The history of Altec Lansing is in many ways the history of sound
reproduction. It is a complex saga that has its beginnings with the rise of
the movie sound industry in the 1930's, dominance in the professional sound
field by the 1940's, helping to define the home hi-fi phenomenon in the
1950's, market supremacy through the 1960's and into the 70's, but closing
with a tragic and protracted fall through the 80's and 90's. By 2000, the
original Altec Lansing would cease to exist with Telex Communications
Incorporated's closure of the Altec Lansing Professional Division. The name
would live on as a brand of multimedia sound products having been sold to
the former Sparkomatic Corporation in 1984.
On the bright side, 2002 marks a rebirth for Altec Lansing
Professional. Altec Lansing Technologies (the former Sparkomatic) relaunched
this division with staff and products from the last incarnation of Altec
Lansing, when part of Telex Communications.
We are in the process of researching the background of this remarkable
company with the hope of developing a comprehensive history. In the interim,
we present a
history article
profiling the
start of the company through to the early 1960's and a
timeline
of the significant events associated with Altec
Lansing.
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