I remember going to the big disco clubs in the mid 70's and marveling at the wonderful sound systems these clubs had. Did Altec embrace this era and what sort of systems would one have expected to hear there ???
- Mike
Jukebox extension speakers.Originally Posted by Alien_Shore
Seriously, the Seeburg DDS1 would have to be improved dramatically to even be considered an inadequate disco speaker.
Search the name Richard Long, he designed many of the notable disco systems here in the Northeast back in the day. He was a big proponent of the 4520 double scoop and 2395 slant plate horn..................... probably my favorite vintage JBL combination.
EDIT: Had to go dig thru some old jukebox books so i could get the models right. The DDS1 was designed to be a cosmetic match for the Fleetwood, Electra, Mustang, and Discotheque Jr jukeboxes from Seeburg's "Discotheque" series. If you search out any of these models from 1962-68/69, you'll see that they use the same grill materials, trim, heavy cabinetry, and ugly as sin formica covering as the DDS1 extension speakers.
Last edited by bowtie427ss; January 3rd, 2013 at 10:37 AM.
Not all vegetables make good leaders.
Thank you Bowtie--I had assumed alien_Shore was joking in his post.. So you are saying that the JBL brand was the big player in disco pro sound systems of that era, at least on the east coast??
Actually, i think most of the BIG systems were pretty much custom, and you'd find individual components from all the major players like Altec, Electrovoice, Gauss, JBL, even Cerwin Vega and Heil/Sunn etc. being used.
Back in the day, manufacturers were fairly generous with cabinet plans. Those "W" bins that you see being used on the bottom end of the RLA-7 system were fairly popular, go fairly low when used in multiples of 2 or more at SPL's that have to be felt to be believed. I think the plans for the ones we built came from EV, but i've seen touring sound companies with the same "W" horns with JBL logo's pasted on them. But, i don't believe any of the big name companies ever produced those cabinets themselves.
Not all vegetables make good leaders.
Yeah, glad the humor was apparent. But seriously, from what I've read, by the time Disco was in its heyday (78-82?), JBL was dominating, Altec was declining.Thank you Bowtie--I had assumed alien_Shore was joking in his post.
The pros here can tell you what you're looking to know - I would expect that most respectable disco installs would have been custom work for pro sound reinforcement contractors, and most of the loudspeakers would have been JBL.
- Mike
I really wasn't sure, those things get a lot of unjustified love, and a lot of folks think they're actually "disco" speakers. I suppose that in the mid 60's they were quite substantial for a jukebox extension speaker. For me, in terms of hifi or sound reinforcement, they were gaudy formica covered albatross'.Yeah, glad the humor was apparent.
Not all vegetables make good leaders.
I would think that Altecs would be a little delicate for a disco, with the power of the amps of this era. Imagine all the DJ's who would have tried to throw 1000 watts into a pair of Altecs, they probably would have started on fire. Reminds of a time when I had a "tech" come out to test and hook up some crossovers for my M19's. He walked in the house and looked at them and said "what kind of sub woofer is that, I bet they can handle a ton of power" I politely said no they are actually very efficient and only need a couple of watts to get very loud. He looked at me like I was crazy, I gave him some money, and asked him nicely to leave....
ROFL!
Quote for a tagline!!
- Mike
Consider an all 9440 powered Stanley Screamer system........................I would think that Altecs would be a little delicate for a disco
Not all vegetables make good leaders.
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