ID these Altecs?

[Ecstatic Xoul]

I can buy these Altecs for $100. One woofer reportedly needs reconing.

Can anyone ID them?

And would they be appropriate for playing small parties? (I assume I would need to add some mids as well).

[Sam Cogley]

There's well over $100 worth of parts there. I can't quite figure out why they have the horns mounted sideways, but for that price I'd already be in the truck.

Depending on the damage to the woofer, you might be able to get by only patching it.

I'd say they'd be perfect for parties, critical listening, or whatever else you want to do. No need for mids, there are tons of Altecs out there in both home and professional configurations with one 15" woofer and one horn per side.

[Ecstatic Xoul]

Thanks, Sam! Great news.

Any idea what model they are? Or what family they're part of?

The horns looks like VOTT to me, but I know squat about Altecs...

[Sam Cogley]

They're some variant of the VOTT theme, but the VOTTs I've seen are taller and wider, with a vented chamber below the bass horn. The mid/high horns appear to be of the 511 or 811 series - the VOTTs I've seen pictures of use a much larger commercial-type horn and driver. I'm not sure exactly what you have, but unless everything is totally trashed, it would appear to be an excellent buy. Hopefully one of the experts will wander in and provide a more concrete ID.

Edit - the 1966 VOTT brochure in the Library shows the 511/811 series horns as available for VOTT systems. Must have been for small theatres. http://www.lansingheritage.org/html/.../1966-vott.htm

Another edit - they look a bit like the A7s illustrated in the '63 catalog: http://www.lansingheritage.org/image...pro/page06.jpg
Those A7s are shorter than the A7s shown a few pages later, and your picture are shorter yet. http://www.lansingheritage.org/image...pro/page08.jpg

[scott fitlin]

These VOTT horns are side vented, and single 15in cabs. The only Altec cabs that are single 15in cabs are the 816, and the A7, and neither were side vents. The 816,s vents are at the bottom, and so is the A7.

The cabs in the pics here, are sort of like half 211A cabs, except that the 211A was a dual woofer cabinet. Possibly Altec inspired copies not Altec built comes to mind.

More than likely, the woofers are 421-8LF or 421-8H. Musical instrument or sound reinforcement drivers, I liked them, used them for a very long time myself. However, I honestly think they are not quite up to dealing with todays party music, and the considerably, ( to say the least ) higher power available today, than the amps that were being used when these woofers were top of their game.

Edit: Looking at the pics again, what I thought were side vents are shadows and Altec did not build a VOTT cabinet of this size without tuned vents. These cabinets appear to be copies of the Altec 816, but not Altec manufactured.

[Ecstatic Xoul]

False alarm, I'm afraid. Seller couldn't be bothered to take down their Craigslist ad after selling them. Sigh.

Thanks for the help, folks!

[Sam Cogley]

False alarm, I'm afraid. Seller couldn't be bothered to take down their Craigslist ad after selling them. Sigh.

Thanks for the help, folks!

Deals will come your way when you least expect it. I picked up my 601A, 413C and D130 off of Craigslist after having a lousy night at an auction.