Altec 418 recone kits?

Pete McAvity · Post by **Pete McAvity** » 27 Apr 2023 9:56 am

Will be checking out an AL 418 which purportedly needs a recone this weekend. If it's cheap enough I'll gamble. Anyone have any good recone recommendations? Research tells me that Great Plains Audio is out of the Altec game? Would I be wise to run?

Dave Campbell · Post by **Dave Campbell** » 27 Apr 2023 12:37 pm

i have two of those speakers. one has been reconed with the proper parts and sounds terrible!

the original sounds great!

Pete McAvity · Post by **Pete McAvity** » 28 Apr 2023 7:31 am

I know.

I KNOW.

I should have just called. For $185 Great Plains Audio will do a full “like new” recone. I did not ask if this means spec materials and remagnification. I know. I KNOW. I’ll call back.

Dave Campbell · Post by **Dave Campbell** » 28 Apr 2023 1:54 pm

i know, too, but i still have a basement full of vintage speakers that have not so good recones.

Pete McAvity · Post by **Pete McAvity** » 28 Apr 2023 3:19 pm

I believe it, Dave. I’m debating having GPA do it (if needed- they’re asking almost nothing for the speaker). I’m holding out hope that if I have THEM do it w/ advertised OEM components, I’ll have a different outcome. If not, I can share my findings & flip it here. One big kink is that I don’t have, and have never played through an Altec to see what to compare to. Sometimes when the itch is there, foolhardy experiments tend to arise around here. I appreciate the heads up!

Dave Campbell · Post by **Dave Campbell** » 29 Apr 2023 12:54 pm

it should sound wonderful. bright but not ice picky, smooth and very responsive. very tight and clear bass. someone said they were "musical" and that is true.

my recone is stiff feeling and throaty.

i can't think of a speaker i haven't tried for pedal steel. 418 is my favourite by far.

Pete McAvity · Post by **Pete McAvity** » 29 Apr 2023 3:17 pm

I may have lucked out. $40 for the speaker & all looks intact, sliiiight rub when I gently push on the cone in certain orientation, no rub when pressing 90 degrees from that. Given that it has practically no tolerance in the voice coil gap, I’m gonna consult some locals who know from these things & see if there isn’t a fix which doesn’t involve recone. And I’m going to refrain from pushing on an already irritable coil.

Michael Butler · Post by **Michael Butler** » 29 Apr 2023 4:43 pm

try simply speakers.

play music!

Jerry Overstreet · Post by **Jerry Overstreet** » 29 Apr 2023 4:46 pm

Michael Butler wrote:try simply speakers.

play music!

They don't list a recone kit for the 418. I was going to suggest them as well, but I looked there a couple days ago and no kit listed for that speaker. Bummer.

Jeffrey Maxwell · Post by **Jeffrey Maxwell** » 30 Apr 2023 7:04 am

Pete,

If you haven't done reconing before, the Altec is not a good candidate to learn on. Really tight tolerances
in the voice coil gap and getting the coil centered and setting the voice coil height correctly is tricky
without the proper fixture. Also the magnet should be recharged since there is a good chance
that it has lost some of it's strength due to it's age and use. The gap needs to be checked with the
proper gauge pin to make sure it hasn't shifted out of alignment--might be why it rubs more when pushed from
different sides. I have reconed lots of Altecs over the years.

Thanks

Jeff

The Steel Guitar Forum

Altec 418 recone kits?

Altec 418 recone kits?

Altec recone