[S Clark]

Last week I picked up a pair of Altec Valencia 846A-16ohm speakers in a Heath Kit cabinet. Pictures to follow.
Condition:  One horn had an open voice coil, but everything else was working fine.  Cabinets are stained dark, dark walnut with nearly a mm of old yellow polyurethane.  Tops are bad, sides are decent.  Grill cloth has damaged spots... may recover later and place an black expanded metal grill in front similar to stock Valencias. 

To date: I've stripped the poly off the tops with a heat gun and a razor blade... came off easy in large strips without taking the finish.
New voice coils came in from Great Plains Audio and replaced the shot coil.  Interesting, these flat copper wire voice coils develop weak spots and end up bent at 90* and then break there.

Note: Because I'm not quite right, I decided to see if I could solder a wire in place.  Took a section of fine multistrand wire from an old usb mouse, and after many foul expletives, managed to get both leads "repaired".  Who know how long they will hold when attached to the diaphragm of a compression driver? But it can be done.

I'll test every thing tomorrow, then start refinishing the top.  If I like the way it turns out, I'll strip the whole cabinet and do it right.  And this time, I'll take pictures.  There is a pic in a photobucket that I can't post that shows the sharp bending on the voice coil leads.  These aren't long for this world... if you can pull it up.
https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=dGm3q2BQ&id=745BAA2CCC8FF1A2DBD2985461D9037D79566FBB&thid=OIP.dGm3q2BQdA-X3rrBV7GPyAEsDh&q=broken+altec+voice+coil&simid=608002487122397538&selectedIndex=0&ajaxhist=0

Here's the ugly repair

[S Clark]

My cabinet has a routered trim, but aren't as pretty... for now. 15 in woofer, multicell horn mid/tweeter

[LesterSleepsIn]

This will be a fun project. Please send pics as progress continues!

[roscoe65]

The late great Zilch did a great modification to the Altec 19 crossover (nicknamed the Z19 or A19Z).  One challenge is dealing with the 811 horn, which is not the best for domestic reproduction.

[S Clark]

I've done a bit of reading about the Great Zilch.  However, I've decided to go a different direction.  In two weeks I'm taking one of these up to Iowa Park, TX, home of the Great Danny Richie to get him to design a crossover and look for ways to get the most out of these drivers and cabinets.  I'm sure Zilch had some great mods, but Danny is one of the top 5 on the planet, so I'm eager to see what he can come up with.   
And I've read also about the 811 horn... words like "ringing" and "harsh" are common.  Some have dampened them to describe them as "dead" and "harsh".  All that said, I've still heard a pair, for a short duration, that were actually quite involving and decently detailed.  At the end of the day, I'll make judgements with what I hear vs what I read and report back.

[Blackmore]

This is an awesome plan!!!! Let us know what Danny cooks up for you and enjoy those big beautiful Valencias.

[JakeJ]

Yes, please, keep us posted on the progress complete with pics where possible!

(Gratuitous post to follow thread.)

[bregez]

Note: Because I'm not quite right, I decided to see if I could solder a wire in place.  Took a section of fine multistrand wire from an old usb mouse, and after many foul expletives, managed to get both leads "repaired".  Who know how long they will hold when attached to the diaphragm of a compression driver? But it can be done.

For these types of repairs on fine stranded voice coils I have used silver conductive epoxy with great success.  No heat/soldering needed to risk causing more damage.

[S Clark]

That's a great tip! Thanks, Bregez.  Which brand do you use? Some on Amazon have some pretty poor reviews.

Now for some morning pics.


There it is, one old, beat up, Altec Valencia.


That old Polyurethane must have been troweled on originally.  Came off with heat and a razor blade.


This has a quick rub with a walnut finish restorer.  It's actually darker than that photo.

[Nick77]

Cool project Scott, they look a lot like my Pi4 horns. Have fun!

[S Clark]

Cool project Scott, they look a lot like my Pi4 horns. Have fun!

Actually I was thinking about you and your Pi's this morning, wondering if Wayne would have any insights into tweaking this speaker. 

[nickd]

Congrats on the Altec purchase!

From your picture; looks like those might be made out of Golden Oak then stained and clear coated over the years.

I have model 19’s and model 14’s. Couldn’t be any a happier really. The 19’s came with a foam cover that damps the mouth of the 811 horn. You can buy new replacements on the net for $35 bucks a pair. Don’t know how they would fit behind your grills, but I would put them on if possible before serious listening or Danny,s measurements.

I also agree that Danny is easily in the top 5 designers in the industry. I am super excited to see what he comes up with on the classic Altec Valiencia crossover. His voicing talent is perhaps the very best in the industry.

The Altec woofers are right up his alley, perhaps the best paper drivers ever made. The GPA drivers continue that heritage. You really need to hear the 12” paper woofer in the model 14’s it is better than anything currently available.

As for me, I restored the crossovers with new Sonicaps and left everything else stock; even the lively box and fiberglass inflill. I place the Altec’s up against the rear wall and use a Lyngdorf TDAI 2170 to fix the in room response and use the digital high pass on the Altec’s at 60hz to clean up the mids. A good subwoofer is a big help. Not much going on at 20-40hz on the Altec’s. Where they excell is at 40-16000hz.

It’s like live a live mic feed in my room. Audiophile stuff sounds broken after you hear a dialed in pair of Altec’s.

You are going to have a LOT of fun on this project. 

[fredgarvin]

Very nice! I'm all about horns at this point myself. They are so engaging and lively, an unexpected turn for me after years of narrow baffled towers and all the 'audiophile' trimmings. I'll be following your progress.

[S Clark]

I agree that these were originally oak cabinets, Heath Kit origin- although the drivers don't have the "made for HeathKit" marking common to the  HK AS101 speakers.  Bu there is no going back to a light color after the oak was stained very dark. I'd go through the veneer before getting white, unstained oak. 
That foam looks interesting... basically open cell foam on the throat and outer edges.  I may trim some No-Rez to fit.  I'm not surprised that you kept the "empty" box.  As you probably observed, the designers used fiberglass on one side, and not the other... by choice obviously.  It will be interesting to see what Danny thinks.  I know he hates resonating boxes... but he'll come up with something.

[S Clark]

This actually started about a year ago when I took some tube amps to a Dallas area tech (Frank Mufich).  After some conversation, we went to his listening room where he had a pair of Valencia's, and you know what, they actually sounded good.  Not good for vintage, but actually good.  Now I've got good speakers with the LS9's, so it's not like I haven't something to compare to.
So when helping a friend that runs a record store move warehouse inventory, there were these old Altecs with no markings on them.  They didn't know what they were, and even after telling them what they had, they still sold them to me for $200.
So two voice coils later (bought a spare), a can of restorer, I'm in for just under 400.

[fredgarvin]

Dynamat or other automotive deadeners are often used on the outside of the horns.

[S Clark]

Dynamat or other automotive deadeners are often used on the outside of the horns.

I've read of some using that.  I've also got lots of Plasticene (clay). Heck, I've got TT's practically made of the stuff as recommended by our late Chair Guy.

[Folsom]

Very cool.

You can put a hot rag over indents and steam with iron to pull wood up. Then lightly sand and apply your color/oil & later finish just like anything else.

You could invent ways to brace the cab but make the braces removable.

Danny will be looking to sell you some No-rez over the nasty fiberglass, Im sure.

[nickd]

With the 811 horns, adding dampening behind the flange does very little to tame the resonance. The rounded “lips” on the horn mouth exposed to the room is the issue. The horn is not really a true multi-cell as the vanes don’t go deep enough into the throat to be effective.

The vanes are actually part of the ringing problem. Some people cut out the vanes but that’s a bit of work due to the refinishing needed. The simple fix was installed at the factory on the 19’s. The foam damps the lips quite effectively even with the vanes in left in place. Well worth the $35.00. It comes shaped (tapered) perfectly just like the factory units.

As for the bracing and No-Rez, I am a huge fan of both. Look at some of the pics in my profile. My LS9’s were as braced as any pair ever built. My Baltic birch Super V’s also had No-Rez and automotive dampening sheets everywhere. Even under the cabinet on the bottom.

The Altec’s were designed to have some box resonance. Your pair may not be “factory” cabinets, but if well made, and they probably were, they should be close. You might want to do some listening before installing the No-Rez. Some of the magic is in the box. You won’t find vinyl dampening in a kick drum, up-right bass or Cello for a reason. 

Consider the early Altec’s more of a musical instrument. They are different from modern offerings indeed. I happen to like those differences. The LS9 has great bass. The super V is even better. In my rig the Altec’s are as lifelike in the bass as both of those reference level designs. Even with with the “dual density fiber board” box and little bracing to be found. Heck even the port in the 14 and 19 is just a square vent. But it works better than it should. Made me re-think everything I thought I knew about speaker design.

There is a reason Altecs dominated the competition in most of the serious recording studios during the 60’s, 70’s and even to the 80’s. They were far better engineered than they appear on the surface.

[dB Cooper]

For these types of repairs on fine stranded voice coils I have used silver conductive epoxy with great success.  No heat/soldering needed to risk causing more damage.

Never heard of that. Interesting. Sounds like a possible solution for broken foil traces on PCB's also.