Altec A7 What to do


Hello all, a Friend of mine has had Altec Lansing A7's sitting in his basement for several years, just couldn't put them in his current room setting. Many may know that I've been building for about 35 years. I built him a set of MTM's and delivered them for Christmas. He was thrilled. Well, today, he dropped off a pair of A7's and said they're yours. I sat them up and listened, thoroughly looked them over, looked up crossover design (500hz model) and now need to decide what to do with them. I have a decent size living room, but these are still huge. They do a lot of things right, but just aren't as refined as my current speakers. So, I've decided to sell them. I'm in no hurry to do so, but I know that I won't keep these forever. So, are these more desirable to sell as is... stock, upgrade parts in the crossover and sell them, redesign and trick out the crossover, cleanup, sand, minor fill and painting cabinets or some combination of the above. I have no doubt that a complete crossover redo, a bit of cabinet bracing and a good refinish and these babies would be incredible. The problem is... will people that don't know me accept or trust just how good they are? That being the case I'm looking for some advice. Please tell me how you would handle it in my shoes. Tim
timlub

Showing 6 responses by gvasale

keep 'em. Get over how much floor space they take up.

I have similar sized speakers stuffed with Altec parts, just like the A7. But with a 13 cubic foot IB enclosure, just with 2 416a woofers.

My listening room is small, about 13x13x8.5.

I enjoy the heck out of them. They don't need much power and with a sizeable map, say 100 wpc or so do a great job on all kinds of music.

I do have mine bi-amped and have a home made passive crossover, coils made practicly out of unobtanium today.

They could be duplicated.

That much power with a system in the 100db/1 watt/meter is extremely dynamic. But they can be blown, your ears will burn at the same time.

Some people may say the range is too restricted, but I say listen to them first.
Truck bed spray on liner. And mount them inside the port, woofer down. Carefully, very carefully remove the screws, and best to use a non magnetic screwtriver. The magnetic field is huge. This force is known to suck in screws and screwdrivers.
The last iteration of the A7 you found was done by Altec *.* Technologies, if I got the name right. They were the sucessor to Sparkomatic. Their speakers were done by Great Plains Audio. I doubt they ever sold one at that price. Regardless, that version is no lobger. I think the brand name is owned by yet another company at this time.

What's out there is still tons of fun.
They knew about WAF back then too, but then women were a bit different. Klipschorn, EV Patricians, Centurions, Georgians, Bozak Concert Grands, Jensen Imperials, Karlsons, to name a few.

Altec Magnificents & a few other of their & the above showed that size does matter. I can always throw out "Hoffman's Iron Law"

How many homes today have a piano? Let alone, bought one?
Go here: http://www.hostboard.com/forums/f700/altec-users-board.html

you will find out how to dampen the horn. The mid bass horn and the HF horn too.
The link is good, but sometimes there is a problem, like right now, 10:22 am.

Mid bass horn is what the woofer is at the back of. Filling the space behind the horn flares among other things to stiffen & mod the cabinet internals has been discussed. As well as covering the HF horn where some say it rings.

Lots of stuff about the A7 cabinet.