Austin Mini Maintenance Woes

As soon as I got the brakes sorted...

...I had the exhaust leak fixed. 

In preparation for the summer heat, I installed the 

heater matrix 

to function as an auxiliary radiator.

I was about to take out the clutch master cylinder 

to clean up the rust, but it was too late.

Now I have to wait a few weeks for a replacement clutch master cylinder ;(

Listening Room - JE Labs

Hi-Fi Lounge, late 2008

I started this blog in 2011 and overlooked the fact that I haven't posted details of my systems. Visitors who remember the defunct site will be familiar with most of the components apart from a change in venue.

Stereophonic Hi-Fi

Garrrard 301 

Ortofon RMG309 + SPU GME

SME 3012 + Denon DL103S

Thorens TD124

SME 3012 + Denon DL103R

Audio Technica ATP12T + Denon DL 103

MC step-up transformers
Altec 4722 + Tamura TKS83

Sony DVP NS500V
Dyna FM3 MPX
Scott LT110B FM tuner is out of commission ;(

JEL Preamp DX 

JEL SE300B monoblocks
Tamura F7002 OPTs

JEL SE2A3dx
Tango NY15S OPTs

Radiotron SE2A3
Tango U808 OPTs

JEL Simple 45
Tamura F745 OPTs

JEL SE171A
Tango H5S OPTs

Altec 2-way
JEL/N1600C crossover

Open Baffle, Altec 755As, 755Cs and Altec 755Es are
currently in storage at an undisclosed high security facility ;)

Monophonic Hi-Fi

JEL Mono Playback

Rek O Kut B12H
Tonearms:
Right - Velvet Touch Viscous Damped
Left - Pickering 190 + GE RPX 78rpm stylus
Back - Argonne AR600 + GE VRII Triple Play

GE RPX + Denon DL102

iPod Nano doing double duty as a digital music server and FM receiver
until I find time to fix my other Dyna FM3 tuner
that served in this system for the past 7 years

Tamura line level stereo > mono mixer

+
signal processor ;)

JEL Mono preamp with variable EQ
6SL7 phono + 6F8G line stage

Mono Amps
Left--->Right
JEL SE71A 
Hammond 125ESE OPT
JEL SE10dx
Tamura F7004 OPT
JEL SE2A3dx
James 6123HS OPT

Altec 605B Duplex

Mondrian inspired OB + RCA 501S1

After almost 20 years, both systems have traveled half way across the globe with no significant changes apart from a couple of tweaks ;) 

Altec 32C horn redux

Three years ago I replaced the Altec 811 horns with Altec 32C horns in my 2-way speaker system. I think I now have an unscientific explanation as to why I've been enjoying the Altec 32C.

Upper Left: Altec 32C, Upper Right: RCF H3709
Bottom: Altec 811

Somewhere along the way I acquired a pair of RCF H3709 horns. I was rooting for these horns because they resemble the Altec 32C but with a straight throat. The RCF H3709 to a much lesser degree, still exhibited some congestion and harshness I found objectionable in the Altec 811 in near field listening. Perhaps a judicious amount of damping applied to the thin walls of the RCF H3709 will significantly improve its performance. 

Top: Altec 811
Middle: RCF H3709
Bottom: Altec 32B/C

Based on the throat comparison picture above, I attribute the sonic superiority of the Altec 32C in my listening environment to its unconstricted and constant flare throat. But that's just my empirical observation ;)

Additional Information

Here's a quote from a post by Steve Schell at the Altec Lansing Forum

"...the initial throat portion of the H811b appears to have been designed to narrow the directivity of the high frequencies to partially equalize the on axis response. This is not a great solution for the falling power response of a compression driver, as the on axis response and reverberant field will vary greatly in high frequency content, which our brains interpret as unnatural. I would be tempted to model a horn similar to the 811 where the major flare portion maintains itself back to the driver aperture. The horizontal axis should (as designed) maintain the driver's power response to the limits of the straight horn walls, the driver's falling power response being EQed in the crossover, resulting in a more natural listening result. Just a thought, anyway."

Joe Roberts had nice things to say about the Altec 32A/B/C at the High Efficiency Speaker Asylum and Audiokarma.