Hi all,
New to the group... been lurking for awhile, but finally decided to join.
I have a burning question about the various models/iterations of the famous 515 speaker: what is the difference between the Hollywood and the non-Hollywood versions? I see the RWB label versions fetch significantly more $$ than a gold label on that auction site. From what I have been able to uncover, they seem to be the same speaker apart from the label and era.
As well, I happen to have some 515s that are stamped Hollywood on the magnet covers, but with the more common gold Altec labels. Is this a third iteration of the 515s or were they all stamped Hollywood?
Sorry, no pics or date codes at the moment but I will try to get some posted tonight when I am home from work.
David
Hi David, First :welcome: to the board.The RWB labels tend to fetch more money for their rarity.The Hollywood designation is just were Lansing Manuf./Altec was located at the time Vine St.Then they moved to L.A./Mckinley Ave. and then to Anaheim.I think there is like 8-9 different models of the 515 More or Less I Dunno.Originally Posted by adpopulum
I've seen a pair of Mint Con. RWB 515's sell for $4000+
BTW - Cool Avatar
You can start downloading the spec sheets, and thus counting the models here:
Literature for Vintage Altec Products
IDK if the list is 'complete'.
No particular knowledge of the RWB/Hollywood era distinction.
Hi David,
Scroll to the bottom of the linked page to see Jim D's old list of the 515 lineup.
altec
Why aren't the "Hollywood" labels noted? Because it just doesn't matter.
"[I]We're going all the way, till the wheels fall off and burn[/I]!"
Bob Dylan, from [I]Brownsville Girl[/I]
[I]"Time wounds all heels"[/I]
John Lennon, referring to the Nixon/Hoover deportation fiasco.
I assume this list was complied in the late 70's or early 80's since there's no mention of alnico 515-8LFE's or the two different 515E iterations?Hi David,
Scroll to the bottom of the linked page to see Jim D's old list of the 515 lineup.
altec
Why aren't the "Hollywood" labels noted? Because it just doesn't matter.
Not all vegetables make good leaders.
Newest date on it is 87...odd though, those 2 should be in there.
Your neighbors called. They like your music.
Thanks for the links and replies, some great info there. I had come across the spec sheet detailing the b, c, etc. variations before. I guess I could have been clearer... was really interested in iterations of the original 515. Anyhow, interesting stuff.
So I guess the folks paying 2 to 4 times the $ for the Hollywood versions are paying for the collectibility of the drivers... It seems to me to pay extra for a "Hollywood" designation is irrational, if as bfish implies, the difference is superficial! Isn't it all about the music anyway? Anyhow, again, good info.
David
I'll add what I can. The actual Altec Lansing factory was located at 6900 McKinley Av. from the formation of the company until at least 1951. Jim Lansing had moved Lansing Manufacturing Company there in 1933, after the back wall of his prior building up the street at 6626 McKinley fell out onto the railroad tracks during the Long Beach earthquake. Soon after the formation of Altec Lansing in April 1941 the executives established offices with a Hollywood address, first on the top floor of the Taft Building at Hollywood and Vine, later down the street a few blocks at 1161 North Vine Avenue. The latter address also housed research and development facilities, though the factory remained on McKinley. There is also mention in the Altec Exchange newsletters of the period of a "14th Street plant" where diaphragms were constructed, but I haven't been able to find out any more about this.
The first interior ring magnet Alnico V drivers were likely constructed in 1944. Prototypes of the then-unnamed new theatre systems were built and tested in a dozen theatres around the country in late 1944. The 604 was introduced in late 1944, replacing the short lived 601 15" field coil Duplex. In the article by Hilliard And Lansing which introduced the new Voice of the Theatre systems, a 515 woofer is shown with black and white decal as used in the early 1940s Altec products. The RWB decal appeared by the time of VOTT introduction or shortly after, as I never seen VOTT pieces in the field with the black and white decal. At some point in 1947 the rectangular RWB decals on the speakers were changed to the gray/gold decals. They must have ordered plenty of the oval RWB decals for the tramsformers, as they were used until about 1952. I'm not sure when Altec stopped stamping Hollywood on the back of the woofer motors. The earliest 515s had the serial number stamped into the top plate as well as typed on the decal.
The VOTT systems were introduced and promoted heavily in early 1945. This must have been an exciting time for the company as they were CRANKING out the new systems. Serial numbers on the 288 compression driver exceeded 6,000 by September 1946.
Thanks Steve,
This is what I was looking for.
David
I have a pair of Hollywood 515s that had the red/white/blue label until I took the label off after I bought them for $40 dollars each in 1985. I regret taking the label off now, but at 19 years old, I didn't think the label looked new enough for me to show off. At the time I bought the loudspeakers, the woofers were re-coned with the 515 8LFE re-cone kit. The first time I noticed the power of the Hollywood 515s from M&S Sound was when I replaced the 16-ohm, 10 lb Altec 416-Z alnico woofers with my newly acquired 8-ohm, 27+ lb 515’s into my 1960’s multi-ply plywood dark walnut veneered Valencia’s cabinets ( I removed the wood lattice grill for sound improvements.). I can remember the power of the 515s flexing the plywood cabinet side walls and remembering how much power must have been lost from the flexing of the wood. Not long after acquiring the 515s, I bought a heavily braced 7.5 cubic foot MDF cabinet laminated with black walnut Formica. Years after tuning the ports to resonance the cabinets were destroyed for space and I managed to keep the 515s. Now in 2012, I decided to take out the old 515s from storage and see how they compare to the JBL LE15A installed into my 1970’s JBL S8 system. First test I did was a music test between the single JBL in the cabinet and the Altec out because the Altec is much deeper than the JBL and the JBL C45 cabinet has a cross-brace that kept the 515 from seating. The crossover was bypassed for both and the first difference I noticed besides the Altec being more sensitive was the articulation the Altec had. All I can remember was thinking to myself was Wow! The Altec sang and the JBL sound like mud. I then remembered the response curve I took of the 515s with an IVIE portable spectrum analyzer back in the 1980’s and the frequency response on my Altecs went way out. After removing the internal brace that was getting in the way of the Altec in the JBL cabinet, I installed the Altec and connected it to the JBL LX5 500 Hz cross-over. Now for the comparison with the untouched JBL cabinet, I still can’t believe the difference, the Altec really doesn’t sound like a 15 inch woofer in the lower midrange region, more like a very good quality 8 inch woofer with more beaming. The Altec is a very articulate woofer that I had realized 27 years ago, but now over 15 years of not hearing the speakers I am truly impressed with my good old Altecs.
After some research of my 1940’s Hollywood re-coned 515s, I discovered why the loudspeakers are so amazing. The JBL woofers were top of the line for several years and their magnets have 11,000 gauss and the woofers weigh in at 20 lbs. The Altec Alnico 416Zs weigh 10 lbs and the Altec Alnico 416B has 11,000 gauss and weighs 17.5 lbs. The ceramic magnet 515 8LFE from the 1980s has 13,000 gauss and weighs in at 22 lbs. My Hollywood 515s weigh in at over 27 lbs and the magnets are made of Alnico and I would say have an excess of 16,000 gauss. What an awesome sounding loudspeaker. Now I have to figure what to do about my JBL 375 and the HL93 horn (I do not like the sound of the lenses that came with the horns.). I don’t think the horns can go down to 500 Hz, probably down to 1200 Hz.
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