1st anyone had a recommendation on a matching center speaker for my Voice Of The Theater speakers for my theater.

2nd I would be interested in purchasing a single matching VOTT A7 speaker or a recommended matching alternative. I am located in Georgia if anyone is in the area and has something for sale.

GM

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Loud Is Beautiful, If It's Clean

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Cheers!

Analog Addict

Jack of all Trades, Master of None
Searching for Sonic Nirvana...

My alter ego...

Time is an abstract concept created by carbon-based life-forms to monitor their ongoing decay. -Thunderclese

I have a single 810 cab with a 811 horn, coupled to a 902C driver. The LF is a 803A, and it has the N-500 network divider...

This is a very uncommon Altec to find, and is in original unmolested condition. I removed this myself from behind a movie screen in a theatre that was closed in the 70's. The drivers are dated 1955

At the moment I am using it in my garage, but starting to crave floorspace more than the speaker, since I've got a pair in my livingroom I listen too more. This speaker sounds great, and cabinet is in nice condition considering age. The drivers are in excellent condition.

Regardless, this is by far the earliest mating of a 511 horn/500 Hz XO to a 800 series cab for a cinema/prosound app I'm aware of. I wonder too if the black painted horn interior was factory done as all factory green horns I've seen were the same inside and out and all cinema apps had either some shade of matte gray or black to minimize reflections back through the screen.

Since the 511 has a more focussed dispersion than the 811 and the implied lower vent tuning, was it part of a multi-channel system or a single in a very small cinema?

TIA,

The horn is all green, it just appears black because of lighting and the angle.

As far as I know, this was placed in the theater new. The amps I got with it (motiograph) had altec repair/certified stickers on them from 56. The speaker and cabinet is all factory from best I can tell. Nothing looks to be modified, or repainted.

This came out of a very small venue theater, from a small town in Virginia. It was a single speaker, hooked to a mono system.

As far as the port, the shelf goes only across the bottom as you see with the padding on it. The rest is open up to the back of the LF driver.
Also, I could be wrong, it could be an 800 divider.. just been so long since I looked at it.. All I do is listen to it, and move stuff around it in my garage, so, I could stand to get some floorspace back.

It is a really great sounding speaker. I've got a Utah in a custom corner cab that I also have in the garage, so I could stand to lose one, and since this one would be more desirable to a collector..

Wish I had the $$$/space for a separate mono system..........

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bfish

"We're going ALL the way, till the wheels fall off and burn!"
Bob Dylan, from Brownsville Girl

I am keeping an eye on Ebay and Craigslist... problem with Craigslist is if you put Altec in as a search word a ton of computer speakers come up that you have to wade through... plus if someone just lists them as speakers with no name, I would probably miss those too....

Anyway... let me know if you are selling some or see any for sale....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ALTEC-A-7-VOICE-OF-THE-THEATRE-SPEAKER-SYSTEM_W0QQitemZ160262708964QQihZ006QQcategoryZ119019QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

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"There are four boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order."

OG - yeah, I saw this and am "watching" it on Ebay. I know I'll have to switch the horn out though as it is an 811. Any chance this uses the same driver as the 511?

Also, is that the woofer that comes in most of the A7's? Or is there a standard for this?

Lastly - what's with the opening in the bottom of the cabinet? Is that in fact an older version as mentioned by the lister, or did someone modify this cabinet? I wouldn't imagine it would be that hard to modify to make it match....

I know you were just pointing this out, but I was planning on coming on here and asking these questions anyway, so thanks for the opportunity.

I thought I'd found something here in Georgia on CL - but when I inquired about the pair of A7's the reply I got was: "these cabs are custom-made to Altec specs, and well-used. Sound great! have Altec 421 woofers, 511-size Peavey horns with atlas drivers. Summary: they look old, they sound great!"

Which doesn't sound like it would be what I am looking for.... I asked him about the cabs and he just replied while I was typing this as a matter of fact and said they are made from 3/4" plywood and would be willing to just sell me the cabs. I am going to ask for pics and see what they look like - maybe post them here. The 421 Altec woofers - were these put in A7's?

I don't recommend 12" go for similar components
in a same volume cabinet perhaps.

But again a third A-7 is your best bet . It's straight technology with no messing around stuff.

I'm quite strict when it comes to sound.

That should be an 802 driver- prolly "C" would be my guess.

Most likely an 803B speaker. The 803B and the 416A are for all intents and purposes the same speaker.

A really old gentleman, now deceased, told me that was done to avoid confusion with the multicells ending in 03 ie 1003.

That is correct porting for early A7's. IMHO modifying it would be sacrilege.

GM is better to ask regarding the HF horns, I am just not used to thinking of living room size systems. The driver should fit on a 511, but I would retain the original parts so the set could be put back.

Buy a real Altec cabinets and fill it with the correct Altec components!

Buy the real Altec components and put them into a real Altec cabinet!

Many of us here can build cabinets and possibly even better then the originals. We can all find the correct components to load our cabinets with but what we can't do is replicate true vintage Altec speakers no matter how hard we try or how good we build.

If you have a pair of real originals and need a match then you simply have to find the right one, or pair, to make it correct.

From a sound perspective you can certainly rig your gear to suit your needs and system and if done right it will be fine.

I believe the only real way to match an Altec or a pair is to find the exact original and there sure are plenty of them out here.

Do as you are doing and keep your eyes and ears open but unless you are willing to settle for something less, be patient.

We can build Altec speakers all day and every day and never end up with an Altec no matter how hard we try.

Q; What's the difference between a 'vintage' painted, plywood box and a new one?