Altec Valencia vs. Altec Model 19

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Originally Posted by garyl

Don't get me wrong Zilch, I don't disagree with you at all.

I have owned 3 pairs of 19s and a few pairs of Velencias and love them all.

I disagree completely that 19s and Velencias are anywhere near the same speaker. You can do an A/B test right here to prove that.

I too would be very interested to hear some price numbers of the two choices. I have seen real nice 19s go for $2,000 on ebay but I don't follow the JBL offerings----------YET!:D

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So, Gary - in your opinion...which one is better, the Model 19 or the 846U Valencia speakers?

what difference is there between the two?

:)

I like the sound from the 19s much better then the Vals.

Lots of differences!

Vals cross at either 500 or 800 Hz and use I think 806 or 808 HF drivers.

19s cross at 1200 or 1500Hz and use 802-8G Tangerine HF drivers.

I think the sound is much smoother from the 19s and I attribute this to size, HF driver and crossover differences.

I like the size and cabinets of the Vals much better.

Depending on the year of manufacture they each had some component changes but I have heard most of them and not much difference in the resulting sound from each model but I think there is a big difference between the two. Most everyone who hears me A/B them prefers the sound of the 19s over the Vals.

Gary

I'm with Gary on this one. The 19's are very different sonically from the Valencia's and I think they are significantly better. There are three main reasons: the network, the enclosure and the HF driver.

As Gary said, the network on the 19 uses a 1200 Hz cross-over point compared to the 800 Hz Valencia. To my ears, this removes much of the horn coloration of the 811B to result in a more neutral voicing. More importantly, the 19 network contains equalization circuity to flatten out the raised midrange response that is inherent in virtually all Altec designs. To me, I find that the 19 is much less liable to induce listener fatigue since this equalization tames an otherwise ragged upper midrange. The enclosure size of the 19 is twice as large as the Valencia which allows tuning to a lower frequency. Therefore, it has significantly deeper bass extension than the Valencia. Finally, the 802-8G used in the 19 has measurably greater HF extension than the 806-8B. This is mainly due to former's lighter and more tightly aligned diaphragm. All of this adds up to a pretty significant improvement.