605 b speakers and crossovers 750 start bid

**Phil-G** · November 11th, 2015, 06:50 PM

Altec Lansing 605b Speakers + N-1600d Crossovers

i just saw this auction expire today with no takers at $750. is there something wrong? they've been reconed at GPA and no defects to be found. if i had the $ i would have bid.

i get that they're not 604s. and a lot of people give them a bad rap. but from what i get from Bowtie. they might have more in common with a M19, with a 416 / 806 driver set up. how could that be bad??

**bowtie427ss** · November 11th, 2015, 07:28 PM

The have a little better phase coherence than 604 naturally because the motors are closer together on the vertical plane. But, you give up 3db of sensitivity for that. If you're using a flea powered amp, compared to driving a 604, you only have half a flea.

Also, i think there is some difference in sonic character in the LF, and a bit steeper and earlier rolloff in the HF both attributable to less motor strength. That said, i know a fella who has a pair mounted in the ceiling of his music room driven with an MC-225 and they sound bloody good.

**Phil-G** · November 11th, 2015, 08:16 PM

yeah, but for a little over 800$ (depending on shipping) you have nearly new drivers. that would be hard to beat with just about any showroom stuff for the price.

**Alien_Shore** · November 11th, 2015, 08:29 PM

I think you nailed it Phil, the 605 doesn't have the market panache of the 604 and even if rebuilt, most flea-payers won't bite.
The performance differences noted by Tom are interesting though - I didn't know that the 605 had that much less sensitivity. Could be not a bad thing - my 604E is incredibly revealing. So much so that much of my library doesn't sound very good on them due to crappy engineering of the recordings.

**magnarc** · November 11th, 2015, 10:08 PM

I think there are two things of issue with these, as I saw them too and considered them.

The corrosion, albeit light, around the magnet rims etc. You don't know how far that has gone inside the units. Perhaps from bad storage?

The more worrying thing is how some of the cone/dope has stuck to the box they were in. You can see it missing from one, an odd look for someone who is particular. You also don't know if any cone damage/alignment issues may have happened when the driver was taken out of the box with the cone 'attached' to the storage box.

**bowtie427ss** · November 11th, 2015, 10:45 PM

A really old post from Don McRitchie over at LHF:

I've never heard a 605 to compare it to the 604/E/G/K of which I am familiar. However, I do know that there was a severe market backlash to Altec from the studio industry when it was introduced as the replacement for the 604C. In around 1962, Altec went on a cost cutting exercise that saw the introduction of the 605 and 806. Where the 604 could roughly be described as a 515 bass driver with a 802 coaxially mounted, the 605 was roughly a 416 with an 806. However, instead of selling this speaker as a lower cost altenative to the 604, Altec marketed it as a "new and improved" design to supercede the 604. Thus it was given the 605 moniker and the 604 went out of production.

This single act, more than any other, opened the door for JBL to compete in the professional market against Altec Lansing. Studios balked at this product, considering it noticably inferior to the 604. In particular, Capitol, a long time Altec customer, turned to JBL to supply studio monitors. They were impressed enough that they later standarized on JBL monitors for all of their studios. Soon JBL was supplying monitors to the industry at large. Eventually, Altec realized the error of their ways and re-introduced the 604 as the 604E SuperDuplex (the 605 had been given the longstanding Duplex brand name). However, by then it was too late. The genie was out of the bottle and JBL would come to dominate the studio market in subsequent years.

In summary, the 605A was not an intrinsically bad speaker. It was Altec's marketing blunder that, more than anything, gave it a bad reputation. Nonetheless, it was considered to be significantly different in sound from the 604 that it replaced.

And one from another gentleman pointing out the technical differences:

The Altec 604 and 605 differ in the magnets used for the LF and HF drivers. An analogy would be the 604 uses the 515 magnet structure while the 605 uses the 416 magnet structure. Similarly the 604 uses the 802 magnet while the 605 uses the 804 or 806? magnet. Sorry but I've forgotten my altec HF model numbers.

So while the 604 has greater efficency the 605 may have better low frequency response in home use. The 605's smaller magnets also result in a smaller time delay between LF and HF.

The 605 has a smaller magnet and higher Qt than the 604 so it has more low frequency output. This should work better in a home style cabinet. The 604 was often used in a big baffle which better suited its lower Qt.

**bowtie427ss** · November 12th, 2015, 09:18 AM

Re-listed, opening bid 500, no reserve. I'd be sending him an offer shipping included, and ask him to relist with BIN at the offer price if he accepts.

He doesn't show the back of both frames, i am wondering is one was a 2 piece split rim basket, or if the lack of a second rear pic is just an oversight.

**Phil-G** · November 12th, 2015, 01:51 PM

i saw that last night. i came really close bidding on them. but i do not have 600$ to spare right now. but they really are tempting. i had to think hard, pay bills or bid.

good thing i only had couple beers left.
and yeah, i read those quotes before. it seems to me a 605 would make a great "HIFI" speaker.

and i don't see the small amount of corrosion to be a problem. the paint next to it isn't bubbled up.