Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 34

Thread: Altec A4 questions

  1. #1
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Utica, NY
    Posts
    5

    Altec A4 questions

    I have a friend who recently bought a theater in central New York and there are a set of 3 Altec A4 speakers with horns that we dont know much about.

    What was the msrp on these?

    Reasale value? They sounded amazing hooked up to a Crown MT600 before being moved out of the theater.

    There were 5 until 2 were disassembled so that the 3/4 plywood could be used elsewhere (doh!......)

    I actually have the 4 Altec 515 speakers that came out of the 2 speakers that were disassembled. Could I build a cabinet somewhat smaller with these and have an enjoyable speaker at home? ( I have some Klipsch HeresyI that I love).

    I am working with a couple of local resellers and am looking for whatever info/help I can get so as not to get burned. The money recieved from the sale will all be reinvested into the theaters restoration that they have come out of.

    Thanks for any help
    Attached Images Attached Images      

  2. #2
    Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    RANCHO CORDOVA CALIFORNIA
    Posts
    44
    Ya, these are worth a bundle of loot. If you intend to sell them, pull the woofers and list on ebay. Be prepared to ship overseas. The cabs will also sell even with pick-up only. Do you still have the wings? If the woofers are early enough, that is with red, white, and blue "hollywood" labels they'll fetch even more. You probably have N500D crossovers on these, which can bring $600+ a pair. What horns/drivers do these have? They're worth a lot as well.

    The 515 is a terrific speaker in my opinion. Easily the most efficient woofer Altec offered. Phenolic spiders. Cones are designed to be replaceable in the field by the operator. Not that I'd suggest doing so, but if you wanted a better bass response you can recone these as a 515B. These were designed specifically for bass horns so I don't know how well they'd perform in other applications.

    If you intend to convert the theatre to digital sound, do not be fooled into thinking you need newer, high powered JBL's. You have 3, so you have your screen speakers, and they will blow away typical 4648's, etc. I had this same deal, however I did sell mine for enough to fund a complete JBL screen array, dual 18" subs, and 12 8333 surrounds so if you need the loot these will do it for you.

  3. #3
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Utica, NY
    Posts
    5

    Wht disassemble?

    Why take these apart and sell? Why not sell as a complete set? The horns are 288C on 30210 (for whatever that means....). I have hooked up my Crown MT600 and they sound amazing.

    There are also 2 horns, model 30162, as well as 4- Altel 515 woofers. Is there anyone out there that knows of a decent cabinet design that is half the size of these in the pics that I could build and put in my house? Or is this just an unreasonable thought?

    I have searched and searched and these speakers seem to be something really special.

    What is a reasonable asking price for the 3 complete A4 and 288C horns?




    Quote Originally Posted by mlr View Post
    Ya, these are worth a bundle of loot. If you intend to sell them, pull the woofers and list on ebay. Be prepared to ship overseas. The cabs will also sell even with pick-up only. Do you still have the wings? If the woofers are early enough, that is with red, white, and blue "hollywood" labels they'll fetch even more. You probably have N500D crossovers on these, which can bring $600+ a pair. What horns/drivers do these have? They're worth a lot as well.

    The 515 is a terrific speaker in my opinion. Easily the most efficient woofer Altec offered. Phenolic spiders. Cones are designed to be replaceable in the field by the operator. Not that I'd suggest doing so, but if you wanted a better bass response you can recone these as a 515B. These were designed specifically for bass horns so I don't know how well they'd perform in other applications.

    If you intend to convert the theatre to digital sound, do not be fooled into thinking you need newer, high powered JBL's. You have 3, so you have your screen speakers, and they will blow away typical 4648's, etc. I had this same deal, however I did sell mine for enough to fund a complete JBL screen array, dual 18" subs, and 12 8333 surrounds so if you need the loot these will do it for you.

  4. #4
    Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    RANCHO CORDOVA CALIFORNIA
    Posts
    44
    >>Why take these apart and sell?<<
    I'm not advocating you do so.

    >>Why not sell as a complete set?<<
    You'll not get anywhere near the value of the individual components when sold as complete.

    >>The horns are 288C on 30210 (for whatever that means....).<<
    288C = the compression driver model. 30210 = horn throat. The horn is the multi-cell attached to the throat. How many cells are on these horns, and are the horns solid across the top/bottom, or can you see the full trumpet (or whatever it's called) of each cell? Makes a big difference in value.

    >>Is there anyone out there that knows of a decent cabinet design that is half the size of these in the pics that I could build and put in my house? Or is this just an unreasonable thought?<<
    You can build, or buy A5/A7 cabinets which would be very nice.

    >>I have searched and searched and these speakers seem to be something really special<<
    In my opinion they are. They're not rare, but are getting very difficult to obtain, and very expensive.

    Pictures of the components would help ID these. FYI: 3 A4's together (including the wings, and 1 805, 1005, or 1505 horn) become an A1.

  5. #5
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Utica, NY
    Posts
    5

    A4 pictures..

    If you would be interested in seeing pics I could email you a whole bunch of what I have taken.

    The horns a 10 cell and solid body (if you would call it that).

    Difficult and hard to obtain? And expensive? What is considered expensive? I have no idea.....

    .......and btw I appreciate the time and input you have made here.

    Cheers, ~CK

  6. #6
    Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    RANCHO CORDOVA CALIFORNIA
    Posts
    44
    No sweat, don't have anything better to do.
    The horn is a Tar Filled, and either a 1005, or a 1003. Based on the horn, I think these are very early. Nice find.

    If you send the pics, I'll try and help you id, etc. If you include the horn dimensions it would help.

    [email protected]

  7. #7
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Upstate NY
    Posts
    225
    You might want to consider posting your questions (and photos) about these speakers on the Altec User's Board. There are former Altec Lansing contractors and former Altec Lansing employees there and other experts who could really give you a lot of info on these. They are gems, and can certainly be put in smaller cabinets and fine tuned to be excellent home hi fi speakers. People there discuss this sort of thing regularly (as well as their resale value). Here's the link:

    http://www.hostboard.com/forums/f700...ers-board.html

    Posting a few pictures there of the horns and woofers/cabinets would get you some excellent advice/info as that board is dedicated exclusively to vintage Altec Lansing gear and is populated by Altec aficionados. BTW, I've gotten some nice Altec assistance here as well as this board is dedicated to both JBL and Altec....

  8. #8
    Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Location
    Michigan
    Posts
    31

    Lucky!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    What an awesome find!!! If you feel all tingly inside it's ok, It's normal. Glad to see them saved.

  9. #9
    Senior Member Altec Best's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Central New Jersey
    Posts
    378
    They are most likely 1005's (10 cell) horns the others are 805's (8 cell). The 30210 is the throat adapter number and that is for a 1005 the 30162 is for the 805 horns.
    "James B. Lansing" = Lansing Manufacturing ~ Altec Lansing ~ JBL

  10. #10
    Senior Member audiomagnate's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Colorado and Georgia
    Posts
    1,022
    Why not just keep them in place? I don't get it. It's a movie theater and those are the best movie theater speakers ever.

  11. #11
    Senior Member hatrack71's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Helena, Mt.
    Posts
    205
    Better yet, why not just move them into your house, sell all your chit to make room and enjoy. You have a major piece of history there.
    4333As, Valencias

  12. #12
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Utica, NY
    Posts
    5
    I appreciate all the input friends. The choice to sell them was not mine. The theatre has a performance stage and 2 movie theaters. Its the Uptown Theater in Utica, NY. A very nice place and the owner wanted to get rid of them mostly because of how much room they take up.

    .....anyway, they have been sold. Someone drove from Detroit on literally a moments notice and made an exceptional offer. He will either enjoy them a whole bunch or has a market to resell them.

    Thanks once again for the help here and I will definetly be heading over to the Altec chat to discuss refurbishing the Altec Vott A7 speakers that I acquired out of arranging the sale of the A4 set.

    Cheers, ~CK

  13. #13
    Junior Member biglovesam's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Dixon
    Posts
    25

    Fianally I have been searching for weeks for a back inside view of an A4/210

    I am building a speaker box similar to the VOTT 211 . I am going to make it 10" shorter , maybe 27" wide because I am only loading it with a 21" sub , and may do it 47" deep because I have been doing hard research and seen that the A1 was 46.5" deep . plus I want to get it thru door ways . I was going to do a 210 but the top seems unused . Any tips ?

  14. #14
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    GTA, Ont.
    Posts
    5,109

  15. #15
    Senior Member Altec Best's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Central New Jersey
    Posts
    378
    Quote Originally Posted by christoj1969 View Post

    Thanks once again for the help here and I will definetly be heading over to the Altec chat to discuss refurbishing the Altec Vott A7 speakers that I acquired out of arranging the sale of the A4 set.

    Cheers, ~CK
    IMHO you got a fabulous deal there.Your speakers are actually A5's,288B's with 1005's and 515 woofers. N-500-C crossovers.All original parts. Nice !
    "James B. Lansing" = Lansing Manufacturing ~ Altec Lansing ~ JBL

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. Questions on Altec Flamenco 848A
    By telynau in forum Lansing Product Technical Help
    Replies: 30
    Last Post: 05-04-2016, 10:25 AM
  2. Altec A7-500 cabinet: Questions
    By withTarragon in forum Lansing Product Technical Help
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 08-24-2010, 12:27 PM
  3. Altec Laguna questions
    By Conductor in forum Lansing Product General Information
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 05-14-2009, 12:30 AM
  4. Altec Fifteen questions
    By JRD in forum Lansing Product General Information
    Replies: 17
    Last Post: 12-03-2008, 10:10 AM
  5. 846A Altec Valencia Questions
    By sourceoneaudio in forum Lansing Product DIY Forum
    Replies: 21
    Last Post: 02-19-2007, 06:08 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •