Sweet.
kudos... nah I hate 'kudos', so: 'praise' for dragging them out and showing the masses!
"An Altec 210 mini-revival" or "An Altec 4th of July"
I was fortunate enough to get the job at our community 4th of July event "The Red White & Blue Festival" in Mountain Home, AR on June 29th and 30th. I took my 210s out to our local high school graduation this year (a repeat job I have had since 1996) thinking, "who knows maybe somebody will be impressed with them and I will get another job". I usually do the job with four Altec 816s and 511 horns. Well, 2 days after graduation I got a message from the coordinator of RW&B. This is a 2-day event the weekend before the 4th of July featuring live bands, a movie in the park and music track for the fire works. On stage are the following components.
two Altec 210s
two Altec 299s with 1005 horns
four Altec DX1012-8AGs (floor monitors)
two Altec 937s (floor monitors)
two Crown DC-300s
two QSC RMX2450s
The bands were completely knocked out by both the FOH and monitor sound. Nothing but praise from performers and audience alike. At the start of the second day the coordinator came by to confirm me for job for next year. I will be taking them out as often as possible. They are so impressive in comparison to the current typical FOH junk that I'm certain I will get additional work.
Serious lessons in speaker and cabinet efficiency and low frequency directivity. People are shocked when they hear low frequencies still coming at 200+ yards.
Its like a Altec 210 mini-revival around here.
Sweet.
kudos... nah I hate 'kudos', so: 'praise' for dragging them out and showing the masses!
An old and tired phrase, but "Right On!" I'd love to have been there too. Makes me wish I had a couple...
( don't know all the internet slang like FOH, but who cares)
WOW
I bet the sound was great! My PA rig consists of all altec amps, mixers and processing, but my speakers are community and yamaha. The sound is still very good, but I bet these would have blown my setup out of the water. I really really really need to get a hold of some altec speakers.......
That is awesome to see, great job!!! Are those horns the correct ones for those monsters?
@gvasale - Sorry for the short hand FOH = Front Of House - or the sound from the main speakers apposed to the monitor speakers.
@ Juniper - I got these speakers (I actually have 3 sets L, C, R) from an eBay auction. The high frequency drivers were originally 288-16k on a 1005 horn. Just before this job I updated the voice coils to 299? 399? whatever the latest that Bill at Great Plains Audio suggested. They still sound great and now handle 50 to 75 watts depending upon the crossover frequency chosen. The 288-16ks were only rated at 20 watts so I was a little concerned that I may stress them in an outdoor situation were I was trying to cover a 5000+ seating area (more or less). They performed exceptionally.
@ Aman2 - I like all things Altec, but their main thing IS their speaker systems. I have used them since the late 70's almost exclusively in my live sound work. In the beginning I messed around with some other cabinets with different levels of success. But Altec bass horn cabinets are really in a different class than other speakers systems. Mostly I have used the more portable 816 cabinets (single 15" driver) in my outdoor setups because they are easier to haul. When I first got the 210s it was just to get the 515 speakers from the cabinets. I was going to use them in more 816s or maybe 817s. But I always wanted to hear the 210s anyway, so I hooked them up to listen. BIG MISTAKE! I couldn't bring myself to take them apart after that and I struggled for the next few years about how to work out transportation if I was going to start to use them in my rental business. I solved that problem this year and will now use them as often as I can because they truly jaw dropping, litterally, I have seen jaws drop.)
The model 210 large format bass horn from Altec, is truly in a class by itself. No other single speaker cabinet can even comes close. THE END!
@ Aman2 - I like all things Altec, but their main thing IS their speaker systems. I have used them since the late 70's almost exclusively in my live sound work. In the beginning I messed around with some other cabinets with different levels of success. But Altec bass horn cabinets are really in a different class than other speakers systems. Mostly I have used the more portable 816 cabinets (single 15" driver) in my outdoor setups because they are easier to haul. When I first got the 210s it was just to get the 515 speakers from the cabinets. I was going to use them in more 816s or maybe 817s. But I always wanted to hear the 210s anyway, so I hooked them up to listen. BIG MISTAKE! I couldn't bring myself to take them apart after that and I struggled for the next few years about how to work out transportation if I was going to start to use them in my rental business. I solved that problem this year and will now use them as often as I can because they truly jaw dropping, litterally, I have seen jaws drop.
The model 210 large format bass horn from Altec, is truly in a class by itself. No other single speaker cabinet can even comes close. THE END![/QUOTE]
Haha I bet the jaws did hit the floor with the 210s. Ive still gotten some compliments on my current system, mostly because it is very clear and natural sounding, unlike the harsh and boomy sound you get with the standard crown and jbl setup most djs and SR guys use around here. I use 9440 amps for the main speakers (yamaha), which are like an improved version of a dc300 in my opinion. I use a little 1592 mixer with a 1599 extender for small gigs, a 1270 console that I extensively rebuilt and souped up up for medium gigs, and a nice old soundcraft board that a friend of mine owns (forget the exact model) for large gigs. Monitors are community wedges run by a pair of 1594s. I have a few altec eqs and a few 1591 outboard comps that i sometimes use if i need them. Its not the best equipment, but I sorta fell into most of it locally when a convention center closed and its sereved admirably. I can cover a crowd of 2-3k no problem, especially if I face the monitor wedges front for some extra bass. I have rented powered monitors for these occaisions.
Last edited by Aman2; July 11th, 2012 at 11:51 PM.
yep 210's all the way..if you havent heard them, you owe it to yourself. no more small format speakers for me 'i.e. model 19's' hehehe
"those sounds to which no definite pitch can be assigned are usually classified as noise"<br />harvey fletcher-1928
Edford..welcome! aint been a 210 user around here 'cept me since ol' racer x'treme. tho there are a few of us with the large format stuff..817's and w bins.. takes an effort to set up a f.o.h. like that! several thousand pounds...hehehe
"those sounds to which no definite pitch can be assigned are usually classified as noise"<br />harvey fletcher-1928
Bookmarks