George Roland Posted October 28, 2006 Share Posted October 28, 2006 Hello to all! Well, after several weeks of gathering materials, hardware and trying to find the time to do it, I finally got my Altec 511B horns mounted on supports and wired into my K-horns. They sound really great...smooth and clean at any volume. Thanks to all of you who encouraged me to try this out. My next step may be Trachorns! George Roland Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Roland Posted October 28, 2006 Author Share Posted October 28, 2006 I couldn't get all the pictures to load before...trying again. George Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macaltec Posted October 28, 2006 Share Posted October 28, 2006 Curious, I'm considering seeking a large set of Klipsch Heritage speakers in trade for my Altec A7's with 511 horns. Why did you feel the need to try this? Are the Khorns lacking in some way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macaltec Posted October 28, 2006 Share Posted October 28, 2006 What driver are you using on the 511 horn? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chops Posted October 28, 2006 Share Posted October 28, 2006 Curious, I'm considering seeking a large set of Klipsch Heritage speakers in trade for my Altec A7's with 511 horns. Why did you feel the need to try this? Are the Khorns lacking in some way? What driver are you using on the 511 horn? From what others have said, including George Roland, the 511B horn is much smoother and cleaner sounding at all volumes. The driver George is using is the Klipsch K-55V driver with a Selenium adapter to mate the screw-on driver to the bolt-on flange. I have done the same with my Cornwalls, except that I took it a few steps further and UPGRADED to the Altec 902-8B drivers, electronic crossover and bi-amped, resulting in a major improvement, especially over the stock Cornwall's K-600 horn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macaltec Posted October 28, 2006 Share Posted October 28, 2006 Maybe the bass bin is the route of my minor displeasure with my A7's. A more conventinal design may yield more satisfying results. I am using the 511B/808-8A combo with a Radain diapragm. I'm just looking for a total package. The A7 is really lacking in the LF department. The addition of another HF driver is fine but a sub to augment is getting abit out of hand. Maybe this needs to be taken to another thread so as not to stray too far off topic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chops Posted October 28, 2006 Share Posted October 28, 2006 Maybe the bass bin is the route of my minor displeasure with my A7's. A more conventinal design may yield more satisfying results. I am using the 511B/808-8A combo with a Radain diapragm. I'm just looking for a total package. The A7 is really lacking in the LF department. The addition of another HF driver is fine but a sub to augment is getting abit out of hand. Maybe this needs to be taken to another thread so as not to stray too far off topic. Yeah, in that case I'd try a vented enclosure, either with the Altec 15" driver or one of Bob Crite's (BEC) Klipsch clone drivers (CT1526) and keep that 511B/808 combo. BTW, you can see the route I took in the adventure of better sound here... [] http://chops.tzo.com/klipsch.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macaltec Posted October 28, 2006 Share Posted October 28, 2006 Thanks, I'll check it out. Got a link to the BEC drivers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chops Posted October 28, 2006 Share Posted October 28, 2006 No link to the drivers, but to the source... http://forums.klipsch.com/user/Profile.aspx?UserID=9312 BTW, Bob sells them on eBay as well, but I'd check directly with him first before resorting to the eBay route. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Roland Posted October 28, 2006 Author Share Posted October 28, 2006 I wanted to try an alternative to the Klipsch K-400 horn on the Klipschorn. I heard the Altec 511B would be compatible with the K55V drivers and would provide a little smoother response, perhaps a little less strident and "honky" at high volumes. I have not spent a great deal of time listening, but based on what I have heard so far, I feel secure in saying the the Altecs do not appear to me to be inferior to the K-400 in any way. I believe them to be smoother, a little more open sounding. I feel they may spread the sound out a little more. I would be interested in any other forum members' experiences with this pairing. Several encouraged me in trying this and it has been a fun road to go down. The K-400s are still in the K-horn cabinets, so all that is necessary to AB them is to change out the squawker wires. I'm still using my Crites' tweeter and crossovers. This turned out to be an inexpensive "tweak". What a great forum community this is! It adds a lot of enjoyment to this hobby. George Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Roland Posted October 28, 2006 Author Share Posted October 28, 2006 i hasten to add that the K-horn bass is wonderful. I certainly do not feel it is lacking. There may be other speakers with bass that goes lower or plays at subjectively higher volume, but the K-horn's bass' ability to retrieve detail, timbre, onset transients, is very good in my experience. I gotta do something about my K-horn cabinets that're beat to death, but the sound is glorious. George Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarheel Posted October 30, 2006 Share Posted October 30, 2006 Thanks for those pictures George....I want to do the same with my La Scalas using the 511b and 902 Altecs and your set up would be a great way of auditioning the new horns and drivers. Glad to hear your results were so positive. Chuck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddyi Posted October 30, 2006 Share Posted October 30, 2006 HI George - did the 511 have much ring left after boatint up to that board? that should be fun on DIY La scala setups. I ran trax on K-horns ~16 years ago but were cone-driven Edgarhorns with LE5. K400 's mouth (and maybe throat) is a bit small. Freddy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Roland Posted October 30, 2006 Author Share Posted October 30, 2006 When I was carrying the 511Bs around and would tap them on something, they'd ring like a bell, but once they were bolted to that 3/4 inch plywood baffle, they rang a good deal less. If I rap the backs with a knuckle sharply there is a short thunk. If I do the same on the insides of the horns from the front, there is still a bit of a "bong" sound, but far less than without the baffle. I have never heard anything while playing music on them that sounded poor. George Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Roland Posted October 30, 2006 Author Share Posted October 30, 2006 Chuck, Are your 902's 8 or 16 ohms? If they are 8 ohm, will you need to mod the x-overs? George Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest " " Posted October 30, 2006 Share Posted October 30, 2006 Chuck, Are your 902's 8 or 16 ohms? If they are 8 ohm, will you need to mod the x-overs? George Actually you can move the tap setting to a higher numbered position and gain the same net effect, since moving the tap setting to a higher position will double the apparent impedeance of the driver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarheel Posted October 31, 2006 Share Posted October 31, 2006 George...my drivers are 902-8T, the 8 ohm. Came in yesterday from seller on ebay....nice and clean. Duke said I must change my BEC xover since they are 8 ohm drivers. Bummer! I wanted to just set them on top of the speaker to try them out. It would also seem from comments I read that the horn needs to be bolted to a frame or I may get the ringing that prompted me to abandon the original horns. Speakerfritz...I know nothing about xovers but I don't think I can change taps on the Crite xover? I have been told to buy ALK universal but hate to spend the money just to see if the 511B is going to correct the ringing concern. Advice? Chuck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEC Posted October 31, 2006 Share Posted October 31, 2006 George...my drivers are 902-8T, the 8 ohm. Came in yesterday from seller on ebay....nice and clean. Duke said I must change my BEC xover since they are 8 ohm drivers. Bummer! I wanted to just set them on top of the speaker to try them out. It would also seem from comments I read that the horn needs to be bolted to a frame or I may get the ringing that prompted me to abandon the original horns. Speakerfritz...I know nothing about xovers but I don't think I can change taps on the Crite xover? I have been told to buy ALK universal but hate to spend the money just to see if the 511B is going to correct the ringing concern. Advice? Chuck Chuck, I don't know much about the Altec drivers, but you should be able to just move the tap on the autotransformer down one tap. Should be on tap 4 now and you would move to tap 3. Probably is already wired out for you on the crossover I built. Just unplug from tap 4 and plug in tap 3. Edit: Since yours are type A with 4500 hz mod, I may not have wired out tap 3. You might have to solder to that one. Bob Crites Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarheel Posted October 31, 2006 Share Posted October 31, 2006 Thanks for the reply Bob. I will take a look at the xover and hopefully just plug and play. Chuck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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