OK, back on topic for a minute.
Some folks like the Altec A7, some don't. Old sound guys used to look at me funny when I said I like the A7. What I should have said is "I love the A5 upgraded and properly implemented."
I recently bought a pair of stock* A7-500. Deal too good to pass up.
Of course I hooked then up right away, all stock. Sounded awful! Yikes! How could anyone like that? Maybe good for getting vocals to the back of the theater, but that's about all. Tonal balance all wrong, weird colorations, no bass, etc.
Putting an 811 horn (806 driver) on top and crossing at 800Hz help immensely.
Bracing and damping the bass horn flares, reducing the port area, using the 8 cell horn with 1.4" driver, a well designed crossover and a few other things brought it up out of mud. Big, big improvement. And there is still work to be done.
So the box design and the drivers aren't bad, just that the implementation left a lot to be desired. That can be fixed.
*825 bass cabinet, 416-8A woofers, 511 horns, 802-8D drivers, N501-8A crossover.
Some folks like the Altec A7, some don't. Old sound guys used to look at me funny when I said I like the A7. What I should have said is "I love the A5 upgraded and properly implemented."
I recently bought a pair of stock* A7-500. Deal too good to pass up.
Of course I hooked then up right away, all stock. Sounded awful! Yikes! How could anyone like that? Maybe good for getting vocals to the back of the theater, but that's about all. Tonal balance all wrong, weird colorations, no bass, etc.
Putting an 811 horn (806 driver) on top and crossing at 800Hz help immensely.
Bracing and damping the bass horn flares, reducing the port area, using the 8 cell horn with 1.4" driver, a well designed crossover and a few other things brought it up out of mud. Big, big improvement. And there is still work to be done.
So the box design and the drivers aren't bad, just that the implementation left a lot to be desired. That can be fixed.
*825 bass cabinet, 416-8A woofers, 511 horns, 802-8D drivers, N501-8A crossover.
If someone is listening to my mix in a mono fold down they don't care very much about it I would say.
Same here. Upgraded woofer, compression driver, horn (waveguide), crossover and cabinet and they are the best speakers I have ever heard. 🙂
It might get loud
Hello,
I'd like to share some thoughts on my visit to panomaniac's place on Sunday.
This was my first "hi-fi" experience with pro-drivers. In summary, I'm sold.
We started with the Von Schweikert hi-fi towers and they sounded pretty good. They were set up narrow, but even then, they produced quite a large sound stage and acquitted themselves really well.
The Altecs were just bigger, louder, more at ease and just easy to listen to.
Quite different sounding from the conventional speakers and the first few seconds of the first song I was wondering what the deal is. This is not the sound I am accustomed to listening. But after a few songs, you realize the sound is distortion free, dynamic and just very real.
On Led Zep's "In my time of dying," it just gets louder and louder. It was like being there, I swear. This track is just not fair on full range drivers or any other sort of small sized driver. Then, on a recording with a choir in the background, the realism was such that it took me back to my school days.
The depth of the soundstage and the feeling of body on instruments and singers is something that really stood out on the pro-drivers. And then they can get loud - imagine your amplifier clipping before your speakers get into any sort of real distortion and it puts things in perspective.
Of course, I have much to learn about these drivers. I will be doing my research (basically following diyaudio
) before I decide to go in for something like that.
On a side note: those damn t-amps keep sounding nice. For about 10% of the fuss, they give you 90% of the sound of a Class A. That said, my next two projects are Class A.😀
Also, I'd like to thank Pano and his wife for taking out time on a Sunday for the demo.
Hope this helps.
R
Hello,
I'd like to share some thoughts on my visit to panomaniac's place on Sunday.
This was my first "hi-fi" experience with pro-drivers. In summary, I'm sold.
We started with the Von Schweikert hi-fi towers and they sounded pretty good. They were set up narrow, but even then, they produced quite a large sound stage and acquitted themselves really well.
The Altecs were just bigger, louder, more at ease and just easy to listen to.
Quite different sounding from the conventional speakers and the first few seconds of the first song I was wondering what the deal is. This is not the sound I am accustomed to listening. But after a few songs, you realize the sound is distortion free, dynamic and just very real.
On Led Zep's "In my time of dying," it just gets louder and louder. It was like being there, I swear. This track is just not fair on full range drivers or any other sort of small sized driver. Then, on a recording with a choir in the background, the realism was such that it took me back to my school days.
The depth of the soundstage and the feeling of body on instruments and singers is something that really stood out on the pro-drivers. And then they can get loud - imagine your amplifier clipping before your speakers get into any sort of real distortion and it puts things in perspective.
Of course, I have much to learn about these drivers. I will be doing my research (basically following diyaudio
) before I decide to go in for something like that. On a side note: those damn t-amps keep sounding nice. For about 10% of the fuss, they give you 90% of the sound of a Class A. That said, my next two projects are Class A.😀
Also, I'd like to thank Pano and his wife for taking out time on a Sunday for the demo.
Hope this helps.
R
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I have some Audio Nirvana full range drivers which I normally listen to.
They are about 96dB/W. I think that's pretty efficient.
They do a lot of things really well. Where they fall short is the bass.
I have an OB on my mind in the future. Perhaps a compression driver
on a waveguide or horn above 5 or 6k and a 15" woofer below 200.
I'd like to keep the crossover out of the midrange.
They are about 96dB/W. I think that's pretty efficient.
They do a lot of things really well. Where they fall short is the bass.
I have an OB on my mind in the future. Perhaps a compression driver
on a waveguide or horn above 5 or 6k and a 15" woofer below 200.
I'd like to keep the crossover out of the midrange.
A couple of notes:
Just so you don't think we were head-banging all the time, RA and I did listen to plenty at reasonable levels. =) But the Zepplin was fun. Big crunchy guitars and wall of sound. You think it's maxed out, then in comes a wailing guitar soaring over everything else. Cool.
Earl, just curious, do you remember what driver upgrades you made?
Just so you don't think we were head-banging all the time, RA and I did listen to plenty at reasonable levels. =) But the Zepplin was fun. Big crunchy guitars and wall of sound. You think it's maxed out, then in comes a wailing guitar soaring over everything else. Cool.
Earl, just curious, do you remember what driver upgrades you made?
Of course, but I guess you missed the joke. I even included a smilly face just to be sure. If you still want to know the answer go to Summa they are listed there. 😉
From ZenMod, yes it would have made me laugh my pants of, but it didnt
Well, Pano asked
Well, Pano asked
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Oh, OK. Thought Earl might be talking about his Summas (he usually is) but wasn't sure it was a joke.
Well, if you haven't heard a well implemented A5, you might be surprised. I would be very interested to compare the Gedlee stuff. It certainly takes the right path.
Anyone who has a pair is welcome to bring them over. I'd bring the Altecs to you, but they won't fit in the truck of my car! =)
Well, if you haven't heard a well implemented A5, you might be surprised. I would be very interested to compare the Gedlee stuff. It certainly takes the right path.
Anyone who has a pair is welcome to bring them over. I'd bring the Altecs to you, but they won't fit in the truck of my car! =)
Which one? Sub out is LP at 80Hz imo. From the previous posts somewhere else I have got an impression that signal for SW must be driven from combined LCR.
That is correct, you can do that with the DCX2496, although the center channel summation may be a little difficult. But L & R should be fine. Very few sources will have unique center LF. You can also make it "small" and that will route the lows to the L & R.
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