ben. Posted June 25, 2003 Share Posted June 25, 2003 and improved? They claim new materials bring 22kHz-20Hz response. Target retail :$4000 EACH plus $300 shipping!! Copied from TWICE magazine: MILFORD, PA. Altec Lansing Technologies returned to its home audio roots with the online relaunch of four step-up home stereo speaker pairs, including the high-end A7 Voice of the Theater, following a decade-long focus on PC-audio speakers. The company is "entertaining" sales of traditional home speakers through traditional CE channels but has no timetable for doing so, said product manager Robery Puzey. The introductions are part of a broader effort by Altec to reposition itself from a PC-audio company to a company that offers "all things audio," including stereo headphones and PC headsets, he said. As part of that repositioning, the company is providing connectivity to TVs and dedicated gaming systems by adding RCA audio outputs on new powered speaker systems to complement their PC minijack connections, he said. As a running change, the company will also include mini-to-RCA adapters in PC-focused powered speakers priced at more than $50. On top of that, the company has begun redefining its PC audio products as powered audio products that can be used with headphone CD players and TVs, he added. In traditional passive bookshelf and tower home speakers, Altec is resurrecting four legacy products that Puzey said were well-received by critics during their previous lives. The first, available since May, is the A7 Voice of the Theater speaker launched in the 1950s as a movie-theater speaker that later filtered into music studios and the homes of audiophiles. Its price is $4,000 per speaker, plus $300 shipping per speaker. The new A7 is acoustically matched to an original A7 and was built from the same specs, production drawings, materials, and tools as the original, but some better components and techniques were used to bring the speaker into the SACD and DVD-Audio age, the company said. Frequency response was extended to 22kHz from 20kHz, for example. Three other models introduced in 1989 are also on the way. The $1,100/pair 508S and $1,600/pair 510S towers are due in June, and the $900/pair 305S bookshelf is due in June or July and will be available on www.alteclansing.com, Puzey said. All are three-way models. Other potential products include the custom-home install market, said pro division product manager Steve Schlangen. Nonetheless, although "we have our eye on it," he said, the company currently has no custom-home products in its roadmap. The same is true of car audio, which the company stopped marketing in the mid-1990s. In the CE market, the company began expanding its focus beyond PC audio last year when it began fall shipments of its XA series of powered speakers. Two of three models, the XA-3021 2.1 system, and the 3051 surround system with six speakers and Dolby Pro Logic processor, were the company's first systems with RCA outputs to complement minijack outputs, enabling them to be connected to TVs for home theater or to videogame consoles, Puzey said. The third XA system is an add-on subwoofer for TVs and features RCA outputs. In another line expansion, Altec plans later this summer to offer its first stereo headphones, which will be marketed online and to brick-and-mortar dealers, Puzey said. They'll carry an undisclosed new brandname with the "by Altec Lansing" tag line. They'll follow the company's first line of PC headsets due this month. Altec Lansing Technologies got its start in 1986 when, as car audio supplier Sparkomatic, it licensed the Altec Lansing name for consumer electronics, including home and car audio, from Mark IV. The audio group of Mark IV, a diversified company, was focused on selling pro audio under multiple brands, including Altec and Electrovoice. Sparkomatic was renamed Altec Lansing Technologies in 1992, and in May 2000, the Milford company bought the worldwide rights for the Altec Lansing brand name, including pro audio rights, from Mark IV's successor, Telex Communications, which was not actively marketing Altec Lansing pro products at the time. In April 2002, the Milford company relaunched Altec pro products, bringing Altec's pro and consumer products under the same roof for the first time since 1986. The Altec Lansing brand traces its corporate history back to 1941 with the founding of Altec Corp., which became majority-owned in 1962 by conglomerate LTV in 1962. Altec Corp. marketed home, car and pro audio. In 1984, a Chapter 11 Altec Corp. was bought by another diversified company, Gulton Industries, which shut down Altec's home and car audio operations to focus on pro. Eleven months later, Mark IV bought Gulton, including Gulton's Electrovoice pro brand, and later purchased other pro brands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tpg Posted June 25, 2003 Share Posted June 25, 2003 ---------------- On 6/25/2003 3:40:26 PM bclarke421 wrote: They claim new materials bring 22kHz-20Hz response. ---------------- The original speakers only went to 20KHz- the new ones go to 22KHz. They didn't say the frequency response was 20-22000. Hmm... they sound nice, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben. Posted June 26, 2003 Author Share Posted June 26, 2003 ---------------- On 6/25/2003 4:16:46 PM trespasser_guy wrote: ---------------- On 6/25/2003 3:40:26 PM bclarke421 wrote: They claim new materials bring 22kHz-20Hz response. ---------------- The original speakers only went to 20KHz- the new ones go to 22KHz. They didn't say the frequency response was 20-22000. Hmm... they sound nice, though. ---------------- My bad. I aint much fer tha book larnin'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZAKO Posted June 26, 2003 Share Posted June 26, 2003 A check with ALTEC...NO Altec A7 is forth comming. No one in the office new about it. Do you think it was a ploy to keep the Altec name registerd? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnysal Posted June 26, 2003 Share Posted June 26, 2003 here it is, you can even buy it on-line http://www.alteclansing.com/legacy/a7.asp so it is for real. tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frzninvt Posted June 26, 2003 Share Posted June 26, 2003 It seems as usual the office people are the LAST to find out or know anything. I did note that on the specs that the low end is listed as 35Hz which is an octave away from the projected 20Hz they had hoped for. It still does not quite have the efficiency of the Khorn though @ 97db, overall a very nice speaker that I am sure would sound fantastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben. Posted June 26, 2003 Author Share Posted June 26, 2003 That 20Hz was my mistake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolm Posted June 26, 2003 Share Posted June 26, 2003 According to the manual, the 3dB down point is 54 Hz, hardly stunning. The specified 35 Hz to 22 kHz frequency response is at +- 10 dB, This is not your father's A7. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregorius Posted June 26, 2003 Share Posted June 26, 2003 For $8,600 you can buy a new pair of Khorns and have $1,100 change. We know what a Khorn will do in a proper room. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Mobley Posted June 26, 2003 Share Posted June 26, 2003 Malcolm, you beat me to it. -3dB is at 54, my lascala's do better than that. nachodaddies A7's fer shure. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Robinson Posted June 26, 2003 Share Posted June 26, 2003 I think there is about a 1 in 10,000 chance that my wife would let me put them in the living room ... Mahoghany Klipschorns are always welcomed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tpg Posted June 26, 2003 Share Posted June 26, 2003 Technically, they 'could' hit 20Hz... If the roll-off is -25dB at 20Hz, and you were listenin at 120dB, it would be audible. But, I don't think anyone here would do that. For the price... I'd say no. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben. Posted June 26, 2003 Author Share Posted June 26, 2003 I think it might be kind of similar to yo daddy's A7. They were never a bass monster by reputation, but really were known for their midrange performance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
formica Posted June 26, 2003 Share Posted June 26, 2003 It's nice to see Altec coming back into home/performance audio... I often wondered what happened to them... as PC audio is a far cry of what they were. Its also interesting that they would reissue a classic design, in a way proving that the acoustic physics haven't changed (something heritage owners already know). If they stir up enough attention, who knows, people may rediscover the K-horn, which has been around all along. Great news... Rob PS: maybe JBL will follow suit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnA Posted June 26, 2003 Share Posted June 26, 2003 "The specified 35 Hz to 22 kHz frequency response is at +- 10 dB, This is not your father's A7." Actually this sounds JUST LIKE Daddy's A-7s. All of them I ever heard had no bottom at all and had a slightly dull sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZAKO Posted June 27, 2003 Share Posted June 27, 2003 I dont know why any one would pay that price for an A7 . Its a simple cabinet to build. And plans are available every where. Altec spekers & horns are also available on Ebay. Some thing is fishey about this, all specs are wrong. why publish wrong figures? I dont think they will get that price. You can get Altec A7 used under $1000. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted June 27, 2003 Share Posted June 27, 2003 Actually the specs are probably dead on by today's standards ! If you dig thru the "Dope from Hope Papers" you will find specs on the entire Heretage line that are much better than what is on the Klipsch site today. They spec'd Lascalas to go the 45 hz way back then and now 54hz so the difference is in the way they rate them today. The A7's are great speakers the Chicago horn Club had a set running at Lima with a monster size Sub which didn't really seem to even be on for 95% of the music and they sounded great !! To bad they want $4300 a piece for them ! Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolm Posted June 27, 2003 Share Posted June 27, 2003 Didn't mean to imply the low frequency response was the reason for saying they aren't your father's A7s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben. Posted June 27, 2003 Author Share Posted June 27, 2003 ---------------- On 6/27/2003 11:12:11 AM Malcolm wrote: Didn't mean to imply the low frequency response was the reason for saying they aren't your father's A7s. ---------------- All MY father has is a clock radio! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrot Posted June 27, 2003 Share Posted June 27, 2003 Yes sir, those A7 speakers at Lima provided the best sound at the show, IMHO. As for the new price, not much different than cars. Newly reintroduced Mini Coopers cost ten times what they used to sell for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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