I just got a 1594B. I'm new and I search for some info, what year they were made, what are the way to make the connection, what's the differance betwen the 2 transformer, and any other info you could give me!
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I just got a 1594B. I'm new and I search for some info, what year they were made, what are the way to make the connection, what's the differance betwen the 2 transformer, and any other info you could give me!
I think the 159x series were the first solid state Altec amps. I have the A's, but haven't used them for anything.
One transformer is for the power supply, the other for the output.
1590 = 200W
1594 = 100W
1593 = 50W
The "A" model was strange in that it used a positive ground power supply.
All of these power amplifiers were patterned after the tube amps with a multiple-tap output transformers. The 1594B offers output taps of 4 ohms, 8 ohms, 16 ohms, 25V and 70V. The input is routed through an octal socket for either a 15335A or 15095A transformer.
15335A = 15k input
15095A = 600 input with 14dB of gain (used for the end of long wire runs)
As far as age estimate, mid-70's
specs:
New Page 2
If you go here and scroll down the amp section there is a 1594C manual
Altec Lansing Professional Audio - Vintage Speakers
Connections in and out should be the same.
The reason for patterning after the tube amps was to make them direct replacements to a huge installed base, and installers did not have to be re-trained...the service business was a substantial part of Altec's income...
I want to add a comment about sound quality;
The 1593B and 1594B sound great!
I heard something about using 1588 preamp in the socket for the input transformer. Is it possible?
No, the 1594B octal socket is not wired to supply power for the 1588 mic preamps.Quote:
Originally Posted by laperlestudio
Are these the amplifiers that can also be powered from a DC power source?
Drive in movies used battery backup...AFAIK all of the 70's solid state stuff, with the exception being the stereo amps, could be DC powered.
Honestly, I didn't work much with old tube stuff.
I used a solid state Altec to build a PA on a golf cart once...
Yep, 24VDC. The function was also used in emergency warning systems that had to work in an outage.Quote:
Originally Posted by bowtie427ss
I did a rental one time for U.S. Congressman Jack Brooks from SE Texas - seems they wanted to break ground for a new county jail to be named after him, perhaps aptly, and they had no power to power a sound system.
I used:
(1) Altec 150B Bi-Acoustic Horns on tall stands
(1) Altec 1592B Mixer/Preamp
(1) Altec 1590B Power Amplifier
(1) Altec D654A Microphone
The 1592 and 1590 were powered with two 12-volt car batteries wired in series.
Worked fine, and the 150B's sounded GREAT!
Ouch! i was just looking at the DC current draw........................... and calculating how many cloudless days of solar collection it'll take for an hour of run time on a stereo pair with my current collection/storage scheme.
My current system is all 12 volt storage, but i can see 24 volt in the future and ultimately a pair of 1593's might not be out of the question.
This is a bit OT, but does anybody have any info, even from memory, on this little BGW?
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so what do these things sound like. i'm thinking self powered a7s unless these are better suited for a PA system.
Altec 1594B Power Amp | eBay
That's a lot of weight to add to an already large and heavy box. I have the A version which doesn't re-sell well due to some kind of positive ground design, that I don't understand. I'm not currently using them. I did use one for a short while, and thought it sounded fine. They were designed to directly replace the green vacuum tube amps that do sell for big bucks, currently. From what's been told to me on the board, the 1593, and 1594 sound pretty good...... the 200 watt 1590 doesn't have enough top end for HiFi.Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil-G
is this the one you hooked up a cd player to?
what gets me is some of these amps show a 1% thd. isn't that a little high?
Probably, but I don't know exactly what statement/thread you're referring too.Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil-G
"goodwill hifi" over at audio cramya. that you :D
Altec 1594B Mono AMPS - AudioKarma.org Home Audio Stereo Discussion Forums
Yes, but only becasue it says so....... I don't have any specific recollection of it. It's been three years :-)Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil-G