Altec Theatre Equipment 1955

View Comments

• Altec Lansing amplifiers of the tube era are well worth careful study both in construction methods and design.

  Years ago there was a high end audio company that designed an amplifier that used transformers salvaged from these Altec theater amps. They replaced the end bells and carefully painted the lams so they looked new and they sold the amplifiers for, as I recall, about three grand for the pair of monoblocks. They made a deal with a theater chain to buy all of their old Altec amps for a certain sum, it was about a hundred bucks each I think, and they made that model until the supply of transformers ran out. If they had waited a couple of years they could have easily sold the Altec amplifiers themselves for more than that to the oriental collectors especially if they put a little effort into cosmetically refurbishing them.

  The new amps were actually no where as well designed as the original Altecs. There was a run of 6550 or KT88 tubes from China that had a propensity to short the plate after a few hours and several of these amps lost either or both transformers. The company ceased and desisted doing business at that time, surely a coincidence. (Of course, they were also threatened by owners who were not told they were buying something with salvaged, 25 year old parts.) No transformer winder would reproduce those transformers because a certain vendor claimed he had an exclusive right to wind the old Altec transformers and would sue anyone who did. There is no such right, because all he owned was a trademark and a bunch of wind sheets he pulled out of a dumpster in Philadelphia, but for years the coil winding business wasn't taking any chances. Now several winders wind copies of a few of these parts, but the company is long gone and most of their amps were just gutted out and used for other projects.

• Years ago I had one complete setup of the VOTT just as depicted on the cover of the publication. I had removed all three sets from the Loews Collage Theater in New Haven CT sometime around 1980 and shared the salvage with some musical friends. These cabinets were very large and I do remember all the horn drivers having odd impedance's. In any case they are long gone but the brochure sure did bring back a great memory (at least for me, I can't say my wife has the same fond memories). I think all I have left is a VU panel with Left-Center-Right meters and I thing the silk screening said "Spectrasound". BTW, I met your dad recently, he passed me your web sight info after I took a liking to the valve amp he was using at his gig!! Thanks, great site!!

  • hi stephen. welcome. yea i made my father a lil tweed-champ type thing with a 6L6 output for his harp rig. He's got the shure green bullet mic and an analog echo pedal and he gets a nice tone out of it! c.

    • Please help! Altec Lansing mono tube rack mount model 1100 and a model 1500 silver face. Anyone know the value?

      • dude srsly. yr name is eBay wizard. come on.