Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Rebuild Altec A7 Speakers worth it ?

I grew up with the Altec A7 speakers. After several moves I decided it was time to dismantle these huge beasts. They could possibly be the ugliest speakers ever made. About 3 months ago I decided it was time to get back speakers. I was surprised to find out that the big speakers are no longer around. After much research I decided the M80s would be a good candidate to reproduce the power level the A7s could produce. I must say that I am very impressed with the M80s and they do produce a similar sound, cleaner, then the A7s. Not only that the A7s are 4,000 each and cost 600 to ship each one. The A7s have always been very expensive. My father purchased the A7s in the late 70s for 1000 each. For those unfamiliar with the A7 http://www.alteclansing.com/legacy/specs.asp it is the speaker of choice for movie theaters for over 30 years. In fact the Altec A7 has been re-released lately and nothing has really changed except the cabinet is slightly different looking then my 30 year old cabinets. I have not listened to the A7s in over 10 years since they have been dismantled. I have found some plans on the internet on how to rebuild the A7 cabinet. As of lately I have thought about rebuilding these to match up against the M80s. I find with the M80s that they can reproduce a larger range of sound the A7s could. Also since the A7s are horns you do get a horn sound. When I do miss about the A7s was how effortlessly they could produce punchy rock and roll bass. You could play them at very low volumes and it felt like they were punching you. This is the only thing I have not been able to reproduce with my axiom setup. The axioms do hit hard however unless you have ever heard the A7s it’s hard to explain this feeling they provided. Actually I think this will be difficult to reproduce with most speakers now days. I currently have an Ep350 for subwoofer. Would upgrading to the Ep500 or ep600 produce a substantial heavier bass hit? Also any opinions of it its worth going though with building new enclosures for the A7s and fire them up?

"I grew up with the Altec A7 speakers"

Sounds like a few comments I've made about things my Father had, and a few things that I've had for years, that my son and daughters are forever tied to in memories.

My sub was my Fathers' 1946 Matco theater speaker that I've converted into a dedicated sub with an upgraded driver and new electronics. It sounds pretty good, but feels great. One day I may break down and get a new sub-or I may not.

It dosen't totally matter if something new is better or worse, but rather can something new replace it?

I know what I'd do.
Rich.

>>This is the only thing I have not been able to reproduce with my axiom setup. The axioms do hit hard however unless you have ever heard the A7s it’s hard to explain this feeling they provided. Actually I think this will be difficult to reproduce with most speakers now days.

I don't know the answer to this one either. I was never sure if you just needed "big speakers" or a big room as well to get that sound. It's not, strictly speaking, accurate sound AFAIK but it sure does sound good

I went to a Musical Box concert (they reproduce the old Genesis concerts extremely well) and was probably most surprised by the sound quality. All of the instruments, and most of the sound systems, are either 70s-era or as accurate a reproduction as they could make, but the purity and punch of the deep bass off the pedals was a real eye-opener. I don't know exactly what speakers were being used but they were all A7-era horn-loaded bass reflex cabinets with compression horn tweeters. Man that sounded good.

I guess the big question is how much of "the sound" is just great bass response (which a better sub will give you) and how much is peaky frequency response at certain low notes and emphasis of some of the harmonics (which you would need M80 + big-ass sub + some signal processing to reproduce).

If you're in the California area you could give Tharkun a call and ask to audition his system -- 5 M80s, 2 EP600s, some QS8s, and about 250,000 watts of amplifier