Beyond the Ariel

Avoid the Altec 511 or 811 horn. These are far from flat and have lots of diffraction by modern standards. Keep in mind that although diffraction can be partially equalized away, the reflections in the time domain remain, and cannot be removed. According to Altec's own measurements, they also have a "pattern flip" in the 1~2 kHz region (polar pattern goes from horizontal to vertical).


Thanks Lynn I wasn't considering using the 511 or 811 at all but rather the TPL-150H or something else etc.. It would be a long ways off till I could commit so for now it's just me dreaming away lol..
 
Though Earl is a proponent of the distributed sub system I don't think it was his idea. My mind is drawing a blank on the name, it will come to me when I least expect it, but this was from one of the people over at Harman.

PS. Floyd Toole

I beg to differ with you. I had already been doing this technique for many years when Welty, et. al. published their work. I wrote a "Letter" to the AES pointing this out which was also published, but who reads the "Letters". I would also point out that my PhD thesis was on "Low Frequency Sound Field Statistics in Small Rooms", way back in 1981 (34 years ago!). Elements of my approach can be seen in that thesis.
 
Avoid the Altec 511 or 811 horn. These are far from flat and have lots of diffraction by modern standards. Keep in mind that although diffraction can be partially equalized away, the reflections in the time domain remain, and cannot be removed. According to Altec's own measurements, they also have a "pattern flip" in the 1~2 kHz region (polar pattern goes from horizontal to vertical).

Yeah, it takes a lot of tweaks to make them HIFI enough for most folks, so strictly for 'vintage' systems IME, though the M19's ~1.2 kHz XO is high enough to ~ameliorate the 811's, 511's ~1.6 kHz 'flip'; so on average, it's a pretty flat response at ~75 deg, whereas the larger, longer 511 strongly rises on axis above ~4 kHz, though when Altec switched to the M19's XO near the end of its 'career', it's not so bad.

GM
 
The corners I use are just 3.8m apart. I use waveguiding as the primary purpose of a horn and don't have a problem with the closer listening

Can you describe your speaker and the listening space? Is it not bigger than Gary's "BTA"? (Altec 416 is 16" right?). They said "horn is for loading and waveguide is for dispersion", so I believe dispersion is your main purpose? I couldn't find it's benefit for small room, unless you sacrifice nothing for the approach.

Ah, I think I have seen something built into the corners of a room. If that's yours, that's bigger than the Tractix here. May be the room is long or non rectangular open area. But I forget I've seen the detail of the horn. Built that way (removing reflection from surrounding/back walls), it is more than just about horn/WG dispersion (the wall is also the horn extension), it's a no option for me :D

No problem with closer listening? No HOMs?
 
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There were so many variations on this same theme. By that, I mean the specs changed several times on this model number.
The Altec 416 drivers I've owned have been all over the map. None where near the published specs. That's part of the "fun". :rolleyes:

Once I figured mine out and stuck my speakers in the corners, there was no problem getting an f3 of 30Hz. That's real, solid bass. And didn't use much power. They actually needed a -3dB bass shelf when placed in the corners. I was happy, for sure.
 
On the 1" vs. 1.4/1.5 drivers- just get a better 15". My BD15 are VERY comfortable at 1300hz, which is also very comfortable for my modified and matched selenium d2500ti. A small off-axis dip? Not really a biggie, just another dimension of balancing compromise. It's a 1" throat driver btw, with a small phragm (embossed from factory and further damped with coating by me).
 
Vuki,
I noticed that there are two different mounting methods for the 15" driver. I wouldn't want to see the second one with the driver mounted from the back like that forming a chamber in front of the driver. I know it looks nicer but the first cabinet with the driver flush mounted would be the preferred method always.
 
Vuki,
I noticed that there are two different mounting methods for the 15" driver. I wouldn't want to see the second one with the driver mounted from the back like that forming a chamber in front of the driver. I know it looks nicer but the first cabinet with the driver flush mounted would be the preferred method always.

Sure, but 414z (it's 12") can't be flush mounted (or it could be done with lot of effort and some kind of additional mounting ring)...
 
Are you saying that you can't flush mount the 12" because you already have a 15" hole or because of some reason of the frame on that speaker? If you do have a larger hole for a smaller frame size I can see that you would have to make an intermediate adapter but that would be rather simple to accomplish. With a nice finish it could look integrated with the current veneer finish.
 
Vuki,
Okay, so you would have to notch the recess to flush mount the frame. Otherwise you would have to have a very deep recess from the back of the enclosure to limit the cavity size you are creating in front of that driver which would cause other problems of a weak section there. I would still choose the front mounting and four small recess cuts for those reinforced sections to fit into. Of course this is only my opinion as always.
 
I have both flush mounted and rear mounted woofers. As long as the rear mount has a radius on the baffle hole edge, I don't see any significant differences in the response. I know that this is not what is traditionally written, but it has been my experience. Of course if the baffle hole is straight sided then the edge diffraction could be an issue, but I have not seen a significant volume effect or otherwise with a rounded edge.