ICTWoody
No longer a junior member
Ended now. Must have accepted an offer.
I want to hear more about how you like the 475pb vs. the 802? I'm reworking some Valencia's and I was thinking about going that route.
- Woody
DIY Altec 2 Way Build ala JELabs - 802/32/414
- Thread starter marantzfan
- Start date
Do It Yourself
I want to hear more about how you like the 475pb vs. the 802? I'm reworking some Valencia's and I was thinking about going that route.
- Woody
First... they're so cheap, why not try them?
They replaced some 1950's 802B's which are very pricey. They sound sublime but roll off around 10k. I never liked the booster circuit in Altec XO's a lot of people use for their 800 series so I thought I would try the Radians on a tip from a friend who thinks they are as good as 802G's and GPA's new stuff. All I can say is that they have more high end energy than the 802B's without giving up anything else. FWIW.. I listened to both new and vintage diagrahms in the 802B's and couldnt tell the difference (along with a friend who has better hearing than me). My ears roll off around 12khz according to my ENT Dr.. But am sensitive to other qualities like leading edge, decay, dynamics and smoothness, and the Radians sound great to me.
ICTWoody
No longer a junior member
Nice. I'm going to probably pick up a set and put them on this other set of Emilar Bowtie EH800's I have. I'm planning on putting them into the 846B valencias I'm tweaking on.
- Woody
Please report back.
I dont see a lot of used Radians on Ebay... which is kind of surprising as I think they are common in pro audio.
There’s a lot of tube goodness in that pic, bonus points for Altecs!
Happy Day Everyone! This is my first post ever here in Havens and new to Altec speakers. I was intrigued by this post about 414/802/32 JElabs and recently started to hunt for 32/802. Since I had a pair of 416A, thought to begin with 416A and then look for 414s.
I was lucky enough to find a nice pair of 9849-8A in great shape for great price locally yesterday. Just played them last night for few hours, just amazing sound. Found one of the horn is plastic and CD cap was plastic over printed 23746, the owner did mentioned that to me while buying and I couldn't pass for the price !!
So, I'm now looking to raise them up from floor...What's the recommended stand height from floor? Which way is recommended to place them horns top or horns bottom? I'm also looking to upgrade the stock crossover to a custom built (I don't have much hands on in XO built but willing to give a shot). But if anyone has already have something built or components for XO and looking to part with. Please let me know.
Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you!
I was lucky enough to find a nice pair of 9849-8A in great shape for great price locally yesterday. Just played them last night for few hours, just amazing sound. Found one of the horn is plastic and CD cap was plastic over printed 23746, the owner did mentioned that to me while buying and I couldn't pass for the price !!
So, I'm now looking to raise them up from floor...What's the recommended stand height from floor? Which way is recommended to place them horns top or horns bottom? I'm also looking to upgrade the stock crossover to a custom built (I don't have much hands on in XO built but willing to give a shot). But if anyone has already have something built or components for XO and looking to part with. Please let me know.
Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you!
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Horns at ear height seated in your sweet spot. 9849-8A-8D
The horn goes on top unless you are hanging them from the ceiling - that's how the Altec 9844 was designed. Those LF drivers use the floor or ceiling for reinforcement. I use a clone of the N800-f crossover but you might contact @jmathers as his build is VERY close you yours and he digs the serial crossover he built. Very sweet sounding.
This is the series crossover I use (it's for the 414 though not the 416). It's the original JE Labs 2-way XO: Altec 2-way XO Redux
Now that I have a decent set of 414As I'll probably retry the revised crossover that runs the woofer full range (pictured later on on that same page). I have tried it before with 414-16Bs but after some time went back to the original one since I think the 414-16Bs are less able to go high enough to cross gracefully with the 802D on their own.
Good luck on your quest.
Jeff
Now that I have a decent set of 414As I'll probably retry the revised crossover that runs the woofer full range (pictured later on on that same page). I have tried it before with 414-16Bs but after some time went back to the original one since I think the 414-16Bs are less able to go high enough to cross gracefully with the 802D on their own.
Good luck on your quest.
Jeff
Congrats on a nice pair of 9849s!
If you're already enjoying music, I see no reason to upgrade the crossovers. However, if you want to learn DIY and play around with XOs, IME/IMHO, it's best to get to know the speakers before doing any mods.
If you're willing to dig through the first few pages of this thread, you'll find some 9849 info + proper orientation of the 32A/B/C horn.
But here are some shortcuts and tips:
As this spec sheet shows, your 9849 came from the factory with 8 ohm drivers.
Attached is a reverse engineered schematic of the 9849 crossover by @Salectric. I think this is a better starting point for you instead of the crossovers in my blog.
If you want a different sonic flavor, you can build the above circuit using low DCR chokes + paper in oil caps. I would suggest omitting the Zobel network (8 ohm + 18uf) across the 414-8B terminals, especially if you plan to drive the 9849s with flea power/no global feedback SE amps.
You can also consider running your woofer in wide range mode + the HF section of the 9849 XO above. I did something similar in my mono Altec mini 757 speaker which also uses the plastic 32C + 23746 HF combo.
Good luck and happy listening!
Assuming that you have the original drivers, diaphragms + XOs in your 9849, the reversed engineered XO by @Salectric + my tips are applicable. Just replace the inscribed 802-8G with 23746 (806/807 motor + 23744 8 ohm diaphragm) in the hand drawn schematic.😉
I just realize that you might have a problem sourcing the .085mH choke in the HF EQ section. If so, just harvest the ones already installed in your 32343 XOs. If anyone has a source for this choke, please chime in.
I've never handled the 414-8B, but if it uses the same heavier type cone as the 414-16B, in wide range/unfiltered mode, I'd cross the 32C/23746 down to ~ 2>3kHz. But as I mentioned in my previous post, use the stock 32343 HF circuit as a starting point.
Out of curiosity, thought to play around with my 9849A.
Kept the original XOs and just replaced the 23746 drivers with my 806A 16 ohms (since 23746 and 806-8A are structurally similar, I knew 806A are 16 ohms). With 806As in place it just sounded shouty and unpleasant to my ears at my usual listening level. After 30 mins of listening resumed to 23746 drivers. Is this an expected sound that anyone has experienced?
To me 23746 drivers with original XOs (looks all original to me, haven't deep looked into yet), 414-8B combo just sounds fantastic and I could visualize the band in my room - using 45 SET amp.
Down the path I'm looking to replace 23746 with 802D keeping the original XOs (custom XO design might take a while for me). Would 803D be any better experience than 23746 drivers or shouty/unpleasant?
Thanks
Kept the original XOs and just replaced the 23746 drivers with my 806A 16 ohms (since 23746 and 806-8A are structurally similar, I knew 806A are 16 ohms). With 806As in place it just sounded shouty and unpleasant to my ears at my usual listening level. After 30 mins of listening resumed to 23746 drivers. Is this an expected sound that anyone has experienced?
To me 23746 drivers with original XOs (looks all original to me, haven't deep looked into yet), 414-8B combo just sounds fantastic and I could visualize the band in my room - using 45 SET amp.
Down the path I'm looking to replace 23746 with 802D keeping the original XOs (custom XO design might take a while for me). Would 803D be any better experience than 23746 drivers or shouty/unpleasant?
Thanks
