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I think we've all probably seen the picture of John Hilliard's living room with the built in Altec speakers flanking the fireplace...... taken in 59/60. Do we know anything about the house since then? Does it still exist? Does family own it? If it's still in existence, has it been extensively remodeled, etc?
I drove to the home that was once Dr. Hilliard's residence when I was in the area about six or seven years ago. It is located at the end of a short cul de sac in the hills above Santa Ana. There was a perimeter fence and an entrance gate with speaker phone. No one answered when I rang the buzzer. I rang a couple of doorbells at neighboring houses and nobody answered them either, despite lights on and cars in the driveways. It was starting to feel like a Twilight Zone episode so I took off.
From what I could see, the house looked as though it may still be much the same as when John Hilliard was living there. I also wonder about those Altecs in the fireplace...
They must have thought you were selling vacuum cleaners :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Schell
How do you know what the house looked like? I've only seen the living room in a pictures. Where other pictures of the house published? ...... or do you mean it looked period correct?Quote:
From what I could see, the house looked as though it may still be much the same as when John Hilliard was living there. I also wonder about those Altecs in the fireplace...
I've only seen the pics in How to Build Loudspeaker Enclosures, by Alexis Badmaieff. I have been intrigued ever since. If anyone has additional pics or info, I'd love to know about it.
Widget
Those are the pictures I've seen, too. I didn't realize that was John Hilliard's living room until recently. The book gives credit to him, but when I first got the book, many years ago, his name didn't mean anything to me.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Widget
It was a former Altec Lansing employee who had worked under John Hilliard who first told me that those pictures were of his home system.
When I saw the house it looked to be of late '50s or early '60s vintage and didn't show any signs of recent remodeling. It is a prestigious residence, located up in the hills. It would have a commanding view of much of Orange County on a clear day.
Well???:useless:Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Schell
Don't tease us with just a link. :banghead:
Widget
I wasn't trying to show a picture as much as I was thinking someone here might like to bid........ even though the time was short. I was originally going to bid myself, but figured I better wait until I get rid of some clutter.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Widget
Is posting an an active auction ok, here? I guess I didn't think of that before I did so.
Went for a REASONABLE price! Cool - hope one of y'all got it for that!
Winning bid:US $11.00
Technically it should be posted in the Market Place, but your post was also informative... now we know where more info on the house is available and I hope to track down a copy of that magazine...Quote:
Originally Posted by Goodwill_HiFi
If anyone did, please contact me... I'd love to get scans of the cover story article for eventual inclusion in our "new" library once it opens.Quote:
Originally Posted by hjames
Widget
Here you go . . .Quote:
Originally Posted by John
From "How To Build Speaker Enclosures" by Alexis Badmaieff and Don Davis:
"In this system performance was given first consideration, and as a result the entire living room in the home was specificallly designed to house and acoustically enhance the musical system. Approximately 300 cubic feet were allowed for each 25-ton enclosure.
The enclosure dimensions are 4 ft x 4 ft x 18 ft. Three of the walls of the enclosure are solid concrete. The fourth or front wall of the enclosure is 1-inch plywood reinforced with random diagonal bracing. Obviously the enclosure is meant to house a musical reproduction system and not to contribute tones of it's own manufacture.
The choice of drivers, their placement on the baffle, and their relations to each other were arrived at after careful review of desired criteria relating to linearity, distortion, phase, efficiency, and polar response.
Table 2-1 in (How To Build Speaker Enclosures) Chapter 2, Column C shows the relation of speaker size to effective cone area. A pair of 15-inch woofers were chosen because:
1. They have a piston area of 266 square inches, which was sufficient to meet the efficiency goal shown in Table 2-1 Column D.
2. They were small enough to have sufficiently low mass which ensured good transient response.
3. They were large enough to require only two units in order to achieve adequate low-frequency output without excessive cone excursion.
4. Their response extended above 500 Hz, the desired crossover point for the high-frequency driver and hor chosen.
If an 18-inch or 30-inch woofer had been chosen, the ncessary cone area would have been gained at the expense of response to transient sounds.
If four 12-inch drivers had been chosen, excellent transient response could have been achieved, but polar response would have been less predictable.
After careful consideration of all the factors, a pair of 15-inch speakers allowed a balanced compromise to be achieved in this system."