help with DIY iconic

B

bpj911

First post. I've got a set of 612 (ish) cabinets. They are 9 cubic feet rather than 6. Currently house 604-8gs. Also have 604-8ks with crossovers on hand.

I've wanted to have a set of H808 multicellular horns but doesn't seem like I'll ever find any reasonably price and I do have kids and a mortgage so I'm contemplating other ideas.

I've had a set of Altec 19s and liked them well but don't care for the cabinet design or the look of the 811b.

I'd like to perhaps consider an Emilar EH800 on top of my 612s for a DIY iconic look.

Questions:

Can I utilize my 604s sans HF driver for the bass cabinet and just hook up the EH800 to my existing crossover?

If this isn't practical, what can I look for that would work without a lot of issues or a lot of tinkering? 416?

Ideas? I basically don't want to spend a million dollars getting all the super desirable parts, it's just not that important. I am generally satisfied with the sound of the 604s as is, I just want the horn on top of the cabinet. :)

Thanks
 

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Welcome to the Haven and great looking cabinets. You can just use the 604 sans HF. @mhardy6647 uses his this way (Sacrilege if you ask me;)). I myself have 604E’s and love them to death and am building subs to round out the bottom end. Additionally am building Iconic replicas not because they might sound better but rather how cool they look! Oh, you can also get 808 Plastic horns here if @Tsingtao_1903 is still printing them.
 
Thanks, I messaged Tsingtao_1903. Is the 604 8g more or less desirable than the 8K for this purpose? Would I need to alter the crossover? It seems the woofer must make it up to there far enough for the little 604 horn to take over so not sure why it wouldn't work for this purpose reasonably well
 
Welcome to the Haven @bpj911! Those are some gorgeous cabinets you have there and I’ll bet they sound great with the 604’s. I’ve got a pair of 604-8g’s myself in a pair of 620 cabinets.

As to your question about using the LF section only with an 808 horn, that’s certainly something you can do but 416’s aren’t too pricey, I’d eventually get a set. They have the exact same frame size and bolt pattern as the 604’s so they would be a drop in.

Are you planning to replace the 604’s or set them up in different cabinets once you get your Iconics built?

Btw, another option for 808 horns is Markus Klug. He builds wooden replicas. In fact, he’s crafting a pair of 1005b’s for me as we speak.

800 Hz » Markus Klug und seine Hörner

klughoerner.com klughoerner.com
 
The cabinets look great! Id raise them a bit more to get the hf horn closer to ear height and leave it at that, I heard a pair of 604 in jan and thought they sound really good, i heard them compared to 414z, 802g on 808 horns and thought the 604 edged it slightly
 
Audionut said:
Welcome to the Haven and great looking cabinets. You can just use the 604 sans HF. @mhardy6647 uses his this way (Sacrilege if you ask me;)). I myself have 604E’s and love them to death and am building subs to round out the bottom end. Additionally am building Iconic replicas not because they might sound better but rather how cool they look! Oh, you can also get 808 Plastic horns here if @Tsingtao_1903 is still printing them.
Click to expand...
I actually have fairly recently recanted of my apostate ways and gone 515B. Sorry I didn't mention it earlier ;)

DSC_8292 (2) by Mark Hardy, on Flickr
DSC_8282 (2) by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

Full disclosure -- the 515Bs are 1) gorgeous and 2) not technically (at least currently) mine. They are on loan/approval from a regional guru. Imagine that. :o
 
Is the 604-8K crossover appropriate for a project like this? I also have the 604-8g crossover of course. thanks!
 
Good stuff!
With those nice looking cabinets it does seem that it would be good to get them up a little higher as long as the 604's are in them. At the current height they would be great for the 416 or 515 for sure with a horn on top. Also, if they are underwhelming as-is, maybe we need to take a look at the crossover.
 
I dont know what the details of the 604 xovers are but I suspect they are xing over north of 1khZ.

The whole point of implementing a horn like an Emilar 800 is to have one driver cover the important bandwidth of 800 to 8khZ. with a 109db efficient compression driver which in theory means less distortion and phase anomalies.

I also have an Emilar 800 (sitting on a shelf for now) that I've been thinking about.... the 612 cabinets are high on the list... if u have the room. I still havent decided on the driver but really like the Radian's.

Anyway.... I would do a simple coil on the woofer. I just rebuilt my 2-way with the Solen inductors and can tell you they sound incredible. If you give them your driver and xover point they will tell you what you need. I would guesse you could do it all for $200 or less.
 
They are not underwhelming, in fact they sound fantastic with either the 604-8G or 604-8Ks that I have on hand. I just want a horn on top of the cabinet is the entire exercise here utilizing as much of the things I already have as possible.
 
bpj911 said:
They are not underwhelming, in fact they sound fantastic with either the 604-8G or 604-8Ks that I have on hand. I just want a horn on top of the cabinet is the entire exercise here utilizing as much of the things I already have as possible.
Click to expand...

I mean... horns on top of the cabinet look cool, but this feels like your taking a step backwards. You have some of the best coaxial speakers Altec ever made. I don't know why you would want to give up the advantages of the point-source configuration that they give you. Moving the HF away from the woofer won't provide any advantages.

I'm a designer, I get aesthetics. And horns are cool to look at, I get it. But if you aren't in love with the 604's why not just sell them (for really good money, along with the networks) and then buy a proper pair of 416 woofers (which will play lower in those cabs) and then do your horn on top idea along with some nice networks. You'd probably have money left over... in fact, I know you would.

I dunno man... this seems like slapping a big spoiler on a Ferrari and then running it on 6 of the 12 cylinders.

- Woody
 
Is there a way to list 604s on this site with less than 50 posts? I suppose I should just sell one set and then I won't be tempted to make any more cabinets. I can't decide whether I like the 604-8gs better than the 604-8ks. Basically, if someone swapped them when I was sleeping I don't know if I'd even notice.
 
bpj911 said:
Is there a way to list 604s on this site with less than 50 posts? I suppose I should just sell one set and then I won't be tempted to make any more cabinets. I can't decide whether I like the 604-8gs better than the 604-8ks. Basically, if someone swapped them when I was sleeping I don't know if I'd even notice.
Click to expand...

I don't know on the classified listing requirement. That would be a question for @Prime Minister

As for the 604's... I'd personally keep the 8G's just cause I like the AlNiCo magnets. The 8G's are worth more though, so maybe thats the set you want to sell if you can't hear a difference and are kinda indifferent to them.

I do believe the 8G has a wider response range.

I think selling a set to fund what you're wanting to do is a great idea. I should probably have read the thread closer cause I didn't even realize you had two sets.

- Woody
 
ICTWoody said:
I don't know on the classified listing requirement. That would be a question for @Prime Minister

As for the 604's... I'd personally keep the 8G's just cause I like the AlNiCo magnets. The 8G's are worth more though, so maybe thats the set you want to sell if you can't hear a difference and are kinda indifferent to them.

I do believe the 8G has a wider response range.

I think selling a set to fund what you're wanting to do is a great idea. I should probably have read the thread closer cause I didn't even realize you had two sets.

- Woody
Click to expand...
I say go for it. :)
 
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