Altec pro-audio

Status
This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.
Hi there,

after browsing some of the older stuff on the altec web site, I've found this one in pro-audio:

http://www.altecpro.com/pdfs/DX1012-8A%20Data%20Sheet%20PRELIM.pdf

Anyone familiar with this kind of drivers?

Know it maybe kind of stretching for a in-house system(122 dB SPL continuous; 128 dB SPL peak at 1m) :smash: , but...as the graph goes it all seems pretty linear to me at 97db SPL sens.

comments appreciated!
 
Official Court Jester
Joined 2003
Paid Member
carcass said:
Hi there,

after browsing some of the older stuff on the altec web site, I've found this one in pro-audio:

http://www.altecpro.com/pdfs/DX1012-8A%20Data%20Sheet%20PRELIM.pdf

Anyone familiar with this kind of drivers?

Know it maybe kind of stretching for a in-house system(122 dB SPL continuous; 128 dB SPL peak at 1m) :smash: , but...as the graph goes it all seems pretty linear to me at 97db SPL sens.

comments appreciated!


not really a useful comment......but for me-as Altec worshiper -looks more than good enough.........
price?
 
GM said:
Greets!

If by 'in-house' you mean a prosound app, whether it works will depend on the app, but with a large format driver it will sound like the PA speaker it is. For high SQ and/or in a HIFI app, this is much more appropriate: http://www.greatplainsaudio.com/downloads/604_8H_II.pdf

GM

Hi there, thanx for your comment, and a question, any recommended enclosure and/or some measurements?

indeed it was/is for hifi use as I am searching alternatives to a fostex 206e in 208eS enclosure.

Thank you for your comments.

Bruno H.
 
-10 dB at 45 Hz? As a vented box it'll have a 4th order rolloff and be something like -36 dB at 20 Hz. You really want a subwoofer to use this speaker for material with significant bass content.

I'd also be leery of cavity resonances between 800 Hz and the 1500 crossover - the high frequency horn is both big and symmetrical, covering most of the woofer cone, which is a recipe for untoward behaviour.

The HF response peaks up about 6 dB at 12 kHz, probably not a bad thing in large venues where you want more energy in that part of the spectrum to cover the room gain lower down, but a bit bright for close in listening.

Long story short, probably good for public address, but likely too fatiguing for extended home use.
 
carcass said:
Hi there,

after browsing some of the older stuff on the altec web site, I've found this one in pro-audio:

http://www.altecpro.com/pdfs/DX1012-8A%20Data%20Sheet%20PRELIM.pdf

Anyone familiar with this kind of drivers?

Know it maybe kind of stretching for a in-house system(122 dB SPL continuous; 128 dB SPL peak at 1m) :smash: , but...as the graph goes it all seems pretty linear to me at 97db SPL sens.

comments appreciated!

Hey Bruno,

Pro-sound drivers I know. I am not sure of your application, but I can tell you that there are many many coaxial drivers of this type out there. A friend of mine was doing designs for altec for a while, actually...

First, most of these are not a true full range driver, they need a crossover between the lows and highs. The one you linked to is certainly of that type.

There are two basic types: ones that use the cone coupled with the shape of the opening in the pole piece to act as the HF driver's horn, and those that have another horn flare in front of the LF driver.

Both of these have their limitations. The first type usually are a worse compromise, because the cone profile of the woofer is not optimum for either the woofer range, or as a HF horn flare.

The second type has problems with reflections off the horn flare from the woofer. The only designs that I have seen work well of this type use foam behind the horn flare to absorb the reflection, and foam around the horn mouth to smooth diffraction effects.

A very good professional implementation of this type comes from frazier loudspeakrs: http://www.frazierspeakers.com/ The head designer I understand is another Georgia Tech guy.

A very good mixed HiFi/Pro overlap of these types of drivers are from Tannoy. Their 12" is quite a nice design.

My friend Curtis List (a very active Praxis guy) has designed coaxials around the BMS Pro drivers:
http://www.bmspro.info/index.php?show=item&usbid=10282&id=54392

US distributor:
http://www.assistanceaudio.com/02_coaxials.html

BMS makes a very good paper cone woofer. Nicely ventilated structure, quality multi-layer voice coils, multiple flux demodulation rings, neodymium magnets, etc. The also have a very innotive, and good sounding, compression driver design. Quite the driver for under $400us.

Hope that helps!
 
Hi again,

Indeed the BMS you state sounds as a good drive.

I started this thread because I'm searching for an alternative to the common fostex/lowther world in the full range sense.

As I am entering the 8W SET world I am looking for suitable drivers and although I have not eared yet any lowther one, their graphs seem a bit "unstable" at lower/mid regions undoubtedly with very nice SPL's.


As I've said, the initial thought was a fe206r in a 208s enclosure.

As for price range, I am willing to go as far as a 600-800€ (circa 900$US) for drivers only.

So the search keeps on going,

Thank you and keep your suggestions coming.

Bruno H.
 
I haven't heard Lowthers. But I doubt you have to worry about any "unstable" mids-lows.

DH guru Susumu Sakuma only used Altecs. He didn't like the rest. That was until he discovered Lowther. He thought the "ugly-looking" Lowthers sounded bad, yet they do so many things right.

For SE, there doesn't seem any better match than Altec, Lowther and Klangfilm.
 
carcass said:


Hi there, thanx for your comment, and a question, any recommended enclosure and/or some measurements?

indeed it was/is for hifi use as I am searching alternatives to a fostex 206e in 208eS enclosure.

Greets!

You're welcome!

GPA recommends ~9 ft^3 ( http://www.lansingheritage.org/images/altec/plans/1970's-lf-plans/enclosures07.jpg ), but I recommend taller, to get the driver up to ear height, and bigger, tuned lower to better blend to the room and take advantage of its fairly low Fs.

Here's Altec's measurements of a later model original and AFAIK GPA's clone should be reasonably close, though it's ~academic since the XO allows enough adjustment to trim out the HF horn to suit: http://www.altecpro.com/pdfs/vintage/SpeakerAndMics/duplex/604-8K Duplex Speaker.pdf

Anyway, if your ~$900 is for a pair of drivers, these are too expensive, as are semi-comparable Lowthers if they're as expensive in Spain as in the USA.

WRT Fostex, you'll have to browse the various forums to form an opinion as to which is its 'best' HE driver, but their cabs typically don't live up to their driver's performance, so I recommend considering something like the Bazzilla if there's no worthy DIY BLH available: http://store.hifiauthority.com/olsherkits.html

GM
 
Hi again GM, and thanks for your comments.

Indeed I've planned circa $900 for drivers only, and yes I unfortunately know that Lowthers and similar are too expensive.

I've seen the 208sigma from fostex in own recommended enclosure, but with the use of a tweeter too.

Now, Bazzilla includes a woofer and takes for granted the mid range of fostex; in your personal opinion, do you consider Bazzilla vastly superior to the previous system...ie am I going to miss some bass and the fostex enclosure is just overrated?!

Sorry about all the questions, but indeed I tend to agree with you that fostex "cabs typically don't live up to their driver's performance"... at least on paper they don't

then again, Bazzilla is not out of my stipulated price, so it's just a pity that I cannot hear one here in Portugal.

again, thank you

Bruno H.
 
Greets!

Yes, the 208 needs a super tweeter if your HF hearing's not too rolled off for whatever reason.

Compared to the 206E BLH? Don't know for sure since I haven't auditioned one, though I have auditioned the Lowther Bazzilla, but from a technical POV and the opinions of folks I trust WRT the BLH, the Bazzilla is the obvious choice of the two for me.

As always though, YMMV.

GM
 
Well, thank you GM for your posts,

it's decision time, and although actually moving to a new place, I'm afraid that the sheer size of the Bazzilla's I've seen will be a bit off my wife's taste:whazzat:

Could you recommend any other type/tested design that may work well with SE apart from the discussed here (and that not creates speakers taller than say 110-150cm:D )

many thanks for your time.

Bruno H.
 
Hi there Inductor, glad to see another tuga here.

As for your suggestion, it's not all a case of what driver to choose, or better it will be but only after founding a suitable enclosure to drive them.

... and I personally do not want a separate sub:rolleyes:

on the eminence subject thought, I remember seeing some kind of enclosure with a juxtaposed tweeter... with promises of good, although budget sound

anyone remembers this one (I think it was some kind of reflex box?!)

thanx

Bruno H.
 
carcass said:

on the eminence subject thought, I remember seeing some kind of enclosure with a juxtaposed tweeter... with promises of good, although budget sound


Are you building your boxes?
Wall the manufacturers publish speaker enclosures dimensons, some of them in a good book format and almost all of them available on the internet.
:att'n: Are you going to the Hi-Fi Show 2007 (April 21/22) in Lisbon?
 
Status
This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.