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Urei 813A efficiency question

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I just got a pair of Urei 813a speakers delivered to my house last night. The seller was kind enough to drop them off and a friend of mine helped me get them down to the basement.

In the manual I see the rated efficiency is 89dB? Listening to them it seems (compared to my Altec Model 15s) about the same or higher efficiency - ie, they play LOUD with my 50-60W tube amps at the same volume position.

The came out of a local university's mixing room - the bi-polar 'lytics are still original and will need to be replaced. I was still surprised on the overall sound quality - these use Ceramic magnets - it's been years since I've heard the original Alnico based 813 so my 'sound memory' is a little fuzzy - but the 813a is definitely comparable. Big dynamics, wide soundstaging, great detail and real 'impact' with body. No obvious 'horn colorations' or major annoying flaws.

The wife hates them - they are HUGE - so they will stay in the basement until I move or the end of time. Whatever happens first - lol.

Follow Ups:

89dB - djk 13:36:13 08/14/07 (0)
89dB at 10' is about 99.5dB at 1M
Congrats, they're awesome.... - doodlebug 09:31:27 08/14/07 (1)
I've got the original set without the foam around the little blue horns and with the Altec 604s. I believe you'll have the next version with a part-JBL horn assembly, right?

Definitely do the updates on the crossover. I did and that really helped with the soundstaging. BTW, I use the old cap's date codes to get an idea of how old they are.

My Altecs were rebuilt by Great Plains Audio. If your drivers are like mine, the efficiency has probably suffered a bit just due to aging components. Depending on the size of the room, however, these will certainly do the job. If you're like me, they'll probably not go into a soffit of any sort, though.

Cheers,

David
- RE: Congrats, they're awesome.... - kstagger 09:38:58 08/14/07 (0)
  The 813a still used the Altec 604 - except they are ceramic magnet based. Many years ago I heard the original 813s with the Alnico drivers and was blown away. I've wanted a pair ever since. When these came up I just had to get them.

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