Vintage Altec Lansing speakers?

[Kyle9494]

I found some speakers and they look to be vintage. From what little I could find I believe they are the 839a's or 840b's but not quite sure. Could anyone else give me some more info on these?

 

[Andyman]

Thinking PA...

 

[Kyle9494]

From what I have found they each have 6 8in speakers. All of the speakers work well and both of them together sounded rather nice for being so old. I'm just not sure on how old they are or what exact model they are. I wonder what they're worth?

 

[Andyman]

Sounds right. I've run across some Shures that were a similar design and they aren't sought for audio, so unless you need them for a church or auditorium I'd pass.

 

[Kyle9494]

I got them for free!

 

[twiiii]

Open them up if they have Altec 403b speakers they are the 840. The 403 was the famous 409 with out the coaxial tweeter speaker. They are rated from 75 to 11,000 HZ. If you open them up and find 755 a, b.c.d or E drivers you have hit the proverbial jack pot. The 755 is the most sought after full range 8" speaker in the world. Some folks will pay multi hundred dollars for each speaker. The Western electric version demands more for some reason. As I remember a 755 was rated from 55 to over 14,000 HZ was very thin and quite efficent. I used them for out door patio and cabana speakers. If I wanted more bass I used Bozak B-800 full range. Both were excellent with the HF advantage going to the Altec. We used to build our own version of the 840 with either 8 or 10 drivers to increase power handling and have greater vertical control. We built a few with 409's and were very pleased. At the end the 755 cost 3 to 4 times the 403. Small chapels were where the 840 and 839 worked best. Broad even horizontal dispersion, was the speakers claim to fame.

 

[Analogdino]

... [Altec]... If you open them up and find 755 a, b.c.d or E drivers you have hit the proverbial jack pot. The 755 is the most sought after full range 8" speaker in the world. Some folks will pay multi hundred dollars for each speaker. The Western electric version demands more for some reason.

I think this is because our Japanese friends have fallen in love with Westrex stuff... amplifiers, too.
Cheers,
Roger

 

[KingBubba]

Altec version of the Shure Vocalmaster P.A. speakers. The Shures sounded like poop to me. I hope the Altec fare better. Good luck.

 

[twiiii]

There is a Monastery in town with our version of the of an Altec column with 8 409's each using a MXR 1/3 octave EQ and a TOA 120 watt mixer amp, that was still going strong, the last time I stopped for a visit. There's another Group of Nuns that have Column speakers that I visit annually to buy Pecans from their orchards. My favorite old parish down town no Longer has its Bozak Columns. It has a 816 enclosure with 3156 woofer and a VIR horn with 299 driver with 291 diaphragm. It was a big improvement.