Tube Amp Archive

Does anyone know what the difference is between the Altec 418 and 418B 15" guitar speakers? Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

I think 418B is Alnico version and 418 is ceramic

neskor wrote: ↑Mon May 10, 2021 7:24 am I think 418B is Alnico version and 418 is ceramic

Thanks for your reply. I think the 418 also has an Alnico magnet.

I can't even find a spec sheet for a plain '418' are you talking about the '418-8H'?

The 418B is Alnico for sure, details can be found here:

http://greatplainsaudio.com/wp-content/ ... _sheet.pdf

Seems like they might be pretty much identical except for a 'generational' type thing. i.e. one is older than the other?

http://greatplainsaudio.com/wp-content/ ... _sheet.pdf

~Phil

Thanks. Yeah, I can't find anything about the 418 but that's what the sticker on the magnet cover says. The date code is 391221 which I believe is 1962.the cone appears to be original. I just can't find any specs for it, only for the 418B and 418-8H.

I used to use 4 Altec 418-8H 15's for my PA. Great speakers.

45 to 8,000 Hz frequency response

Alnico V magnet type

Here are some pictures of the speaker I am asking about. Thanks.

Some data to hint that this is a 418-8H is that someone on reverb is selling one as that label and it has the same logo as yours:

https://reverb.com/item/284386-altec-la ... aker-8-ohm

~Phil

NickC wrote: ↑Tue May 11, 2021 8:06 pm I used to use 4 Altec 418-8H 15's for my PA. Great speakers.

45 to 8,000 Hz frequency response

Alnico V magnet type

Sorry, I am mistaken ...... the model # for the 15" version is 421-8H. Apologies.

Here is a photo of 418-8H:

That's the series II which is an even newer version, I already saw that one as well in my google image searches.

Sadly there seems to still be a dearth of information on most of these, but it does appear to me this is a distinct and differnt model from the 418-8H (series I, but wasn't called that as no known series II existed yet I'd wager)

~Phil