George Roland Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 I write to follow-up on my inquiries about the Altec 290-16K drivers and suitable horns to mix with them for a "new" midrange for my k-horns. Here's the story. The 290s arrived in good shape and working, but one of them had a serious rattle in it when shaken. The Tangerine phase plug had popped out of position, perhaps during shipping. GPA told me they used Loctite No. 422 adhesive to mount these, so after a few days' wait, my tiny bottle of this particular super glue arrived. The service documents online showed how to disassemble, and service these units, and I was very impressed with the build quality of these huge, heavy drivers. I cleaned out the gaps and with the cement in hand, reinstalled the phase plug. This worked out fine and the phase plug was once again secure. I found a pair of Altec 311-60 horns on e-Bay which I scored. At a tad over $500.00, they were a bit steep in cost, but were in excellent shape. They arrived last night. I was so excited, I could not wait to hook them up. With the big weather-proofing "cans" removed from the back of the drivers, they fit on top of the k-horns nicely. I am using Bob Crites' network and tweeters in my setup so I hooked that all up to the "new" midrange and fired them up. I have not done extensive listening, but initial impressions were very good. While my ALK Trachorns were certainly a big improvement over the K400s, they were bested by this new combination. They are more open, sweeter and much more detailed. I could hear deeper and with greater clarity into the mix of sounds I auditioned. Upper bass has improved, honkiness is lessened, dispersion is better and the sound is just better in every way. I would certainly recommend this tweak to anyone contemplating it. This driver and horn combo are well worth seeking out. Thanks to all on this forum who have responded with good will and much helpful information to my many naive inquiries over the last year since I got my k-horns. It's been fun! George Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capo72 Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 How about some pics? I'm glad this is working out for you! Jeremy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Spinner Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 how far back is your listening position, since ya bought 60* horns ..?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Roland Posted July 25, 2007 Author Share Posted July 25, 2007 Hi Guys, I'll try to post a picture with this reply. Nothing fancy...things just sitting on top of the bass bin just now. Duke--my room is 24' x 14' x 8'. The k-horns are on the short wall 'cause that's the only place I have corners for them, so the bass bins' centers are ca. 10.5 ' apart. I am between 16' and 20' away when listening. Because of the axes involved, I rotate the top endspeakers towards the outer walls of the room, so that, from where I'm sitting, I am pretty much staring right down the bore of the mid horns. I hope this is evident in the photo if I can get it to upload. Thanks, George Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Roland Posted July 25, 2007 Author Share Posted July 25, 2007 Thanks, Jeremy. BTW, do you happen to know what the horizontal and vertical dispersion figures are for the wooden horns about which you just posted? George Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oscarsear Posted August 3, 2007 Share Posted August 3, 2007 George... I have Khorns on about a 15 foot wall. I also use a center channel. Like you I use a separate mid-range and tweeter set-up. I orient mine on the outer edges of the Khorns so they remain parallel with the face of the base bin and still at a 45 degree angle. I've posted a pic or tried to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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