Altec Lansing 9444a

[LICORNE]

Hi old guy,

Such device exist .

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[Roger/Ana]

Many years ago I heard a story from A gentleman who had a Audio Repair business in Orange County Ca.
There was a drag racing strip down in old Irvive (OC Raceway) that used many 70volt horns with large drivers and one 9440!
This system was series/paralleled to the max!
It was laughable that it even worked! But it did!
One day the system went out and I understand the gentleman could not believe what he saw
The 9440 had 2 large squirrel cage fans from a furnace (one blowing on the back heat sink and the other blowing on the power supply with the top cover removed!)
It was wired bridge mono
With all that air flow the amp still gave out
After fixing it he sold 2 more 9440s and split the system into 3 zones and it sounded much better, I think the system stayed in place for 3 more years before OC raceway was torn down

[rjdv1963]

Got the 9444A back from the repair shop and tried to hook it up. The repair shop provided right/left RCA plugs to hook up from the Zone 2 output to the 9444A's input terminals. As soon as I hook these wires to the 9444, there is this loud humming sound that interferes with any sort of feasable use of it. I've hooked it up to the back terminals marked "Lo", not "Hi," one on each of the inputs 1 and 2. Is that right? Also, the switch for "dual" and "bridge" is on "dual." Is that right? What could be causing the loud humming and the unit to not function right? Thanks in advance.

[LICORNE]

Where did you get the amp fixed?

If Iratec then OK . If someone else I would have doubts.

Can you try the amp with a seperate Preamp an hook
up a seperate pair of speakers to test your Altec amp.

Then you can determine what the problem is.

Your Amp or your distribution pannel.

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[LICORNE]

Hi,

Your zone 2 is discribed as owered Zone 2 (Lineout) with 12V Trigger

I would need to download the manual 6mb.

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[rjdv1963]

I got the amp repaired at a local repair shop. They told me how to hook it up (as described above) but I have the loud humming noise instead. They said nothing about a 70 volt transformer system. Where does that come from and how does that enter into the equation? Is that the only way this amp will work? In the manual it says "Zone 2 line out is an analog audio output that can be connected to a line input on an integrated amplifier in zone 2." It has to be activated to work as the manual says. How can I get more info to you so you can help me? Is my receiver just not compatible with this amp? Please help, I'm losing my mind over this. THANKS!

[LICORNE]

Hi,

Have you tried your Altec amp at the local repair shop before taking it home?

Very important you should see some of these shops . They have piles of amps that they were never capable of fixing. I'm not blaming any one
but if your system was working before with the ONKYO power amp. The Altec amp should be OK.

Were I come from : when you order a pro amp they test it in front of you before releasing it.


The thing about 70 V output.
What kind of amp did you use before the ONKYO to power all those speakers in the house?

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[Todd W. White]

OK. For a typical stereo system setup, you would connect as follows:

1. Set the Bridge/Dual Switch to DUAL
2. Connect the receiver to the 9444A thusly:
A. Connect the receiver's Left Output Positive wire to the 9444A's Input #1 "HI" terminal.
B. Connect the receiver's Left Output Negative wire to the 9444A's Input #1 "LO" terminal.
C. Connect the receiver's Right Output Positive wire to the 9444A's Input #2 "HI" terminal.
D. Connect the receiver's Right Output Negative wire to the 9444A's Input #2 "LO" terminal.
3. Connect the speakers to the 9444A thusly:
A. Connect the LEFT speaker's Positive wire to the 9444A's Channel #1's "+" Output terminal.
B. Connect the LEFT speaker's Negative wire to the 9444A's Channel #1's "-" Output terminal.
C. Connect the RIGHT speaker's Positive wire to the 9444A's Channel #2's "+" Output terminal.
D. Connect the RIGHT speaker's Negative wire to the 9444A's Channel #2's "-" Output terminal.
4. Set the amplifier input controls fully counterclockwise.
5. Turn on your receiver.
6. Set a CD, tape, or LP to playing through the receiver.
7. Turn the main volume knob on your receiver to about 1/3 it's full travel.
8. SLOWLY turn the LEFT input control on the 9444A up until you reach a level just below "too loud".
9. SLOWLY turn the RIGHT input control on the 9444A up until you reach a level just below "too loud".
10. Fine tune these adjustments according to your specific situation and common sense .

You are now operating normally. If you wish to add more speakers, you may use the switcher you mentioned, providing it does not present too low an impedance (load) to the amplifier. The easy way to tell if it has done so is to turn on the system, get some music going, then SLOWLY bring up the volume of the master output of the receiver to a "It's really TOO loud" position. If you do not see the "clip" lights on the front of the 9444A flashing or the amplifier going into "protect" mode, turn the receiver down and enjoy.

If one or both of these things DOES occur, write back.

[rjdv1963]

Wow, first of all, thanks for the step-by-step instructions, I really appreciate it!! Unfortunately, it did not work; I still had the noise although, it was less than before. I noticed your instructions did not have me putting any wires on the middle 2 terminals marked with a wierd symbol I've not seen before. The repair shop said to use the "lo" with the "+" and the "-" on the wierd symbol terminals. That's not right? What's strange to me is that after hooking this up as you instructed, it didn't amplify the sound, it just had a humming noise that increased in volume as I turned the input controls up clockwise to the highest setting. Also, when I turned the Altec on the "protect" light came on and then went right off in 1-2 seconds. Is that normal? The only light that stayed on was the power light. I guess the next step is to take it back to the repair shop, complain and see if it's working. It's cost me $150 dollars so far and I'm discouraged I just through that money away. Any other thoughts to this mystery? Thanks again in advance.

[Todd W. White]

That weird symbol is the "ground". Typically, you use it when you are wiring it in a sound system rack to make sure you don't get any ground loops.

My guess is the amplifier is not fully repaired. You really need to send it to Ira at IraTec Pro Audio Repair - ordinary repair shops usually mess up Altec amplifiers.