Altec Lansing 1204b amp

[Leeforeman9]

Hey guys, I need some help from ya'll old timers out there!!!

My guitar player acquired a set of Altec Lansing 1204B Voice of the Theatre in terriffic condition. From all i've found online they are probably a early to mid-seventies model.

Here is a link to a pdf of the 70's sales catalog.
Link Removed

What power amp would you recommend to use with these, it says they are rated for 50 watts, but that does not sound right.

Thanks in advance!!!!

 

[dhsierra1]

w/a 421A low freq driver that's probably not too far off the mark. Very high efficiency, though, so your wattage will go far.

I'd ping or wait for either BFM or JohnK_10 among others to chime in on this, but my take is you could probably do 100 watts/side max based on my recollection of using an old large VOTT.

 

[Leeforeman9]

Awesome i appreciate the info! We originally intended to use these giants as mains, am i correct in thinking these will not have enough umph for medium sized clubs?

 

[dhsierra1]

probably not, but if you biamp them (say, 50 to the bass, 20-30 to the horn) you'd probably do fine in a smaller place (<= 100 people) unless you're a really really loud band. These aren't the horn loaded big VOTTs so they won't get as loud, but like I said, those 421s are quite efficient and sound great.

Try to find a tube amp for the horns, beautiful sound w/a very natural compression

In fact, if you can find those Peavey Classic 60 tube power amps (60 watts) you could use those for the lows. Again, vintage sound heaven

Edit: Ah, I see that biamping configuration is recommended in the catalog you posted

 

[johnboybilly]

That is correct...I have a pair of the Altec Lansing 1204B They are awesome. I am powering them with a small Carvin 6 channel powered mixer using 250 watts and daisy chaining the speakers together. What a killer sound and loud enough to play an outdorr gig. They are the best, in my opinion, the very best speakers ever built. Mine are really old and beat up but sound incredible. Also they are for sale on Ebay.