As a boy (66 years ago) I grew up hearing the Altec’s “VOICE of the THEATER” in some auditoriums & most (local movie) theaters. I really got to know these speakers controlling the sounds in the local university’s stage lighting & sound classes for musicals & plays. For almost every application over the years, they’ve been a superb performer, albeit massive.
thanks for the video - from 72 - 87 i workd in a compagny . super sound - and i built over 2000 ( voice of theater ) mostly with a 15 inch. altec - jb. lansing. and a 408 horn -driver. thanks love peace children peace
I heard once and the sound has soul and very alive sound. The speaker sound like a Klipsch. Headphone sound like those Altec are Grado sr125,sr225 and RS1
@Mark Godfrey That is hilarious! Let's face it, these things are impressive Monsters! My experience, was through a friend, in the early 80s. He restored, an old home and loved throwing parties. We would flock, to his house, and the house would literally vibrate, to the point, things would fall off of shelves and tables! Pictures, on the wall, were clapping, to the performance! Thanks, for sharing, your story! Lol!!! Fun memories!!!
1/2023: Good Day. Back in 1974 a friend of mine had a voice of the theater speaker system like/similar to this one. It was amazing, and obviously, still is. I'm envious of your system. Beautiful. I'd love to have a pair of these speakers. The other toys tooo. Thanks for posting this video. P.S. WoW
These speakers are why live rock concerts back in the old days sounded so good such as the Beetles concerts in the 1960s and many prog rock artists in the 1970s. They sounded better than most of today's professional audio systems and concerts were not louder than what it actually needs to be back then. Altec A7s are basically one the best if not the best professional audio speakers ever made. I'd take a rock concert with those great speakers that are only 250 watts each and only a few of them with natural mixing over dozens of line array speakers that are each 1000 watts or higher and artificial mixing any day. If I had a pair of Altec A7s I would power it with a pair of 5 to 15-watt valve monoblock amplifiers and a valve pre amp because they do not take much power to get very loud in the living room and they really justify vacuum tube audio amplifiers. Then put on a sing-along with Hotel California with the song playing at a moderately loud volume.
Not bad for a book shelf speaker!!! haha your choice in music is the best so varied. its good to see you enjoy the gear you sell. something that has been lost theses days.Thank you for the demo...
Very nice indeed. I own a pair of A7-800 speakers (1974). Yours look like the A7-500 models. Matched with your Mac amp, she's match made in heaven. Thanks for sharing!
Imagine that the VOTT is basically a gramophone 2.0 and the industry could not come up with something better still. We can't appreciate Altec's work enough.
my good they sound amazing!!! one question... they really need a large room to enjoy them... a theater its cloising here in my country and they have a pair of A6... i want to buy them
These have a certain clarity that is alluring. I hope to try a horn set up some day. I find the sound a bit thin and harsh. As a point of reference, listen to this track on a 4way open baffle. If I’m wrong, let me know:ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-IB0_kkb-rRs.html
You can always damp them down, but you can't damp them up to resemble low-efficiency transducers. Maybe throw a sleeping bag over the cabs. I use ALTEC 846B. No echo, just reality.
Originaly it's a french song singing by Yves Montant : les feuilles mortes. Litteraly "the dead leaves". ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Xo1C6E7jbPw.html
My old high school teacher sponsored a teen center when I was in high school and basically it was an old Sears showroom store and he had a set of those with 60 watt tube monoblock amps fed by a 16 chanel powered mixing board. With up to 150 people in there it was so loud you couldn't talk to anyone near you at times.
