Hello altec fans. Today was a very speical day for me. I got my altec model 19s up and running for the first time. And what seems to me a life time long quest for the perfect sound was over. these speakers took me to a whole new level. To whitch I have never expeirenced before. "AUDIO NERVONA" I now know the true meaning of the term "YOU ARE THERE". These speakers are as close to a "live" performance in your living room as you will ever hope to get. And to my utmost suprise I was a "YESSONG" away from the best sound I have ever heard in my entire life. I will get back to the sound of these wonderfull monsters in a moment. But first I would like to say these altec 19s were no easy feet to find. I new right from the start they had to be near mint and all orginial. Aswell as the harder to find oak cabinets. Also the right components. [416-8b] woofers, [802-8g] drivers,[H811B] horns,The key was the orginial diphrams and the tangerine phase plugs were all intact. You can tell Using a flashlight down the center pole piece. You will see the distinct orange spider like web. Anyway I could not beleave my luck I found my dream speakers on where else but ebay. There they were all for the taking. but I still had to hope and pray that some one would simply outbid me. I only had limited funds and to be honest I realy thought I would lose them in the end. Much to my suprise there was no battle in the end and I scooped them up for the opening bid of a grand. This realy made my day. I was on cloud nine. Still I had to pic them up all the way from montreal about a 14 hour round trip. And carry these 150lb monsters down 3 flight of stairs. but worth every bit of the effort. Getting back to the sound. I was just a "YESSONG" away from the best sound I ever had the pleasure of listening to. I sliped on track 1 side A of yes's fragile album. [roundabout] and the emotional impact of these altec 19s littrely brought me to tears. I was listening to a "live" perfomace in my very own living room. all I can say is "FANDABADOOSYTASTIC" I will never ever look anyware for speakers again. Just wondering if anyone knows how to rewire the orginial crossovers to the high/mid utinuaters? Mine were bypased!! and would like to bring them back to factory spec. thanks stu. PS. Great website here looking forward to hearing from all you altec fans.!