Pyrrho,
Pardon my tardy response; I had an out of town job that kept me busy for a bit. I've got a few days free now & I plan on getting to know this gear a bit better.
Thanks so much for the information; all the links have been very helpful. I now feel armed with at least a basic understanding of the equipment that I acquired, not to mention a new found respect for Altec Lansing... I have to admit I always kinda thought A. Lansing was junk (I never really paid attention to the brand); this is probably due to the fact that (until now) the only Altec audio gear I was aware of was their plastic computer speakers which sell at Best Buy or on Ebay.
The Flamenco is appears to be all original & as far as I can tell is in good working order (sounds incredible to me).
This morning I opened up the cabinet & inside is:
1. 416-A woofer ( the tag/stamp on the rear of the speaker reads “416-A”, but the speaker has been stamped “416-Z” )
2. 806-A driver
3. N-800F cross overs
The custom speaker however is a bit of an oddball… It was clearly home-built by the previous owner who may have been inspired by the JBL C38 speaker cabinet (although it was built from 1/2” ply & painted black… not nearly as refined as the C38 cabinet).
The weird thing is that the only component in the cabinet is a single JBL D-130 (there’s no evidence of a tweeter, driver or crossover network ever existing)… it looks like it was hooked up directly to an amp.
Any ideas as to why the previous owner did this ? I know he was some kind of radio operator in the navy, went on to get a degree in electrical engineering & finally ended up running a small film & audio production/ post production company (so I’m guessing this guy had a logical reason for doing this).
In terms of my inclination to get true stereo from this system; Since stereo isn’t possible with my existing gear, then is it possible to set up a dual mono-amp or mono block system that would result in stereo (for instance if I bought another 1568A Amp) ? I’ve read several posts outlining some sort of process that turns a stereo signal into two mono signals (A/B) which is then fed into two separate channels of 1567a Mixer/ Pre-Amp. Then this signal is split out of the 1567a’s line out via a “ Y-Spitter cable” & fed to two separate amps (which power two separate speakers)… something about this description seems unlikely, but I thought I’d ask.
I see the logic in how it might be possible to get separate stereo channels into the 1567a via two of the 5 inputs, but since there’s only one “line out” I would assume two channels have to be combined; using a Y-Spitter cable at the line out would only result in two identical mono signals ( dual mono ? ) Am I confused ?
I love the way this setup sounds, but I really like the all encompassing quality of two speakers filling up my ears and I don’t think I’ll be happy with a modern receiver without paying $1,000’s of dollars. To my ears there’s something very special about these tube amps & the Flamenco… I prefer them at least to several modern tube amps and fancy tower speakers I’ve heard recently - to my ears they sound cleaner and quieter, but somehow lack the character & charm.
The one thing that concerns me about the Flamenco is the mild listening fatigue I’ve noticed… after about an hour I have to turn the volume way down (there’s something about the highs that are penetrating in a vaguely uncomfortable way… ironically I think this quality also happens to be what makes it sound so damned good ).
Anyway, I’m hoping there’s some kind of solution that would dampen the high end down just a bit without killing the magic.
Here's a link to pics of everything.
altec audio equipment - altec gear
Pyrrho thanks for your response.
Any advice or insight always welcome.
best,
Michael
You are in luck for information on some of that stuff, as simple online searches come up with:
Altec Lansing 1568A Power Amplifier
http://www.dvq.com/hifi/images/1568a.pdf
Altec Lansing 1567A Mixer/Amp
Altec RackMixers
Altec Lansing 1567A | Owners/Service Manuals, Schematics, Free Download, Reviews | HiFi Engine
Altec Lansing 100A 16 ohm low pass filter "bass energizer"
equalizers
Altec Lansing 848A Speaker (AKA) "The Flamenco" 16 ohm
ALTEC LANSING 848A Flamenco(ƒtƒ‰ƒƒ“ƒR)Žd—l ƒAƒ‹ƒeƒbƒN
According to this:
Archive Vintage Stereo Speakers – Photo Gallery
the Altec Lansing 848A Speaker (AKA) "The Flamenco" is a home version of the A-7 Voice of the Theater speakers. You might want to look inside both it and the custom speaker to see if the same drivers are used in both.
As for your hopes of stereo, you can't get stereo with only one mono power amp. In order to have stereo, you need two separate channels of amplification. And, of course, you need to feed each channel a separate signal as well. So if you are wanting stereo, probably the cheapest and easiest way would be to buy a modern receiver and just use it with the speakers. How well that would work will largely depend upon how well the custom speaker matches the other speaker.
