Altec Lansing Model 15 speakers

[JFRACE]

Just picked these up from a fellow AK'er and was told these are the version 2. Anyone know the differences in them? I haven't been able to find much info on them. I may be sending out the 12" drivers for a rebuild as the bass response isn't that good when I compare them to my Klipsch KLF-10's. Being these are front ported, I have them pulled out into the room. Looking for opinions on placement as well with them.My room is 14 x 24 x 8 and is carpeted, acoustic ceiling tiles, and curtains over 5 windows, so it's somewhat deadened. They don't have the original covers, so I recovered them this way until I decide on what to do.

 

[Zonker92]

Very cool. I hope you found a good source for the woofer “rebuild;” I believe replacement woofers are extremely difficult to get. I’d be leery of trusting just anyone with them.

 

[Fat Point Ja]

Here are mine. If ever plan to vacation in SW Florida, bring one of those tube amps with you, I'd really like to hear mine with them.

 

[bowtie427ss]

Series II model 15 uses an odd diameter woofer built in house by Altec, and has a plastic "series II" trim ring on the port.

The previous series had no trim on the port, and used a stamped steel woofer with a standard diameter 12 inch frame built to Altec's specs by CTS.

There may be other subtle differences in the network, but they are not documented anywhere that i'm aware of.

 

[JFRACE]

Here are mine. If ever plan to vacation in SW Florida, bring one of those tube amps with you, I'd really like to hear mine with them.
View attachment 1455635

How's the sound quality with them raised that high off the floor?

 

[Drugolf]

Cool.
Even after the woofer work I'm not sure you will get as much bass as you might be thinking out of those.

 

[dosmalo]

I sure wouldn't kick em out of bed for eating crackers!

 

[Fat Point Ja]

How's the sound quality with them raised that high off the floor?

The room is 16 x 11 and it's like a wall of sound. They sounded the best either in Nelson's back yard on New Year's Eve or the Women's club for Halloween parties.

 

[JALARCO]

If this information helps you, I have a couple of Altec Model 14. Initially I repaired the bass with the Altec Lansing repair kit that I got at https://reconingspeakers.com. Unfortunately they were too "soft", and my Pioneer Spec 2 amplifier in a moment that accidentally hit the cartridge crumpled the cardboard of the cones. Again at https://reconingspeakers.com I bought another repair kit, but this time I bought the "replacement" kit and I did not put the spider that came, but a somewhat more rigid one. The result was a much more rigid speaker, with better defined bass and very rich for instrumental music. I imagine that Model 15 must have the same problem, I do not hesitate to recommend that you do what I did. To the Altec Model 14 I accompany them with some JBL S119 (quite rare), they have a very "sub bass" bass, they are giant bazookas.

 

[300man]

I thought I would dust off a year old topic/thread instead of starting a new one. I purchased a pair of Altec model 15 speakers from the original owner about a year ago. They needed new woofer surrounds and the acoustic foam attached to the grills were long gone. The cabinets are in good condition and very solid. All components are original and all parts are intact.

About 4 months ago I had the surrounds replaced on both woofers. After reinstalling them and doing a quick tests i discovered one of the horns was not working. This was a " as is sale without testing " so the price was good.

Fast forward to today and the compression driver DC resistance measured 6.8 ohms. So I searched for a crossover schematic and found one. I then looked at the HF and MF Pots and they both checked out. Turns out that the 8 UF capacitor was not passing audio.

So I searched my stock and came up with a suitable replacement and soldered it in place. PRESTO! Both horns now working and sounding good.

Sat down and gave them a listen for about a half hour driven with one of my Tandberg TR 2080s.

To be clear these are Model 15-IIs with the in house cast aluminum 13 inch frame on a 12 inch driver and tangerine phase plug 32B horns with 802G drivers.

I was a bit surprised at the ability of these speakers to reproduce good quality base and IMO plenty of it. Based on several things I have read I thought they might be lacking...

The HF is detailed and I can detect a over abundance of mid range frequencies in the 2k - 4k range? So I backed down the MF controls to about the nine o'clock setting and the HF to about 11 o'clock and that took the edge off.

Overall I am pleased with what I hear and will now continue to work on the cosmetics. I will put up some pictures later today.

 

[300man]

Ok so here is a preliminary picture. More to follow as I continue to do the cosmetics. The speakers are the same hue, one picture is with flash and one is without.

 

[kcdonahue]

@300man I have a few chunks of that gasket material laying around if you want it. Should at least fill in the blanks for you.

KC

 

[300man]

@300man I have a few chunks of that gasket material laying around if you want it. Should at least fill in the blanks for you.

KC

Thanks KC! Nice of you to offer. I actually have some but just haven't gotten around to applying them.

That woofer is going to be replaced with another identical spare that I have with all of the gasket intact.

 

[300man]

Replaced the woofer with the gasket pieces missing with a identical Altec part. The bit of bass distortion that presented itself yesterday after several hours of burn in is gone. All systems go.

 

[300man]

Spent some time listening to these and these 32B horns present a really nice sound stage. I have them about 10 feet apart on the long wall of a rectangular room that's 10 x 14. The instruments really dance around and present themselves in 3D fashion. Anyone else with the same experience with these horns or speakers?

 

[BillWojo]

They are some of the best and smoothest horns Altec made. They don't look all that convincing with the 90 degree bend in the throat but surprise you when you first hear them.
But don't tell anyone that, the prices have been rising fast.

BillWojo

 

[300man]

They are some of the best and smoothest horns Altec made. They don't look all that convincing with the 90 degree bend in the throat but surprise you when you first hear them.
But don't tell anyone that, the prices have been rising fast.

BillWojo

Ok it will be are little secret

 

[Katalyst]

I have the series 1. Raising them helps with the sound. You are lucky to have the original woofers to have rebuilt. Mine were missing. The woofers in these are Altec 412c biflex.

 

[300man]

I have the series 1. Raising them helps with the sound. You are lucky to have the original woofers to have rebuilt. Mine were missing. The woofers in these are Altec 412c biflex.

Interesting, I am impressed with how they create a sound field that seems to hover a few feet above there position. When I close my eyes while listening there is no clue as to where the speakers are located. I sit centered 6 to 7 feet away on a stool which puts my ears at about 45 inches ( I'll measure later ) above floor level. I am rather sensitive to bright sounding speakers in the 3k to 5k range. I have the HF control set at about 11:30 and MF at about 9:30. I will try raising them at some point by placing them on blocks of wood. My feeling is that raising them might tilt the balance towards the HF?

I like the way yours look with the legs, sexy lol.

 

[Davedev07]

I just bought a pair of Altec Model 15 ‘s, with no woofers. Any recommendations on what I can use as a replacement?