Altec Drivers, Advice/Suggestions please

6 years ago I bought a pair of Altec Flamencos. The drivers appear to be pristine and the speakers sound OK. BUT, the cabinets smell of cigar smoke and mildew and I can't have them in the house.

So, should I just build new cabs the same as the old ones or something all together different and better? I've been thinking of mounting the horn on top a la VOTT. I'm open to suggestions.

Also, anyone know of a source of upgrade crossovers? Or should I stick with stock?

Thx, Steve
 
Build new cabs with the old drivers. Rotate the 416 180 degrees and also use aceton on a 1" paintbrush to distribute the surrround goop that will probably have collected in the lower edge. Some people passionately hate that 811 horn used in the Flamencos, but it's not as bad as the 511 😉
 
I like the 811 horn much better than the 511, tho few agree with me.
Yep, build new cabinets and the crossovers could be better. Would you be up for an Onken style bass cabinet?

Cigar smoke and mildew? Geez, did they come from my dad's house? 😀
 
Pano, did your Dad live in the Cincinnati area? That's were my Flamencos came from.

I'm not opposed to changing the cab configuration, a VOTT style maybe?

What's an Onken style cabinet. I apologize for the ignorance, usually hang out on the tubes/valves forum. Can you point me at a x-over upgrade?

Thx, Steve
 
Interesting! I thought the 15 had the 14's Mantaray horn; shows how much attention I paid to Altec's consumer stuff after the early '70s.

Pano's?

Not really, just the driver screen and any grill [cloth or otherwise] over it.

GM
 
I always looked at the 14 as the 19's accomplished little brother, and the 15 as the strange cousin. I guess the idea was to always leave the grille on with the 15 or pay the price one day.
There are so many choices for Steve. The A7, Model 19 and Onken I bet would be three very fine systems with the 19 the easiest build and perhaps the most visually pleasing.
 
I always looked at the 14 as the 19's accomplished little brother......

Another is the stillborn slot vent loaded mini-19 [~M14 on steroids 😉] that enough initially claimed interest in doing [including some M19 owners], but TTBOMK that was the end of it. Not sure if any docs survived since IIRC they're only on a short ckt./fire damaged HD. If I can find them maybe call it the M-19^-0.2 [~1/2 scale] 😉, what with DIY speaker design nowadays being so 'scientific' Vs the pre-T/S pioneers that many claim were basically clueless except through trial n' error.

GM
 
I admit to being a little stumped by the slot on the A8.
What, you just cut it with a couple dado blades and you're done? 😕
 

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