seti Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 Have these been in constant production? http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/top/altec-lansing-a7-1950s-studio-monitors-for-6100-each-craaaaazay-194449.php "Altec Lansing's A7 speakers were hot shit in the 1950s through the 1970s. It was then that they were known as the "Voice of the Theater", distinguished by being the only commercially-available speakers approved by the Research Council at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. I totally cut and paste that, and I feel dirty for it. Anyhow, in 1973, Billboard mag claimed they were the most popular studio monitors in the country. The crazy-looking horn speakers have a fan thing-a-ma-bob on top, I'm assuming for high frequency, and a 15-inch unit for rumble, and maybe a bit of mid-bass. The 200-watt speakers are handmade, cost $6100 each, and take 8-10 weeks to deliver. They've been designed to accoustically match the originals. Match the originals?! WTF!? Wouldn't you say speaker design has advanced since 1950? Someone clue me in. Why are these fugly monitors worth this kind of money? I'll apologize if someone can edu-ma-cate me to the farks. But for now, I'll say this: Altec, face it, you make computer speakers for Dell now. Don't try to make us pay five-figures for a pair of 1950 speakers from your better days." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev313 Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 That write-up was offensively stupid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest " " Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 I heard a set in 1986. Nothing I have heard since has come close. The old ones pop up on ebay all the time, most are on the west coast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted August 18, 2006 Author Share Posted August 18, 2006 That write-up was offensively stupid. It is a gadget blog they know nothing about good audio. They would give Bose cubes a good review.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjgeraci Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 I agree Kev, that's the great thing about the internet - anyone can opine about anything. Here's my favorite response on that page: "Stoopid geek review. Not everything is like compooters. Audio gear certainly has a much longer life span than computer gear." For a moment, I thought about replacing my rear pair of Valencias with a set of A7s that Dave has. There is nothing quite like their sound. Too bad I did not come across that pair before I modded out my Valencias. No, they have not been in constant production. The A7 was reissued a couple of years ago because of their popularity in the used market. Carl. Maybe if I can still sneak those large cabinets in at night without the wife knowing??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Spinner Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 Nooo speaker has Mid's ...like Altec still enjoying my 1208... similar to A-7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjgeraci Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 Duke: I agree. But, how can you really appreciate your Altec mids without 3-watt SET?[][] sincerely, Carl (proud owner of PP and pro solid state) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Spinner Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 Ooooohhh...... You .....P,rick, CJ I just calmed down.....[] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Spinner Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 Naanna Nanana .. I got 19's ..'n Val's ..' the 1208's .... CJ ......[] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjgeraci Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 "You .....P,rick, CJ I just calmed down." heh, heh, heh......guilty as charged. Just could not resist.......[] Enjoyed all of your comments in that thread. Carl. P.S. When I get home from work today, I'll be experiencing great dynamics with five large horns (including two Altecs) in my man cave - at louder than is suitable for brandy sipping. No SET will be employed. Umm.... I will now wait for the "hearing loss" comments......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjgeraci Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 "Naanna Nanana .. I got 19's ..'n Val's ..' the 1208's .... CJ ......" I know - I am truly jealous. Sheltie Dave has two pairs of Altecs, including the A7s, that I would love to take off of his hands. I need to build an addition on the house to make them fit, however......... or just need a bigger house......... I will say that adding a sparkle on top of the Altec sound (bringing in a supert at 10,000) adds to an already great experience. That said, I also really enjoy the 2-way Altec sound. Carl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwc Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 Seti. If you ask me, that is why audio Hi-Fi is less heard of these days. The entire industry is so diluted with gadgets and cheap circuits that the common view of what audio stands for is convience and cheap availability. I have the 511/902 combo on my dbb's. Fantastic comination. I would love to hear a new set of A7's Check this out about the new A7 instead of that embarassing description given above. http://www.digitalriver.com/dr/v2/ec_MAIN.Entry16?V1=583906&PN=1&SP=10023&xid=48205&V5=31031484&S1=&S2=&S3=&S4=&S5=&V2=&V3=&V4=&DSP=0&CUR=840&PGRP=0&ABCODE=&CACHE_ID=0 jc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwc Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 Duke. Check out that link I gave above. Looks to me the SPL is lower than the late version and their is more low end. Did they change the port to get lower frequency at the expense of SPL. Why don't you just give us a Warm-hearted-yankee opinion of this.[] jc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-MAN Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 A7/825's truly kick tail. If they weren't so big, I'd have a pair. I traded my "Elephant Horns" temporarily to a buddy for a pair of A7's when I was a kid. The A7's were VERY impressive, even then. They just were TOO BIG. We used them for our PA cabs when I was in a band way back when. DM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheltie dave Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 Man, Carl is going to be pissed. While he was at work today, I finished building a set of 245 SET amps and swapped them out for his QSC 200 wpc behemouths. Carl, for $1,000 in small unmarked bills, your woofer beaters will be returned. BTW, I measured the door way as well, and the VOTTs will fit[li] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Spinner Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 J.C. ... the A-7 tweak ... I belive you close the port to 75 sq in ... to lower the tuning.... remember, whenAltec first tuned that cab, there wasn't a need for low bass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Spinner Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 the Audiophool Market... SET .... where did it come from ..??? Table Radio's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBryan Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 The VOTTs look a lot bigger in person than on the net. About 10 years ago, I saw an ad in the paper for a pr of VOTTs. I called, met the fella and listened to his speaks through a Realistic receiver. He had the A7's (maybe A5 - I can't recall) for something like 20 years but since he moved to an apartment, his wife was not putting up with 'em anymore. These were pretty silly-looking speakers in that he had "veneered" them with some wood-grained vinyl and odder still, he had installed the horn through the port. Obviously not the best setup but I wanted them when I saw the ad and I was willing to compromise - besides, how hard could it be to put them back in order? The gent and I talked for a while and he gave me a great deal and even offered to bring them in his truck so I bought them. 30 minutes later, they were in my living room, he shook my hand, wished me luck and took off. 3 minutes later, I discovered that the narrowest dimension of the speaker was about 2" larger than the opening to my hallway. I wanted to hide these puppies in the basement before my wife got home with the hope of fixin' them up before she saw them. Now they were in living room - right by the front door and I had no way of moving them anywhere. I called a friend who called a friend and within a couple of hours, they came over and picked up the speakers with only minutes to spare. Whew! I owned the VOTTs for less than 3 hours and worse, I hadn't even had a chance to listen to them in my system. Oh well... -Bryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyrc Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 I heard the Altec A-7s many times in the '60s and '70s, including in an A/B comparison with Klipschorns at Berkeley Custom Electronics, a couple of times (many customers wanted to hear them compared). In this equal SPL comparison both were very impressive, and made the Bozak Concert Grand seem muffled in very brief A/B/C comparison (people didn't want to listen to the Bozak, after hearing the other two). The Altec seemed to have effortless midrange that sounded excellent on most recordings they used, but a little "hard" on others. The Klipshorn had much better highs, was more natural on cymbals, brass, and the like. Overall, the Klipschorn seemed the better balanced, wider range (esp in the shimmering highs and deep bass), and slightly sweeter. Both were much cleaner and clearer sounding than any other speakers in the store, and about equal in those qualities. Once in a while, I thought I heard a cabinet resonance with the A-7. Also, the A-7 sounded a little "colder" and the Klipschorn a little "warmer." A few years later, I was surprised to discover that the A-7s sounded a little better in various recording studios I visited. It turned out that they had EQ applied to make the A-7s flatter. In one studio, they switched the EQ in an out for me, and the EQ obviously included a boost in the extremely high frequencies. Later yet, a custom store in Hollywood crossed A-7s over to JBL 075 "orange squeezer" supertweeters, and the increased high frequency response was, in my view, welcome. Most theater speakers were much bigger Altecs than the A-7s, except in the horrible little "pill box" theaters that sprang up in the late 60s. Some of these Altec behemoths had four horn loaded woofers per channel, with as many as 6 channels in 70mm (7 channels for D-150 ...Patton, and John Huston's The Bible In the Beginning in just LA and New York, I think -- we missed out on D-150 in San Francisco, after some poor guy equipped his theater in Northgate ... Marin county, just over the Golden Gate Bridge .... The true quality of the big Altec systems did not show, except with magnetic soundtracks. Optical soundtracks were execrable until Dolby redid them in the very late 70s, and early 80s. The soundtrack that sold "Dolby Stereo," Star Wars (1977) however was magnetic in it's 70mm incarnation, and, surprisingly, not as good as it could have been. The first digital soundtracks were (and all too often, still are) too harsh and "hard." Some theaters used JBLs, including the best sounding theater I ever heard, a Todd-AO equipped 70mm house that was "four-walled" by the company Mike Todd started, Magna cum laude. I understand that many theaters now use Klipsch, including some Regal cinemas ... does anyone know of a list of theaters using Klipsch, or better yet, a website or list where we can look up the makes and model of the speakers in any given theater? Yeah, they are pro models that are unlikely to show up in our homes, but I'm curious nonetheless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyrc Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 A quick correction ... my spell check evidently changed Magna Theatre Corporation to Magna cum laude. Well, the Magna theaters, were of that quality ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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