[powerdoc]

Yesterday I bought (stole essentially) a pair of Heath AS-101 speakers
which were basically Altec Valencias. I haven't even put an amp to
them yet and I read about the horn driver diaphragms being replaced.
Is the necessity to do this evident by the sound of the horns? Is
there a testing proceedure? I'm afraid that my 60 y/o tympanic
membranes no longer let me just do it "by ear."

[Arny Krueger]

"powerdoc" wrote in message


Yesterday I bought (stole essentially) a pair of Heath
AS-101 speakers which were basically Altec Valencias. I
haven't even put an amp to them yet and I read about the
horn driver diaphragms being replaced.

Just because the diaphragms are replacable, doesn't mean that they need to
be replaced.

Is the necessity
to do this evident by the sound of the horns?

Yes.

Is there a testing proceedure?

Blown diaphragms have pretty clear audible signatures - usually it is
unexpected silence from the horn driver.

I'm afraid that my 60 y/o tympanic
membranes no longer let me just do it "by ear."

Only if you can't hear at all.

[powerdoc]

Well I guess I'll fire the suckers up and put my ear to the horn!

[Walker]

"powerdoc" wrote in message
...
Yesterday I bought (stole essentially) a pair of Heath AS-101 speakers
which were basically Altec Valencias. I haven't even put an amp to
them yet and I read about the horn driver diaphragms being replaced.
Is the necessity to do this evident by the sound of the horns? Is
there a testing proceedure? I'm afraid that my 60 y/o tympanic
membranes no longer let me just do it "by ear."

If you can't hear it, it doesn't matter. You'll know right away if the
compressor drivers are blown as they carry most of the sound and these are
very clean and unforgiving speakers. The compressor drivers are often
available on Ebay if you need one but be prepared to spend a few bucks. You
can also go to Great Plains Audio http://www.greatplainsaudio.com/ and check
with them for information and possibly new parts and/or repair.

I have a pair of Altec (846A) Valencias and I found that because they are
sensitive that the receiver makes a huge difference. Mine were quite shrill
with a Sony and even with EQ and the horns turned down it was only so-so.
However, I was absolutely knocked out when I started using an old Marantz
receiver set totally flat and the horn attenuators on the speakers wide
open. I have no desire to add any EQ, and I have a good one, or anything to
enhance the sound and I look forward to listening, which I do every day.

I've been going through my CD collection and finding that some that I like
were recorded badly or over produced and sound like **** while many that I
never particularly liked musically sound absolutely fantastic. It sounds
crazy with only four basic pieces but once you get the right receiver and CD
player (I'll be glad to offer my advice) you'll know exactly what I mean.
Don't let the large horns and speakers fool you. They are very linear and
sound good at low volumes. I have mine in a 14' x 22' room and listen to
them loud about 12' away but I enjoy listening about six feet away at lower
volumes. There's a definite sweet spot but the imaging is good and is fairly
constant from one side of the room to the other. I play music when my wife's
asleep at night and I can play the Altecs louder than I can the computer
speakers (2 + sub) that are in the same room.

Bob Walker