Altec pro-audio

[carcass]

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-...t%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) , but...as the graph goes it all seems pretty linear to me at 97db SPL sens.

comments appreciated!

[Zen Mod]

Originally posted by carcass
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-...t%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) , 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]

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

[Kent Smith]

Zowie! Somebody is still building the classic 604? Bet that's expensive....

[GM]

Cheaper than decades old 604Es are going for on epay........

[carcass]

Originally posted by GM
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.

[DSP_Geek]

-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.

[gtphill]

Originally posted by carcass
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-...t%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) , 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?sho...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!

[carcass]

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.

[phn]

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.