Audio Analysts' AALTO had indeed a few differences:
- the Mid/high cab had 2x10 loaded with the same horn for the mids, where the HLA had 1x10 + 1x14, each with its own horn. You can see the rectangle enclosure behind the horn on the left unit in your photo.
- The AALTO bass cab (the right side unit) was tiltable within the frame with the same mechanism as for the mid/high cab, where the HLA bass cab was a fix enclosure using most of the volume inside the frame.
- The special shape of the AALTO bass cab was calculated to be tilted within the frame when stacked together in large arrays. It would have collided with the next cabinet otherwise.
- The Mid/High didn't had that constraint when tilted due to the shapes of the horns.
Fun facts :
- There where a lesser known cabinet with double 18-inch called the AALTO Baritone that would typically go under the sage as subwoofer
- Another cool features both AALTO and HLA had: The shape of the frame formed the rungs of a ladder to facilitate the work of the riggers ;-)
The AALTO was engineered in collaboration with JBL, Albert Leccese was deeply involved (not just for the frame and the rigging system, hence the differences with the HLA). First batch was tested spring 95. Then they went field tested in from fall 1995 to 1997 with Sprinsteen's solo acoustic Ghost of Tom Joad tour. John Kerns from AA could really make it sound great. I was in Lyon 1997 when Springsteen played in a concert hall built for classical orchestra, sound was amazing! On the 1999/2000 reunion tour with the E Street Band, Kerns used both AALTOs and HLA together, AALTO for FOH and HLA for delay clusters. Sound was great again, although the concert hall was not as great as in 97.
Hello, i am still a big fan of the original HLA Series i opened a group on FB to collect and exchange data about those speakers.
CROWN+JBL+18SOUND = Fun
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