Well, I started out looking for components to build something similar, but found instead, two slightly damaged Stanley screamers in separate parts of St Louis. One was in nice shape, but with a blown surround. The other was basically a frame!
I worked a solid two days on these. I had some kits and parts for others that fit, and wound up with a beautiful pair of screamers, with very compliant kits in them, ideal for studio monitors.
Both were missing the HF diaphragms and the high wattage symbiotic would be very limiting and the aftermarket titanium proved to be a harsh and loud. So I tried a bunch of different ones out, and settled on a nicely rounded sound that I got from a pair of TOA reissues. They seem to have a kind of coating on them that prevented them from getting too bright, but allowed them to stay relatively flat all the way up.
The second driver required a full Recone, and I used some early 70s altec coils, with same period cones. But also found myself replacing the surround cloth on the new cones, as they were not as compliant as the other driver, even considering how they would be broken in. So I put a more compliant pre-doped cloth on that. I considered even putting polypropylene foams, as i think Urie's used those, but i'm happy with the cloth.
As I searched for spiders that matched the original, I used a previously salvaged spider that I sprayed lightly with some clear coat and placed a can on top of it to prevent it from becoming distorted as it dried. This should work well and the main reason for spraying it was just to keep its shape as it was being attached.
I've also included some various voice coils that I've seen and encountered, as a bit of data for people who may want to replace the voice coils and are worried about the differences between them all. I don't think there's a lot! In fact the best of the lot that I saw was this generic one that I found. And I don't know where I got it!
Also, these won't fit in a 614 utility cab with those giant cork gaskets, so i bought some dense wide weather strip pieces.
The sound from the 614's is better than i ever imagined! I blocked off the majority of the port, leaving about maybe 2² inches open. The bass seems to go all the way down and efficiently, with no eq. I'll ad some sweep measurements later. Very happy with the monitors. Also happy with the mixes I've done so far. They do what no other monitors accomplished for me. The ability to hear things critically and to adjust mixes and EQ so that when played back in other systems it sounds like it should. Naturally that's what most systems should do, and I've had ones that achieved flat response as well as my systems, but the ability to hear critically what's going on in these mixes, even phase relationships, never seemed to be as in focus as they are in this duplex or coaxial arrangement.
The system I use is always changing but currently features a crown xti 2002 for the altecs, and a Yamaha 1000 watt powering a pair of JBL 18 inch subs, and a pair of JBL 4412a on top of the 614 cabinets, powered buy another xti 2002... and these amplifiers have high pass and low pass filters built in, removing the need for any outboard crossovers. Later I will sweep test the Altecs, and if necessary I'll utilize a dbx room analyzing EQ, but I think that they are very close at least.
I worked a solid two days on these. I had some kits and parts for others that fit, and wound up with a beautiful pair of screamers, with very compliant kits in them, ideal for studio monitors.
Both were missing the HF diaphragms and the high wattage symbiotic would be very limiting and the aftermarket titanium proved to be a harsh and loud. So I tried a bunch of different ones out, and settled on a nicely rounded sound that I got from a pair of TOA reissues. They seem to have a kind of coating on them that prevented them from getting too bright, but allowed them to stay relatively flat all the way up.
The second driver required a full Recone, and I used some early 70s altec coils, with same period cones. But also found myself replacing the surround cloth on the new cones, as they were not as compliant as the other driver, even considering how they would be broken in. So I put a more compliant pre-doped cloth on that. I considered even putting polypropylene foams, as i think Urie's used those, but i'm happy with the cloth.
As I searched for spiders that matched the original, I used a previously salvaged spider that I sprayed lightly with some clear coat and placed a can on top of it to prevent it from becoming distorted as it dried. This should work well and the main reason for spraying it was just to keep its shape as it was being attached.
I've also included some various voice coils that I've seen and encountered, as a bit of data for people who may want to replace the voice coils and are worried about the differences between them all. I don't think there's a lot! In fact the best of the lot that I saw was this generic one that I found. And I don't know where I got it!
Also, these won't fit in a 614 utility cab with those giant cork gaskets, so i bought some dense wide weather strip pieces.
The sound from the 614's is better than i ever imagined! I blocked off the majority of the port, leaving about maybe 2² inches open. The bass seems to go all the way down and efficiently, with no eq. I'll ad some sweep measurements later. Very happy with the monitors. Also happy with the mixes I've done so far. They do what no other monitors accomplished for me. The ability to hear things critically and to adjust mixes and EQ so that when played back in other systems it sounds like it should. Naturally that's what most systems should do, and I've had ones that achieved flat response as well as my systems, but the ability to hear critically what's going on in these mixes, even phase relationships, never seemed to be as in focus as they are in this duplex or coaxial arrangement.
The system I use is always changing but currently features a crown xti 2002 for the altecs, and a Yamaha 1000 watt powering a pair of JBL 18 inch subs, and a pair of JBL 4412a on top of the 614 cabinets, powered buy another xti 2002... and these amplifiers have high pass and low pass filters built in, removing the need for any outboard crossovers. Later I will sweep test the Altecs, and if necessary I'll utilize a dbx room analyzing EQ, but I think that they are very close at least.
