Barn Find ... Lansing Iconic?

[Akardec]

My Godmother is remodeling the home of the late Meredith Wilson's (writer/composer of The Music Man). I salvaged this Lansing from the wreckage.



There is a part of me, the part that loves vintage gear and old cars, that wants to keep it. But I'd want a pair and then the cost of another and space becomes an issue. Does anyone have any input as to what it's worth or the best place to sell (besides ebay or Audiogon).

The outside is a bit rough with paint and plaster drippings and damaged corners and edges. The inside is pristine and suggests a clean up might be more effective than I thought. I have not tried to play it. I can be contacted privately at [email protected]

[Valentin]

nice find

[audiomagnate]

They still have barns in LA?

[Akardec]

Uhhh ... I think I worked in a recording studio that used to be a chicken coop one time.

Actually, the really scary thing is that there may have been an entire vintage recording studio at the site where I got this speaker ... unfortunately all that was left was this one speaker, sitting in the middle of an empty room. It never left the job site because it was so big.

[audiomagnate]

It's still a great score. Have you fired it up yet?

[farleybob]

Just ... Wow.

[audiomagnate]

So it's covered in chicken s***? This might be the ultimate barn find. Doesn't it need a power supply for the field coils to work?

[Akardec]

It's got drips and drabs of paint and plaster on it ... thankfully, no chicken poop!

There are screw holes for the electro magnet but they look like they were filled, I don't know if it's a transitional model or if it was modded to permanent magnet by Mr. Wilson. I'm not familiar enough with the components or the evolution of the model.

[farleybob]

No, it's covered in chicken patina. Does look like the field coil supply is missing though.

[farleybob]

Not that I'm an expert, but it doesn't look like it has been converted to permanent magnets. The 415 is a field coil speaker and the 801B is field coil too. As a sort of rule of thumb a permanent maganet speaker would have 2 wires (for the voice coil) and a field coil speaker has 4 (2 for the voice coil and 2 for the field coil).

[Akardec]

You guys would know better than me, that's why I came to this site! It's likely that whoever hauled away the rest of the old studio apparatus (sob!) may have liked the look of the power supply unit and taken it ... I just found the two wires wound back into the other wires on the top of the speaker and what I thought were filled screw holes was actually dirt and dark goo.

We're figuring out more and more as we go!

It's a nightmare to think of what was there and to think that I didn't get there until two years after the studio was demoed. I knew the house was being worked on but had no idea there was a studio in it!

[audiomagnate]

You guys would know better than me, that's why I came to this site! It's likely that whoever hauled away the rest of the old studio apparatus (sob!) may have liked the look of the power supply unit and taken it ... I just found the two wires wound back into the other wires on the top of the speaker and what I thought were filled screw holes was actually dirt and dark goo.

We're figuring out more and more as we go!

It's a nightmare to think of what was there and to think that I didn't get there until two years after the studio was demoed. I knew the house was being worked on but had no idea there was a studio in it!

Don't worry too much about you missed. I can't think of anything they took that would be more desirable than a real Iconic, except maybe some Western Electric stuff... Too bad someone snagged the PS, probably thinking it was a TOOB AMP. Keep an eye open for it on ebay.

[NickH]

Some guys have all the luck. What a find. Yep those are both field coil drivers and highly collectable and rare.

You've got a nice piece of audio history there. If its not something you want to keep you won't have trouble finding a new home for it.


Hopefully the woofer cone is in good shape. Being barn kept it might not be so good. Hopefully its good still.


Nick

[Steve Schell]

I just wrote to Akardec, but I'll share my impressions here. This is a sure 'nuff early Altec era Iconic, I'd guess 1942 or possibly into 1943. The field supply is missing, but that can be worked around. The 415 was their theatre system woofer, intended for horn loading, with a lighter cone and possibly larger field coil than the usual 815 Iconic woofer. I have seen such substitutions before, though.

All decals and driver types are appropriate for 1942, shortly after the purchase of Lansing Manufacturing Company by All Technical Services (former theatre service branch of Western Electric) in April 1941, forming Altec Lansing Corporation. Before long the cast aluminum basket of the 15" woofers would give way to a stamped steel basket purchased from Utah Loudspeakers, due to the need for aluminum for the war effort. Such drivers bear a "U" designation. The Iconic would disappear altogether around 1945, replaced by the 604 Duplex which was usually placed into the same bass box, the 612. Sorry to 604 fans (I like them too), but an Iconic is to me a much better speaker.

Note the autoformer mounted inside near the woofer. This transforms the 12 ohm impedance of the dividing network to the 6 ohm impedance of the 415's voice coil.

The white gunk on the cabinet and components should clean up easily. I have found that the product Goof Off will remove latex paint without disturbing the finish underneath, and have cleaned up several Iconics this way.

All in all a much better than average condition 21st century Iconic! It is so great that there are still some of these being discovered at this late date, and that this one at least is has found its way into appreciative hands.

[Akardec]

After a long wait (my life is a series of interlocking deadlines ... it will be GREAT when this year is over!) here are some pictures of the drivers and testing the speaker.



The back is off the HF driver. It looks good and the little natural fiber 'insulators' seen virtually new ... bear in mind that I'm a total novice at this but Steve Schell was peering over my shoulder pointing out the details.



The bass cone also looks good. There are no light leaks (you can see the sunlight through the port below) so it's likely the surround is intact. A visual inspection from the front and by peering closely in the back also suggests this.



2.12k Ohms - the two field coils in series.



7.9 Ohms - the high frequency voice coil winding.



18.7 Ohms - high end winding of the impedance matching transformer.