George Roland Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 This may have been a dumb thing to do, chalk it up to an impulse buy, but I have been interested for some time in trying out some midrange drivers with my K-Horns other than the K-55V, so I picked up a pair of Altec 290 16K drivers on e-Bay. It will be a week or so before they get here, so in the meantime, I have a bunch of questions centering around what to do with them. [] I have NO experience with new midrange drivers, so please bear with some really naive questions. I have been to an Altec site, and I have the spec sheet on these drivers. Here are my initial questions-- 1. What kind of wiring issues are there? That is, how do I attach wires to use these drivers in an audio system, assuming I will not be using the transformers that come with them for sound reinforcement? 2. Is there an easy way to determine whether or not they work, like touching an AA battery to the connections? 3. How do I test the impedance and what is a useful range for these if they are working properly? (I do have a little RS digital meter.) 4. I assume these will have to be mated to horns that have a larger mouth area than the Trachorns or K-400s that came with my K-horns? djk suggested 805, 1005, 311-90. Any thoughts on these choices? 5. Finally can I use my current crossovers (Crites') to test these, and if not, what are my options? Many thanks, George Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kudret Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 George, I cant help much, but how much did you pay for them? I am looking for a pair myself as well as a pair of 311-90. Kudret Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oscarsear Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 I'm amazed you found a pair of 290 16ohm Altecs let alone working ones. I too have been eyeballing those but have yet to have seen any. Admittedly I stopped looked hard at E-bay awhile back so I missed seeing these. There's a nice pair of 4ohm 290's there now (290E). The 311-90 Altec horn is the ticket for these if your going to cross them low (300 to 400hz). But with a properly sized tractix horn they should do well low also. There are some manufactured but they are very expensive (Sierra Brooks, Oris). Many here have built their own and have done well with it. Congrats on the find. Let us know how they work. I run JBL 2482 mid-range drivers on Khorns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgar Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 I am looking for a pair myself ... See message #914769. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Roland Posted June 22, 2007 Author Share Posted June 22, 2007 Krudet, I paid $168.24 + 60.00 s/h for them. There were a couple pairs on e-Bay with an 8 ohm rating that went for about that much around the same time. Good luck finding a suitable pair, and let me know how they work out for you. George Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kudret Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 Thanks, Edgar. I wish I could make the trip from Montreal to Vermont. Kudret Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kudret Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 George, That's a pretty good price. I'll keep my eyes on eBay for the next pair . Kudret Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest " " Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 "I assume these will have to be mated to horns that have a larger mouth area than the Trachorns or K-400s that came with my K-horns? djk suggested 805, 1005, 311-90. Any thoughts on these choices?" an easy way to go large format with out changing the appearence of your speakers is to use k-401 horns and modify them by getting them cut to 2" throat size and have a mating plate applied. I'm going to be doing this to mount some k-69-a's, if you are intrested in the same solution, shoot me an email. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgar Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 For anyone else who might be interested, I checked again and mine are 8 Ohm. If you really have to have 16 Ohm, I suspect that it's only a diaphragm replacement away. Check with Bill Hanuschak at Great Plains Audio to be sure: "http://www.greatplainsaudio.com/PartsList.html". Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q-Man Posted June 24, 2007 Share Posted June 24, 2007 Your right, I bought a couple of 16 ohm diaphrams, rubber washers, and horn mounting bolts from Bill. You can, or you used to be able to ship the whole driver to Bill to be checked out. The 311-90 horns are hard to find. It took me over a year to find my three pairs, and I had to pay between $600.00 and $900.00 a pair for them. I don't know why, but there are a lot of people that bid on these horns. This was the mod that ended my speaker tweaking days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Roland Posted June 24, 2007 Author Share Posted June 24, 2007 Q-man, Glad to learn these parts are still available. Did this combo of driver and horn end your speaker tweaking days because you are so happy with it or because you are out of money!? I've heard a lot about "ringing problems" with these horns. Has that been a problem for you? Did you do any damping to them? George Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djk Posted June 25, 2007 Share Posted June 25, 2007 " If you really have to have 16 Ohm" Why? In networks with an autoformer just move it down one tap for 8 ohm and two taps for 4 ohm 290s. The level and crossover point all comes out the same. 805s and 1005s are much less expensive than 311-90 (collectable). 805s work well on the narrow wall, 1005s on the long wall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kudret Posted June 26, 2007 Share Posted June 26, 2007 In networks with an autoformer just move it down one tap for 8 ohm and two taps for 4 ohm 290s. The level and crossover point all comes out the same. djk, That's good to know. 805s and 1005s are much less expensive than 311-90 (collectable). 805s work well on the narrow wall, 1005s on the long wall. Are you referring to the distance to the back wall? Kudret Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kudret Posted June 26, 2007 Share Posted June 26, 2007 My objective was to follow in Q-Man's footsteps and get a pair of 311-90 and 290-16K. Realizing that this might take a while, will 290E also work? What's the difference between 290-K, L and E? Kudret Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q-Man Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 Hi George, I can't say that I noticed any ringing with the 311-90 horn. It's a cast aluminum sectoral horn, and it is 1/4" thick in it's thinest places. The cut off frequency is 220Hz. and with the Altec 290-16K or L driver the horns usefull bandwidth is 300Hz to 7kHz. It tips the scales at about 40 to 50 lbs., and the 290 adds another 25 lbs. You have a monster on your hands, once you build a Top Hat to put it in then add the JBL 2404H tweeter, and a network. The combo makes for a top heavy Klipschorn. I know that the Altec boys and some other horn lovers say that the 311-90 and the Altec 329-A horns are some of the best sounding horns that you will ever hear. I know that is a strong statement, but that's what made me want to try them. I'm very pleased with the sound, it would take me another couple of years of experimenting to come up with what might be a better sound. ebay is a blessing, you can sell most any driver and horn that you buy for about the same price that you payed for them. Your not stuck trying to convince yourself that you like the sound of a horn or a driver, just because you bought it. You can make a non bias decision and move on. You can have a lot of fun and learn something too. My wife would tease me about the daily visits from FedEx and UPS. I'll try to find and pull up some of my old post about this mod. Look for them here and in the Home Theater section. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djk Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 Q-man: IIRC, at one point you were using the 805 horn. Could you contrast that with the 311-90 for us please? "Are you referring to the distance to the back wall?" In a rectangular room one wall is short, the other is long. Cornerhorns go against one wall. If the wall is the short one.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Roland Posted June 27, 2007 Author Share Posted June 27, 2007 Thanks a lot for you reply. Do you have a large photo or two of your setup with the 311s you could post for the rest of us? George Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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