Which Altec 604 for Shindo (Montille)?
 

Hello dear Shindonians (Shindoniacs?)!

I sort of set up my mind and decided to go for Altec 604 duplexes for my Aurieges/Montille combo.

After a bit of research I come up with a dilemma: should I go for older models (C, D, 605A) which feature 16 ohms (since "Shindo were designed to be used with 16 ohm speakers") or should I go for the newer models (H, G) which are said to sound better, but are 8 ohms.

I live in Europe, so sending them to GPA for restoring is not an option. Also GPA's recent jump in prices (604-8H-III jumped from 950 to 1750 USD) will prevent me from buying new drivers (which I should have done half year ago, in hindsight).

And the final one: would a 620 cabinet be suitable for a 5m x 5m room?

Thanks!

Hi,

I use the 604c, paired with N 1600 D dividing network, with my Montille, I switched the EL84's to old stock Mullards as the Telefunkens were too bright.

Best of Luck

Hi JPrest and thanks for your reply.
I'm using Telefunkens into my Montille, those were much more available (at least in Europe) when I was looking for a EL84 quad.
What sort of enclosures are you using for your 604C's? I mean enclosures vs room size.

Meanwhile, I have contacted Werner (mast_mutter on eBay) about crossovers replacement, and he advised me to be cautious with regards the old C and D series as they might be either very "tired" or not original (re-coned, etc.).

Try some Soviet 6P14P tubes. In my EL84 amps (not Shindo) they provide overall better sound than any of the NOS EL84s I've tried (old or new). Would think they would be easy to obtain in Romania (I've been pleased with a couple of the Ukrainian sellers on eBay).

Just to round-up the topic, I have ended up with a pair of (NOS) GPA-604-H II drivers for which I have built a pair of model 620 cabinets (9 cubic feet). The crossovers are from Herr Werner Jagusch. Sound is pretty impressive.

And I have bought a quad of 6P14P(-EV = milspec?) russian tubes to try, as per Formerly YB-2 suggestion. Still on Telefunkens at this moment.

* * *

With my previous loudspeakers (Unison Research Max-1 rated at 94db/1W/1m) I had to have the Montille volume all the way up to maximum in order to make them sing (the Aurieges' pot was set at around 11-12 o'clock). Now with my much more senzitive speakers I have never past the 1-2 o'clock position on my Montille. But last night I have set the Montille's pot's to max (while no music was playing) and found a good amount of hum/brum on both speakers. I have tried again with the Aurieges turned off, but the hum/brum was still in place. Then I have disconnected the IC from Montille and the noise disappeared. Tried about 3 pairs of IC's and found the one with the least hum/brum to be an unshielded paid made from 16GA Duelund hookup wire.
Any idea why I am getting this hum/brum into the speakers, and why is it louder with shielded IC's?