WBS, thanks for the inquiry into my progress. The basic cabs have been assembled and glued, and I started on the shelf bracing: see pics.
Lots of router work to go to complete the bracing. I find I only can work on these an hour or so at a time due to life's complications. Although I'm older and retired, I have two wonderful small boys that take up lots of my time.
I have put the project on hold till early spring when I can resume working. Most of the work is done in my driveway so getting set up and putting things away when done is time consuming.
I fully intend to have these up and singing in 2017.
Cheers and Happy New Year.
Bhamm
Lots of router work to go to complete the bracing. I find I only can work on these an hour or so at a time due to life's complications. Although I'm older and retired, I have two wonderful small boys that take up lots of my time.
I have put the project on hold till early spring when I can resume working. Most of the work is done in my driveway so getting set up and putting things away when done is time consuming.
I fully intend to have these up and singing in 2017.
Cheers and Happy New Year.
Bhamm
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dandee,
You are a Magician!
You changed two round pipe ports on the bottom of the front baffle in post #41 into one slot port on the left side of the front baffle in post #44. The traditional Altec construction.
Did you test the two round ports and find some issues with the sound? or
Did you just decide that you favored the appearance of the traditional Altec construction?
For best bass performance, I hope you adjusted the slot port dimensions to the T/S parameters of your current production 416-8B drivers.
You are a Magician!
You changed two round pipe ports on the bottom of the front baffle in post #41 into one slot port on the left side of the front baffle in post #44. The traditional Altec construction.
Did you test the two round ports and find some issues with the sound? or
Did you just decide that you favored the appearance of the traditional Altec construction?
For best bass performance, I hope you adjusted the slot port dimensions to the T/S parameters of your current production 416-8B drivers.
I hijacked this thread from Bhamm......to show my new speakers...lol sorry.......
I was told from Bill at Great Plains Audio that the speakers and crossovers
were a 100% replacement for the Altec 19 cabinet...Some of the later versions used
the 416-8C .. That's what he sent when I told him I wanted to build a set of Altec 19s..
the horn driver is a 902-8A and crossover is N1200-8A .. the most important part is they sound great.. no buzz... no boom... BUT THE OUTSIDE CABINET IS ALL SOLID OAK BOARDS.. AND THE BACK AND FRONTS ARE MARINE GRADE PLYWOOD.... everyone I talked to said don't use real wood...... they also have 1 inch of rock wool in the sides, back,, bottom and top of the horn...
maybe I cant hear... but they sound really open to me. !!
I was told from Bill at Great Plains Audio that the speakers and crossovers
were a 100% replacement for the Altec 19 cabinet...Some of the later versions used
the 416-8C .. That's what he sent when I told him I wanted to build a set of Altec 19s..
the horn driver is a 902-8A and crossover is N1200-8A .. the most important part is they sound great.. no buzz... no boom... BUT THE OUTSIDE CABINET IS ALL SOLID OAK BOARDS.. AND THE BACK AND FRONTS ARE MARINE GRADE PLYWOOD.... everyone I talked to said don't use real wood...... they also have 1 inch of rock wool in the sides, back,, bottom and top of the horn...
maybe I cant hear... but they sound really open to me. !!
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Dandee,
Thread jack not an issue. Your project looks great.
My next post will be sometime but hopefully I'll have progress to share.
Bhamm
Thread jack not an issue. Your project looks great.
My next post will be sometime but hopefully I'll have progress to share.
Bhamm
Altec Loudspeaker Enclosure Designs
I found some interesting Altec publications on the Lansing Heritage site that show the dimensions of a number of different Altec speaker designs. I was actually looking for info on Model 19 and 17 enclosures when I came across the resource.
I especially like the 1974 manual since it covers theory in a way that I can kind of understand. 😀 I found the page on how to tune a bass reflex port to a specific driver interesting. It made me think of this thread.
I found some interesting Altec publications on the Lansing Heritage site that show the dimensions of a number of different Altec speaker designs. I was actually looking for info on Model 19 and 17 enclosures when I came across the resource.
I especially like the 1974 manual since it covers theory in a way that I can kind of understand. 😀 I found the page on how to tune a bass reflex port to a specific driver interesting. It made me think of this thread.
M19 plans among other good info:
Jeff Markwart's Corner - Phase Corrected Crossovers
Model 19 Shop Working Prints
GM
Jeff Markwart's Corner - Phase Corrected Crossovers
Model 19 Shop Working Prints
GM
dandee... My Magician joke did alakazam some info on your build. Thanks for sharing your Excellent work.. Readers now know that Great Plains Audio sells speakers and crossovers that are an exact match for the Altec 19 cabinet..
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Your slot port should produce -F3 of ~40Hz without many room placement concerns.
#37 " I suspect the old School Altec 11" x 2.375" x 0.75" baffle port which tuned a 9cuft volume to 40Hz produced reasonably flat and dynamic bass when the cabinet was placed against the rear wall, and a few feet from the side walls. Perhaps the Altec engineers desired to avoid small room BOOM BASS when the owner would never adjust the porting."
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Have to wait to see how Bhamm will tune his two ports.
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Your slot port should produce -F3 of ~40Hz without many room placement concerns.
#37 " I suspect the old School Altec 11" x 2.375" x 0.75" baffle port which tuned a 9cuft volume to 40Hz produced reasonably flat and dynamic bass when the cabinet was placed against the rear wall, and a few feet from the side walls. Perhaps the Altec engineers desired to avoid small room BOOM BASS when the owner would never adjust the porting."
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Have to wait to see how Bhamm will tune his two ports.
I Think the port on the 19 was 11x2.5x .72 ?? that's because the thickness of most mdf and the plywood I used is not .75 .......What I can tell you ...I do not hear any boom..
The height of the cabinet is perfect for sitting down when listening.....There must be many reasons to not use real wood boards for the cabinet...1 of which is cost........and I also used 1 inch rock wool for the damping..(It seems to work ok) does to much deaden the sound??
they say the wood will resonate ..?? can that be heard at any normal volume that you would use in your house?? if wood resonates why use wood for the horn..?? ohhh and the only ringing I heard with the 811B horn was when I moved the volume past 9 am.. and that was my ears.........I don't think the difference between MDF and plywood or real wood can be heard when used with any damping material like fiberglass or rock wool....??
I had the cabinets built and he has all the plans,, and now a set up for the 19s.. I had already asked him from the beginning to make me a few sets..These speakers are just the prototype...............my plan is making a set of cherry ones.. 1 set of Hard ELM ones and another set of oak ones...I want to test them with no damping one compared to the other...But for the first set.. I don't hear anything I don't like.....OK...if you look at the photos I posted the only thing that will be changed for the 2nd set is the woofer placement.....The prototypes have the cutout 3/4 of a inch lower than the original
plans...I never caught that till he already had glued it in......and it looks fine although it does not line up with the port as per photo..But overall They look really nice sound great and I don't need to tweak anything... that's why I did not 2nd guess changing the cabinet or using anything different than what Great Plains Audio said was correct for that cabinet.....I think it sounds just like a set of 19s from the 70ies.. OK I GOTA GO FOR NOW ITS TIME TO INJOY MY PROJECT...
The height of the cabinet is perfect for sitting down when listening.....There must be many reasons to not use real wood boards for the cabinet...1 of which is cost........and I also used 1 inch rock wool for the damping..(It seems to work ok) does to much deaden the sound??
they say the wood will resonate ..?? can that be heard at any normal volume that you would use in your house?? if wood resonates why use wood for the horn..?? ohhh and the only ringing I heard with the 811B horn was when I moved the volume past 9 am.. and that was my ears.........I don't think the difference between MDF and plywood or real wood can be heard when used with any damping material like fiberglass or rock wool....??
I had the cabinets built and he has all the plans,, and now a set up for the 19s.. I had already asked him from the beginning to make me a few sets..These speakers are just the prototype...............my plan is making a set of cherry ones.. 1 set of Hard ELM ones and another set of oak ones...I want to test them with no damping one compared to the other...But for the first set.. I don't hear anything I don't like.....OK...if you look at the photos I posted the only thing that will be changed for the 2nd set is the woofer placement.....The prototypes have the cutout 3/4 of a inch lower than the original
plans...I never caught that till he already had glued it in......and it looks fine although it does not line up with the port as per photo..But overall They look really nice sound great and I don't need to tweak anything... that's why I did not 2nd guess changing the cabinet or using anything different than what Great Plains Audio said was correct for that cabinet.....I think it sounds just like a set of 19s from the 70ies.. OK I GOTA GO FOR NOW ITS TIME TO INJOY MY PROJECT...
altec 19 amplifier??
I do have just 1 question............
My 19 clones sound really really good......
I used a carver CT-27v for the preamp ,,,I got it for 20 bux at goodwill or a salvation army.. and I bought a few years ago a Nad 40w per channel power amp....I found it on craigslist for 45 bux like new..I use it for movies.
It sounds Awesome with the Altecs,,, but my wife had bought me a Yahama R-S201 last year.. 100W channel..it was still in the box.....
I hooked it up.. OMG HOW AWFULL DOES IT SOUND. EMPTY......
LAME..... BORING..... WHATS UP WITH THAT??
I WANTED TO BUY A REALLY NICE PREAMP -POWER AMP... OR PRE- POWER IN ONE CHASSIE.... I DONT PLAY IT REALLY LOUD... there is no need... they sound big with even a couple of watts.......
I just wanted to buy something new to go with the Altec 19 clones....
any help????????????? Thanks...... Danny........
I do have just 1 question............
My 19 clones sound really really good......
I used a carver CT-27v for the preamp ,,,I got it for 20 bux at goodwill or a salvation army.. and I bought a few years ago a Nad 40w per channel power amp....I found it on craigslist for 45 bux like new..I use it for movies.
It sounds Awesome with the Altecs,,, but my wife had bought me a Yahama R-S201 last year.. 100W channel..it was still in the box.....
I hooked it up.. OMG HOW AWFULL DOES IT SOUND. EMPTY......
LAME..... BORING..... WHATS UP WITH THAT??
I WANTED TO BUY A REALLY NICE PREAMP -POWER AMP... OR PRE- POWER IN ONE CHASSIE.... I DONT PLAY IT REALLY LOUD... there is no need... they sound big with even a couple of watts.......
I just wanted to buy something new to go with the Altec 19 clones....
any help????????????? Thanks...... Danny........
Ha!
Good speakers make bad sounding amps sound really bad.
Welcome to horns. 🙂
I'm a DIY tube guy, but they aren't for everyone.
I have ferrite M19's.
I took them apart and added some simple diagonal bracing on the sides and rear. To me they didn't pass the knuckle rap test. And yes, it reduces the internal volume slightly.
I also modified the way the top mounts from the two spindly 1/4" bolts to a total of 6 3/8" bolts. In factory form, the seal is poor.
I had the woofs reconed with kits from bill at GPA. I removed the bug screens from the 902-8A drivers. And I removed the dividers from the horns then damped them with latex paint and sand.
I love the sound.
To augment the low end, (was never really happy with the M19 bottom) I have a pair of later Altec 18" subs.
An interesting note on the Alnico and ferrite M19's. Different T/S parameters for these two drivers, yet Altec never changed the port.
Something to think about.
Ron
Good speakers make bad sounding amps sound really bad.
Welcome to horns. 🙂
I'm a DIY tube guy, but they aren't for everyone.
I have ferrite M19's.
I took them apart and added some simple diagonal bracing on the sides and rear. To me they didn't pass the knuckle rap test. And yes, it reduces the internal volume slightly.
I also modified the way the top mounts from the two spindly 1/4" bolts to a total of 6 3/8" bolts. In factory form, the seal is poor.
I had the woofs reconed with kits from bill at GPA. I removed the bug screens from the 902-8A drivers. And I removed the dividers from the horns then damped them with latex paint and sand.
I love the sound.
To augment the low end, (was never really happy with the M19 bottom) I have a pair of later Altec 18" subs.
An interesting note on the Alnico and ferrite M19's. Different T/S parameters for these two drivers, yet Altec never changed the port.
Something to think about.
Ron
Hello all,
I feel like I need to update the board concerning the build and thread I started more than four years ago.
In a nutshell, I continued working on my Altec clones with long breaks in between when my attention and energy was diverted to other projects and life in general. Well here we are in 2020 and thanks to Covid, I found much more time for myself.
I finally got the cabinets sealed up and started on the smaller detail work of adding the crossovers, wiring and lining the interior cabinet with acoustic foam.
I got the speakers playing a couple weeks ago and left them in my garage to help with break-in. We had a holiday party last Friday, and I decided I wanted them in the house to see how they sounded. Although I have a dedicated tube amp which I bought just for them, I decided to hook them to my high powered solid state integrated.
I’m absolutely thrilled with the sound I’m getting from them, but I know I have a lot of adjustment and break-in left to go. I probably have about 50 hours on them now, and I’ve been tinkering with the L pads to find their sweet spot. The tube amp also only has less than 100 hours so it can use more time for break-in also.
I feel like I need to update the board concerning the build and thread I started more than four years ago.
In a nutshell, I continued working on my Altec clones with long breaks in between when my attention and energy was diverted to other projects and life in general. Well here we are in 2020 and thanks to Covid, I found much more time for myself.
I finally got the cabinets sealed up and started on the smaller detail work of adding the crossovers, wiring and lining the interior cabinet with acoustic foam.
I got the speakers playing a couple weeks ago and left them in my garage to help with break-in. We had a holiday party last Friday, and I decided I wanted them in the house to see how they sounded. Although I have a dedicated tube amp which I bought just for them, I decided to hook them to my high powered solid state integrated.
I’m absolutely thrilled with the sound I’m getting from them, but I know I have a lot of adjustment and break-in left to go. I probably have about 50 hours on them now, and I’ve been tinkering with the L pads to find their sweet spot. The tube amp also only has less than 100 hours so it can use more time for break-in also.
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Replace those L-pads ASAP. They are negatively impacting your sound quality. You'll be surprised once they're gone.