A pair of Altec's most useful woofers from the 1960's -- 12 inch driver. The 414 Z is a 414 A without the cosmetic cover. The 414 Z found excellent famed use in many nice sounding Altec systems all throughout the 1960s .. the Seville, Avalon, Malibu and the 9844 -- one of Altecs best ever sounding Studio Monitors -- used to master some of the best recordings of the 1960s and 1970s.
Buyers note: these drivers are vintage recones....this pair, as you can see in exhibit photos, B, C, D, H -- were reconed about 40 years ago, back in the early 1970s, with factory equivalent spec'd 8 ohm Waldom cones -- that is they were specified replacements for this model of Altec 414 Z. Waldom was a respected OEM manufacturer of speaker cones, from the 1940s thru modern times, based in Chicago, USA. Cosmetics of the cones are excellent (see exhibit B,C) the frames are of the gold type, indicating these are pretty early from the mid to late 1960s. The paint is nice, there are some glue stains on the frame, as well as minor scuffs in the paint, from the 40++ years since they were serviced (see exhibit F, G,H)
The cones and speakers play perfectly, well centered, no rubs -- they were swept 20- 20,000 hz, and I heard no problems (study reports in exhibit H). Speakers are excellently matched -- DCR unit #1 is 6.2 ohms, unit #2 is 6.5 ohms. Nominal impedance is 8 ohms for these, and the sounded nice , with a excellent, very low free air resonance of 53hz, and a Qts of .6 for both.
You've probably seen the 414 A as well .. these 414Z speakers are more well known, as they were paired with many Altec systems of the 1960s. The 414 Z (and A) were excellent performers, thanks to the unsually heavy (over 8lbs) Alnico V magnet's that concentrated 10,000 gauss in the coil gap -- unusally high for any woofer -- and especially a 12". The powerful motor structure of the 414 gave it excellent dampening, for nice bass dynamics. Fortuantely, these are very well done recones -- reaping all the benefit of the classic quality of vintage Altec. These are fast and efficient woofers, they are not full range -- these will pair excellently with many varieties of high efficiency horns, like the Altec 802 / 811A, Jensen cone mids, Magnavox, JBL 175, and even Electrovoice 8HDs.
These partucular Altec 414's came from clean Studio Monitor, -- very old institutional installation, and were kept beautiful in tightly sealed cabinets, saw very little use, and always in climate control -- the Waldom cones (not Altec) are clean, very old and sound nice.
Check out Exhibit A,B & C -- you'll see what a nice pair this is ....the Waldom cones perform well and these are perfect for your next 2 or 3-way high efficiency DiY project.
The have been fully swept, down to 20 cyc -- to 20,000cyc…. and have perfect function, and good & MATCHED sounding on the bench. Excellent response, clean and clear, well centered.
Both coils were near perfectly mathced calibrated DCR and Impedance sweep showed excellent response on both drivers (see included reports in exhibit D,F, G) .
Top-notch, as new function no rattles, no buzzes-- totally distortion free.
They will sell quickly. Please seeing my 100%, five star feedback from happy overseas customers.
All speakers are professionally packed in heavy double box with full protection, and shipped out ASAP after payment has been received. The Altec 414Z drivers are very heavy, 30lbs packed in strong double box, bolted face to face.
Give them a try, even though these don't have original Altec cones, they perform flawlessly -- you won't be disappointed if you need good 12" woofer.
Please see my excellent 100% five-star feedback on all vintage audio items. Fast dispatch, excellent safety & communication always.
Your happiness is assured (please see my feedback, both here and at HiFiTown website)
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