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Author Topic: ALTEC A7 born again... Fabrice Dubourg Film Handler Posts: 43 From: Granville, France Registered: Feb 2003 posted 11-16-2003 05:36 AM                     Altec-lansing is launching a new A7 web page  |  IP: Logged Richard Fowler Film God Posts: 2392 From: Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA Registered: Jun 2001 posted 11-16-2003 06:03 AM                     Porquoi? The $4300.00 price is for the audiofile market. The 900 hz crossover is probably to give the horn more protection and to sound better in small enviroments.  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 11-16-2003 08:50 AM                     Hmmm...the original specifications for the A-7 was 103dB at 1-watt/1-meter. Part of the stupidly high price is the 13-ply Birch cabinet. At the end of it's production under EVI (prior to the Telex take-over) the A-7 was a particle board cabinet with fiberglass horn-flares (LF section...aka 825 then the 828 ending with the 828H). All other parts were the same except the crossover. I believe the A-7 had the N-1285...a nifty crossover with user setable points of 1200, 800, and 500 Hz. The A-7's HF horn was a 800Hz sectorial...the 811....the theatre version was known as the the A7-500 with a 511 Sectorial horn and the theatre specified 500Hz crossover. At the end of production, the A-7 was issued with a 909A-8 HF driver with the Mantaray driver (MR-992?). In any event...it is true that the Altec 515 G series drivers are back in production as are the 902 and 909 HF drivers. The 299 (and hence the 288) is also once again available as is a newer version called the 399 (more pancake shaped than the 299 but acoustically equivalent using the same motor movement and diaphragm 25884 or 25885). As a side note....there was a recent screening in the DC area where one of the New York firms came down to do the "Tech."....after checking over the room response..etc...the tech asked me..."What do you have behind that screen? It sounds so clear and transparent yet not harsh at all...very sweet sounding"...my response? Altec A-6 (similar to the JBL 4670 or the EV TS-940). The difference...the Altec drivers and Mantaray horn. The 288 driver mated to a Manatray horn (MRII594) is an exceptionally good sounding combination and the horn is second to none in its category. As to Altec Lansing's new A-7...I'd be surprised if they have sold any at that price. Steve  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-16-2003 03:51 PM                     "Porquoi? The $4300.00 price is for the audiofile market." _________________________________________________________________ While there may be some Asian hi-fi collectors interested in a re-born A-7, I'd hardly consider the A-7 an audiophile worthy speaker. Not enough dynamic range capability, and way too high of distortion. These are some of the normal tradeoffs for efficiency!! It was fine in the 50's and 60's but is thousands of research years (literally) behind the best dynamic drivers made today. Mark @ CLACO  |  IP: Logged Richard Fowler Film God Posts: 2392 From: Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA Registered: Jun 2001 posted 11-16-2003 04:33 PM                     I take audiophiles with a grain of salt when I encountered a client many years ago with two hearing aids while doing a demo....the limited response and distorsion of his aids probably match the A-7  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 11-16-2003 05:26 PM                        How is the sensitivity rating at 2.83V compared to the sensitivity at 1 W?  |  IP: Logged Phil Hill I love my cootie bug Posts: 7595 From: Hollywood, CA USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 11-16-2003 05:35 PM                  I agree Mark. And Richard, you are kidding of course? :0 >>> Phil  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-16-2003 05:56 PM                     OK Richard, You can take me with a grain of salt if ya want to. No matter..... Phil, I almost forget about the Audiophile horn community which does indeed build extremely high end horns for those without hearing aid problems. There are indeed some VERY impressive systems out there. They just dont have any of the old industry names though. In particuluar Edgarhorn is one of the finest out there. Here is a site like, but its still under construction...... http://www.edgarhorn.com/ Mark @ CLACO  |  IP: Logged Richard Fowler Film God Posts: 2392 From: Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA Registered: Jun 2001 posted 11-16-2003 06:46 PM                     Mark & Phil. The client was a retired musician and I feel the sound pressure from the A-7's he had baffled in his sound room walls where more from his memory than his ears or could of been speech frequency loss. The room was in Clearwater, Florida and a boss and I where demoing some Phase Linear amplifiers + other toys.. He had sound parties with people with better hearing utilizing extensive LP and 1/4 tape library. We later upgraded his room with JBL.  |  IP: Logged Greg Mueller Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1687 From: Port Gamble, WA Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-16-2003 07:11 PM                        I once saw a review of the A7s compared to modern enclosures and the A7 just wasn't that great. That was about 10-15 years ago. For their time they were good, but things got better. Now I think some just think they look cool. Sort of a nostalgia thing or something  |  IP: Logged Gordon McLeod Film God Posts: 9532 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-16-2003 08:34 PM                     But at that price hw expensive would an A2 be?  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 11-17-2003 09:09 AM                     While I am no great friend of the A-7 I am of the A-5 since it has the 288/299 HF driver...I'd put it up against virtually any speaker made today. Remember...the system did evolve despite its appearance remaining the same. The Mantaray horn is second to none...the 515G is a rather evolved 515, the 288/299 is still better than most compression drivers of today. As to response, if you don't get 45 - 16K on an A-5 you must be doing something wrong. An A-4 is pretty flat down to 40Hz with its bass wings. I'd take an A-4 or A-5 (room dependant) over virtually all "modern" cinema speakers today. In tough rooms (reverberent) they really outperform others. Steve  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-17-2003 10:16 PM                     Steve, I agree on the A-5 if equipped with modern components and for use ONLY in a cinema application. Its quite good and can handle high power as reqired for digital. What we were really referring to here though is the A-7 as being an audiophile type speaker which is is definately not. For instance, Dynaudio produces a hf silk dome tweeter that is flat to 40khz and can handle 1kw pulses. Now that takes some slik R&D to achieve. This is more typical of whats going on in the extreme high end audiophile world. Mark  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 11-18-2003 06:06 AM                     Mark, I dunno on the HF home market...The A-7 has its followers. Listening to some recordings like those from James Brown seem to have a less restricted sound through an A-7. Personally, to me...compression drivers never really sounded natural in the home though with some music they can make it actually sound more natural. My two favorite home speakers...my JBL L-250s (not with the titainium tweeters) and the Altec 604s....now the 604 was a very special speaker. Note, it too evolved over time finishing with the 604K...with essentially a 515G LF section and a 902 HF section with a Mantaray horn (crossed over at 1500Hz). With much Rock N Roll and R&B music they are so sweet. Steve  |  IP: Logged Sam D. Chavez Film God Posts: 2153 From: Martinez, CA USA Registered: Aug 2003 posted 11-25-2003 10:57 PM                       I don't believe my eyes! One shortcoming of the A7 was the metal horn that rang like a bell. Another was the original passive crossover whose core saturated at the thought of loud passages. It was one of the most unpleasant sounding speakers for loud music I've ever been around. Steve, you've regressed.  |  IP: Logged

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