Have altec VOTT, but girlfriend says no

Ebay Sam, you can find anything!:yes:

Rephrase: I wish I could find one in nice bright green at a price that won't make me cry.

Women are easy to find; there are literally billions of them out there. Now a nice pair of A7s, that's something special. No smiley face here; I'm dead serious. Plus speakers age much better. If you take care of those oh so sweet sounding Altecs they'll look great in 30 years, can you say the same for your girlfriend? Case closed. Find one that appreciates a good compression driver/horn combo and keep her around until she starts getting on your nerves. BTW I'm divorced and happy as a clam. Women have an innate drive to change us into paycheck-turning-over doormats. It's your job to do everything in your power to counter that incomprehensible (to us) drive.

Any other of life mysteries you'd like solved?

This is a great thread! Just what I needed to wake up on this blustery snowy morning!

And a whole range of advice. Interesting how quickly this thread grew. Clearly, this touched a spot in many of our hearts.

I wonder if the OP was looking for relationship advice or not? However with an opener like that, it was surely going to happen regardless. There was a lot of detail not given by the OP that for me is crucial, and missing leads to all kinds of assumptions. Like really, how badly is the OP upset about having to do something about the speakers. And reality is, for many, space is a premium. Does the OP have a place to store them? Does he want to.

Let me put it into perspective.

I had a beautiful pair of ESS AMT 1aM speakers. These are big beasts and reside in my family room man cave. I noticed my girlfriend didn't like spending any time in that room, and I asked her why. It was because the highs in the Heil's bothered her. Now they sounded wonderful to me, and I loved them. But I also wanted to have her with me in the family room when listening to music. I didn't have to and space was not an issue. I wanted it. So I searched for a pair of speakers that met my requirements, and met with WAF! It didn't take that long before I found a pair of Kef 105s.

Those did it! Girlfriend happy, boyfriend very happy! It is a reality. And if you find the right compromise, you can both eat your candy.

Good luck whatever you do. And remember that if you can't talk through it and reach a solution, that doesn't bode well for the future. But sometimes the give has to be more on one side than the other. Balance.

Gee, My girlfriend, who is now my wife of 40 years, never questioned the fact that there would always be a pair of large speakers wherever we lived. The music is part of what makes me, me. I in turn accept the ancestral doodads, geegaws furniture from long dead ancestors that comes with her. She also likes the music and I like to put my feet up on grandpa Bills ancient coffee table. I fear for your future. Can you afford a pair of the big Klipsch's and call it a compromise?

Is there another room that you could set them up in?

When my wife and I married in '83, she moved into my house. There were a nice big set of Altec Flamenco's in the living room. The place was your proverbial bachelor pad. As she started correcting my decorating choices, she would regularly mention "these things have got to go". Wasn't going to happen.

4 years later, when we moved into our second home, the first thing she said was those are not coming back in the living room. Well, I set up a listening and TV viewing room in a den. Today, they are still around. We are in our 4th home and have a large media room that's part elegant man cave, part home studio, part home office and part family room. Those speakers have survived 32 years of marriage. Just not in her living room.

Now it is fair to mention that should I die before her, they'll be gone.
But not before.

seacliffe301 said:

...Now it is fair to mention that should I die before her, they'll be gone.
But not before.

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Don't count on it, those babies will be on Craig's the minute she's convinced you're not making it out of your deathbed, and her leaky plants will find a home on top of them even before that.

And how good will the VOTTs even sound in the apartment? I'm guessing better sounding and girlfriend approved speakers are out there. Speaker design is an art of compromise. So are relationships. I understand why just about anyone wouldn't want your speakers in their home. More important question is does she want your music in her home? It will be your home soon and without your music in it are you interestd in living there?

Look my posts up in BT and see how many large speakers didn't fly in my living room. While I wasn't happy they didn't last I understand why and as cool as some of them were I sure didn't NEED them. Live without the love of a GOOD woman that I can't do.

Good luck with your new arrangement.

Eric

slow_jazz said:

Lend them to a friend till you get a bigger place.

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toxcrusadr said:

I like the loan them to a friend idea. I'm currently caring for a family heirloom kitchen table from a coworker who got married last summer. His bride did not fancy the table top, which is made of a 4-ft diameter sawmill blade, painted black. I really can't see the problem. I'm using it in my workshop, return on demand. Some day they will have a larger place and he'll want it for the family room, mancave, etc.

Smaller horns might be just the ticket. Where are you? i.e. are you in a place with a Craigslist and a market for these beasts? It would be a shame to part them out, since that's happening to so many of them.

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motorstereo said:

If you've got to ask then you already know the answer. Put em in storage somewhere safe till the day comes (and it will) when you can enjoy them. If you sell them you'll be kicking yourself forever. As far as the suggestions of getting rid of the girlfriend over a pair of speakers:thumbsdn:

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twiiii said:

What you could do is take the horn off the top and mount it in the bottom of the enclosure removing the bottom panel. Then recalculate the reflex open area you need with the horn in place and make a new board. Then flip the enclosure over and have a cabinet made with just 4 sides and front for the A-7 to slide into. A friend of mine while in the Army had the cabinets made in Korea and when he came back home to the States and set up his system the system really sounded good with his speakers near the corners. The bass was strong and clean. He was using 515 woofers, 511 horns and a new 902 drivers.

He later sold them and bought Beta speakers, which were basically a La Scala but with a ports along the edges of the cabinet with out the folded horn, but with the woofer mounted facing forward into a short horn making them flat to 25 Hz but 4 or 5 db less efficient. The tweeter was the EV- T35 and the mid horn was similar to the La Scala horn only shallower, but not as short as a Cornwall horn. The crossover was a 550 Hz as I remember, using the same Atlas driver.

I know this is a dirty word for Altec owners, but JbL made a 4430 that might work for you in a pinch, though the 4435 is a better solution. If you meed something pretty how about a JBL L300 or an Altec model 19.

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ra7c7er said:

Not sure if a place where half the answers are basically "You're the man make your woman submit or get a new woman that will" should be called group therapy. Now don't get me wrong I believe in traditional gender roles but ugly ass speakers are ugly ass speakers no matter how you look at it.

As for the speakers they are ugly along with those Peavey speakers someone posted too. Better sounding and more accepting speakers are out there.

Every time I read threads like this it makes me wish I picked up that disciplining your wife record I found at a local record shop.

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Tjetracer said:

If I was in your shoes, I would NOT sell the speakers that you clearly enjoy. I would find a place to store them since your gf doesn't like them. Nobody can see the future. Who knows what's coming down the road. You may be able to use the Altecs as a negotiating tool in the future. Example: GF wants to buy a house. You say sure as long as I can have my music room or man cave for all my equipment and those Altecs currently in storage. IMO: Don't make a hasty decision you will always regret and blame the gf for in your mind.

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I would also suggest storing them with a friend who has the room and is willing to do so for you, perhaps like you might with a cherished car, motorcycle or bike you have had or worked on and wish to keep but no room in the garage or driveway. Talk about what might occur if you get married and are able to get a larger home where you might or could find a good space for them, a la dedicated listening space, perhaps not the main living room.

The Altecs, to a certain extent, are a part of you, an extension of you at the present. It doesn't mean they have to stay part of you, we all change, adapt, and sometimes even its our own idea. Many of us have gotten "the holy grail" only to find it wasn't all that grail-y, or upgraditis struck, or we found something that floated our boat better.

BTW, I do like the idea of the JBL L300-4435-4430 and if you want to get smaller, 4425. No, they sound a bit different from the Altec A-7, but they still have that horn flavor, and they are somewhat more WAF. Sorta depends on whether she likes the bi-radial horns.

Here's some representative pics:
L300, then L300-L200 size cabinet with 4430 on the left, care of AK member Toddalin:


The JBL 4430 and 4435, yes, they really do seem that big, and those are 15 inch woofers but with a really nice veneered cabinet:


The smaller "bookshelf" sized 4425, 12 inch woofer for scale:

Having said that, here's a nice pic of the smaller Altec Valencias that could be lived with and look good:



The aforementioned Altec Model 19's in a smaller room:


And with grilles on:


With some nice matching furniture, could blend in really nicely.

Talk to her about what you view the future to be, where you're heading with your career, your interest in music, reproduction via speakers, and having a larger home or house someday.

Then you can pull up pics of systems like some of us AK'ers who have gone off the deep end, and you can say "see, I'm not that extreme, I just want 1 or 2 pairs of speakers, and I like somewhat larger ones."

A gaggle of Large JBL L300's and monitors


IMF TLS-80's and Fried Model R:


IMF RSPM Mk IV improved and JBL L250


IMF Professional Monitor III's cf. to an Altec A7 - yes, the IMF's finally pale in comparison:


IMF TLS80 Mk II and TLS50 Mk. II

The OP has them listed on EBay now.

sheltie dave said:

The OP has them listed on EBay now.

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WELL!!
After all of our help here, he's just not that much of a conversationalist!

seacliffe301 said:

...Those speakers have survived 32 years of marriage. Just not in her living room.

Now it is fair to mention that should I die before her, they'll be gone.
But not before.

Click to expand...

Be sure to verify that she knows, without a doubt, "The speakers must go to someone who will love them!" Do not let her donate to GW, SA, etc... they will destroy them! Even if they are passed on for free, give them directly to an Altec fan.

sheltie dave said:

The OP has them listed on EBay now.

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No surprise. I had a guess that he was just fishing for a buyer. His OP was breaking forum rules, anyway. You can't mention an affiliated sale, potential sale, or thoughts of selling. I've had a thread a deleted in the past that was much more ambiguous than his!

It all depends on how certain people like you.

Off to the gulag if they don't.....

Let's see get rid of my big speakers or have a GF and a nice set of quality ear cans with your music

Silver lining with the cans you will not hear a word she says.

All woman have a price. If you can keep the big speakers and use the latter often, marital bliss in your future.