Re: Altec 604 8G drivers....Rocking Now..!!!
This is not to criticize. I am just putting this post up as a technical point.
Thank you, very nice way
Certainly we have our right to disagree as well. So based on my experience, i agree to disagree with some of the points which you have raised.
A TL enclosure works like a low pass filter, it effectively absorbs all sound above a certain frequency usually and theoretically it is 75Hz.
Yes it does and the ripple is often absorbed by damping material which is above the transition frequency of the line. The transition frequency varies with design implementation and driver parameters and is not fixed for all designs
A typical TL speaker is characterized by:
- Low cabinet resonance
TL by design needs a low resonance cabinet in order to target the specific reinforcement of certain LF range, hence low resonance cabinet is essential. I did rather prefer to listen to the sound of a driver instead of cabinet resonating at certain frequency. Maybe, you are fond of big cabinets and their resonating effect on the sound.
- Relatively loud deep bass (below 50Hz)
Our bro Manav loves deep Bass, loud and clear. TL gives you a really good solution here.
- Highly damped impedance peak
Highly damped impedance is advantageous in keeping the ripple effect at negligible levels, hence better impulse response.
- Decreased cone motion in the 40Hz region
Certainly a very good feature to keep the movement of voice coil in its linear most region hence less prone to non linear distortion.
- Low degree of mid-bass coloration
Maybe you are fan of midbass hump usually found in vintage drivers. But in our implementation we have tried to keep the coloration to minimum.
Resulting in an overall Low efficient speaker implementation.
Yes TL is less efficient than other type of cabs, but by trading off with this, we have achieved an optimized level of balance in overall response of the speaker and the result is very good and everyone who were present in the meet loved it.
Effectively you took a very efficient speaker, and "killed" (for want of a better term may be dampened/reduced) most of its natural characteristics.
Yes, we took a high sensitivity 98dB vintage driver and designed a TL cabinet around it in order to match with the taste of music which Manav loves to listen. The natural tone and timbre are infact intact. Hence its a 'Killer' design.
Obviously now you need equalization, active crossovers and high powered amp to make up for all that was lost in the TLs.
EQ and Active XO are ingredients of the design process itself. Equalization is only used below 40hz for LF and above 14khz for HF in order to optimized the response with respect to the cabinet parameters. There is no EQ for any DIPS or PEAKS anywhere and hence Mibass, Mids, Vocals, Treble upto 12khz is virtually untouched in order to keep the vivid tonal and harmonic structure of Altec drivers intact. Active Crossover is implemented because they are clearly way above the passive crossovers when it comes to performance, dynamics and resolution. High power amplification was used just to provide a plenty of headroom margin when playing loud.
Sorry we don't love 1 watter amps.
The TL is a design made for a different kind/genre/type of driver, and they do make those drivers sing. I have seen some superb TL implementation case in point B&W nautilus and PMC the most famous TLs. I do not doubt that your speakers sound fabulous, but I doubt what you are hearing is the Altec sound rather than something synthesized.
Well i have made TL cabs from single driver fullranger to 21inch subwoofers, it takes an adequate level of know-how to design and implement a TL cabinet which sounds good. TL made with large cone drivers with a proper know how is always a success provided you know how to implement it.
Passing a generalized statement that TL's are only good for certain drivers and calling this implementation as producing a synthesized sound [which it is not] and not the real sound of Altecs, will not do anything here for you to achieve something. You can think like that, if it suits ya. But still i would request you to give it a listen for yourself with an open mind just like everybody did and they really liked it.
A renowed french Engineer and Audiophile, Jean Hiraga has also made a TL enclosure using same Altec drivers and its review is posted here on
6moons have a look. You can call me & that guy also the lover of synthesized sound because we both have made TL with Altecs.
Its your opinion.
Rest, Manav is happy and the people who have reviewed the speakers are also finding them good sounding along with the signature tone of the Altecs which they are producing very well.
After listening to Tannoy 15inchers at Vinay's and Ranjeet Singh's place, i know what kind of sound character these vintage drivers posses. Its more than enough for me when Manav is already happy. Thank you everyone.
