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Topic: Info on Gaumont Kalee Type 379 Unit + Horn

Dave Ritchie
Film Handler

Posts: 65
From: Thames, New Zealand
Registered: Oct 2006

posted 02-18-2007 10:06 PM

I have Picked up a Gaumont Kalee Type 379 Horn but have no idea about this at all - i was hoping to use this in my screening room but i need to find out some info such as impedance-wattage and so forth- the guy i got this of seemed to think it needs to run with 6 or 12 volt power supply? - also what sort of crossover and bass speaker would go with this?

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Cameron Glendinning
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 845
From: West Ryde, Sydney, NSW Australia
Registered: Dec 2005

posted 02-19-2007 03:14 PM

Hi Dave

Lucky you! Its probably 16 ohms, 30 watts and so efficient it could fill a 2000 seat venue, I am guessing but it sounds like a British built version of the altec 288. It should be ideal for your screening room.

Crossover would be at 500hz with 12 db slopes with hi frequency attenuation, woofers to match, vitavox or altec would be ideal, but many modern drivers from JBL, EV, Bayma (krix), P.audio (associated sound), Etone would work very well. Curvlinear style of cone would be the best sounding.

I assume you have a multi cell horn attached, for best results the horn needs to be damped, Cinerama corp would sand fill between the cells and lead line for stunning results! you could also swap it for a modern Mantaray Altec horn. The results are exceptional and might even exceed modern standards.

quote: Dave Ritchie
the guy i got this of seemed to think it needs to run with 6 or 12 volt power supply?

Could you post a picture? I have only found woofers that needed a power supply for electro magnets, in that system, a shearer horn, the horn had its own magnets.

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Dave Ritchie
Film Handler

Posts: 65
From: Thames, New Zealand
Registered: Oct 2006

posted 02-19-2007 09:04 PM

Thanks

I will take some photos in the next few days and post them

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Lindsay Morris
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 233
From: Darlington, WA, Australia
Registered: Sep 2002

posted 02-20-2007 05:31 AM

Dave,

Have a look for a couple of extra terminals marked usually F1 & F2... if they are there it does need a DC supply to run.

The Westrex 555 driver I am currently using has the field terms stamped 7V+ & 7V- and that particular beats runs with a 7 volt supply... why the hell they picked on 7 volts is a good question.
I am using the Westrex to replace a Raycophone driver, also a electromagnetic type that got splattered by lightning and when I got that unit it came with its own power supply which is 10 volts.. again an equally odd voltage.
As the Westrex is only in as a stop gap I have added in a high wattage resistor to drop the 10 volts down to 7 volts whilst the Raycophone gets its insides repaired... it is a far superior sounding unit but VERY heavy.
My suggestion would be to start at 6volts if it has terminals marked F or similar and see how it goes and if after about 30 mins it is just warm to the touch it is possibly about right. If it gets stinking hot.... not the right volts... try and drop them down a bit. The 10 volt one pulled 1 amp and from memory that is about what the Westrex also drew at 7volts. Maybe the folk in the USA know a bit more about what the exact specs of a 555 is.
You will often get some sound out of the electromagnetic types without any energisation but it is very feeble to what it can do when properly excited.
I am feeding my unit from a standard 400hz crossover.. again a Raycophone type with huge handwound aircored inductors and all sorts of taps and adjustments for HF Level etc.
The amp feeding that is a 40 Watt RMS RCA and I use that outdoors as the centre channel to feed a 300 seat cinema and if I walk back into the bush behind the bio box about 100m I can still hear every word said from the sound track peaking at about 10watts... Cameron said it all... VERY efficient things.
I have an Altec 208 (I think it is) that I used as a temporary fix when the Raycophone got blasted and it is just NOT in the same league as that Raycophone or for that matter the Westrex even though the Westrex may not be correctly matched to the Raycophone throat...I had to have made a threaded adapter to get the Westrex to fit the Raycophone throat and neither of those threads was anywhere near what our standards are today. Both obviously bodgies so that you had to buy Raycophone or Westrex and you could not mix and match.
The Altec needs a hell of a lot more HF signal fed to it to make it go anywhere near what comes out of the older units.

Lindsay

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Cameron Glendinning
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 845
From: West Ryde, Sydney, NSW Australia
Registered: Dec 2005

posted 02-21-2007 06:39 PM

Hi Lindsay, Any chance of a photo from you as well? sounds like a fantastic open air cinema that your at, what sort of bass cabinets do you have, are they electro magnetic as well?

Im not surprised that you dont like the sound of the altec 802, It is a small format driver with a one inch throat. The altec 288 large format would work very well with a multicell horn as it has a 1.4 inch throat.

Believe it or not the perminant magnet version of the altec 287 is slightly louder than the electro magnetic, not that it would make any difference! extremly loud is well extremly loud!

I would love to hear an electro magnetic horn sometime, I better find a reason to visit you in W.A.

Basically the 802 and 808 drivers do sound fantastic in a different style of horn.

I will post some pictures of some old altecs and the different horns, that we are about to sell, in the next few days [beer]

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