Altec 1204b speakers

Jcricket

not someday, but today
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Okay folks, I think these are made for a band speaekr. I am looking for any opinions a person has.
Scuzzer, Sorry, I deleted the info you posted before this. Could you post?

JUst wonmdering if anyone knows anything. I believe these take the 421 808lf woof and the 811c horns. Not sure which driver is on the horn though.

Thoughts???
 
I wouldn't offer much over a couple hundred, they're PA speakers, new aluminum diaphragms and probably different woofers would be needed for home use. I have a similar set in my garage with Altec 3156 woofers, 811B horn, Eminence D210Ti horn driver, and 1600hz Eminence crossover, they sound pretty good!! :D

Altec_1202_01.jpg
 
According to the Altec literature(which can be little more than a flight of fancy sometimes) the 1204A was the hi sound quality reproducer of that family with the 1202B slated as the MI/PA speaker.

Interestingly, the 1204A is reported to be a sealed box(IB) using the 511 horn and a 423-8Z woofer(alnico).

AFAIK, the 1204B is just a modified version of the 1204A with the main differences being the box is now ported and houses a ferrite 421A woofer.

I strongly agree with Dave, i'd not give more than a couple hundred at best for any of the PA/MI/SR speakers from this early 120XX family or the later 123XX family. None of the components are really desirable for hifi in stock form, but modifications and compromises can be made for a reasonable total cost if you keep the initial purchase price down.

You'll see numerous tools and fools who call them VOT's and put ridiculously high prices on them, you'll occasionally even encounter a clueless buyer who pays way too much for them. Please don't find yourself in either of those camps.:smoke:
 
According to the Altec literature(which can be little more than a flight of fancy sometimes) the 1204A was the hi sound quality reproducer of that family with the 1202B slated as the MI/PA speaker.

Interestingly, the 1204A is reported to be a sealed box(IB) using the 511 horn and a 423-8Z woofer(alnico).

AFAIK, the 1204B is just a modified version of the 1204A with the main differences being the box is now ported and houses a ferrite 421A woofer.

I strongly agree with Dave, i'd not give more than a couple hundred at best for any of the PA/MI/SR speakers from this early 120XX family or the later 123XX family. None of the components are really desirable for hifi in stock form, but modifications and compromises can be made for a reasonable total cost if you keep the initial purchase price down.

You'll see numerous tools and fools who call them VOT's and put ridiculously high prices on them, you'll occasionally even encounter a clueless buyer who pays way too much for them. Please don't find yourself in either of those camps.:smoke:

Well thanks bowtie. That kind of puts it in perspective. I was considering another road trip.
Guess not.

Mark
 
Either the 2235, or recone the 421LFs as 411s (foam edge)... that'd be the same thing as the 2235, in essence...

Regards,
Gordon.
 
Altecs

Okay folks, I think these are made for a band speaekr. I am looking for any opinions a person has.
Scuzzer, Sorry, I deleted the info you posted before this. Could you post?

JUst wonmdering if anyone knows anything. I believe these take the 421 808lf woof and the 811c horns. Not sure which driver is on the horn though.

Thoughts???
These Altecs are very rare and appear to be in excellent condition. I would estimate there value somewhere above $1500. I have Altecs although modified in my stereo. There is no other way to enjoy music. My opinion. I have biamped and use a Denon DCA 3500 on the modified horns and a dj amp on the bottom. My emial is richard.smith6@cox.net I am a latent tuber although I'm not running any tubes at the moment
 
Here's some info on the 1204b, looks like a 511B horn, 808-8A compression driver, 421A or 421-8HII 16" woofer, N1209-8A crossover. I'd swap out the woofers and change the symbiotik diaphragms out and they'd probably sound pretty good for home hi-fi. Later models might have a 421-8LF if you're lucky, probably one of the finest woofers for midrange ever made by Altec. I still maintain that I wouldn't offer too much for these if I planned to use them for home use and knew I had to spend hundreds on converting them. :no:

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I still maintain that I wouldn't offer too much for these if I planned to use them for home use and knew I had to spend hundreds on converting them.
Firmly seconded. There are many Altecs that in stock form are better hifi performers. However, the early versions of the 1204 were sealed/IB boxes, and Altec pushed it as the "hifi" member of that speaker family with the 1202 being the PA speaker. At the end of the day, probably not much more than a little "marketing" fluff.
 
Ah, I keep forgetting... the 411 has the 515-style frame- NOT the 416/421 frame...
411 basket, like the rest of it, is a completely unique animal, i think i've seen it's frame used on one version of a ceiling duplex and nowhere else.

Somewhat difficult to tell from stock photos, but this is the only other Altec i know of that uses the same basket/frame as the 411.............. the 616-8A ceiling duplex. http://www.altecpro.com/pdfs/vintage/SpeakerAndMics/ceiling/616-8A Ceiling Speaker.pdf
 
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