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Altec A7 What to do

Hello all, a Friend of mine has had Altec Lansing A7's sitting in his basement for several years, just couldn't put them in his current room setting. Many may know that I've been building for about 35 years. I built him a set of MTM's and delivered them for Christmas. He was thrilled. Well, today, he dropped off a pair of A7's and said they're yours. I sat them up and listened, thoroughly looked them over, looked up crossover design (500hz model) and now need to decide what to do with them. I have a decent size living room, but these are still huge. They do a lot of things right, but just aren't as refined as my current speakers. So, I've decided to sell them. I'm in no hurry to do so, but I know that I won't keep these forever. So, are these more desirable to sell as is... stock, upgrade parts in the crossover and sell them, redesign and trick out the crossover, cleanup, sand, minor fill and painting cabinets or some combination of the above. I have no doubt that a complete crossover redo, a bit of cabinet bracing and a good refinish and these babies would be incredible. The problem is... will people that don't know me accept or trust just how good they are? That being the case I'm looking for some advice. Please tell me how you would handle it in my shoes. Tim
timlub
isochronism
2,893 posts
 
Tim,
I would like you to keep these, as you have the knowledge and capability to vastly improve their performance. They need a large room......
timlub OP
2,040 posts
 
Thanks for the vote of confidence Isochronism. To really improve these, it would take a crossover re design, I haven't run curves, but my instincts are that crossover point would move up to 600 or so and slopes would change from 12/12 to 12/18 to improve phasing. Then if I'm going to do that, might as well brace these cabinets. They really could use some re finishing.. easy enough. I could get lost in these and yes, they would be excellent. The bottom line is WAF won't go. Yes, I believe that I could over rule her and keep these, But my old body still functions and I'd like to keep an active (night)life. My current MTM's are very good and overall, I prefer them to the Altec's in their current form. These are very large and really could use a listening area larger than I have them in. I realize that some day, I'll kick myself for letting them go, but overall it my best call today.
isochronism
2,893 posts
 
Tim,
Fully understood. We can't always have it all.
I have a pair of JBL' (4676-A) that are about twice the size of you A7', in storage
as I am looking for a much larger place. I have no Wife, so I can have these.
My best of luck to you.
wolf_garcia
6,708 posts
 
Neil Young recently said he uses A7s with McIntosh amps...also, if you use A7s you likely don't have room for a wife.
timlub OP
2,040 posts
 
You guys have been great, I made another change, so I thought I'd give you an update. 1 of the dust caps was dented. I bought a matched pair. I was lower mass (weight) than the original, with the 416A driver having a QTS of around .27, I really did not want lower mass. The factory cone is not nearly as stiff as I would like, so I made a 50/50 mix of Latex and Wood glue. I put 2 thin coats over the entire cone including the dust cap. I estimate that I lost about .2 db of overall sensitivity from the driver... (decrease from 99.5 to 99.3 and raised QTS to around .3, I still need to re port the cabinet, but again, Improvement, lower midrange detail is as well as the blend of drivers is better. Next I will do some experimenting with changing the vent tuning and try to find some attractive way to dampen the horn. These are actually a surprise to me. These big dogs sound very, very nice.
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