another Ebay clown

[Old Guy]

Originally posted by Audio_by_Goodwill:
]
Looks like the cabinet from the 800, to me..... not exactly common.

aep30, is a regular Altec seller, on Ebay. I've heard he's trust worthy. He does seem to price his cabinets rather high.... but then again, I'm cheap :-)

GM, I looked at the scan that you referred to.... I don't think the bottom of the horn looks slopped in that picture.[/QB]

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">To my eyes the link GM posted is to an obviously sloped cabinet.

This is not an 800.

As I said, a home made hack job- look at the edges where the horn flare meets the cabinet.

He may be technically honest, but he is flat out misrepresenting this piece of junk.

[Old Guy]

First thing- let me apologise to all here.

I just have an extremely short fuse for bull.

Here are my questions for this seller-

1. Where did you get your information that this cabinet was ever made?

2. Post any markings stencils from inside the cabinet proving it's authenticity.

IMHO, the seller wants it to be a "rare" cabinet so he can get a lot of money for it. No proof it's real other than a readily available sticker.
It's completely dishonest to make claims like this with zero documentation. Seller claims are different from us sitting around trying to figure out what is is. Seller claims should be spot on, or qualified with "I think". In this case, his are neither.

He does seem to be on the level with his other items. But that won't help the poor sucker who bids on this.

[bowtie427ss]

OG, i certainly cannot speak for the other members but IMO you neither said or implied anything needing an apology.

I respect and appreciate that you call them as you see them.

Please know that just because i've had good dealings with the seller in the past and feel the items i got were well represented, doesn't mean that i took any offense at your comments whatsoever.

I'm by no means an expert with these older factory boxes, and from the pics he's posted i'm not sure i'd dare suggest either way.

My guess would be that he removed it from a theater/install where it'd been for a very long time and probably just assumed that it's the "real deal".

The one thing that stuck out to me immediately is that the grain of the wood in the horn flares and the front panel above the port appears to be running the "wrong" way, i don't think they'd have made those cuts that way at the factory, but again far out from my field of knowledge.

FWIW, i don't think the seller is exceptionally knowledgeable about a lot of the stuff he sells, he just seems to represent it fairly well and has a nice supply, makes him more pleasureable to deal with than the average eflake.

Did y'all miss the empty Simplex cabs he had listed for 2500 or 3500?

They disappeared and aren't to be found in completed items either.

[Old Guy]

I saw those, they were at least accurately represented.

They did disappear- usually that only happens when Ebay cancels the auction.

(NOTE: It often happens when the item is also for sale locally. I've seen CHAMBERS stoves for sale on eBay that suddenly went off eBay because the seller found a local buyer. This may be what happened in the case of the auction you mention. - TWW)

[bowtie427ss]

Well i see a bidder has taken the plunge.

I can't help but daydream about the boxes i could build with 500 bucks worth of plywood, heck i've even got decals for 'em.

[Audio_by_Goodwill]

Originally posted by GM:
OK, I have a pic of one in a trailer, but it's so dark it's hard to tell, so try this one: http://www.lansingheritage.org/image.../800/page2.jpg

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Ok, that's obviously sloped. Looking at the larger size auction pictures, I do see now that they look to be built quite rough, also.

..... I believe it's safe to assume it's a DIY unit by a distributor/whoever rather than a rare factory unit.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I think at this point I don't have much choice, but to agree.

[GM]

Well, we all always have a choice here, but if you choose to disagree with me, then we'll have to agree to disagree.

That said, this wouldn't be the first time Altec has caught me out WRT following its own marketing/build specs, so has anybody with an epay membership asked this guy for any manufacturer NP/whatever data proof to justify the 'rare' status?

[Steve Schell]

Correction: I looked at the pictures again, and the first pair of 800s had the decals applied to both sides and rear panel.

Looking at an original example of the 1947 model 800 brochure, I suspect the 800 cabinet had a flat bottom flare from the beginning. In the cover illustration it appears to be tilted, but the artist was likely working from photographs taken at a different angle and made an incorrect assumption of the flare shape. This sort of thing happens a lot with artists, who rarely have the actual items in their studios. My favorite example of this is from the Davis/Badmaieff book on speaker enclosures. There is a drawing of John Hilliard's home stereo, and the Altec 802 drivers are drawn as square in shape! Oops.

[Old Guy]

As GM says Steve, we'll just have to agree to disagree- I've seen lots of old cabs, none anywhere near as crude as this.

And I have to ask- is there any proof the other sets on eBay were not DIY also? it would be easier for an inexperienced woodworker to delete the slant...

I've seen DIY and contractor built that couldn't be distinguished from factory. but have seen a lot of junk too.

If I saw this cab in person I could say with almost certainty- but till I see some sort of Altec stamp inside, I think it's fake.

[Steve Schell]

I've got no proof that the cabs in my pictures are not home made, though the systems appear to be originals with all components intact. I've got no dog in this hunt anyway, only curiosity.

I looked through the late 1940s Altec service literature, hoping to find documentation on the model 800 bass cabinet. It is listed as horn #H-810, but I could find no drawings or pictures that show the front flare. The 800 seems to have been made from 1947 until 1953 or so, when it was replaced by the A7 system. My suspicion is that the 800 used the 810 cabinet with flat bottomed flare until the 825 cab (as part of the A7) replaced it with its angled flare, but this is only my conjecture at this point.