altec lansing a6 ? PA/theatre?

[Rockmonton]

theres a guy in the bargian finder with these, it has a horn on top and at least 1 12" speaker, any info? is it worth the 300$/ pair? black cabinets he said from an old band he toured with...... ? little ot go on, no info on google...... i found info on a9's and a10's and look like big beefy speakers, but no info on these a6's? anyone shed any light?

 

[dshoaf]

Search for A7s....

these were the utility version of the line more commonly known as Voice of the Theater. They are quite efficient making them ideal for theater work as well as PA systems. The utility cabinets were usually grey but many bands painted them black so they wouldn't stand out.

Whether they're worth $300 to you would be the best question. You'll need a large room to use them, assuming any spouse/partner would allow such cabinetry into the house *and* you've got good electronics to drive them. You won't need much wattage even in a larger room.

Electronics wise, depending on the age, the crossover components could probably use some updating and the drivers should be tested to make sure they're still up to snuff. The good news is that diaphrams for the horns are most likely still available as well as recone kits for the woofers. That's where most of your money will go if they need attention.

I hated moving them in the old band I was in back in the day but those things would fill a large dance hall with voices with one Crown DC-300.

Cheers,

David

 

[Rockmonton]

ahhh how good of fidelity are they? i'm assuming half deent i was plalnning on using them for a neighbor-killing garage speaker prolly through a low power tube amp (30-40 watts) for guitar or else for rough mixing listening back from the little studio out there

 

[cfoster]

I don't know much about the A-6, but I am well aguainted with the A-7. In the early 70's I purchased a pair for a school auditorium, seating just under 700. They were mounted on each side of the procenium opening just under the ceiling and pointing a little down and toward the center of the house sightly. We drove them with 60 watt Precision Electronics power amps when they were used with the main system and with one 50 watt amp when they were used for movies.

A pair in a large room is awsome. I would not recomend them for a living room. The cabinets are horn loaded, throwing the sound and unless you have a very long room, you won't get the proper blend or lows and highs.

I will also tell you that they are indestructable. During installation we dropped one (about 20'). I was sure I was going to get fired any second, until I examined the pile of rubble. The cabinet had been gluded and stapled together, so on impact, it simply just fell apart. The speakers were undamaged as was the crossover, so We hauled the whole pile up to my office and I glued and screwed it back together. Tested it with a trasisitor radio, yes they are very efficient, and took it back down and proceded to hang it where it belonged. It sounded just as good as the one that had not fallen.

Clyde

 

[Don McR]

I'm guessing that it is the system shown on this page:

http://www.lansingheritage.org/images/altec/catalogs/1993-pro/1993-36.JPG

There was a much earlier version of the A6 from the 1950's, but I would be surprised if that is what is being referred to. The mid 80's/90's version of the A6 bears little relation to the A7 described above. It is a vented box with two 15" woofers and a 288 compression driver and constant directivity horn. The components alone are worth well over $1000 so that $300 is a bargain.

 

[jpchleapas]

ahhh how good of fidelity are they? i'm assuming half deent i was plalnning on using them for a neighbor-killing garage speaker prolly through a low power tube amp (30-40 watts) for guitar or else for rough mixing listening back from the little studio out there[/QUOTE
You prolly only need a small flea powered tube amp to make them sing. I am using 2-way 6' tall horn speakers for now in a VERY small room. The listening chair is maybe 6' away from the horns. There is no horn shout as the drivers are tad td-4001 with 31" x 31" jbl 2360A biradial horns. The bass bins are jbl 4648a-8 with twin 15" woofers in each bass bin. I am using 45 tubes in pair of mono blocks for the horns and a pair of 300b mono block amps for the bass bins. I bet you will be thrilled with the sound of these A-6 for home stereo use. A fresh coat of paint on the bins and you should be the owner of a very nice pair of vintage horn speakers. Good luck and for 300 they sound like a smokin good deal. John C.

 

[Rockmonton]

well i know now its an 811b horn he still says its a 12" speaker and the whole things tight as a drum..... asking 300 obo so i am gonna go over there today and barter a bit see how cheap he'll go just that hes on the other side of town and all

 

[Rockmonton]

well i'm gonna go get them tomorrow and haggle a bit y'know i figure they're gonna be interesting to see, he says they're pretty heavy too so its a good thing i'm a big boy..... heh i will post pics tomorrow

 

[Rockmonton]

well they look like a7's, no crossover so he gave me an old traynor active crossover...... the spekaers are 12" 817-8C but are mounted on a larger piece which is a cutout for a 15"er and the horn drivers are 807a's any info on either of these drivers before i take off to the lansing heritage site to find info?

 

[spkrman57]

Some info here...

The Altec 807 is a 806 with symbiotik diaphram for more power handling, but with the cost of reduced HF response. These were usually meant for commercial use. With a trip to "Great Plains Audio", Bill could remag/check and shim the diaphram(get aluminum), and you would have a nice 1" compression driver used crossed over around 800hz(I like 1600hz).

The Altec 817 sounds like a musical instrament cone driver(read that as for guitar-original purpose). Is there a "chrome" dustcap on it???

Very high efficiency, but this is a "producer" not a "reproducer", meaning not really great for HiFi without mods.

This one is a judgement call on your part. Sounds like this was a commercial only rig, so it might have some problems to deal with if used hard!!

Ron

 

[Rockmonton]

yep some idiot has siliconed a chrome dustcap...... i cannot find any info on the 817 series at all though...... its suprising.... but these are real nice PA speakers and i'm sure i could bring the house or school down with them pretty reasy...... i'm wondering if i should replace the 12" woofers with a couple of 15" green and black old alnico's that really dig nice and deep..... i might just try that y'know now the only problem is going to be finding a 2X30 watt amp to run these... actually maybe i'll just use a stereo amp and run the igh from the crossover to the left and the low from the xover to the right nad hook em up accordingly..... hmm

 

[spkrman57]

If you are going to work with this "mega" modded system...

Use a passive crossover, 2nd order around 800hz to 1200hz. Then add a tweeter at around 12 to 14Khz.

Check out the Pi speaker forum for 1.6khz crossovers. They are 2nd order low end, with a 3rd order High end. There is also attenuation/HF compensation network with it also.

Be advised that the 807 with symbiotik diaphram really drops off early on the HF, even with HF compensation. I have both the 806's and 807's. With aluminum diaphrams, the HF response is MUCH better. Softer and more detailed also.

Ron

 

[Rockmonton]

hmm i will do that but what do you think about the 15" bell top woofers there......... i'm sure they go up to about 2 or 3k pretty good? i guess its just trial and error.... why use a passive as opposed to active?

 

[spkrman57]

I'm not sure what you are referring to...

You mentioned:


"15" bell top woofers there"

Maybe I missed something there. Could you elaborate for me please.


Ron

 

[Don McR]

i cannot find any info on the 817 series at all though

Are you sure they are not 417-8C's?

http://www.lansingheritage.org/html/altec/specs/components/mi.htm

 

[Rockmonton]

they're these other old PA woofers, the magnet cover on the back looks like a bell and they really give out nice lows as well as pretty good mida and go suprisingly high....... no brand name etc but they sound nice i was wondering what it would sound like with those

 

[Rockmonton]

Are you sure they are not 417-8C's?

http://www.lansingheritage.org/html/altec/specs/components/mi.htm

whoops! irubbed off the makrer of an "8" over them, and guess what, its a 417-8c! wicked now back to my predicament.... actually ifi pulled the two 417's, i could prolly keep them for a 2-12 combo i'm working on y'know....... and i put in the 15" in one, and compared them side by side and wow the 15" really sounds good and shakes the hell outta things..... do you guys think i should fill the back of the cabinet with a bit of fibreglass stuffing? i really have been meaning to take pictures, but my camera is still bugging out.... real nice speakers though

 

[Don McR]

What you appear to have are modified A7's. They are definitely not A6's, even the 1950's version that I mentioned previously. The attached article is the definitive work that I have found on rehabilitating A7's.

 

[Rockmonton]

whoops, they are a7-500's by my best guess, and does anybody have actual dimensions of an a7? i'm pretty sure these may be a tad small, but who knows...... they sound great..... i'm off to switch out the other woofer now....... hmm if its 75 watts continious, does that mean that there's be 100-ish safe musical amp power between the two?