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Haven't seen you post concerning them recently, I'm sure you've been getting a good workout moving them around! I would like to experiment crossoverwise, I still have the altec 501 8b that I bought with the speakers. I noticed a slight (but noticeable) improvement when I changed out the wires to the woof and high end with vampire wire. Surely a crossover (with modern components, or motor runs,etc.) would make an even larger improvement. What are you doing crossoverwise? Regards, Russellc
The A7s are still making beautiful music. I have not done any mods as of yet. The woofs only had a couple of hours on them when I purchased them; they were rebuilds from Great Plains. As for wire, I'm using some plain-Jane 16ga copper wire form RatShack, and I don't plan on any XO mods in the near future. When the system is broken in, I'll do the wire upgrade (cryo?) and look at cabinet/XO mods. I'm pretty much just sittin' back listenin' to tunes. I know there is another level of sonic purity these are capable of repoducing, but the limited time I have for music leaves very little for tinkering......Colin
I know what you mean. Plus the more you listen "as is" the better base you have to judge mods. the Woofers will definately go through a break in period. Mine sounded good from the getgo, but bass improved with breakin. Let me know when you start crossover fiddeling, I am itching to go there and we could compare notes. Russellc
Do you have any good reference for XO schematics?......Colin
Not really, I have saved various altec crossover schematics when I've come across them, as well as jean Hiralgo (spelling?) from the A5 article in sound practices. I thought about replacing the caps and resistors in my 501 8bs, but I have heard others do this and not be pleased with the results. Thought about trying one of waynes (500hz) they of course, like the sound practices one above have high end compensation which flattens the response where it rises and pushes out the point where it begins to fall off. surely someone in the A7 community has done this before with success? russellc
Bruce Berman's xover for the A7's in SP is a good start.
Yeah, That's pretty much the same as I've been able to come up with. There are other XOs designs for the A7s, but none that I can tell are a major improvement over the original. When I got mine from Spkrman57, he pretty much said don't screw with the XO, because you're only going to degrade the sound if it's not dead-on. Could be why original XOs go for a pretty penny on eBay. Before I start messing with the speaker assembly, I need to do some room treatment. This will certainly be more noticeable than XO cap changes. Also, I'm going to start on a SE (811) pretty soon (see Group Build Forum.) My integrated amp (Cayin TA-30) is nice, but I'm hopeing an SE will take me to the next level.......Colin
What about Exemplar; they completely re-did the 7's, xover included and recieved great press on the result. Have any philosophy on bi-amping?
The exemplar and the sound practices article about it were what caused me to jump back into Altec again. I would love to have a set of those cabs. Unfortunately, the article I saw did not reveal the crossover. I am certain that what ever crossover they came up with is proprietary no doubt and kickass as well. Colinhester, you are correct that room is always the largest variable. Since my A7s are in corners, I found stuffing the triangular space behind the speaker with pillows deadens the back panel. My cabs are 828 which the entire rear panel comes off, not just half of it as some earlier versions like 825, which some say makes it less prone to this. seems to me both parts would resonate, but at a different frequency. great fun. Russellc
I'm not sure if I have seen this or not. Which issue of SP had it? I have most, but not all of the back issues. This name does not ring a bell. I know there was an issue or two before the one with the exemplar that dealt with modifying A7s and I don't have that/those issue(s). The back issues are still available on cd, but I hate to buy them all just to get the little I'm missing. I can not believe that of all the issues to have missed, I missed that one(s), being I'm such an A7 blabbermouth and all. I would be very interested in this crossover schematic and want to check it out. Maybe I should just break down and purchase it. Nuts. The electronic crossover route is said by many on the altec users forum to be the way to go, making a huge difference. I just hesitate to make an even larger mess with more amps and wires...it already looks like frankensteins laboratory around here. Thanks, Russellc
The one with the 76 pre-amp schematic and the guy with the A5's in the room. You have to e-mail him for the schematic I believe but he is still active. The show a ppicture of the xover in the article and the parts are all exposed. Seems cheap enough to Bi-amp, I used to electronically bi-amp my old DIY Focals and it did sound more spacious and full. I also sometimes bi-amp my 811/806/421 corner set-up with an active xover and that does well also. I cross at 1200 hz.