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It struck me that I hadn?t posted a thread on arguably a pair of the better speakers, and definitely the most interesting speakers I have owned. I have some time, sitting idly listening to music, so here goes...
I was first exposed to the Altec Lansing brand in the early 1990s, when I went shopping for car audio in Fort Lauderdale while visiting family. The car sound shop was amazing, and was next to an adult video store, making it all the more exotic to a suburban kid who had grown up in the verkrampt South African 80?s.
I was looking for a split system, and when my eyes fell on the ALS 525 set, replete with carbon fibre cones and sexy grilles, I immediately put my dollars down. After an extended visit to the video store, I was on my way back to our vacation home, to deal with the daunting challenge of packing all my spoils so that customs wouldn?t require a cavity search.
The speakers were merely average.
Fast forward a few years, and I was involved in a business that held the JBL agency, so I was schooled in James B Lansing lore. I had zero connection to the vintage gear, though. My youthful arrogance turning its nose up at that magic in favour of the boom sizzle of the contemporary crap that we were selling.
Through the meandering of the hobby, I developed an obsession with high sensitivity speakers. Horns, old drivers. And I love big speakers - perhaps some form of compensation? I had heard Altec VOTT mentioned in almost revered tones. Never experienced it, the closest I came was listening to some vintage drivers here and there.
So when Alan advertised a cheap set of A7 cabinets, comprising 828 bass cabs, and 511b horns, for a giveaway price, I jumped on them. Not literally, because I am old and podgy and they are big, but I offered to buy them.
After some reading, and consultation with Alan?s clever Uncle Chris and Rob the speaker builder, we decided on a strategy. Reinforce the cabinets, build the horns into sand filled enclosures. Rob did a splendid job. So splendid that the 200-odd kg each behemoths were almost impossible to transport!
I was lucky enough to get hold of a set of 421-8LF from Mark (which I am eternally grateful for), and imported a set of BMS 4550 compression drivers, reputed to be a good match. Technically, the 828 cabs with 421-8LF and 511 are a 1236, a high output version of the A7 that can handle much more power, with similar sensitivity.
The 1236 uses the 1209-8 crossover, I found the schematic (damn I love the internet), and ordered parts to build.
Upon assembly and fettling, the whole thing came together remarkably quickly. The wealth of information available meant I was able to make good calls, and the system sounded fantastic. Subsequent crossover tweaks led me to beg a set of of 908 compression drivers off Mark. They seem to be the final piece of the puzzle. The compromises I needed to make on the crossover are gone. I am able to find a sweet spot that measures brilliantly, and sounds better.
So how do they sound? They sound small and intimate, yet big and powerful. They are smooth and sweet, yet almost comedically dynamic. They are not the last word in any given area, but as a package they are comfortably the best speakers I?ve had in this room. Need to finish off the crossovers, mount in cabs, and finalise a tweeter positioning system. Also looking at adding low bass reinforcement (a double folded horn using low Fs 10? woofers).
Very grateful to the community that helped my build these. No idea where to from here though...
I was first exposed to the Altec Lansing brand in the early 1990s, when I went shopping for car audio in Fort Lauderdale while visiting family. The car sound shop was amazing, and was next to an adult video store, making it all the more exotic to a suburban kid who had grown up in the verkrampt South African 80?s.
I was looking for a split system, and when my eyes fell on the ALS 525 set, replete with carbon fibre cones and sexy grilles, I immediately put my dollars down. After an extended visit to the video store, I was on my way back to our vacation home, to deal with the daunting challenge of packing all my spoils so that customs wouldn?t require a cavity search.
The speakers were merely average.
Fast forward a few years, and I was involved in a business that held the JBL agency, so I was schooled in James B Lansing lore. I had zero connection to the vintage gear, though. My youthful arrogance turning its nose up at that magic in favour of the boom sizzle of the contemporary crap that we were selling.
Through the meandering of the hobby, I developed an obsession with high sensitivity speakers. Horns, old drivers. And I love big speakers - perhaps some form of compensation? I had heard Altec VOTT mentioned in almost revered tones. Never experienced it, the closest I came was listening to some vintage drivers here and there.
So when Alan advertised a cheap set of A7 cabinets, comprising 828 bass cabs, and 511b horns, for a giveaway price, I jumped on them. Not literally, because I am old and podgy and they are big, but I offered to buy them.
After some reading, and consultation with Alan?s clever Uncle Chris and Rob the speaker builder, we decided on a strategy. Reinforce the cabinets, build the horns into sand filled enclosures. Rob did a splendid job. So splendid that the 200-odd kg each behemoths were almost impossible to transport!
I was lucky enough to get hold of a set of 421-8LF from Mark (which I am eternally grateful for), and imported a set of BMS 4550 compression drivers, reputed to be a good match. Technically, the 828 cabs with 421-8LF and 511 are a 1236, a high output version of the A7 that can handle much more power, with similar sensitivity.
The 1236 uses the 1209-8 crossover, I found the schematic (damn I love the internet), and ordered parts to build.
Upon assembly and fettling, the whole thing came together remarkably quickly. The wealth of information available meant I was able to make good calls, and the system sounded fantastic. Subsequent crossover tweaks led me to beg a set of of 908 compression drivers off Mark. They seem to be the final piece of the puzzle. The compromises I needed to make on the crossover are gone. I am able to find a sweet spot that measures brilliantly, and sounds better.
So how do they sound? They sound small and intimate, yet big and powerful. They are smooth and sweet, yet almost comedically dynamic. They are not the last word in any given area, but as a package they are comfortably the best speakers I?ve had in this room. Need to finish off the crossovers, mount in cabs, and finalise a tweeter positioning system. Also looking at adding low bass reinforcement (a double folded horn using low Fs 10? woofers).
Very grateful to the community that helped my build these. No idea where to from here though...
