I have two sets of after market Altecs. One set of 19 Altec 19 drivers in custom cabinets and another set of Valencia components in aftermarket cabinets. This video is likely going to cost me a fortune. But I'm motivated to make these at least half as nice as the ones in this video! Love Altec 2 way systems and love hooking em up to tubes!

@theempiricalaudiophile3729

9 ай бұрын

That's very nice of you to say that. It does take time and money if you do not have your own wood shop.

Great job . Thanks !!!

Very cool. I agree with your analogy on tight bass. I’m trying to get there myself. It’s very real.

Very interesting, especially because of your A-B comparison between the modded Valencia and the Tannoy Westminster Royals. Tannoys do not have the efficiency of dispersion and sound smaller than their immense size would indicate. However, they are an imposing piece of fine furniture for mansions or castles. I just have a 15-18' listening room overlooking one of the most lovely white sand beaches in the world, 60 years now. Yes, I am growing older but my Altecs never seem to age. And they are of 100% domestic manufacture and material. Thank you, Mr. Empirical! Keep well.

@theempiricalaudiophile3729

11 ай бұрын

The test between the two speakers were actually surmise by the Chicago Audio Society that came with me to listen to the West Minister royals. Their honest opinion was the Altec sounded better. They told me it would be a big mistake to get rid of the Altec's.

Awesome job, thank you for sharing! You can puff up the Kimber 4TC and that will improve its sound quite a bit (decreases cable capacitance a lot). It's a good wire choice ;

Great job .

Great job ! 👍 Bet they sound better than new ! Beautiful

@theempiricalaudiophile3729

Жыл бұрын

They are! That's just not me saying that is from a lot of people from the Chicago Audio Society saying that. They actually said they sounded better than the Tannoy West minister royals.

@fabieneldridge3414

Жыл бұрын

@@theempiricalaudiophile3729 I’ve always liked them. I run Klipsch k-horns up front on B in back. Pair of Klipsch Belle’s . Together it’s as much music s anyone would want !

I have an 1984 set of Klipschorns and you are making me want a set of Valencias

@theempiricalaudiophile3729

Жыл бұрын

All you need to do is modify your speakers a little bit, and they will sound wonderful once again. They only need to be brought up to date and it could be done a lot cheaper than buying brand new speakers. Don't let me or anybody else convince you otherwise.

Great video, you have inspired me to fix my valencia,s 846B I was hoping you had a wiring diagram you might share so I'm sure mine are wired correctly regards David

I remember these, showing a striking similarity to big wood grain console televisions sold back in the 1970's.

I have a pair of Altec Valencia A's and the two best things I did to enhance performance were to swap out the horn drivers with new higher frequency drivers from GPA and to build new custom crossovers. There is no substitute for Altec Voice.. (midrange magic). I think the Crossover rebuild was the most important thing I did. Those sparkling highs from the new driver didn't hurt either, but turn that control down and tame those horns.

@sballestra9269

3 жыл бұрын

Do you mean new caps and resistors? Where do you get the crossover rebuild design? Cheers!

@seeburgm100a

3 жыл бұрын

@@sballestra9269 Complete custom build of crossovers a friend helped me with the design. I did the actual construction.

@vjc4

3 жыл бұрын

I got my crossovers from a guy in Germany and replaced the material in the horns with Mylar same as the new gpa drivers. I also replaced the wires inside the horns with dueland silver wire they sound amazing!

Thanks for your great share!! Is there any sound demo?

5:57 I would recommend to replace this metal core coils with a pair of 'air' ofc coils or (if money is secondary) ofc foil coils. I think this would improve the bass quality a lot. 'Mundorf' even delivers silver-foil coils. Also some MKP capacitors should give you a little extra quality in the highs. Nice work done. This bass chassis looks really great. What kind of motor is this? Neodymium?

I have a pair of these in parallel to another set on top with connected to a Crest pro 3001 amp in parallel running between 2 to 3 ohms and putting out around 600 per channel with tight bass from the high damping factor on the amp. I also have another room with Jbl and Wharfedale pros both 15 inches in parallel connected to a more powerful Crest amp.

@theempiricalaudiophile3729

Жыл бұрын

That sounds great.

Have you ever heard of Burwell & Sons? They have a $90,000 take on the VOTT, worth a look!

Hello, great video. I am rebuilding my grandfathers old altecs from the early 60s. He had diy cabinets that he built from Altec plans. They are a lot like valencia cabinets. I have to change the top and one side on each speaker due to water damage. Both drivers have been rebuilt and I had a custom crossover built. Anyway, I am copying most of what you did for your speakers. Using dynamat on the cabinets and horns, shot bags in the bottom etc. I have a question, what did you use for foam on the horn install? Thank you.

I have a pair of Valencia’s that I’m thinking of installing the components in some Capistrano cabinets that were converted to subwoofers.The Valencia cabinets are fair and the grilles are missing . What are your thoughts? Just really like the Valencia cabinets .

I recently inherited my dads 2 altec 846b. The horn isn't working on one of them but otherwise they sound like I remember. It really is amazing how they make it sound like the band is in the room. Do you have any suggestions on repairing the horn? I do not want to get rid of these speakers.

I had a friend in high school who had these speakers in a large upstairs room with a pool table. Many families had high-end audio in their homes back then. I do remember that his system was the best. This kid was rich the house was on a golf course. The day we met he asked if we wanted to smoke a joint. He came back with a whole trash bag of seedy Mexican pot over his shoulder. I was speechless.

@theempiricalaudiophile3729

Жыл бұрын

I knew a guy in the AUDIO club that had some Keff speakers and he sold them and regretted it. 20 years later, and wish he had not done it.

instead of kimber cable you should use duelund tinned copper cotton sleeving wires you will get pitch black behind the music without the ferrit and much better sound .i use it on my altec drivers and its an amazing sound....enjoy bro.....

@TriAmpHiFi

Жыл бұрын

Shay wrote "....you should use...". Etiquette suggests "...one could use..." 🔈🔉🔊

Conrad Johnson Premier 9, 10, and 11,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Nice, I had an 11 and I think it's the best thing CJ ever made.

@theempiricalaudiophile3729

Жыл бұрын

Conrad Johnson made some wonderful equipment but it was expensive and they still make wonderful equipment but it's way too expensive for me now

I have a pair of altec 872 b as you know they have the 15 inch bi flex woofer. I think they have a very good midrange. The bass sounds a little bit muddled. The cabinets are in very good shape. Just wondering what I could do to upgrade these speakers? My vintage system consists of running the speakers through a marantz 2270. My turntable is a Kenwood KD 550.

Could you share your cabinet mod plans and possibly your cabinet maker. I would like to do similar mods. Great job! I used that damping material in a Jaguar E type restoration and it works great.

@theempiricalaudiophile3729

Жыл бұрын

I did the modifications back in the early 90s and the cabinet maker is long gone. He used to work out of Lombard Illinois.

What is better? One 15-inch woofer or two smaller woofers in the same baffle? My ADS 1230s have two 8" woofers in each cabinet and they go down to 30Hz.

Great job. Did you put dampening material on the woofer baskets?

@theempiricalaudiophile3729

2 жыл бұрын

No not really it was not needed because I have the resin eliminator connected up to the woofer itself.

I completely agree with everything I heard throughout this video about the Altec Lansing Valencia and among all the other factors, I give due credit to your concern about the damping that you decided (and rightly so) to improve. There's only one aspect I can't figure out: How come you went to so much work and additional expenses to improve the sound performance of these magnificent speakers and authorize the presence of various decorative objects in the vicinity of the Altec Lansing, objects which, by their nature, can enhance the appearance of unwanted resonances? Macedo Pinto, Portugal

@theempiricalaudiophile3729

9 ай бұрын

Good point you bring up. However, I've always had objects on top of the speakers cause they are so big and have never really noticed any difference whether they were there or I took them off. Plus, the stereo has to fit in a room that the family uses and not a dedicated stereo room. Some of us are lucky to have a dedicated room, but I am not one of them.

@acreguy3156

8 ай бұрын

@@theempiricalaudiophile3729 The way you have beefed up your cabinets, external resonances are likely much less of an issue - although, once the sound leaves the speaker, it becomes the property of the room. Have you done any room treatments? Another question - by placing the sacks of shot in the cabinet and the extension on the LF driver, you have drastically altered the internal volume. Have you measured this affect?

The horizontal foam under the 811B horn encroaches on the horn flare geometry. Isn't this wrong? (Valencia speaker owner since 1974)

Do you recommend any where in Chicago to have vintage altecs serviced ?

@theempiricalaudiophile3729

11 ай бұрын

Sorry I don't.

Do you have a link to the damping material for the horns, thanks?

@theempiricalaudiophile3729

11 ай бұрын

I bought a dampening material, called Deadbeat. It used to be sold at Best Buy in their auto section but that was years ago.. You can buy it on Amazon and it's under the name Dynamat Xtreme, it cost $24.99 a roll.

Do you have any video that played music from the speakers? I know the are great but I like to witness ..

@roberte.andrews4621

3 жыл бұрын

KZread has dozens of videos featuring Altec Valencias playing music.

@alexcarlson3758

3 жыл бұрын

It would be cool to hear the modified versions

@mlebron20

3 жыл бұрын

@@roberte.andrews4621 seems crazy to “audition” audiophile speakers over KZread on a computer or a cell phone. My two sense, 😝

@theempiricalaudiophile3729

9 ай бұрын

Unfortunately, I do not because I do not want to get demonetized by KZread.

sorry I understand that you put the Dynamat on the horn, but I didn't understand what other modification you made by removing the driver, thanks.

@theempiricalaudiophile3729

Жыл бұрын

The Dynamat was used to deaden up the horn, which it did work. This advice to deaden up the horn was given to me by Ray Kimber of Kimber cables. It's also used on the 2 inch baffle that I designed which helps deaden it, too. Tried several different materials and found that the Dynamat was the best.

How can I access blueprints for this build?

SiZE - that;s the word.

Có bán loa ko

If you really want those speakers to sound better, scrap the factory cabinet and build one with bracing and a thicker baffle, front load and countersink the woofer so the gasket is flush with the face of the baffle and add an Aurum Cantus ribbon tweeter.

@theempiricalaudiophile3729

11 ай бұрын

Before I would modify the speakers any further, I would definitely have to listen to somebody who has already done it.

Un impiantone

Honestly when you have a bass driver and horn that looks like that, you would be mad to put the grills on them in the first place.

Really enjoying Marcus Miller I would recommend Birdy York’s album Wicked Little High great songs and production hope u check it out

@theempiricalaudiophile3729

9 ай бұрын

thanks I will.

Me too. But those are too big for my mountain home.

@theempiricalaudiophile3729

Жыл бұрын

I was going to college these speakers sat in a little bitty 10 x 11 room and I love them.

Why you did all the (highly debatable) things to your Valencia but leave the crossover in stock condition is beyond my understanding. The original caps aren't great and the L-Pad is one of the things that isn't great either...often corroded and and with bad contacts. I rebuild the entire crossover on my Valencia's with paper in oil caps, an autoformer instead of the L-Pad...did you re-magnetise your speakers magnets? After so many years it's likely that your alnico magnets have lost magnetism.

First. Change the dampingmaterial. Use jantzen parts for crossover.

All that sound deadening material and attention to detail, and then you cover the top with glass and ornaments!

@rickg8015

3 жыл бұрын

Must be the wife’s “condition” lol..

@theempiricalaudiophile3729

9 ай бұрын

I've been doing that ever since I've owned the speakers, and had never, and I mean, never noticed the difference, whether anything was on top of them, or not on top of them.

250lbs ea...??? What did you do put bricks in the bottom of them...????

@theempiricalaudiophile3729

Жыл бұрын

Each speaker weighs close to 250 pounds and I put 100 pounds of dead lead shot in each speaker. Each bag weighs 25 pounds apiece. I did this to help stabilize the speaker and it seems to have worked taking out any of the vibrations that would muddy up the sound.

@iplaymytele

11 ай бұрын

@@theempiricalaudiophile3729 Wow I never hear of doing that before...! I Guess all of my Speakers, are so Freakin Heavy... They Sound Good without The Extra Weight ...

Where is the empirical part?

@theempiricalaudiophile3729

Жыл бұрын

Empirical : based on concerned with, or verifiable by observation, or experience, rather than theory or pure logic. Example: They provide considerable empirical evidence to support their argument.

@videoscreenname

Жыл бұрын

@@theempiricalaudiophile3729 Actually, they don't. They give anecdotal evidence, which isn't evidence at all.

TO: The Unempiracal Pseudo-Phile: Your biases make the speakers seem better to you. The sacks of shot are just B.S, doing NOTHING for the bass, or cabinet damping. One should replace the capacitors, and any resistors with newer premium components made for audio x-overs, but you ignore the very important x-over . Check the resistance of the coils, and inductors, sometimes the winding insulation breaks down and can cause a localized short circuit. One inch O.D. threaded internal cross rods will apply a small outward pressure to the cabinet walls, thus damping the cabinet with very little volume loss. I have also used cables (practically no volume loss). The resin gizmo is nutty, expensive, and of highly dubious advantage. The gizmo takes up some cabinet volume, and it's supposed "benefits" I believe are all in your head. These models come stock with clean detailed bass to 30 Hz, why screw them up?. Furthermore AlNiCo magnets over time need to be re-magnetized. There are services that can do this without having to strip the woofer down to it's frame for ~ $40. A horn has to be 1/4 wave length of the fundamental audio wave to effectively provide an acoustic impedance match with the air. Your woofer bevel once again DOES NOTHING. The fact is Mr. you don't know your A** from a hole in the ground. ME A REAL ENGINEER, AND CURRENT LIVE PERFORMING PAID MUSICIAN (vocals, saxophone, and more).

@roberte.andrews4621

3 жыл бұрын

Adding 100 lbs. of weight decreases the resonant frequency of the cabinets, but does reduce the internal volume of the cavity for a modest trade-off in low frequencies output.

@ashlynholme1402

3 жыл бұрын

How can say all that about "gizmo’s " and what ever else you just wasted my life reading if you never heard them ? That’s a retorical question ... YOU DONT !!!

@mlebron20

3 жыл бұрын

Dear Davey Downer: I have a pair of 604Cs, driven by a pair of Futterman OTL3s, modified to triode. I listen almost exclusively to vinyl. Are there more accurate sounding speakers? Definitely. But much and maybe most of what we define as "more accurate" or "better" is really just a differentiation based on our personal preferences due to the way we each hear differently: there are scientific studies on this that will surprise you. I have been using the 604Cs for 43 years. To my ears, they are a bit colored, but to my ears they have a dynamic, lifelike quality that few of the dozens of other speakers that I have auditioned (just to make sure I am not missing out on something) over the decades come close to, and of those that do, then price by factors of 5 to 10 come into play. I don't expect to be replacing them anytime soon, and others seem to agree with my assessment. You used to be able to get a 604 on eBay for $400 bucks. They are going for 4 times that amount these days, and Great Plains Audio is making brand new ones at $1,800 each. I use weights to dampen movement. They do work. I blind-tested it with three friends, not as audio-inclined as me (and I did not tell them what I was doing to try to modify the sound), and they unanimously preferred the weights. But your threaded rods is a good idea. Why didn’t I think of that? I have to try it. I presume two pushing away the sides, and one pushing the top away from the bottom. . To your point, I replaced the stock crossover (notorious for their poor design) with Mastering Lab crossovers, which I sent to Jon Specter (blues guitarist, cousin of Al Kooper) to rebuild with audio grade Jensen foil/oil capacitors. They took two months to break in. Regarding the 604s “clean detailed bass”: bass was never a strong point with the 604s. I support them with a 15” Velodyne sub, crossed over at 70. I get deeper, authoritative and detailed bass from the sub, and more lifelike midrange from the 604s. You are right about the bevel. Doesn’t do bupkus. If there is a concern here, just front mount them: cheaper. Please learn how to spell empirical.

@mlebron20

3 жыл бұрын

See my new comment in this thread.

@theempiricalaudiophile3729

9 ай бұрын

Actually, I'm not biased. In fact, I was quite shocked to see once audiophiles hear the system, then they realize what they are missing. I've seen people trashed their whole system after listening to such an old system like mine for the first time. But then again, the Chicago Audio Society could be all wrong and you then again could be all right.

A bit of overkill.

@theempiricalaudiophile3729

Жыл бұрын

I don't think so because I saved a lot of money from not buying new speakers. I mean if you think about it saving $16,000-$25,000 on speakers, I could use that money for other things.

@kerrystansbury

Жыл бұрын

@@theempiricalaudiophile3729 There is no way you have great high frequencies from that horn driver no matter what you did to the driver and the lens. I spent 40 years looking for a horn driver that made cymbals sound real, Valencia 846B speakers were my second factory speakers, I had 4 of them. The only way they sounded great was by adding tweeter. I now have beryllium diaphragm drivers, they are the closest thing to the sound of ribbons I could find, and ribbons have the most realistic cymbal sound you can get.. I had spent around $25,000 on different combinations of either just horns and horns with tweeter. I run just horns now.

Bla bla bla sem ouvirmos as caixas! Kkkkk

@theempiricalaudiophile3729

Жыл бұрын

LOL!

Over 20-minutes and are an "SPEAKER" >>> Why no sound and not only 1-minute musik, you present a speaker and not only one tone and absolutelly nothing for ear??!!

@theempiricalaudiophile3729

9 ай бұрын

I do not have the equipment to play music and not have it demonetize by KZread. You might remember a long time ago nobody ever heard a reviewer's system. You went off of what he said, and then looked at the system yourself to judge whether or not you should buy it. Why is it today? Everybody must hear something over KZread.

What's the point of reveiwing them, telling us how great they are and not playing them? Pointless.

@theempiricalaudiophile3729

2 жыл бұрын

Back in the day when Stereophile an Absolute Sound was out in magazine form nobody could hear what they were listening to. The only thing you can do is go out and buy the CDs that they were recommend and listen to them off of your system and see if you get the same results. Today it seems like everybody wants to hear some systems over lousy KZread where the sound quality is mediocre at best. So what are you going to be able to evaluate?

@garytoddvolquardts126

Жыл бұрын

Right you think your actual going to hear how good they sound going through KZread then your watching device even with headphones wired one it would still be a horrible way to try to audition them not even close

@Cryptoman_5000

Жыл бұрын

@@garytoddvolquardts126 If you learn to download the video, it removes the KZread suppression. I suggest you learn how to do that. You can play it back with say VLC player which has multiple ways including an EQ, sound widener and several other options, and playback with DAC and listen through good or accurate headphones(audiophile grade), videos well tell you just how good or bad the recording mic is. Some videos you can tell are totally crap without any of that.

du blabla et toujours pas de musique !

All the ferrite magnets aren't necessary. Most of what these "golden age audiophiles" believe is all subjective nonsense. A lot of subjective adjitives here until they're properly measured you really have no idea what these speakers are actually doing. They're interesting speakers have a sound and a lot of romatic lore behind them. But in reality they're far from perfect and aren't superior to many modern speakers.

@mlebron20

3 жыл бұрын

They are not superior to some modern speakers, but they are superior to most. Read my reply to Dave below.

@iowaudioreviews

3 жыл бұрын

@@mlebron20 I've read Dr Floyd Toole's book along with Sean Olive plus a bunch of research done at Harman. Guarantee these speakers don't measure well along with pretty much ALL other vintage gear. They may sound good to you or others and thats fine, but doesn't mean they're transparent and faithfully reproducing the source. I'm not saying they're bad speakers but a lot of the vintage and pretentious gear is heavily hyped by subjective nonsense.

@mlebron20

3 жыл бұрын

@@iowaudioreviews Jon Specter measured my speakers after he upgraded the crossovers and they did measure according to the manufacturer's specs, which was more than ... well, ... more than well enough for me. And in any event, speakers that measure well can still sound ... well, not so well. A lot of modern gear is heavily heavily hyped by subjective nonsense. I'm constantly sticking it to audiophiles at audiogon about the $2,000 per foot cable interconnects and speaker wire: "Hey guys, I use chain-link fence to wire my speakers to my amps, sounds fine!" The bottom line is: am I happy? The answer is yes. And I enjoy watching the jaws drop and the s*^t-faced expressions on almost everyone I bring to my audio room (theaudioatticvinylsundays.com) when they first hear the system.

@mlebron20

3 жыл бұрын

@@iowaudioreviews Speaking of "modern speakers", do I have a story for you. I gotta run now, but later...

@mlebron20

3 жыл бұрын

@@iowaudioreviews See my new comment, posted not as a reply to you, but separately.

Bottom right on the HiFi rack/stand = The Drug Stash Box...⏏⏹⏺⏪▶⏩⏸

@theempiricalaudiophile3729

Жыл бұрын

SHHHHHHHHH! Actually, it's just parts that are needed for the turntable.