Favorite or most memorable Altec moments.....

**juniper** · December 28th, 2012, 03:32 PM

Just curious what were some of our forum members favorite "Altec moments" were. My first one was in high school when someone gave me a pair of 604 8g's that came out of a home studio, I hooked them up and was amazed what they could do... I never heard of Altecs before, but the power and clarity with many pieces of music was astounding, I had never heard a speaker like this before.... The second was a few years later, at this point my Altecs were in dire need of repairs. I visited a high end audio shop in the washington D.C. area. I asked the owner, an ex doctor, who loved audio, and decided to give up his practice to sell equipment. I am looking for a pair of speakers for around 5000.00, that are 2 way. I had heard that 2 way speakers were better because of the complications with 3 or more way crossovers. This was probably bad information . He politely asked, but with a little sarcasm, "what type of speakers do you have" I responded Altec 604 8 g's, he then replied, "you cant touch that sound for under 10,000.00... I was amazed, if he hadn't said that, I would have sold them long ago... I am very thankful that this gentlemen pointed me in the right direction... If you gentlemen could share some of your favorite or memorable "Altec" moments it would be interesting...

**RonSSS** · December 28th, 2012, 09:58 PM

Good post!

In 1977, my room mate saw a Stereo Superstores wharehouse ad for disco speakers. There was a picture, but no brand name.
They had 4 and they were A7's. A7X to be exact. 416-8B, 802-8G and N1201 xovers.
We bought them all. $379 ea.

We stacked them with the top pair upside down.

Roomie was vacuuming the back of the house one day and couldn't hear the music over the vacuum. So he cranked em up!
A neighbor over a block away came over and pounded on the door and told him to turn it down......

Priceless!

Ron

**juniper** · December 28th, 2012, 11:52 PM

That sounds like an intense system, I am suprised there wasn't an uprising in your neighborhood!!! A great story!!!! I can only imagine what music you were listening to, I bet you thought it was awesome!!! I bet it was!!!!!

**rontec** · December 29th, 2012, 02:48 AM

Around 1978 I went into a stereo store in Berkeley looking for a Marantz cassette deck. I saw a fairly large pair of speakers hooked up to an amp and playing at very low volume. No one was around so I cranked it up just a little bit. I heard a huge stereo soundstage that I had never heard from any speaker in any show room before. A Salesman quickly came to my aid and informed me that they were Altec Model 19's.
That was my first Altec moment. My second Altec moment came 7 years later after hooking up my own model 19's and living that first Altec moment all over again!

**Old Guy** · December 29th, 2012, 11:54 AM

Yippie Smoke Ins in Washington back in the 70's, did several. 290's on 1003 with LOTS of little plastic tweeters, 8x 421 in RCA (Shearer) horns, 8x 421 in sorta 815 boxes, we used the 210 horn truncated just as Altec did, but ours were different size and ported.

photo credit Reading/Simpson (copyrighted)

Foreground right is ex GF.

**cradeldorf** · December 29th, 2012, 02:32 PM

The day I opened up the 604C I bought from Jennifer Whitewolf and saw the date on the rim. "54" a perfect date match for my other speaker. Firing it up and realizing they both sounded identical, and then measuring them later on and seeing them match almost perfectly. Although they didn't come together I consider them a matched pair now.

**wws944** · December 29th, 2012, 07:27 PM

It seemed Altec was in all sorts of places during my youth - schools, houses of worship, etc. Being a techie nerd, I noticed... But it all started with my uncles then lone 820C at my grandmothers house. He bought the 820 new in 1957. It was taller than me! He moved out of state a couple years after he bought it.

Setting the WayBack Machine to Thanksgiving 1976: Drove to LA for the first time, to visit my uncle and his family. It has been at least 15 years since I saw his 820C. By then he had found a second 820 to make a stereo pair. (He also had a smaller Avalon, which he converted to a Carmel, that had served as an interim period. He then used the Carmel in the rear of the room for a L-R 'difference' channel.) We spent hours on end, for days, playing recordings and messing around with his equipment. Many similar visits over the following years. We also attended a number of Stereophile shows together, that were held here in California back in the '90s. He loved talking with the older 'gray beards' about vintage hi-fi gear.

My uncle passed away last year. He really wanted me to give his beloved 820s a good home, and that I have! Currently off getting the cabinets refinished. (One was in poor condition, the other 'ok'. Getting both done so that they finally match.) Can't wait until they are done!

**Altec Best** · December 30th, 2012, 06:01 AM

Originally Posted by wws944

Can't wait until they are done!

Neither can I.Lots of pics please.....

**Old Guy** · December 30th, 2012, 09:31 AM

Originally Posted by Altec Best

Neither can I.Lots of pics please.....

Seconded.

**Alien_Shore** · December 30th, 2012, 10:09 AM

I've been a music lover and concert goer since I was in my early teens. I'm sure my first Altec moment was at one of those 70's concerts (Aerosmith, Ted Nugent, Rush...)

More recently, when I first found this board back in 2003 (I signed up with a different handle back then) and got some advice to send some 802's off to GPA for a refurb. When I got those compression drivers back from Bill and wired them up with some DIY crossovers to 511 horns on top of 816s...man it was heaven. Never heard such great midrange - it filled up the skating rink with beautiful organ music!