Altec serial number scheme (aka I have serial number B001)

[dnewma04]

I recently picked up a pair of Altec 603Bs, and just after getting them, I found a pair of Altec 604Cs. If you are not aware, the 603B is similar to a 604C type driver without the compresssion driver, and has a similar multi-cell horn that is a bit larger then the 604s.

Am I actually holding onto the first (B001) and 67th (B067) 603Bs that were produced by Altec?

[dnewma04]

[00Robin]

Oh boy,I have no clue,but I was sure the 604's were of the greens,unless different years and changes lost the familiar Altec green or the rarely seen orange. Mine are green. One of the real guys will know.

[dnewma04]

My 604Cs are definitely green, the pic is of the 603B with the serial number B001.

[00Robin]

My 604Cs are definitely green, the pic is of the 603B with the serial number B001.

Oh good,I'm not guessing then. Do you have a set? Do they sound REALLY good? I LOVE mine.

[Steve Schell]

<P>"Am I actually holding onto the first (B001) and 67th (B067) 603Bs that were produced by Altec?" Very possibly, dnewma04. If you could post some close up pictures of the decals it would help. </P>
<P>&nbsp;</P>
<P>I own serial #015 of your 603Bs' predecessor, the original 603. It has a red, white and blue decal. Several years ago I saw 603 #001 on ebay but was broke at the moment from some Lansing purchase and didn't bid on it...Doohhhh!</P>
<P>&nbsp;</P>
<P>The 603 used the same high frequency horn as the 604 and 604B. The smaller horn was used beginning with the 604C.</P>
<P>&nbsp;</P>
<P>The 603 was the top of the line of Altec's "Dia-cone" drivers. An aluminum center dome supplied high frequencies while the cone supplied low frequencies, both being driven from the same edgewound aluminum voice coil. The horn was allegedly mounted to disperse the highs, but I regard the design as primarily a marketing excercise. Despite much poorer high frequency response than the 604, Altec sold thousands of them as they looked like a 604 from the front while selling for less than half as much.</P>
<P>&nbsp;</P>
<P>00Robin, Altec drivers from the mid 1940s through about 1953 were generally painted with a dark gray crinkle paint. The&nbsp; green hammertone finish made its debut in about 1953 or 1954.</P>

[Steve Schell]

Sorry for the html madness. I tried re-editing the post, but the gobbledygook persists.

[dnewma04]

Well, I have been trying to get some decent pics, but it's fairly hard to read by eye and my camera just isn't picking it well enough. I'll post what I have after I work on the photo for a bit.

Thanks for the info, Steve. When I looked more closely at the serial numbers, I was a bit shocked to see 67, much less 001.

[dnewma04]

A little hard to read, but you can sort of see it.

[00Robin]

that makes sense then why the stamp is 1958 on my greenies. Thanks Steve..you guys know your stuff here. No fooling around.