Attn: Altec Gurus...

[chops]

Since you guys know so much about Altecs and modding, upgrading and cloning them, is there any decent 15" drivers out there that are a good substitute for an Altec driver, providing a similar, clean sound up to 600Hz or so, other than GreatPlains (as both of these are fairly pricey). Maybe something from Parts Express in the $60-90 price range?

The reason I'm asking is because I've decided to totally redesign the entire front end of my theater system, which also doubles as a very good 2-channel music system. I'm going to remove the Cornwalls and build new cabinets with the woofer mounted up higher so it will be closer to the 511B, like it should be. Also, I'm debating on either building the mian channel enclosures as a sealed system or a ported system. This driver would be crossed over from 80Hz to 600Hz, if that helps, and it can be between 4 and 16 ohms. My Technics amp can easily handle those loads.

I will also be building a matching center channel with the same driver, but with a modded passive network that I got from a gent on the ** CAUGH - CAUGH!!..Klipsch forum**. <-- I didn't say that and you didn't read that. LOL Eventually, I'll get another active crossover and Crown D-75A amp to run the woofer and horn.

I recall looking at the Eminence Alpha-15A and Selenium 15PW3-SLF drivers a while back, but I think that was because I was planning on doing an OB, which with a Qts of 0.61 and 1.26, they would be a good choice, but not so much for a ported enclosure, which BTW will most likely be a slot-port.

I don't think I want to go anymore than about 6-7cf for the enclosures, smaller may be better considering they only need to reach a solid 60Hz or so since they will be crossed over at 80Hz. These will also be butted right up into the corners of the room, mounted on top of new, dual 15" push/pull sealed subwoofers (FOUR 15's total just for the subs!!!) that I'm also going to build in the 8-9cf range. I'll be going for a shape similar to the Klipsch K-Horns, but with a flat section on the back big enough to mount the rear 15" subwoofer. They will be shaped low and wide so the 15" "Altec" driver and 511B won't be a mile in the sky.

Which brings up another question... My Crown XTi 1000 amp is running mono right now at 8 ohms for 1000 watts. When I build these new subs, I'm going to wire them in parallel-parallel for a 2 ohm load per side. Should I run the amp in stereo (but still feeding it a mono signal obviously) for 700 watts per channel @ 2 ohms, or leave it in mono for 1400 watts @ 4 ohms? I'm thinking probably mono at 1400 watts.

Naturally, everything will be actively crossed over with my Rane AC 22B, the subs with the LFE output of my Elite reciever.

Any thoughts and/or suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

[mpmarino]

Hi Chops,

My 2 channel is slated to be very similar to your plan. 511 and 902 up top with a 15 below. I gotta tell you, I really wanted Altec 416 or 515 or one of the JBL variants, but I just couldn't find a set I was willing to pay the price for.

I swear I looked at every 15 on the planet. I could only find one (other than the aforementioned lansing stuff) that had lowish resonance and reasonable high sensitivity. The Bob Crites stuff!

I bought a pair of his cast woofers. There's almost nothing like them out there...

I can't comment on the sound yet..

[Magnetar]

These are actually pretty good drivers
for the money, run a pair a side in series for cheap

Carvin Direct 15's - $29.99

SPECS

[chops]

mpmarino

I know what you mean about the Altec and JBL gear. It's great and all, and I'd love to have them, but those prices are just too much for me.

Bob's stuff is good too. In fact, he's the "gent" I was referring to about the modded Type B network I bought from the Klipsch forum.

You should post up a couple of pics of your system sometime, especially after you build your new cabinets. hint, hint...


Magnetar

Those Carvin drivers look very very tempting. The specs are good, Fs is 37Hz and the Qts is 0.38. If this is the correct one.. It just says PS15 on eBay, but it also says it's 4 ohms and 400 watts, yet on their site the ONLY PS15 is 8 ohms. There's a PSC15-4 which is 4 ohms, 600 watts and has a cast aluminum frame.

I just ran the PSC15-4 T/S specs through WinISD, and things look pretty darn good to say the least. I have to check with Carvin first before I decide to buy. That is an excellent price though.

Thanks for the great tip!

[chops]

Does anyone else have anything to add? The more input the better.

[GM]

Greets!

Not really, I mean that even at 2x your price range there's only one semi-acceptable alternative that I'm aware of, PE's 295-080.

GM

[chops]

How about these?...

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...number=296-630

[GM]

Strictly at a glance, I like it much better than the Dayton..........

[Cal Weldon]

How about this Selenium?

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...number=264-393

[GM]

Again, strictly at a glance, it looks better for a ~1.2 kHz XO to an 811 than a 511/~600 Hz if you're trying to ~mimic the 'sound' of an all Altec combo........