Altec 603

**voice of the theater** · October 26th, 2011, 11:01 AM

Originally Posted by bowtie427ss

Maybe close, the cabinets are where the money will be. In better economic climates i've seen them bring 1K empty. However, i have my doubts about them going that high. IMO&E, the 603 is one of the few Altecs that's better off forgotten than remembered.

Yeah, I agree--it's nowhere near as good as the 604--probably only worth any money as a collectable (and for the cabs)......

**gearfreak** · October 26th, 2011, 01:52 PM

Love the style and seeming practicality of those cabs. Missed (priced) out on the big ebay sell off in central PA last year.
M600's are not bad to look at, but I likes me a removable back!

**voice of the theater** · October 26th, 2011, 02:05 PM

I know it's a lot different than a 604 ("multicell dia-cone", not duplex), but do these speakers use crossovers? I didn't see them in the photos and there's no mention of them in the description. From this link (below), I see there is a horn -- do they send bass into the horn (which would surprise me) or is there a crossover (or is the signal "split" some other way)?

http://www.lansingheritage.org/image...1949/page4.jpg

**cradeldorf** · October 26th, 2011, 02:20 PM

Originally Posted by voice of the theater

I know it's a lot different than a 604 ("multicell dia-cone", not duplex), but do these speakers use crossovers? I didn't see them in the photos and there's no mention of them in the description. From this link (below), I see there is a horn -- do they send bass into the horn (which would surprise me) or is there a crossover (or is the signal "split" some other way)?

http://www.lansingheritage.org/image...1949/page4.jpg

Maybe that horn is Altecs answer to the whizzer cone?

**Cal Weldon** · October 27th, 2011, 10:13 AM

Originally Posted by voice of the theater

but do these speakers use crossovers?

No. Aluminum dome coupled to the driver coil for high end. The horn was there for dispersion only. No HF driver.

Originally Posted by cradeldorf

Maybe that horn is Altecs answer to the whizzer cone?

Sort of.

From what I can gather not hearing them, is that they were not Altec's best effort. Poor man's 604.

**unreceivedogma** · October 15th, 2012, 07:42 PM

Since I am new here, hello all!

35 years ago, I traded a pair of Warfdale bookshelf speakers for a pair of floor-standing speakers with a friend of a friend because they were too big to fit in his apartment, and since I had a 1900 sq ft loft, I had a lot of room.

The cabinets seemed like they were made in someone's basement tool shop. I had no idea what was inside, but I could see that the drivers were 15 inches, and I needed something big for my listening area. I opened the backs and found an Altec 604C in one, and an Altec 603B in the other.

My guess is that the 603 preceded the 604 and that this guy's dad used the 603B until stereo came along, then bought a 604C and never bothered to upgrade the other. I used them this way myself for 3 or 4 years. They worked OK together except that the 604C was slightly brighter, which I could compensate for with my Dyna PAS that had separate bass/treble controls for each speaker.

I still have the 603B. It has no crossover. It is for sale.