Since I fell in love with JBL speakers, I've wondered about Altec/Lansing, the other manufacturer with James B. Lansing's name in it. A person today could be forgiven for thinking that Altec/Lansing makes only cheap computer speakers. Now that I have lived with the Model One for a week, I get it. What a fine pair of speakers! They are beautifully made, but not as sexy as JBL L19s, for example. I choose this model because the Model 1 is similar in configuration (8 inch woofer, cone tweeter), and shares many sound characteristics: beautiful midrange, very nice highs and solid but not not boomy bass. This was the only sealed (as opposed to ported) system in the Altec line and is a conservatively designed and classic speaker: not flashy, it will draw your attention to the music.
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Very nice altecs, have a pair myself, great speakers, what a smooth, full sound. mine are model 891V, from the mid 60's.
ReplyDeleteI just picked up a pr. that were put at the curb. Both appear to work fine. No grills tho..
DeleteI also own a pair of 891-V speakers, which were manufactured from 1974 to 1979, I believe, not the mid-'60s. The Model One wasn't Altec-Lansing's only acoustic-suspension, i.e., "sealed (as opposed to ported)" speakers -- the 891-Vs are also acoustic-suspension in design. The 891-Vs are the vinyl-covered version of the 891-As. They're larger than the Model Ones, having 12" as opposed to 8" woofers, and a phenolic-ring tweeter as opposed to the Model One's paper-cone tweeter.
ReplyDeleteI have a pair of Ones that I purchased new in 1978. I've kept them in very good condition. I don't have them permanently installed anywhere, just bring them in occasionally as reference monitors for mixing. They are not loud; you can break up the low end without a lot of effort. That said, they are critically accurate in their rendition.
ReplyDeleteI'm naked
ReplyDeletePurchased a pair of 891-As in 1976. Very nice sound - warm and able to handle any genre with good definition. The response curve was a little off, but adding a Rising 10 band equalizer solved that problem. The 891s were under the Altec name only, no Lansing. But the Altec Lansing Model 1 is so remarkably similar that I did a double take.
ReplyDeleteI have a pair of Model One's - free to a good home as I am moving. in Westchester, NY.
ReplyDeleteI’ve got a set just like the ones in the photos . They are in excellent condition and sound really good too . The first time I ever heard LED Zepplin was through a set of these .
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