Altec History Photos

[mah]

This link may be of interest to forum members:

Lee Sound Design

Please note the request for any suitable photos to add to this site.


Cheers, Marshall.

[wws944]

Fun photos!

Here is scan of the Radio World magazine article with the photo of the Idora Park horn:

http://durenberger.com/resources/doc...LRADIO0822.pdf

I wonder if it was preserved after the park was razed...

[bfish]

Yeah, I particularly enjoy the group photo of all the W.E. alumni... kinda puts some of the "Lansing" claims to fame in perspective...

[robertbartsch]

As a lover of Altec products for over 40 years, I have enjoyed this thread much.

Until now, I was not sure about the connetction between Bell Labs/Western Electric and Jim Lansing.

The history on the official JBL cite is interesting too. I think they were very kind in describing their founders' demise as "Jim passed away in 1949 and the company, as beneficiary, used the life insurance proceeds to reduce debts"

I thought I read where that he hung himself at home, in part, due to financial stress, in which case, any life insurance would not have been paid.

[bfish]

Altec began with ~295 former W.E./E.R.P.I. employees, many of whom were degreed engineers. When they bought LMCO, they picked up ~19 employees and a factory floor. To credit the company's subsequent accomplishments to any individual does a shameful disservice to the rest.

While much of our discussion is centered around a few long-lived drivers, it should be remembered those were but a drop in the bucket of Altec's accomplishments. Their R&D helped pioneer and shape the entire recording industry, from a wide array of microphones, through the mixing, equalization, compression, amplification, and eventual playback. They played a key role in developing the detection systems that eventually helped curb the terrible losses to U-boats in WWII. They designed and installed reliable warning systems across the country. From the ballpark, to the rock concert, to the studio, to the theater, to the church, to the conference room, to the corner club, to the home, Altec was there. Many alumni went on to grow other companies in the field. It was a collective of intellect and talent that resulted in the whole being far greater than the sum of its' parts.

[Audio_by_Goodwill]

Altec began with ~295 former W.E./E.R.P.I. employees.......

.......They played a key role in developing the detection systems that eventually curbed the terrible losses to U-boats in WWII.

I had no idea on these two items.

[robertbartsch]

So was U-boat detection system led to the development of sonar and the modern fishfinder?

[bfish]

Not the method that Hilliard, Blackburn and others worked on. Magnetic Anomaly Detection used electromagnetic sensors to detect and locate the telltale magnetic signature of a sub.

[robertbartsch]

Some of the pictures from the 1960s and 70s are interesting since my first Altecs VOTTs were purchased in 1974.

Consequently, this makes me feel a tad old.

Anyway, I would like to see some rock concert photos pre-75 since the dominant sound reinforcement systems of the day were Altecs that included bass horns, horned compression drivers and DC300 Crown amps.

My recollection was that the sound crews used to run recorded music through the system at moderate volumes for an hour or so before the show in order to warm up the voice coils. Apparaently, this was done to reduce component failure as the Altecs were not designed to take really big power.

[LICORNE]

Some of the pictures from the 1960s and 70s are interesting since my first Altecs VOTTs were purchased in 1974.

Consequently, this makes me feel a tad old.

Anyway, I would like to see some rock concert photos pre-75 since the dominant sound reinforcement systems of the day were Altecs that included bass horns, horned compression drivers and DC300 Crown amps.

My recollection was that the sound crews used to run recorded music through the system at moderate volumes for an hour or so before the show in order to warm up the voice coils. Apparaently, this was done to reduce component failure as the Altecs were not designed to take really big power.

The Altec Woodstock bins. These were used for the Woodstock concert . The Beatles USA tour and a few other groups.


BANDS: The Band, Beatles, Beach Boys, Blood, Sweat & Tears, James Brown, Buffalo Springfield, Joe Cocker, Country Joe MacDonald, Taj Mahal, Duke Ellington, Connie Francis, Miles, Dizzie Gillespie The Grateful Dead, Arlo Guthrie, Richie Havens, Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane, Janis, Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Peter. Paul, & Mary, Andy Pratt, Rolling Stones, Barbra Streisand, Lawrence Welk, The Who, Neil Young .

Solo artists:: Joan Baez, James Brown, Joe Cocker, Miles, Dylan, Ellington, Connie Francis, Dizzy Gillespie, Arlo, Havens, Hendrix, Janis, Country Joe MacDonald, Taj Mahal, Melanie, Andy Pratt, Ravi Shankar, John Sebastian, Santana, Streisand, Lawrence Welk, The Who, Johnny and Edgar Winter, Neil Young .

Photo of front of stage Woodstock bins.

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