MarkF Posted November 21, 2000 Share Posted November 21, 2000 I though I would share my modified Khorns. I amusing the ALK crossover (very nice), Altec 805b horns, Altec 288k squawker driver, the stock woofer and tweeter. They are driven by Cary 2A3 monoblocks, Cary SLP 98 pre-amp, and a Tjoeb tube CD player. Tubes in the monoblocks and pre-amp are the Sylvania Vt-231 (6SN7) and the power tubes are Sovtek 2A3's. I have KR and RCA 2A3', but Sovtek are by far the best sounding of the lot. The Tjoeb CD player uses the Siemes CCA 6Dj8's. With the mods these Khorns are very smooth with no harsh edge, much better than the stock. These were bought new Jan 2000 and existed for less than a month in the stock condition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyp Posted November 21, 2000 Share Posted November 21, 2000 Mark, You have a bunch of nice equipment listed and I'm sure it all sounds superb. When I see the photo of your transformed speakers, I am immediately reminded of the movie "The Fly". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J M O N Posted November 21, 2000 Share Posted November 21, 2000 Very interesting! So where did you get the Altec horns and drivers? It sounds like you already knew what mods you were going to make before you bought the speakers. How did you get to this idea? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Klappenberger Posted November 22, 2000 Share Posted November 22, 2000 Mark, Man, that's a serious looking set of speakers! It reminds me of the speakers I traded in for my Belles. They were Altec "Malibu". They used horns just like that (they might have been the identical same type) but ran them full range above 800 Hz. They had two 12 Inch woffers in an open port woofer. You have used the big sectored horn only as a midrange. I always thought using that big horn full range was stretching things a bit! Nice! Al K. By the way, I forgot to mention that I am proud to have my name on a piece of it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Klappenberger Posted November 22, 2000 Share Posted November 22, 2000 Mark, DAAAHH! How dumb can I get. I just realized the sectored horns in my Altec Malibu speakers where the 800 Hz jobs. Yours are the big 500 Hz version! I think I need another cup of Coffee! AL K. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Bey Posted November 22, 2000 Share Posted November 22, 2000 Wow Mark I'd love to hear those babies. Do you mind telling how much the Altecs' cost? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkF Posted November 23, 2000 Author Share Posted November 23, 2000 I paid $460 for the Altec 805bs and $500 for the Altec 288ks. Both the horns and drivers were in excellent condition. The throat size on the horns and drivers are 1.4. The 805s were a horn that came in the Altec A4s. The A4s were a speaker that contained a pair of 515b woofers Each loaded cabinet weighed 350# each. These were the big brother to the famous A7s. The dispersion of the horn is 40° vertical and 80° horizontal. So they have a nice distribution not too great vertically where you do not want to have reflections from the floor and ceiling. The other horn I considered was the 1005, but this horn is a ten cell and was just too big. The 288ks are 16 ohm with alnico magnets. Each weigh in at 30#, 7.6 in diameter and are very sensitive. Although the 288ks are rated a 500cps they were measured and easily go down to 400cps. I also have a several other midrange drivers; a pair of 16 ohm, Altec 288c, a pair of Altec 802s 16 ohms, a pair of JBL 2420s 16 ohm and a pair of JBL 2420, 8 ohm drivers. For a second set of speakers, different room, I use Altec 604s and augment the midrange with the pair of 2420s. The third set of speakers I use a corner Klipsch designed speakers, not Khorns, where I am using Altec 515b woofer, the Altec 802 midrange and a bullet tweeter. Each system is tubed, using everything from a Marantz 8B, in triode mode push pull, to a Audio Research D76A (uses 6550). My other two sets of speakers are non-descript. One is a Bose cube and the other is a Tangent with a Klipsch sub. In my opinion after having tried lots of stuff is I really like the sound of the Khorns with the 2A3 single ended triode. I am going to call Ron Welbourne of Welbourne Labs this winter and see if it makes sense to build the ultimate 2A3 with the absolute best parts to determine if the Cary 2A3 could be improved upon. And last but not least, the ALK crossovers are a treat to the eye and ears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Klappenberger Posted November 23, 2000 Share Posted November 23, 2000 Mark, It looks like you have had a lot of experience with Altec speaker components. I wonder if you might be able to identify the drivers that were on my old Malibu speakers. I edited out some of the comments about them in my earlier post because it sounded like rambling after I read it a second time, but they had a sectored horn that looked like yours but were smaller. Someone had put drivers from a larger horn on them. Do you know what model number they might have been? I would like to find out what I had. At the time I don't much about this stuff. It was about 1970 to 1972 that I had them. For that matter, have you heard of the Malibu model? Also, when you get some free time, could you please email me a larger version of the little insert of my network in your photo. I would love to see how you mounted them. Thanks! Al K. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Brennan Posted November 27, 2000 Share Posted November 27, 2000 Al-The Malibu was a home version of a popular monitor and used 2 414 woofers. Crossover at 800 cycles to a 806 compression driver, horn was the 811B radial. Mark's 805s are multicells, an entirely different animal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lerajie Posted November 28, 2000 Share Posted November 28, 2000 I think they look great. Any chance for larger pictures? ------------------ lerajie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted November 28, 2000 Share Posted November 28, 2000 Mark, the Doc at Bottlehead.com is working on a ultimate 2A3 amp - there is a write up in one of his latest Valve magazines ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J M O N Posted January 7, 2001 Share Posted January 7, 2001 MarkF, Can you compare your Cary 2A3 monoblocks to the Audio Research D76A amp you also have? I'd be interested to see how different the ACR amp would be to an SET (which I have yet to hear). Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Warren Posted January 7, 2001 Share Posted January 7, 2001 I have a pair of 288B drivers. Belonged to 1005 multicells. As a combination, I didn't like them. The 288B were not the problem, it's a good unit capable of a linear response to about 12kHz, it's the horn. They were top-hats to a pair of "Voice of the Drive-in" units I purchased years ago at a church auction. Still have the 288Bs, sold the rest of it. Good driver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shock-Late Posted January 8, 2001 Share Posted January 8, 2001 quote: Originally posted by Al Klappenberger: Mark, DAAAHH! How dumb can I get. I just realized the sectored horns in my Altec Malibu speakers where the 800 Hz jobs. Yours are the big 500 Hz version! I think I need another cup of Coffee! AL K. Huh...Al, you sure need to modify the "standard" AlK crossover if you want to use the Altec driver, don't you? Also, the midrange horn cut-off is 500 Hz, and the cross-over freq. is 400Hz...so, there should be a mod here too?? Would the basshorn be able to go up to 500Hz? Frans Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Klappenberger Posted January 8, 2001 Share Posted January 8, 2001 Frans, The pictures of Marks's new squawker horn reminded me of the Altec speakers I had years ago. They are long gone now though. They had a smaller horn and different driver. After thinking about it a while I realized the difference. The new horn and driver Mark has will operate over the same range as the Klipsch drivers and are the same impedance, so no mods were required to my network except changing the taps. Al K. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shock-Late Posted January 8, 2001 Share Posted January 8, 2001 quote: Originally posted by Al Klappenberger: Frans, The pictures of Marks's new squawker horn reminded me of the Altec speakers I had years ago. They are long gone now though. They had a smaller horn and different driver. After thinking about it a while I realized the difference. The new horn and driver Mark has will operate over the same range as the Klipsch drivers and are the same impedance, so no mods were required to my network except changing the taps. Al K. I knew about your first error, Al, i was just asking if a 288 altec could be use with an AlK x-over and also if a 500Hz horn could go down to 400Hz...anyway, you answered to both. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Klappenberger Posted January 8, 2001 Share Posted January 8, 2001 Frans, The woofer / squawker crossover in my network is only 6 db / octave. The roll-off of the horns is the main factor, so it will work just as well for 500 or 400 Hz horns. The squawker horn in my Belle Klipsch is 500 Hz (K501) and it works fine in it. I had an inquiry a day or so ago asking if an 8 Ohm driver could be used. After some computer analysis I found that only tap changes would be needed. So I can say it will work with most any good quality driver. Al K. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkF Posted January 13, 2001 Author Share Posted January 13, 2001 The Cary 2A3 is a very nice single ended triode amp, especially, if you spend the time and get the highest quality 6SN7 and 6SL7. In terms of how is compares to the ARC D76A, the D76 has lots of power but is lack coherence. With the 2A3, I can hear the individual pipes in pipe organ pieces and jazz is phenominal. I have just decided to order the Welborne Moondog amp with the ultimate upgrade kit. I think it could improve the sound even more. Once I receive it and build it I will post and let all know. As far as the Altec 288k's with the 805b horns, I have tried many combinations and find the eight cell horns do a great job of not beaming and they are very well damped so no need for dynamat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J M O N Posted January 13, 2001 Share Posted January 13, 2001 MarkF, Thanks for the update. Please do let us know your thoughts when you get the Welborne amp. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkF Posted June 16, 2003 Author Share Posted June 16, 2003 The Welborn amps are better than the Cary SE2A3's, especially in the bass region. The mids and the highs are very similar but the bass is deeper and tighter. It interesting how Q-Man and others are learning of the Altec 288's and the 805b horn. I had a audiophile friend of mine measure my system and he could not believe how could they sounded. His only suggestion was he thinks I should bi-amp with solid state on the woofer. It's a tough sell for this SET guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.