Altec Design 1 or are they

acejavelin

New Member
I found this pair of speakers, a local estate sale flipper is selling and knows nothing of the history of them, and I am just struggling to find out anything about them, not just specs like frequency response and power handling, but if they are even "correct" Design 1 speakers.

Obviously they need to refoamed, that isn't the issue... but they have caused quite a stir in some of the FB groups I am in, because they don't match up to any Altec reference material for any model.

According to Lansing Heritage's Altec reference library in a 1975 driver reference guide (page 4) it shows the Design 1 speaker as having as having a LF driver (woofer), HF driver (mid/tweeter), and a HF Horn (which these obviously don't have).

They appear to be the same design as the Model 5, but with a smaller woofer and without the ported enclosure.

Searching other threads and images online, show the Design 1 as being a 2-way speaker having a 10" woofer and a horn driver mid/tweeter, which doesn't match up with the reference materials available either.

So... Did I find a rare gem, or some kind of hack job?
 

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Some of the Design series speakers used a molded plastic housing to mount the tweeters. This is likely the part that is being referred to in the '75 reference guide. I'm not aware of any Design series model that used a horn of any type.

My WAG is that your pair are from before the point at which they started using the plastic housing. There will be a date code somewhere in them.

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Some of the Design series speakers used a molded plastic housing to mount the tweeters. This is likely the part that is being referred to in the '75 reference guide. I'm not aware of any Design series model that used a horn of any type.

My WAG is that your pair are from before the point at which they started using the plastic housing. There will be a date code somewhere in them.
Thanks for that... Since I posted the original question, I did find this as well, confirming they are truly Design 1 speakers.

Now to figure out their worth... I am not really interested in keeping and using them, but would repair and flip them, I am just not sure if they are worth it. Much of what I have read of the Design series is they are low-end Altecs for the time. I live in an area that has little interest in vintage audio, and people either sell garbage or have decent stuff at twice what it is worth. If after refoaming and cleaning up the cabinets I can't get at least $150-$200/pr for them, I will probably pass.
 
I think the lack of published documentation, and fanboy praise will preclude them from ever hitting the 150-200 range.

If you can buy them right, the profit margin is probably the same for flipping them as is versus the investment and labor to properly re-hab them.

I expect they're probably a very good sounding loudspeaker among their peers. Being uncommon in this case likely devalues them among their better known peers.
 
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