hz, which (as you can see from Zilch's graph), might not be the best choice. My X-over was the N501-8b,- not a very common x-over and as I understand modeled after the Hiraga design.

Anyways, from my experience, it takes quite a bit of tweaking to get A7s to sound right in the livingroom. But it can be done.

I sold mine a while ago and moved on to other things.

Good Luck with those!

Dave
 
Mine are definitely the Symbiotics since they say it right on the sticker. And I was literally blown right out of the room by them. I have no need or giant speakers in my house, as Alan (abeep) can attest. So maybe I'll pass the good deal along to someone else. If I'm going to do a speaker project, I'd rather do econowaves as I have plenty of drivers to do that.

I am curious to see what Zilch has to say though.

Just because it says that on the outside means nothing about whats inside 30 yrs later. If they sound that good either they've been switched out or you have a pleasant surprise coming!

Russellc
 
O.K., let me try again:

We can buy A pair of competent modern drivers that WILL get there for the cost of a pair of Altec replacement diaphragms alone, no?

And still have the 808-8As to set on the mantle, or whatever?

replacements are around 100 at GPA.

Russellc
 
We've got 8-Ohm woofers, right?

I believe we recently looked at 808-8A drivers, and determined they do not have tangerine phase plugs in another thread, so they cannot be converted to 802-8G

That means sell them and the N501-8A crossovers and replace with Model 19 components, 802-8G or 902-8B, and Model 19 crossovers.

An improved M19 crossover, Zilch's Z19, can be built from scratch by an intermediate-level DIYer:

attachment.php

Bail.... :yes:

Dont forget 902 8A, the best of the lot according to many. a 902 8B does not completely "convert" when you remove the loading cap, and install short screws and felts. There is still one difference, a piece known as the centering ring. In 902 8A, it is perforated, ( as it is in all 802 drivers ) while the 902 8B is not. These perferations vent the dome to the area where the magnet is, and this is said to be the "difference". The GPA 902s are copies of 902 8A.

The 808 8B and the 802 8g are the only 800 series w/ the tangerine phase plug. Yes, 808 8B is easily converted to 802 8G by trading the diapraghm, (usually has Symbiotic in 808 8b) removing the loading caps, which 802 8g doesnt have, and installing short screws and felts.

Russellc
 
Will they then HF comp to 20 kHz like 802-8G without tangerine phase plugs?

I dont know, I've had many of both and played the hell out of them in comparison, and if there is a difference, its hardly distinguishable. I had all the altec small format drivers, and ended up selling all the 902 and 802, and kept my converted to 802 8G 808 8A drivers. I also have a set of NOS (except I took them out of the box and used them) 501 8B crossovers. I dont think they are modeled on anything HIrago did, never heard that one. I have seen the schematic he uses, and he uses the 1505 horn and 288 drivers.

Russellc
 
Dont forget 902 8A, the best of the lot according to many. a 902 8B does not completely "convert" when you remove the loading cap, and install short screws and felts. There is still one difference, a piece known as the centering ring. In 902 8A, it is perforated, ( as it is in all 802 drivers ) while the 902 8B is not. These perferations vent the dome to the area where the magnet is, and this is said to be the "difference". The GPA 902s are copies of 902 8A.
Cool. I've never measured any 902-8A, so there may still be hope. Let's see the GPA curves.... ;)

I also have a set of NOS (except I took them out of the box and used them) 501 8B crossovers. I dont think they are modeled on anything HIrago did, never heard that one. I have seen the schematic he uses, and he uses the 1505 horn and 288 drivers.
The Hiraga schematic I've seen adds HF comp similar to what I initially used with Valencia, but in the case of 288, it seems the primary benefit is to mitigate the excess midrange rather than extend the HF response.

It'd be good if some Altec enthusiast got into doing this stuff. It's just not "mainstream" for me, and I'm not real comfortable with being an authority by default; I just did it for some forum pals.... :yes:
 
You are an acclaimed polymath. :yes: Oh, and it is not in the nature of being so acclaimed, that your personal preferences enter into it. :tongue:
 
You are an acclaimed polymath. :yes:
Jack of all, master of none. ;)

I'll be surprised if Damage bails. Typically, when a member posts that a speaker sucks, and I agree, and provide the data supporting that contention, next thing I know, they come back concluding they're the best speakers they've ever heard, now, and they're keeping them. :D

Third time's a charm, perhaps, but reverse psychology might be viewed as my nefarious modus here.... :scratch2:
 
I'll be surprised if Damage bails. Typically, when a member posts that a speaker sucks, and I agree, and provide the data supporting that contention, next thing I know, they come back concluding they're the best speakers they've ever heard, now, and they're keeping them. :D

Third time's a charm, perhaps, but reverse psychology might be viewed as my nefarious modus here.... :scratch2:

You know me better than that. I have speakers I love already. No sense in re-inventing fire.
 
I'd re-cap those N809's if they have the original caps, everyone one of them that I rebuilt had caps way out of spec. Regarding compression drivers, I love the BMS 4552ND's with my 511B horns, between those and the 902's I couldn't be happier. The 800hz crossover with the BMS may not spec out very well as Zilch has found but they still sound good, 1200hz is probably a better choice. I recently converted my 604-8H's to a pair of stereo tube amps, bi-amp is a BBE DS26 hooked to my PC via USB/DB-9 cable, it's so cool to program the crossover from my laptop. I find that a half millisecond delay on the woofers seems to time align the horn on the 604, I also programmed it for a 24db Link-Riley crossover point at 1.48khz. The BBE lets you pick practically any crossover point and curve and you can even phase shift, I love this thing, thanks Bowtie for helping me decide on that crossover!! :thmbsp:

Here's some screen images from my PC showing some of the options available on this wonderful crossover, after hearing this thing I have a new motto; "Piss on Passives!!" At least with my 604's!! LOL!!
 

Attachments

  • BBE_DS26_Woofer_01.JPG
    BBE_DS26_Woofer_01.JPG
    129.1 KB · Views: 42
  • BBE_DS26_Horn_01.JPG
    BBE_DS26_Horn_01.JPG
    129.2 KB · Views: 22
  • BBE_DS26_XO_Gain_01.JPG
    BBE_DS26_XO_Gain_01.JPG
    112.9 KB · Views: 18
  • BBE_DS26_XO_Delays_01.JPG
    BBE_DS26_XO_Delays_01.JPG
    59.6 KB · Views: 10
  • BBE_DS26_XO_Limiters_01.JPG
    BBE_DS26_XO_Limiters_01.JPG
    111.5 KB · Views: 23
  • BBE_DS26_XO_Options_01.JPG
    BBE_DS26_XO_Options_01.JPG
    52.4 KB · Views: 9
  • BBE_DS26_XO_Options_02.JPG
    BBE_DS26_XO_Options_02.JPG
    49.5 KB · Views: 8
  • BBE_DS26_XO_Options_03.JPG
    BBE_DS26_XO_Options_03.JPG
    48.6 KB · Views: 8
  • BBE_DS26_XO_01.jpg
    BBE_DS26_XO_01.jpg
    43.7 KB · Views: 11
Back
Top Bottom