Anybody have information on these Altec Speakers

[Oregon Tubes]

There is a posting "For Sale" on these speakers, but according to the seller they were never mass produced and therefore do not have a model number. Seller stated: They were made for the major Altec dealers and only 12 pair were ever produced

He said they were at the entrance to a high end Altec Store in 1990 for $12,000. They are 72" tall, 19" wide, 26" deep in Teak cabinets. They have carbon fiber cones, you could swivel the center of the speaker and adjust the soundstage on the fly without having to move the 440 pound speaker. Each tower had a 5 channel integrated amp.

If I could identify these maybe they are a good buy at $1800 for the pair. This may or may not be a chance of a lifetime to own a set of Altec Lansing speakers of this calibre.

[Chris A]

http://www.stereophile.com/content/altec-lansing-bias-550-active-loudspeaker-system

http://www.thevintageknob.org/AJW/BIAS550/BIAS550.html

[twistedcrankcammer]

There is a posting "For Sale" on these speakers, but according to the seller they were never mass produced and therefore do not have a model number. Seller stated: They were made for the major Altec dealers and only 12 pair were ever produced

He said they were at the entrance to a high end Altec Store in 1990 for $12,000. They are 72" tall, 19" wide, 26" deep in Teak cabinets. They have carbon fiber cones, you could swivel the center of the speaker and adjust the soundstage on the fly without having to move the 440 pound speaker. Each tower had a 5 channel integrated amp.

If I could identify these maybe they are a good buy at $1800 for the pair. This may or may not be a chance of a lifetime to own a set of Altec Lansing speakers of this calibre.

Huge? check, Rare? check, loud? check

But:

1) It is hard to tell from your pictures, but are both equalizers at the bottom of both center arrays missing?

2) The review doesn't look so good when the reviewer states he couldn't recomend them at $500, let alone $12,000

3) So extremely rare that; where are you going to get a remote if broken, missing, or it breaks? Where are you going to get recone kits if a driver ever fails? Where are you going to get any I.C. chips that go bad or need replacing?

Extremely rare and extemely neat piece of history, but what a headache and money pit if you incure any problems with them.

Roger

[Oregon Tubes]

Thanks everybody for the quick and informative message. I see your point after reading the reviews on those speakers. I can always trust my friends in the Klipsch forum to assist and keep a brother out of hot water, these certainly could be a money pit.

Jerry

[pzannucci]

I owned the next one down in the line from the BIAS550, the 511B. It was an internally tri-amped speaker minus the second midwoofer and rotatable center section. They did sound pretty good if you have the right room, though you have to worry about getting parts of which none are likely to be available. Foam for the woofers/mids likely on their way out, internal amps very hard to get schematics for though are hand build so you do need to worry about quality control. They can sound good, go down to 20hz.

You would need to listen to them as they are not your typical audiophile speaker (neither is Klipsch). The price is a little steep as you will likely have to modify them to fix them in the not so distant future.

[Oregon Tubes]

I am a Klipsch man through and through, love everything about them. I was looking at the Altec's as an investment. I currently have the Klipschorn and Patrician IV in my livingroom. I just had my KSP-300 amplifiers rebuilt and ready to put them up for sale, I love them but no room.

Jerry

[djk]

I don't think the Sparkomatic/Altec has the same kind of reputation that the real Altec has.

Any home Altec product after 1983 was Sparkomatic/Altec (as is the computer stuff).

[Chris A]

That Stereo Review article was pretty wild -- I'm actually surprised that they printed it since it was more a statement of the company's integrity than that of the product itself. I had heard the Altec ran into some real problems back in the 80s, but I couldn't have guessed that it would be that terrible - flagship speakers going out the door without even testing them for driver balance, i.e., 12+ dB out of balance. That story speaks volumes.

Chris

[twistedcrankcammer]

I don't think the Sparkomatic/Altec has the same kind of reputation that the real Altec has.

Any home Altec product after 1983 was Sparkomatic/Altec (as is the computer stuff).

Sorry,

But if you want to talk "the real Altec Lansing" that would have been when JBL was still alive, before he comited suicide.

Roger

[djk]

Altec made plenty of great stuff after JBL tried to breath with his belt around his neck.

[twistedcrankcammer]

Altec made plenty of great stuff after JBL tried to breath with his belt around his neck.

Mostly off of John Lansings old designs.

Roger

[theebadone]

Save your money, and run far away. Made after Sparkomatics takeover of Altec Lansing corporation, most of their drivers were outsourced to japanese companies. Definitely not from the old Altec Lansing company era when they made fantastic sounding compression drivers, and huge efficient woofers. If you think about it, did sparkomatic make anything of quality?

[jacksonbart]

They are very big

[Wardsweb]

There is a posting "For Sale" on these speakers, but according to the seller they were never mass produced and therefore do not have a model number. Seller stated: They were made for the major Altec dealers and only 12 pair were ever produced

Don't waste your money for one and two, never trust anyone who lies in thier ad. By the time the Stereo Review article ran they had already sold 60 pair. Yes, they're very big and play loud but so can Cerwin Vega for a lot less money. Spend your money for better speakers.