Hello There

**Alien_Shore** · April 26th, 2012, 10:06 PM

Hi everyone - new user, just signed up.
I found this site via a search engine - I was searching on Altec Corona's IIRC.
Anyhow, it's good to see a community like this alive and kicking. Some of the other vintage audio boards are very snobby and this one appears to be a bit more down-to-earth. I first got interested in vintage and Altec several years ago when a friend of mine who owns a local roller skating rink asked me if I knew anything about sound systems - she thought her speakers were blown or at least needed some help. The rink was using four Altec 816A enclosures with 511B horns driven by 802-16G drivers. The LF speakers were Eminence 15". Anyway, I wouldn't call myself an audiophile or engineer; guess I'm best characterized as a "buff" or "hobbyist", but I agreed to help her out. I started researching this old Altec stuff and found a whole very interesting world out here. Very long story short, I ended up sending off the drivers to Bill at GPA and he got them all straight. I built some 2nd order XO's with some Lpads to protect the refurbed HF drivers, and picked up a new crown power amp for her. The sound at the roller rink was immensely improved, and I became very interested in this high-efficiency technology of old.

I went on a 3 or 4 year ebay binge and bought up some good deals on Altec stuff (it sure has gone up in price the last 10 years or so - makes me wish I had bought more just as investment!), and with my new found awareness, started eying old PA equipment hanging on the walls and in storage rooms at places I visted. I also found a pretty cool website,] DIY TUBE that Shannon Parks runs. I got one of his ST35 kits and built my own tube amp. That's where I really started to appreciate the wonderful rich sounds of some of this old gear...

Anyway, enough rambling. I'll post some pics if I can find them on my server....Just wanted to say hello.

**Altec Best** · April 26th, 2012, 10:26 PM

Welcome to the board ! Hope you stick around and post some more ! This old Altec gear is as good as it gets in some of our eyes. Me being one of those souls who love the Altec sound. All The Best !

**RonSSS** · April 26th, 2012, 11:01 PM

Welcome!
Altec and tubes!
Good stuff.
Ron

**cradeldorf** · April 27th, 2012, 12:24 AM

Hi Buddy, C'mon in, sit down and chat. Were all good people around here.

**Alien_Shore** · April 30th, 2012, 05:25 PM

Thanks for the welcome, guys.

Here's a look at the DIY Tube amp I built. This one is still going strong; 35w, no frills, and sounds so nice! I couldn't resist using the hammertone green paint on the enclosure.

I used new Hammond transformers on this one, but have since picked up a couple of original dynaco amps on ebay that I may scavenge some transformers from for the next build. I think Shannon is thinking about possibly putting a new revision of his board out. They are fun projects if you're good with a soldering gun and DVM.