I have owned 4 versions of the 32 horn: Altec 32A (aluminum), Altec 32B (plastic), WE KS 14706, and WE 32A. They all sound different even though they clearly have a genetic similarity. In my opinion, the sonic quality follows the same order as I listed them, ranging from very good to excellent. Of course, the WE horns have a narrower throat than the Altecs and they also have a different mounting bolt pattern for drivers, so the four versions don’t all use the same drivers. Two points for anyone considering the 32 horns. First, they should always be used with the compression driver hanging down below the horn (as shown in the photo above by @Jim Hodgson). Second, the horns sound better when they are bolted to the front baffle board instead of a free-air mounting.
The 300-1200 range on the multicell seems ideal for the prime vocal range. Growing up, from a young age I had a 20" University horn speaker. Also had a Bogan tube P.A. amp. Back then tube amps were common P.A. amps and metal horn speakers were the norm for P.A. systems. When I had my first pair of A7's built for me at the age of sixteen, I was not familiar with using metal horn speakers in a musical P.A. type application. Because of the experience I did have with metal horn P.A. speakers, I was kind of gun shy of having a two way system that crossed over right in the middle of the vocal frequency range. Obviously, a metal horn with a compression driver is not going to have the same sound signature as a 15" paper cone driver. It is like having an grand piano playing up to 500-Hz. and then having a upright piano take over and play everything else above 500-cycles. It didn't seem right? I liked the idea of larger horns that could play down to lower frequencies, but I was concerned about having the 500-Hz. crossover point. I decided to go with the 511B horn and use the Altec 800-Hz. crossover and matching 808-8A compression driver. Noting that the 808-8A driver can play down to 500-Hz. By having the 511B horn in place, I could always change out to the 500-Hz. crossover if I wanted to. This worked out well, as the system sounded excellent for vocals. I was also using a 15" Electrovoice SRO, which is more of a full range speaker than one of the Altec 416 or 515 bass drivers. My current main A7's are passively crossed over at 500-Hz. I do like the idea of having the multicell horn take over at 300-Hz. But, I have been given to understand a few things about the Altec horns. I understand that your Altec 329A will physically play down to 240-Hz. So, that they can practically be driven down to 300-Hz., because they are a sectoral design, rather than a multicell. Even though the 1005 and the 1505 horns are physically large horns, I understand that they are a bunch of smaller cells put together and are designed to be used at 500-Hz. and above. Likewise, I understand that the 288 series drivers are designed to crossover at 500-Hz.?
The beautiful thing about working with a pro-sound platform, is the versatility. Remove 511B horns with their drivers, set on floor in the corner. Replace with 1500/1505 horns and 288 drivers, connect two pairs of wires...
http://youtu.be/_k2hNBncquA She did live show one month ago in Korean program. Can you guess how young she is?
Yesterday while at the Kutztown Antique Radio Show I ran into my friend Joseph (JE Labs) again. He is going to have me over to hear some of his excellent Altec gear. Doesn't live far from me across the river, I'm really looking forward to it. It was Joseph that pointed me to the direction of the 32 bent horn. I also met his buddy "Dink", you might know him from the old Sound Practices magazine. Kind of neat knowing some of the folks that help shape a lot of our knowledge about horn speakers. These guys are legends. BillWojo
@thomaskong, just watched her video. Dang! can't believe she's 70, if you said in her 40's I'd buy it. A little ball of energy and she still has a voice.
Crazy Rich Asian Audiophile. He has more than 7 rooms with top modern speakers like Tidal Lasolut, Estelon Extreme, Ares Cerat Aurora horn speakers, Dyneaudio, Focal, JBL and etc. I counted value of his system which may go above 2 million may be close to 3 million $.
I am happy with bi amped Altec A7. I recorded this song using EMMlab Dac2 30 minutes ago. I switch between Chord Dave and Mscaler and EMMlab Dac2 depending on my mood. Chord give more details while EMMlab Dac2 give more relaxed sound. I look forward to have chance to hear new top grade Dacs like Wadax, Lampi Horizon, DCS Apex in upcoming Pacific Audiofest at Seattle to be held on July. https://www.pacificaudiofest.com/ It will be nice to listen to Ideon Absolute over there but I am not sure Ideon will be there or not.
I will be happy to have one of Tidal Lasolut, Estelon Extreme, Ares Cerat Aurora horn speakers. But no room to have more than one. His house appears to be more than 15k sqft although it may not be very expensive in Texas.
I belately found that Pap C1 active crossover is very sensitive to power cable and mechanical isolation as other pre amp. Symphosium Rollerblock undeer Pap C1 make it sound much more faster and detailed.
This Korean singer is called "Korean Madonna" . She is 53 years old but not married yet. My Altec sounds fast as ESL but with more oomph in bass.
It is not easy to reproduce full dynamics of Pink Floyd. But my Altec with two 18 inch subwoofer is up to the task.
The oldest speaker I know of that still amazes most when auditioning them, is the B&W DM2a. A speaker that dates from the time when the Beatles were still together.
I had B&W Notilus 801 with 15 inch woofer driven by Jadis 500 (350 Watt tube power) from 2000 to 2002. The speaker matched dynamics of my current Altec A7.
I put separate isolation transformer for Pap C1 active crossover, Ater this, treble sound more nuanced and bass got tighter with more punch. Wow I will order regulated linear power supply to replace original switching power supply.
The sound of my sytem got transformed after I put separate isolation transformer and Isoaccousitc Bordeax foot for Pap C1 active crossover. It was a bottleneck for the sound. I wonder how much the sound will change after I install regulated LPS on Pap C1 active crossover. Bi amped Altec A7 using active crossover could be very nice speaker.
