Altec 19 cabinet design...a thought

[Russnohio]

Has anyone else ever wondered why Altec made this system composed of an upper & lower section as two separete pieces bolted together? Don't get me wrong. I love the classic model 19 as it is. But from an R&D point of view way back in the 1970's there just had to be some voices saying the system would be MUCH more economical to build if it were a single large box, and the sound would be exactly the same. As much as everyone here (mostly) loves the classic m19 system as it is one would have to agree that the cabinet is a bit OVER-engineered. I've heard & read that the system was shipped from the factory completely assembled so ease of shipping was not the reason.

So then we must assume Altec went to the extra cost & trouble just to make it look great? They hit a home run of course!

You'd never see anything today built from wood & veneer (especially home electronics)going that extra mile.
Sorry if this post is useless....just wondering and I'm bored today as I think about this

Russ

[gamalot]

Just my opinion Russ but I think it was to capture the look of the A 7 with the exposed horn on top but to make it more WAF friendly.

From a design stand point, many speakers of the day came in one box while altec went what I would call a more Macho route but made it a pretty nice cabinet that could be accepted in the living room.

Much discussion here and elsewhere regarding if the two boxes with open ports between make any real sonic difference but also many who have built single boxes with 19 components with excellent results.

I think we have to settle on the 14s and 19s being a classic Altec design that appeal to men much more then women.

Gary