bracurrie Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Here in Nashville Altec A7s were all the rage in studios when they were introduced. I just met an older musician that did a lot of TV and recording from the early 50s here. He has a set of A7s he wants to sell. I would be interested if anyone here has an opinion on them. Thanks all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axz Hout Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bracurrie Posted February 5, 2014 Author Share Posted February 5, 2014 if you use the drivers and build a suitable enclosure Thanks. Could you speculate on what that suitable enclosure might be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axz Hout Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bracurrie Posted February 5, 2014 Author Share Posted February 5, 2014 All I know is that the horn is in an enclosure that has fabric in front to pretty it up. I haven't yet been able to find photos of that model. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason str Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 The horn sounds decent but you wont get much bass down low, it just bottoms out. Using the horn with a LaScala bass bin or lower K-horn cabinet would probably be a good combination. May work good ok if you're using a low power amplifier but don't expect miracles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Do you mean you can't find any pics of them with grills or can't find info? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrestonTom Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 (edited) It is difficult to give advice on this since the A7 cabinet could have many different parts inside. The woofer is usually a 416 (various versions) or 515 and the tweeter horn is usually a 511 or 811 (but not always). As Mark mentioned, over the years many have come up with alternative cabinets (all large) that typically decrease the port area (extending the bass response lower). They sound okay in their stock form, but in order to shine they would need to be taken on as a project. Do a search on "Onken speaker cabinet". Some folks, but not all, really like that kind of sound. Edited February 5, 2014 by PrestonTom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bracurrie Posted February 5, 2014 Author Share Posted February 5, 2014 Do you mean you can't find any pics of them with grills or can't find info? I haven't seen them but the owner says they are furniture grade boxes and I assume that means the horns are enclosed like a Khorn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest " " Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 these things are huge...and for the size...not really uniform in frequency response...as others have said...very mid bass/mid range/high range heavy. a speaker that needs plently of distance between the speaker and listening position for proper wave propagation....not sure if dollar for dollar the a7's would be the best choice...how much is he asking...maybe you can part them out and buy something that suits your needs better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 An A7-500... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bracurrie Posted February 6, 2014 Author Share Posted February 6, 2014 An A7-500... Just found a trail to photos myself. I also found this. http://www.lansingheritage.org/html/altec/plans/1968-plans.htm The photo of yours is labeled as a Valencia and the beast with the bottom port and horn on top was labeled as a A7-500. I will take photos when I see them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason str Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 An A7-500... Just found a trail to photos myself. I also found this. http://www.lansingheritage.org/html/altec/plans/1968-plans.htm The photo of yours is labeled as a Valencia and the beast with the bottom port and horn on top was labeled as a A7-500. I will take photos when I see them. The Valencia is shorter & wider. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axz Hout Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 Yes prices were good in 1971. Sorta... gas was only $ .25 a gallon, too. We just didn't make as much.My JBL 4311s cost me about $289 each then, which was a lot of money for me. Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarheel Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 The horn sounds decent but you wont get much bass down low, it just bottoms out. Using the horn with a LaScala bass bin or lower K-horn cabinet would probably be a good combination. May work good ok if you're using a low power amplifier but don't expect miracles. Something like this. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
japosey Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 I'm someone that fell completely in love with Altec A7's about 8 or 9 years ago. I bought a pair that had seen better days at a local pawn shop. So, I had the bass drivers re-coned and the high frequency diaphragms replaced by Great Plains Audio. I then recovered the beat up cabinets with a rosewood vinyl and made grills from wheat colored guitar grill fabrick to cover the horns which were mounted in the slots. I held onto them for a year or two, but had them in my garage. I had no room in the house I was living in at the time. I always had them playing when I was outside or in the garage. I actually planned on them to be in my mains in my home theater in my current house....Anyway, I put them up on Ebay for $3k just to see what kind of interest they would attrack and low and behold someone bought them. I hated getting rid of them, but I didn't think they would sell for that much. To ship them, I covered them in insulation sheathing and had to ship via freight to Tennessee. I really liked the midrange transparency and how effortlessly they were to drive and how they played reasonably low. I've ran across another pair or two since and didn't want to take on a project with such large speakers, but if the right ones were to show up...I wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger. BTW - I also owned the home version Valencia's which I had planned to use as rears. If I find some pictures of them I will post them for everyone to see. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason str Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 The horn sounds decent but you wont get much bass down low, it just bottoms out. Using the horn with a LaScala bass bin or lower K-horn cabinet would probably be a good combination. May work good ok if you're using a low power amplifier but don't expect miracles. Something like this.IMG_0593.JPG Very nice. Bet it sounds great. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBryan Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 Nice looking speaks! I had a pr of VOTT's for a short time (until I found Khorns... again). They sounded fine but as the others mentioned, they lacked the extreme frequencies and came across a bit dull. Of course, the xover and wires were original so that most likely was a factor. Compared to the Khorns, the VOTTs don't have the deep punchy bass nor the highs but the midrange was nicer. If you're willing to brace and rework the cabs, rebuild the electronics, modify the horn and add a tweeter, you'd have a very nice speaker that would easily rival the Khorn and even surpass it in the midrange. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyrc Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 (edited) The A7 should be very precise and clear sounding -- the ones I've heard were. As others have said, the deep bass seems to be missing, as well as the highest treble. They're very efficient. Two of them filled McKenna Auditorium at San Francisco State with clean sound during a Rock & Roll class I had.. PWK ran curves on one type of A7 v.s. a Klipschorn. The curves were published somewhere ... I'll bet a forum member has them. While PWK, naturally, could be expected to have a bias, I'll bet that his methodology was sound. The curves showed the Khorn with somewhat smoother response than the A7. That matches my auditioning experience -- the Khorns sound warmer, have more high frequency and low frequency response. The A7s sounded a bit more "steely" to my ears. The even bigger Altecs used in movie theaters can sound great with a good soundtrack. The big, four woofer horn loaded ones were often used in theaters. Edited February 8, 2014 by Garyrc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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