The Hi-Fi Atlas
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Loudspeakers / USA (historic)

Altec Lansing (vintage Voice of the Theatre / Altec)

Vintage Altec loudspeakers bring cinema-scale horns into intimate listening rooms. The A5, A7, Valencia and Model 15 belong to the historic professional range, distinct from today’s consumer products carrying the Altec Lansing name.

Venue equipment records, including their original model uncertainties. Shared-system entries retain the full recorded context.

From the maker’s world.

Products, process and directly attributed installations.

Venue equipment footage / HIghFIdelity Stereo

Berlin "Listening Bar Neiro" Altec A5 /Fostex T90A/ Voice of the Theater + Shindo 300B

A directly attributed product, design or installation film. The original publisher is credited below.

Hear it in the rooms.

Equipment, commissions and collaborations.

Berlin / Germany

Bar Neiro ↗

Historical equipment

Bar Neiro lists Altec Lansing in its loudspeakers setup. The equipment details below reflect the venue record.

  • Loudspeakers: A5; WE 825 cabinets; 515b woofers; 1505b horns; 288c compression drivers (Altec / Western Electric)

Inside the system

Neiro’s Garrard source and Shindo electronics feed a large Altec-based horn system, with a Fostex T90A handling the additional high-frequency role identified in the equipment list. Efficient horn systems are a plausible partner for relatively low-powered valve amplification, allowing substantial output without treating amplifier wattage as the only measure of suitability.

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Berlin / Germany

Rhinoçéros ↗

Historical equipment

Rhinoçéros lists Altec Lansing in its custom build / install setup. The equipment details below reflect the venue record.

  • Loudspeakers: Voice of the Theatre A7: 416A / 828 bass section; 808 aluminium-diaphragm driver / 511 horn, 16 Ω

Inside the system

Rhinoceros pairs an Altec A7-based system with Thöress amplification and a Micro-Seiki analogue source. The listed Jagusch crossover and JBL supertweeter are important: this is a configured system, not simply an untouched example of a vintage Altec cabinet.

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Milan / Italy

Onda ↗

Historical equipment

Onda’s listening room uses vintage Altec Lansing loudspeakers dating from the 1970s. The available description does not identify the model.

  • Loudspeakers: Vintage 1970s speakers; model unspecified

Inside the system

Onda’s published equipment record identifies vintage 1970s Altec Lansing speakers, without a model. That supports a vintage-system description but does not establish the driver layout, sensitivity or amplifier requirements. In a shared listening space, cabinet placement and careful level setting help balance musical detail with conversation; the exact setup needs further documentation.

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Singapore / Singapore

Little Island Brewing Co. — Gillman Barracks ↗

Historical equipment

Little Island Brewing Co. — Gillman Barracks lists Altec Lansing in its equipment list setup. The equipment details below reflect the venue record.

  • Loudspeakers: A5-X, as reported

Inside the system

At Little Island Brewing Co. — Gillman Barracks, the equipment record identifies Altec Lansing A5-X, as reported. A horn-based approach can provide useful dynamic headroom, but aiming the speakers and balancing direct sound against room reflections remain central to shared listening.

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Madrid / Spain

Tempo Audiophile Club ↗

Historical equipment

Tempo Audiophile Club lists Altec Lansing in its loudspeakers setup. The equipment details below reflect the venue record.

  • Living speakers / amplifier: Model 15; MC2205 (Altec / McIntosh)
  • Listening-room speakers / amplifier: Valencia 846B; MC2205 (Altec / McIntosh)

Inside the system

At Tempo Audiophile Club, the equipment record identifies Altec / McIntosh Model 15; MC2205. A horn-based approach can provide useful dynamic headroom, but aiming the speakers and balancing direct sound against room reflections remain central to shared listening.

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Bangkok / Thailand

Siwilai Sound Club ↗

Historical equipment

The OJAS installation uses Altec 288C-type drivers made by specialist Bill Hanuschak. This is a component lineage within a custom system, not a commission from today’s Altec consumer brand.

  • Audiophile Bar speakers: Pair of OJAS 816 cabinets; Altec 311-90 horns and 288C compression drivers (OJAS / Altec)

Inside the system

Siwilai distinguishes a Live Room using six OJAS coaxials from an Audiophile Bar built around OJAS 816 cabinets, Altec horns and McIntosh amplification. The two spaces therefore need separate technical descriptions, even though they share a maker.

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Brooklyn / United States

Public Records ↗

Historical equipment

Altec horns and drivers form part of Public Records’ custom OJAS stacks. Replica Altec-style midbass enclosures are also described, so the system should not be read as an all-original Altec installation.

  • Sound Room horns / tweeters: Altec 1505B multi-cell horns; Faital super-tweeters (Altec / Faital)
  • Bar Room loudspeakers: Replica Altec 816 midbass cabinets; OJAS cabinets with 500 Hz horns and Altec HF drivers; Void Venu 115 subs (OJAS / Altec / Void)

Inside the system

Public Records should be read as several installations. The indoor Sound Room uses substantial bass and midbass sections with horn-loaded upper frequencies; the Bar Room has its own speaker and amplifier chain; the outdoor Nursery uses the OJAS × NNNN four-way system.

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Miami / United States

Dante’s HiFi ↗

Historical equipment

Dante’s equipment description includes Altec five-panel horns alongside Klipsch loudspeakers. This is a mixed system using historical equipment.

  • Horns: Five-panel horns; model unspecified

Inside the system

At Dante’s HiFi, the equipment record identifies Klipsch Cornwall. The loudspeakers set the starting point for coverage and placement. A plausible reason to choose a dedicated hi-fi installation here is to give records a clear presence without relying on background-music speakers alone.

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