Clash of the Titans - Vintage Altec Vs. Vintage Tannoys - My DIY experiences

[cybervinay]

Hi,



Santosh,you are correct but Vinay has modified and added a passive radiator(dummy driver) to the cabinet.I am not sure what this does to the tuning/sound. Passive radiators not tuned right will blur bass definition.




The Tannoy dual concentric and Altec Duplex drivers are famed for their imaging,because of their point source design.

Regards
Rajiv

Absolutely agree Rajiv.

Vinay, you should consider taking out that additional driver and making a new baffle (if possible). I have found even having another pair of speakers in the same room affect the sound.

The best way to control the Negative effects of another speaker in the same room is by shorting the +ve and -ve terminals when they are not in use.

Glad to have so much interest. I have not even shared the photos of speakers (passive replica) and lot of speculations going on. I am listening and will change things as per advice if it does not work as I planned.

I will listen and confirm how it is souding in my room. The bottom driver is a replica of the Altec 604-8G and is pretty thick.If it impacts the bass response I would definately take it off.

Paint work started today and should take about next 4-5 days.

More photos to follow.

--Vinay Arora

 

[cybervinay]

It is true. I was fortunate to listen to Rajiv's big Altec driver speakers in his small room and they sounded fabulous.

Regards
Amit

Rajiv, which amp have you paired with your Altec's with?

 

[Rajiv]

Hi,

Deleted as part of the post was not showing up . Reposted below.

Regards
Rajiv

 

[dillihifi]

Well vinay's room is treated therefore it made up around 60-70% of the room being small. Well thats something you cannot help but since I have heard the Tannoys with various amps at his place and many familiar tracks I am of the opinion that :

1) the tannoys are great speakers
2) he has a gem of a carpenter :lol:
3) vinay spends both money and time in considerable quantities to get the music just right and is a good diy expert hyeah:


P.s. : he has good stuff to dispose contact him to get it before somebody else does

@ vinay , i have to listen to the altecs before i venture an opinion

 

[Rajiv]

Hi,

Rajiv, which amp have you paired with your Altec's with?

I use the Altecs with the Lyrita 2A3/45. I switch between the 2A3 and 45 tubes .

I have tried the Altecs with other tube amps/tubes but to my ears the SET amps sound the best.

I will listen and confirm how it is souding in my room. The bottom driver is a replica of the Altec 604-8G and is pretty thick.If it impacts the bass response I would definately take it off.

Instead of having a passive woofer you can add the Altec 416B woofer like the Altec 6041 monitor in the links below.

altec 6041 - Google Search

I had the crossover design for this saved somewhere,if you are interested I will look for it.

Another design I really like is the one below.It is an adaptation of the Bill Woods half horn and a Voigt pipe transmission line.

WiredState Audio Community • View topic - Altec 604/416A, JBL 2405 in HARANA V2


Regards
Rajiv

 

[jenson]

fab job Vinay!! it looks stunning!

 

[rishiguru]

Incredible piece of work with those loudspeakers cybervinay, we are just blessed that this forum is fortunate enough to have jewel like members like you!!!

It is from you and other respected members we novices take aspiration.

Thanks a lot for showing us your effort.

 

[quad]

Vinay, any further updates/additions to your setup?

What's next - DIY electrostats?

 

[cybervinay]

Finally I am able to finish off this project. Speakers have now been painted and moved to my listening room. This weekend I tried and tested with all the drivers I had. I tried putting in the Altecs 604-8G, Tannoy HPD-385 and Monitor Gold 12". They all sound good but I seem to prefer the tannoy sound compared to Altec. Altec produce big cinema like sound but lack the bottom end as much as I was expecting. Looks like it could be due to slight reduction in front baffle that I did. Instead of 26" from as for 620 cabs i made them a bit thinner to 23".

They sound most balanced with Tannoy HPDs that I have. We also tried A/B testing of monitor gold 12" and 15" which my friend brought. The sound signature were very similar bu 15" producing a bit more dB levels and going little bit more bass, as was expected.

Here are the final pictures of finished speakers.














--Vinay Arora

 

[grubyhalo]

Fabulous !

 

[rud3dawg]

Amazing work CyberVinay!!!! truly .. magnifiq!!!!

 

[anm]

lovely cabinets!!!

 

[Gerry_the_Merry]

I visited him on Friday. The tannoys are quite a sight. And great sound from the 301. Congrats Vinay.

 

[quad]

Vinay, fantastic work.
If you want to trade them for a pair of Sachikos....

 

[cybervinay]

After a long time, I have completed testing various Tannoy drivers in these cabinets and have settled on the Tannoy 15" Monitor Gold. They are not much different than the 12" monitor golds except more dB and little extra bass for the 15"

HPDs were nice to with overall balanced sound over the complete spectrum but 15" MG are better for the mid-range vocals. SLightly less bass than the HPDs

I have also tried various tweaks including playing with different thickness of glass wool and different type of ports. If the port size is small the bass becomes boomy and driver sounds suffocates. Bigger port allows the driver to breathe and speed and transients are excellent. Bass is very natural.

Here are some photos







Anyone interested to Auditon these big tannoys is most welcome.

--Vinay Arora

 

[indialogue]

Just beautiful. Is the tweeter a Tannoy SuperTweeter? Would love to come and hear this at your place sometime - happy to carpool with a few others to make best use of your time and hospitality!

 

[heliumflight]

Yes, that's the super tweeter on top. Does not make too much difference when disconnected.

After a long time, I have completed testing various Tannoy drivers in these cabinets and have settled on the Tannoy 15" Monitor Gold. They are not much different than the 12" monitor golds except more dB and little extra bass for the 15"

HPDs were nice to with overall balanced sound over the complete spectrum but 15" MG are better for the mid-range vocals. SLightly less bass than the HPDs

I have also tried various tweaks including playing with different thickness of glass wool and different type of ports. If the port size is small the bass becomes boomy and driver sounds suffocates. Bigger port allows the driver to breathe and speed and transients are excellent. Bass is very natural.

Here are some photos







Anyone interested to Auditon these big tannoys is most welcome.

--Vinay Arora

It was an amazing experience visiting you in person. I believe your improvisation skills helped in translating the shortcomings of your room into their strengths. You are one of those people who get true happiness in sharing and spreading the goodness...