Steve Schell
07-07-2014, 10:17 PM
Scarce as hen's teeth? One candidate for discussion would be the electronic equipment built by Lansing Manufacturing Company, before the formation of Altec Lansing in 1941. There was plenty of talent on hand, but the company was burdened in its early years by the endless production of hundreds of small, cheap radio set speakers per day for manufacturers both local and distant. This would all change beginning in 1936 with the success of the Shearer Horn System collaboration with MGM Studios. Jim Lansing took on the distribution of Magnavox speaker products to his radio industry clientele while he bravely redirected the efforts of his small company to the ambitious production of state of the art motion picture theatre sound system equipment. This included a range of loudspeakers at first, arguably the world's finest at the time, soon to be followed by the production of electronics to provide theatres with complete systems. Ercell Harrison was Lansing's electronics engineer in those days, and he is famous for designing wide band, low distortion transformers. Best way to get up to speed on developments by late 1937 is to read this thread, including the letter written by Dr. John Blackburn in December 1937:
http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?33810-Seeking-information-on-Lansing-transformers&highlight=blackburn
The push pull 6L6 amp as described by Dr. Blackburn is seen in all of the early Lansing Mfg. Co. efforts, including the amp pictured in the linked thread (actually a post-acquisition Altec Lansing product) and the amplifier available with the Iconic beginning in 1939, described here:
http://www.lansingheritage.org/images/lmco/advertizements/1939cat-1.jpg
Some friends of mine have assembled a collection of early Lansing and Altec Lansing 6L6 amps, and they all feature very impressive wide band performance for their day. Someday I'll post a photo essay of these gems.
The real MIND ROASTING DISCOVERY though was seen in a recently expired ebay auction... for a never before seen Lansing Manufacturing Company theatre rack system! This incredibly rare rack includes a preamp, regular and spare power amp, dividing network and field supply. Check out this expired auction before it disappears:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ALTEC-LANSING-124A-TUBE-POWER-AMPLIFIERS-CROSSOVER-RACK-WESTERN-ELECTRIC-/141337605033?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2047675.l2557&nma=true&si=b9B1BmAZuzE84rHLrPBoe7biu20%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc
If someone with better computer skills than mine could add the auction pictures to this thread before they expire I would be most appreciative.
This is one of the rarest, most impressive (and heaviest!) pieces of Lansing Heritage to ever surface in my twenty year quest for this stuff. Wow! It documents without doubt the achievements of Lansing Mfg. Co. prior to the Altec buyout.
Note that the end bells of the transformers in this rack system echo the shape of the end bell of the silver-painted power transformer in the amp whose thread I linked to. We know that Lansing used transformers provided by Inca, Peerless (whom Altec Lansing bought in about 1947) and probably others, as there were many winders around L.A. in those days.
http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?33810-Seeking-information-on-Lansing-transformers&highlight=blackburn
The push pull 6L6 amp as described by Dr. Blackburn is seen in all of the early Lansing Mfg. Co. efforts, including the amp pictured in the linked thread (actually a post-acquisition Altec Lansing product) and the amplifier available with the Iconic beginning in 1939, described here:
http://www.lansingheritage.org/images/lmco/advertizements/1939cat-1.jpg
Some friends of mine have assembled a collection of early Lansing and Altec Lansing 6L6 amps, and they all feature very impressive wide band performance for their day. Someday I'll post a photo essay of these gems.
The real MIND ROASTING DISCOVERY though was seen in a recently expired ebay auction... for a never before seen Lansing Manufacturing Company theatre rack system! This incredibly rare rack includes a preamp, regular and spare power amp, dividing network and field supply. Check out this expired auction before it disappears:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ALTEC-LANSING-124A-TUBE-POWER-AMPLIFIERS-CROSSOVER-RACK-WESTERN-ELECTRIC-/141337605033?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2047675.l2557&nma=true&si=b9B1BmAZuzE84rHLrPBoe7biu20%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc
If someone with better computer skills than mine could add the auction pictures to this thread before they expire I would be most appreciative.
This is one of the rarest, most impressive (and heaviest!) pieces of Lansing Heritage to ever surface in my twenty year quest for this stuff. Wow! It documents without doubt the achievements of Lansing Mfg. Co. prior to the Altec buyout.
Note that the end bells of the transformers in this rack system echo the shape of the end bell of the silver-painted power transformer in the amp whose thread I linked to. We know that Lansing used transformers provided by Inca, Peerless (whom Altec Lansing bought in about 1947) and probably others, as there were many winders around L.A. in those days.