PDA

View Full Version : D130&ALTEC Santana II rescued



honist_bob
03-29-2004, 07:04 PM
Here is a story that you will find hard to believe:

This afternoon I was at the local dump unloading my truck, when I noticed the tractor behind me pushing two old speaker cabinets. They were tumbling around with the rest of the garbage, and I noticed that the larger box looked just like an old JBL model 30 console speaker. The smaller, black and brown box had an altec logo on the grille cloth: the grille popped off and landed at my feet as the tractor passed by.
“Definitely an altec,” I thought to myself as I picked it up.
Then I caught, out of the corner of my eye, the tell-tale aluminum glint of a JBL dust cover behind the gold-threaded grille of the larger speaker.
When the tractor backed up for another pass at the garbage, I ran to the cabinets, dragging the larger, “30” cabinet back to my truck first. (I’m a JBL lover first, but I appreciate Altec, too).
Inspecting the box, I was discouraged to find only a logo that said, “Hal Cox, SF”, and no JBL logo on either the grille cloth or the veneered front frame of the cabinet. No crossover cut-out, either. But I was encouraged by the weight of the cabinet and some JBL warranty literature stapled to the back!
The altec cabinet was a “Santana II” model from the eighties: Damaged particle board, missing surround on the 12” woofer, and the “Altec” insert missing from the bass port hole. I loaded into my truck anyway.
Once home, I unscrewed the back of the older “30” cabinet and found it to be a poorly-braced copy of the JBL speaker. But inside was a mint condition D130!! Judging by the condition of the paint and the label, I was the first to unscrew it from its baffle board!!
There was no evidence of an 075 or crossover ever being installed.
I unhooked the leads from my own speaker system, (D130s and 175s in cabinets I built to fit into my entertainment center) and tried out my new find.
Imagine my surprise when the D130 began to work!! The cone looks old and brittle, but absolutely undamaged!!
Needless to say, I gave the rescued D130 a hug and put it in a safe place.

But on to the Altec Santana cabinet and the real question for this thread: Is this model worth restoring? I am a carpenter, and have the skill to totally restore the veneered particle board that is damaged, but I’m also looking at reconing the 12” woofer, and the tweeter is silent, too. The exposed crossover components look to be in good condition.