Altec 806A + 511B Horn + Beyma 12"

Discussion in 'Speakers' started by purr1n, Oct 2, 2016.

  1. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    The 811 should be crossed over higher, from 800 to 1200Hz. The Altec crossovers that paired with the 511b and 802/806 drivers had a 500Hz Butterworth crossover, which is super low for a 1" compression driver, but then again, amplifiers weren't 1000 watts or even 80 watts back then. The 511b seems to be the more favored, probably because it hands off to the HF driver earlier.

    I like these multi-cell horns better than the modern CD (constant directivity) horns. I ran two different models of JBL CD horns in the past.

    Horn speakers are actually ideal for placing against walls. The bass section needs to be tuned to work that way though. Obviously nearfield is kind of weird since since the horn mouth is 20" side already, but sitting three to four feet away isn't a problem.
     
  2. cskippy

    cskippy Creamy warmpoo

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    Cool. I was considering the Salk Songtower as the line drive was supposed to compensate for the smaller driver size. Now I'm not so sure...
     
  3. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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    Mono system! Get a turntable with a mono cartridge and play the Beatles mono recordings. True mono from front to back.
     
  4. spwath

    spwath Hijinks master cum laudle

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    First I'll need to re surround this. Surround is all deteriorating 60 year old rubber. But I tested, it works.
     
  5. Rex Aeterna

    Rex Aeterna Friend

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    marv finnally dabbed into altecs. told you they're not that bad. altec horns is one few sectoral/multi-cell horns i end up tolarating and liking and lot of their drivers is actually great sounding and lot smoother than jbl's older compression drivers which some can be kinda raspy.. actually before everything happened i helped a friend pick up pair of recapped heatkits which consist of 811/806a and 15's 416's. i was expecting more issues from smaller brother but, luis armstrong sounding so marvelous on them when he cranked them.

    i say you did great. radian's were actually in some time partnered back then with altec so they have very similar diaphragm structure and process. thing is they cost as much as tradtional altec gpa drivers. the smoothes altec driver is the 902 diaphhragm for the 1'' format drivers. just the 806 uses slightly smaller magnet than 808 series but, i think the 902 should fit fine and sound great but, either way you go you have awesome set.
     
  6. Rex Aeterna

    Rex Aeterna Friend

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    horns are more controlled on axis so they actually can do lot better than a lot of domes for near field listening. i used lot of horns for near-field before as an experiment and even my larger altecs which were 150lbs a piece sounded excellent in a near-filed situation. yea horns are design to try disperse as much acoustical energy as far as possible but, in a very controlled directivity. that's what horns are for. people have the misconception they're just meant to make things louder but, while ture in a way it's far more bout controlling the wave form and directivity.

    altec horns are though is considered true horns since they act as acoustic transformers in sense. lot of modern horns while considered horns is more bout controlling directivity. i think besides the sectoral/multi-cells the mantaray horns are excellent. i love my recapped model 14's a lot and one of my favorite small/mediumish speakers.
     
  7. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    I had the Altecs sitting in my garage for almost two years. It took me that long to clean out the garage because my dad kept bringing my old stuff up from their house. LOL, you can see a bunch of old cabinets in the background of the photo in the first post, and that's not even all of it! There's even more speaker crap around the house or inside boxes. It's funny because you forget all the projects you've worked on - including the abortions.

    The first front horn I put together was a JBL 2445? Being a 4", the high end was indeed raspy. The CD horns also sounded more "horny" than these sectoral horns. I think these are keepers. My wife said OK to bringing them into the living room as long as I put them in a nice enclosure.

    Yes, listening to Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald right now.
     
  8. Rex Aeterna

    Rex Aeterna Friend

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    that's super insane price but, may i ask condition? does it still have the rubber in the welds of the teeth? if not you're gonna have to do some work. altec fixed the ringing issues with the metal horn by inside of welding the teeth by filling the horns with rubber. the 511's are great horns and work better for more selection of crossover points since it's literally like twice size of the 811's. i know some people attach any drivers to it but, people don't take proper throat angling in consideration. a slight shift from transition from driver to throat can cause a major mis-step and major diffraction issues which will end sounding harsh and horrible and people end blaming the horn for it.
     
  9. spwath

    spwath Hijinks master cum laudle

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    Don't look the best, but fixable.
    http://ithaca.craigslist.org/ele/5813486288.html
     
  10. Rex Aeterna

    Rex Aeterna Friend

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    now you know what you were missing out for 2 years. that was first of few older jbl drivers i dealt with. the things are massive and handle insane power but, not the greatest sounding of the bunch. the larger altec format drivers at the time while doesn't handle same power as the jbl's are a lot smoother. jbl has some good ones but, only few. i love jbl for their woofers mainly.
     
  11. Rex Aeterna

    Rex Aeterna Friend

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    the giant crack is the main concern on one of the horns and need good welding to get fixed cause it looks like huge chunk. if you have or know someone weld it for cheap or free i say go for it. if not for a bit more you can get better condition ones. i know little chips are common but, that crack is huge and concerning.
     
  12. Rex Aeterna

    Rex Aeterna Friend

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    depending on crossover limit of the compression driver it might work. i recommend a 500hz point for the 2226's atleast if want a smooth flat response. the 2226's is known to have slight midbass hump and some people like that. the 2225's are much flatter in that regard. i own 5 4648 bass bins and have 2 with 2226's and 2 with 2225's. with right crossover point and slope they sound great for a 2-way system. i had pair of altec 511b horns and 808-8b drivers strapped on 4648's with 2226's an sounded amazing with a proper 4th order 500hz crossover point. 2nd order worked great too but, liked 4th order more since it seemed more seamless.

    they also make great subs. the 2226's are known to take a pounding and can eq them into oblivion. i driven one 4648 rated for 1200w rms with a 3200w crown amp strapped in bridge mono for an all night party and that thing did not give out. i was shaking foundations pounding away and making noise few blocks away. that's one reason i like jbl woofers besides them actually sounding good. i go for altec when comes to horns and compression drivers and jbl for heavy power handling woofers but, do think altec made some better sounding woofers but, are low on power handling but, jbl is known for their woofers mostly and i like them a lot.
     
  13. Rex Aeterna

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    i agree. about 4ft is limit for the bigger horns but, in more controlled environment from experience but, can differ with some people and places and i do too place them in the corners as well myself. i just like them too cause they work better in less than ideal rooms due to such good control on the pattern. some people like the bigger 511b due to allow lower crossover point but, i agree that most 1'' drivers limits are around 800hz. i had 808-8b drivers which are only 1'' compression driver capable of 500hz extension and higher power handling due to it's heavy symbiotek surround. only problem it limited it's hf response after 10khz but, it didn't bother me since it reached high enough i thought. i like both 811 and 511 horns. if you can find it, they have a 311 which is a 300hz sectoral horn as well.

    people do think 811's work better in hf extension due to smaller size but, i haven't found issues with either if the driver itself is capable of it. altec used 2nd order a lot for many reasons but, i found 4th order great and will cause less strain on the driver if plan on crossing low or lower. the only CD horn i like is the EV HR9040. the giant white horns sound actually great and better than jbl's giant babycheek cd horns..... i have a pair of hr9040's and with proper adapter they can sound great with a pair of altec 808-8b's at 500hz point.
     
  14. Rex Aeterna

    Rex Aeterna Friend

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    im just curious how the altecs are treating you marv? i like hearing things about them as well since im huge altec fan. once you dab into altec stuff it's hard going back into anything else especially after experience them on a good system and playing with them trying different things cause it seems the altec drivers and horns while made in the late 60s to 70s, on a good source they can be very revealing. i bet once you get the altecs on your main system in the house i bet you'll see good bit more improvement. they are also very amp sensitive. a crappy built amp will make them sound odd and bad. they expose amp faults very easily as well from my experience playing with them for the past couple years of multiple horns,drivers,woofers and components both going with different active and passive solutions. they can be very versatile speakers. if you stick with 12'' woofers, the 414's are usually not expensive to find and are good woofers and will match with 811's you have. just an opinion course.
     
  15. spwath

    spwath Hijinks master cum laudle

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    I'm about to do something very similar. I have 4 altec 811B horns laying around now, I just need appropriate pair of compression drivers and woofers. Plan on using just 2 horns for now, maybe make a surround system later...

    Any suggestions on good drivers? I couldent find the 806A marv used anywhere, and IDK what kind of woofers I should be looking for.
     
  16. dmckean44

    dmckean44 In a Sherwood S6040CP relationship

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    Here's the woofer Marv is using:
    http://www.usspeaker.com/beyma 12BR70-1.htm

    There's a pair of new Faital HF10TX drivers for a good price on Ebay that would work with the 811B. They're pretty flat all the way to 20Khz. If you didn't like them you could just wait until a pair of vintage 806A drivers eventually turn up.
     
    Last edited: Jan 7, 2018

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