Value of Altec 606?

[riker1384]

I recently came across an Altec speaker at a relative's house. It was a big, single corner cabinet. I didn't see any labels or any obvious way to get the grille off. Going just by the looks of it and what I can find online, I think it was an Altec 606. I'm not sure about the exact condition, but I think it was functional. Does anyone know roughly what this thing might be worth?

[hjames]

I recently came across an Altec speaker at a relative's house. It was a big, single corner cabinet. I didn't see any labels or any obvious way to get the grille off. Going just by the looks of it and what I can find online, I think it was an Altec 606. I'm not sure about the exact condition, but I think it was functional. Does anyone know roughly what this thing might be worth?
hard to say, not knowing what the condition is, if it has the original drivers, if its been maintained, etc ...
Also, sounds like its one cabinet - and everyone these days at least wants stereo ...

Your best bet is to go to the search page and type in Altec 606 and see what comes up ...
http://audioheritage.org/vbulletin/search.php?

Here is some info I found via Google ...
http://www.lansingheritage.org/images/altec/plans/1960%27s-lf-design/page15.jpg

Is it one of these??
(That one was a Mahogany cabinet with specific drivers and crossover -
don't know if he got anything near what he was asking, but it looked near perfect)

http://audioheritage.org/vbulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=30722&stc=1&d=1201885381

[CONVERGENCE]

The only corner that I know of is the 820 c. sold as a monophonic system before stereophonics came out.


http://www.lansingheritage.org/images/altec/catalogs/1954-home/page08.jpg


2 15"
1 811 Horn

The 606 cabinet was made for a 12 or 15" driver Duplex.


..................

[riker1384]

Is it one of these??
(That one was a Mahogany cabinet with specific drivers and crossover -
don't know if he got anything near what he was asking, but it looked near perfect)
Yes, it was that cabinet but I'm not sure if it was the same wood, and I don't think the wood was in such good condition. It was just one.

There doesn't seem to be much info here in the forum on it.

I was just curious; I don't know anything about Altec speakers but I know that there are some that seem to be pretty valuable. The relative actually got rid of it and I was wondering if it was a mistake or if it was worth trying to track it down and get it back.

[hjames]

Yes, it was that cabinet but I'm not sure if it was the same wood, and I don't think the wood was in such good condition. It was just one.

There doesn't seem to be much info here in the forum on it.

I was just curious; I don't know anything about Altec speakers but I know that there are some that seem to be pretty valuable. The relative actually got rid of it and I was wondering if it was a mistake or if it was worth trying to track it down and get it back.

Well, only you can make that decision ...

Consider - its a single unit, made for the days of mono, for music with not much high frequency content (compared to modern music with CDs and such) ... you might not care for its sound, all in all.

Unless its REALLY RARE, or has a special history (like it was its owned by a celebrity and you have papers that prove it), its not worth its peak value if its not in really really nice condition.

If you are an old music collector, or its a family heirloom you want to keep to remember Uncle Charlie or something, maybe ... but if its already gone, I'd say don't worry about it, and just move on.

[farleybob]

Seems more likely than not that it contained a 604B or 604C, but you never really know. At the time, you could buy the Altec cabinet and buy an E-V or Jensen speaker for it. It's a cool speaker, but unless you really like single speakers it's not likely that you'd want to devote that much real estate to it. I'll close my eyes and throw a dart at the value dart board and say $500 - 1000 if there's a solid 604 w/ crossover.

[Steve Schell]

Riker1384, a single 606 cabinet will probably not be worth very much unless it is in very good condition. The main market for these is Asia and few buyers are willing to pay the high freight costs for less than near perfect items. The main value of the system would likely be in the installed component(s).

Altec published the plans for the 606 years ago. I acquired a pair of home made particle board examples with sand filled walls. I liked them at the time; there is enough internal volume for good low bass from 604s. When it was time for them to go I couldn't give them away, so resorted to breaking them up out in the alley. There was sand everywhere.