Altecs are Hip

[Mr. Widget]

I was at a local coffee house recently and was surprised to find these compact monitors being used for decor and ambiance as much as background music. Can't say they sounded great in the cavernous hard space, but they certainly were looking good!


Widget

[JeffW]

I've seen that place/speakers posted someplace before.

Ah, "Altec coffee" search paid off.

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/ind...akland.597982/

[jpw]

As most on this forum probably do, I remember the the 1960's and 1970's fondly when it was generally in vogue to buy and display large speakers and associated equipment in ones room rather than hide them in a wall. Women were more tolerant of it then and some also thought it was cool. Now the mainstream audio customer wants invisible sound no matter how crappy it is. Let's hope that the current craze in most things vintage, particularly with young people, brings back more acceptability for displaying audio out in the open. A byproduct will be that they discover it sounds way better.

[1audiohack]

That is very cool!

And just exactly the type of speaker you don't want in a place where people want to talk to each other.

Barry.

[SEAWOLF97]

We are in "The Age of Style"

form over function.

[DavidF]

As most on this forum probably do, I remember the the 1960's and 1970's fondly when it was generally in vogue to buy and display large speakers and associated equipment in ones room rather than hide them in a wall. Women were more tolerant of it then and some also thought it was cool. Now the mainstream audio customer wants invisible sound no matter how crappy it is. Let's hope that the current craze in most things vintage, particularly with young people, brings back more acceptability for displaying audio out in the open. A byproduct will be that they discover it sounds way better.

Sure, the era when bigger was better. You could walk into a room and find two mammoth boxes and a huge receiver and that was cool. Friends would say "let's listen to some tunes!!". In the corner there might be a small box with a 20" tubed TV that was turned on occasionally. Some how things got all backwards.

[srm51555]

Some how things got all backwards.

Sad but true.

After hours must be awesome.

Notice the updated sneeze guard for the delicious bakery.

Thanks for sharing.

[Lee in Montreal]

We are in "The Age of Style"

form over function.

So true.

[Goldjazz]

uh oh looks like the hipsters are onto us

[Lee in Montreal]

uh oh looks like the hipsters are onto us

Today's hipsters are yesterday's yuppies. Cultureless people trying to impress.

[NickH]

Today's hipsters are yesterday's yuppies. Cultureless people trying to impress.

I don't necessarily think that's correct. Yuppieism has more to do with income status. Hipsters you can find in all income brackets. I call my brother a yuppie quite often. But he does have kids now so maybe I should let it slide.

And ya I just invented that word yuppieism, .


How was the coffee though?


One thing I don't get about most the hipsters is the obsession with the crazy ear mods. Don't get the saucers in the ears. But I guess I'm just too old.

Nick

[Lee in Montreal]

Yuppies from the mid 1980s indeed also had an income aspect to their specificities. But most of time, all they wanted was to be hip and to the latest trend in order to impress others, even though they had no clue what it was about. Basically, they wouldn't read at all, if not for that latest book they heard in an article so that they can brag about it at a cocktail. They'd now be driving BMWs because it is the car to drive, even though they had no clue what brand it was last year. They'd eat food that they find disgusting, but have to eat because it is the latest trend. And they spend their holidays in places they totally hate, but have to visit because it is the place to be. They were hipsters with money. And they gave the 1980s a bad name ;-)

Today's hipsters are no less ridiculous than yesterday's yuppies. And both had their instruction manual... What brand to wear. What brand to buy. Including Altec... ;-)

[Goldjazz]

Today's hipsters are yesterday's yuppies. Cultureless people trying to impress.

Yep I agree

[SEAWOLF97]

"Altecs are Hip"


Glad Altecs are and NOT JBL's

I have guests see the 250Ti's and excitedly ask "what are those" ?

when I tell them, the response is : "OH I remember that name from the 70's"


Hipsters ?
PDX is Hipsterville. The uniform includes tats, flannel shirt, turntable and a Porkpie hat.

Thai restaurants, beer bars and punk concerts are their hangouts.


Curtis Cook, comedian ... on PDX

I'm getting tired of these lazy, flannel-clad "artists" saying this city's artistic scenes are all dead now that they can't afford rent. New York has art. Chicago has art. S.F. and L.A. have art. I'm sorry you may have to get a full-time job and drop the faux-artsy, PBR-bedazzled, make-believe "my dreams are all I need" shtick you've been passing off as a personality for the past few years, but there will still be art in this city. There was art in this city when the first wave of gentrification came through, and there will be art in this city now that that first wave of gentrifiers has to move on.

[Lee in Montreal]

BTW I am being tongue in cheek when associating Hipsters and Yuppies. There's no scientific studies proving my point. ;-)
Today's hipsters might even be the offsprings of yesterday's yuppies. Overachieving parents producing underachieving kids.

One thing though. The installation and positioning of the Altecs in that coffee shop, in the worst manner possible, shows that they were picked not for their sound quality but just for the looks... ;-)