Altec 301 mods

[ashok]

I got a pair of ancient Altec 301 speakers recently. The woofer foam has fallen off.
It is a sealed box unit . I read on the Net that it didn't sound very good. It has a cheapish looking aluminised plastic film dome tweeter and a similar dome mid range.
Anyone heard this unit ?
I was thinking of mounting the domes on an open panel and mounting the woofer in a box below that. Doesn't make it an open baffle upper range as the drivers are all closed at the back. Just an experiment to see what it does to the sound.

 

[GM]

These are Spark-O-Matic speakers, so basically junk IMNSHO: Altec Lansing 301 loudspeaker | Stereophile.com

Your plan is as good as any short of jacking them up several feet and sliding some better speakers in their place.

GM

 

[ashok]

Thanks for that link. Indicates that there is scope for investigating the drivers. Will go ahead as planned. But I will try to fix the surround and listen to the system as it is. Might find it interesting. After that I have to see what I can do with the JBL 360 that I was given!

 

[Altec Best]

These are Spark-O-Matic speakers, so basically junk IMNSHO:

+1 They aren't real Altec Lansings ! Sparky's as GM has noted ...

 

[ashok]

Thanks for the clarification. However these are no cost drivers at hand and can be used for experimentation. I wouldn't buy drivers to make such an experiment !
I doubt that they will be terrible. Would be great if they 'improved' !
I can't play them now ,as is, the woofer coil will scrape and damage it. The unit has not been used in a very long time. I also find the bass driver has a low cost pressed metal frame unlike the JBL360 which has a cast metal frame.
So I don't expect much . But I need to rig it up to see what it can do.
I am not really concerned about the drivers being 'real' Altec's. I just hope they are decent. That's enough !
Cheers.