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.