Got myself Altec A7-500!

Jon L · « **on:** 26 Oct 2025, 03:22 am »

I got so lucky! I added the supertweeters.

S Clark · « **Reply #1 on:** 26 Oct 2025, 03:58 am »

Very nice!

FullRangeMan · « **Reply #2 on:** 26 Oct 2025, 04:12 am »

Congratulations.
The models with Alnico Woofers have great sound.
How much are the sensitivity in this speaker ?

Jon L · « **Reply #3 on:** 26 Oct 2025, 07:42 pm »

Quote from: FullRangeMan on 26 Oct 2025, 04:12 am

Congratulations.
The models with Alnico Woofers have great sound.
How much are the sensitivity in this speaker ?

Depending on configuration, often anywhere from 97-103dB is quoted.
I do believe my pair will eventually meet my active crossovers at some point in the future, but that Altec midrange, esp low midrange, is compelling.

FullRangeMan · « **Reply #4 on:** 26 Oct 2025, 07:58 pm »

Looks great, how it perform with a small tube amp?

Jon L · « **Reply #5 on:** 26 Oct 2025, 08:33 pm »

Quote from: FullRangeMan on 26 Oct 2025, 07:58 pm

Looks great, how it perform with a small tube amp?

Will get to my tube amps in due time as well. It's a bit funny, but my tpa3255 amp on battery power is really sounding gorgeous on these

viggen · « **Reply #6 on:** 26 Oct 2025, 11:14 pm »

welcome to the altec family. i have a pair of carmels

Jon L · « **Reply #7 on:** 27 Oct 2025, 12:41 am »

Quote from: viggen on 26 Oct 2025, 11:14 pm

welcome to the altec family. i have a pair of carmels

Those Carmels are very nice with those dual woofers but seem very rare. I almost bought Valencias a few times, but most of these vintage Altecs command high prices especially if in nice condition.

S Clark · « **Reply #8 on:** 27 Oct 2025, 05:25 am »

I have a pair of Altec Flamenco's (almost identical to the Valencia's) in my surround system. They do some things astonishingly well.

Jon L · « **Reply #9 on:** 27 Oct 2025, 09:40 pm »

Quote from: S Clark on 27 Oct 2025, 05:25 am

I have a pair of Altec Flamenco's (almost identical to the Valencia's) in my surround system. They do some things astonishingly well.

Have you tried to add a supertweeter at all?
Adding a supertweeter correctly is turning out not to be a simple matter. I ended up changing crossover points, level, and physical time-alignment further to get nice results without causing side effects. Also, removing the grill helped to "remove the veil."

viggen · « **Reply #10 on:** **Yesterday** at 02:18 am »

which amp and front end are you using?

Jon L · « **Reply #11 on:** **Yesterday** at 03:18 am »

Quote from: viggen on Yesterday at 02:18 am

which amp and front end are you using?

It's kind of hilarious but currently using XiangSheng DAC-05A II (4x PCM1794, opamp rolled, tube taken out) balanced out to Aiyima A20 on batteries. Running DSP but correcting bass only currently. Sounds so good it's ludicrous

Will get to my tube stuff in time but in no hurry to change at all.

viggen · « **Reply #12 on:** **Yesterday** at 05:20 pm »

i also got a pair of 602C but it's just collecting dust since i got the carmel.

a few class D amps I tried with altecs didn't sound so good. but then these amps are quite old.

so, been sticking to low watt single ended.

why haven't you tried the FU19 with A7 yet?

Jon L · « **Reply #13 on:** **Yesterday** at 06:30 pm »

Quote from: viggen on Yesterday at 05:20 pm

i also got a pair of 602C but it's just collecting dust since i got the carmel.

a few class D amps I tried with altecs didn't sound so good. but then these amps are quite old.

so, been sticking to low watt single ended.

why haven't you tried the FU19 with A7 yet?

I will in time, but these days I hesitate to change things when the setup sounds so darn good. I even have Elekit 300B amp sitting in the corner.

lokie · « **Reply #14 on:** **Yesterday** at 06:33 pm »

They're upside down. Put the horn on top w no loss in square footage.

FullRangeMan · « **Reply #15 on:** **Yesterday** at 06:57 pm »

Reading your post remembered to suggest removing the casters wheels and placing the enclosure directly on the floor for more bass.

Jon L · « **Reply #16 on:** **Yesterday** at 08:43 pm »

My understanding is moving either the woofer or bass port close to ground will increase bass quantity but may worsen bass definition. With DSP bass management, bass already sounds great to me in my room, and I will likely experiment a bit with adding wings instead later just for fun. Also, the 511b horns are at perfect ear height for me, so horns must stay where they are

S Clark · « **Reply #17 on:** **Yesterday** at 09:48 pm »

Quote from: Jon L on 27 Oct 2025, 09:40 pm

Have you tried to add a supertweeter at all?
Adding a supertweeter correctly is turning out not to be a simple matter. I ended up changing crossover points, level, and physical time-alignment further to get nice results without causing side effects. Also, removing the grill helped to "remove the veil."

No supertweeter, but I did take mine to Danny Richies and redesigned the crossover. We measured and found a couple of issues that we corrected. Raised the crossover point and removed the back baffle. Just for grins and because it's easy, pull your back baffle and take a listen. We lost very little in efficiency and improved mid clarity (which was already good). However, your cabinet may make a bigger contribution than mine did. The big horn doesn't reach up too high, but my old ears don't either.
I also experimented with bits of foam dampening inside the aluminum horn. We found a resonance that could be damped.

FullRangeMan · « **Reply #18 on:** **Today** at 01:29 am »

How is the bass in this speaker ?
How low in bass this speaker go?

Jon L · « **Reply #19 on:** **Today** at 02:12 am »

These systems are not meant to go very low, reaching down to around 35Hz. These particular "16 inch professional" 515-8G woofers do have impressive native sensitivity of 105 dB and high frequency extension, which makes one curious how low-wat tube will do once directly coupled to it via active crossover.