Altec 414Z (Early–Mid 1960s)
The 414Z is the 16-ohm version of the Altec 414 family. It's a 12-inch alnico woofer, essentially the 16-ohm sibling of the better-documented 414A and 414B. Altec used this era of driver all through the 1960s in the Seville, Malibu, Coronado, and Carmel systems, and also in studio monitors and custom built-ins. Formal documentation on the Z itself is thin. No original price, frequency response, sensitivity, or power handling figures have surfaced.
The 414Z looks like Altec of this period. It has the gold paint and the curved cast frame that goes back to the early 1950s drivers and the first-generation 414 A/B. A surviving pair documented in the archive has original frames and decals, though the cones show a few runs and pooled areas around the edges, which is typical of drivers this age. That pair also came factory-installed without labels or a magnet tin cover, so unmarked examples shouldn't automatically be assumed wrong.
One diyAudio owner ran 414Z's in wide 5.5 ft³ bass-reflex cabinets tuned to 42 Hz, crossing them to a midbass horn around 350 Hz in an active setup. He also noted that aging drivers can measure a higher Fs than expected. Re-magnetizing ("recharging") the Altecs and cleaning the suspensions may restore the original Fs.
Confirmed basics:
- 12" woofer with alnico magnet
- 16 ohm impedance, matching the original 16-ohm 414A/414Z production
- Gold painted, curved cast frame — a style carried from early 1950s drivers into the first-gen 414 A/B
- Production circa early–mid 1960s
- About 32 lbs packed for a pair, bolted face-to-face in a heavy double box
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