The Vintage Altec Codex

[junker]

Your most expensive components with be the 2 air-core inductors...

[junker]

Here I'm going to hook you up... haha I didn't really ever show this layout too much. It's super optimized after about 10 revisions before going to the 604s. This is using fixed R. I have the Flamencos as bedroom nightstands right now.

Flamenco Crossover

The input is on the lower-right, the LF output is upper left, and HF output in lower-left.

[junker]

Here's all it is:

LF has an in-line series inductor and parallel cap
HF has an in-line series cap and parallel inductor + L-Pad

[grantray]

Yep, I think I'm pretty much there. I just need to swap the resistors for the L-Pad. Right?

Here's where I ended on the sketches for laying out the board before you explained the L-Pad/resistor swap.

Originally Posted by junker

LF has an in-line series inductor and parallel cap
HF has an in-line series cap and parallel inductor + L-Pad

[grantray]

And I'll definitely be ordering those Bulgarian caps later tonight.

[junker]

Yah it's right except the Resistors or in this case L-Pad.

The 0-25 ohm pot is after the 4 uF cap in way to the HF +. The parallel 20 ohm goes from before or at the potentiometer and goes to the ground.

Hope that helps. Okay back to packing!

[junker]

Originally Posted by grantray

And I'll definitely be ordering those Bulgarian caps later tonight.

Sounds good. I've had them come in less than a week to almost a month depending.

Try to get both from same vendor and then you can ask for combined total. Sometimes they can bundle and ship together and save you a bit.

[grantray]

FYI. I was just shown the light. The little arrow signifies that the 25ohm resistor is the L-Pad (!!!) which, like you state, dictates that it sits on the way out to positive while the 20ohm is series connected to ground on the way out to the horn. I had thought variable resistance was indicated by a diagonal arrow cutting through the resistor symbol. Whoops... But now I think I finally seriously for real got it. Hallelujah!

Have fun in Japan, and thanks for all the help!

Originally Posted by junker

Yah it's right except the Resistors or in this case L-Pad.

The 0-25 ohm pot is after the 4 uF cap in way to the HF +. The parallel 20 ohm goes from before or at the potentiometer and goes to the ground.

Hope that helps. Okay back to packing!

[junker]

Yah that component is weird... it's not really a variable R or a true L-Pad. We'll it kinda is...

It takes the 25 ohms and splits the 25 ohms between the horn and ground:

0 25
5 20
10 15
15 10
20 5
25 0

So with the true L-pad you won't need the side R either. It just maintains a 16 ohm load and lets you adjust the level..

[CFz]

Originally Posted by grantray

That's darn close to what I'm thinking Although I want to move the horn outside and mount it on top of the cabinet. (It's too beautiful to stuff in box.) The idea for the cabinet is to make it taller, with a wider baffle and narrower depth. Kind of like Maxonic's painfully gorgeous cabinets, I'd be mounting the woofer near the top of cabinet, although making sure to keep the spacial relationship between 416-Z and the horn.

Here's how the 846A looks up on the finished stand.

Grantray, thanks so much for posting this picture of the Valencias on your
stands, and giving your impressions given the O93s as a baseline.

I have Flamencos which I've been looking to put on stands as well. I've been getting quotes on Etsy form various wood workers but all appear to be around $500-$800, nearly half the price of the speaker in my case!

I think I will try the two pieces of 3/4 baltic birch ply glued and screwed. I wasn't going to go with the hairpin legs, but rather something like Junker's stand that has more wood furniture looking legs. Your photos do make it look quite stylish with the hairpin legs.

Curious, in both your cases you seem to have the speaker elevated by a foot or more. Why did you opt to go that route? In my case I was thinking of about 8-9" which would be ear level for me. I'm sure there is no 'right' answer per se, just curious how you guys came to your numbers.

I looked at Shindo's own version of the Valencia/Flamenco and they don't appear to raised quite as much.




I'm also keeping in mind that Matt R at PitchPerfect seems to recommend plywood bases for speakers to help the bass (like in the Flamenco speaker) which may add another 1/2 to 3/4 inch.