Altec? Or…I may be losing my mind.

[cal3713]

I just ran into these smaller form TAD horns yesterday... they're in Japan, but from a dealer that some folks over on WBF trust.

OTOMON Laboratory　(音門ラボ) / Pair Exclusive/TAD 2301 horn speaker system

 

[charles hidalgo]

After reading this I think my key question is, how "small" of a room are we talking about? That would shed some light on if that "sound" you are after is even possible, for me anyway.

 

[S0und Dragon]

that's why you should build 'em, once you're done spitballin'. they'll look like you want and likely sound fine, with exception to the horn artifacts

diy'ing speaker cabs is a dark art in any case, so worrying too much about size is not worth the effort. Add to that speaker variation and it's even less critical..have 4 414's (that even came from the same cabs), and each sound significantly different from one another. and it's not unique to the 414. All drivers whether its woofers or headphone drivers. vary widely due to unavoidable production and use/time variation. you could take plans from someone who painstakingly analyzed and build petetie onkens for a set of 414's and that will not mean your set of 414/416 etc will provide same results in that cab. Add to that the subjective nature of designing a cab (even analysing responses and graphs is subjective in large measure). Add to that room difference and one begins to see the futility...so I'd pick a look one likes, get close to size. build it, and play with ports and amp matching. done. enjoy

See....Statements like these turn me off from the whole Altec/Horn thing.

 

[S0und Dragon]

After reading this I think my key question is, how "small" of a room are we talking about? That would shed some light on if that "sound" you are after is even possible, for me anyway.

its a full room. with Stupid high ceilings. So 18 x 12 x 18. Nice and echoey.

 

[S0und Dragon]

I just ran into these smaller form TAD horns yesterday... they're in Japan, but from a dealer that some folks over on WBF trust.

OTOMON Laboratory　(音門ラボ) / Pair Exclusive/TAD 2301 horn speaker system

I love TAD speakers and the eXclusives. But in my limited experience, the complex crossovers just makes them a bear for low watt Amps. Not SET friendly unless I were to go high power SET. which has its own challenges.

 

[charles hidalgo]

its a full room. with Stupid high ceilings. So 18 x 12 x 18. Nice and echoey.

Okay.. small for me was a bedroom or similar, maybe 10x13x8. You room is not small, to me anyway. I was reading recently (can't recall right this second) where "medium" rooms were listed around 20x40x12 and I thought WTF? My 20x24x8 room falls into small if that's the case.

 

[cal3713]

I love TAD speakers and the eXclusives. But in my limited experience, the complex crossovers just makes them a bear for low watt Amps. Not SET friendly unless I were to go high power SET. which has its own challenges.

Interesting. I have no experience other than seeing the rated sensitivity of 97db which makes me think a 8w DHT 300b design would do quite nicely. Maybe we have different definitions of high power SET though.

The speakers are quite striking... I just found an image of them in someone's living room.

 

[Tom Brennan]

See....Statements like these turn me off from the whole Altec/Horn thing.

Well, rather than "getting into" them you can simply use them. I've had many stock Altecs: stock drivers, crossovers and boxes or simple Barzilay boxes, and enjoyed them immensely. IMO stock can Altecs get the range from 100 to 10,000 cycles as good as anything does and therein lies most of the music.

 

[Phillip Jeffries]

See....Statements like these turn me off from the whole Altec/Horn thing.

On a very granular level, I think it’s very rare to find any parts that sound exactly the same. Tubes, capacitors, speakers, etc.

Really liking those TAD speakers, too!! Wow! What do they sound like?

But, I’ve kind of diy’d, cobbled together, Frankensteined, about 4 different Altec systems…and it’s actually pretty hard to get it wrong. If you stick to the basic path, you get really good results. I’ve sold most of my other speakers…firmly accepted the dogma of the Altec cult…think we need T shirts or some kind of Illuminati style tattoo art.

I’m actually thinking about using my 612/605a’s in a smaller room, maybe 10 x 15 or so…the question to answer is do Altecs sound better in a smaller room than my generally worse sounding small speakers in that room? Maybe not the optimum situation among every situation, but perhaps the best solution for my current choices.

 

[S0und Dragon]

Okay.. small for me was a bedroom or similar, maybe 10x13x8. You room is not small, to me anyway. I was reading recently (can't recall right this second) where "medium" rooms were listed around 20x40x12 and I thought WTF? My 20x24x8 room falls into small if that's the case.

Nothing about my room feels big by any stretch. It is a converted garage and has odd dimensions with these ceilings giving me the cavernous effect…effect….effect…..eff….

I am currently working out on room treatments which will be the next project after repairs. That all said, if some speaker parts start landing on my lap in the meantime, I may very well cobble something together. I have also been thinking about having a system in my bedroom again. That would be tube based and streaming only in all likelihood.

 

[S0und Dragon]

On a very granular level, I think it’s very rare to find any parts that sound exactly the same. Tubes, capacitors, speakers, etc.

Really liking those TAD speakers, too!! Wow! What do they sound like?

But, I’ve kind of diy’d, cobbled together, Frankensteined, about 4 different Altec systems…and it’s actually pretty hard to get it wrong. If you stick to the basic path, you get really good results. I’ve sold most of my other speakers…firmly accepted the dogma of the Altec cult…think we need T shirts or some kind of Illuminati style tattoo art.

I’m actually thinking about using my 612/605a’s in a smaller room, maybe 10 x 15 or so…the question to answer is do Altecs sound better in a smaller room than my generally worse sounding small speakers in that room? Maybe not the optimum situation among every situation, but perhaps the best solution for my current choices.

Those TAD speakers are shockingly accurate and true. They do like a bit of power though. Don’t let the specs fool you. They will play with less wattage, but reward you with a bit of power. Hence why you see the eXclusive amps all a bit on the high powered side.

 

[charles hidalgo]

Most "horn like sound" out of a non horn I have ever heard. These are incredible when horns are not in the cards. They are my Halcyon speakers (in between the Altec's). Amazing sound. Good enough that I have kept them for over two years now, and honestly I am not sure if they are totally broke in.

Halcyon kit

 

[mpholland]

Most "horn like sound" out of a non horn I have ever heard. These are incredible when horns are not in the cards. They are my Halcyon speakers (in between the Altec's). Amazing sound. Good enough that I have kept them for over two years now, and honestly I am not sure if they are totally broke in.

Halcyon kit

Might be horn like sound, but I don't imagine you get much volume out of a 45 amp with their sensitivity rating.

 

[charles hidalgo]

Might be horn like sound, but I don't imagine you get much volume out of a 45 amp with their sensitivity rating.

I thought like that as well. Not the case. Though not blasting levels I did not let the sensitivity ratings scare me away. They play like a 95db rated speaker even though they are rated at 88d. You are welcome to come listen. They surprised me for sure.