If you read my "Today's Fresh Catch: The Great Plains Audio 802-16G Series II & 416-16B Drivers" post (HERE), you know I am pretty excited about the Great Plains Audio and Troy Audio commitment to keeping the vintage Altec tradition vibrant.

GPA drivers family photo!

I asked our Great Plains Audio and Troy Audio friends if they would tell us a little about the past, present, and future of Great Plains Audio and Troy Audio (nee Altec), and today I received a nice overview from Santos Oropel, which I have provided for you below. Thank you, Santos!

"Great Plains Audio was formed in 1998 after the closing of the Altec Lansing factory in Oklahoma City. It was clear to Bill Hanuschak, who worked for them from 1980 until they closed, that there would be a need for someone to continue the maintenance of the large number of Altec acoustic products in use around the world.

Bill went to EVI/Telex, who had purchased Altec Lansing, with a plan to purchase all of the tooling, drawings, and equipment Altec used to build and service their loudspeakers, and to become their authorized service center for all of the Altec Lansing products that were still under warranty at that time.

My chance meeting with Eliseo (Troy Audio), Bill Hanuschak (Great Plains Audio), and Santos Oropel (Troy Audio) in Munich - a great group of guys!

In addition, Great Plains Audio assumed repair duties for all of the older, classic products that had served Altec’s customers since its inception with the parts manufactured from the original Altec tooling.

Great Plains Audio is also the source for original parts and warranty service for Altec Lansing Professional, which was a division of Altec Lansing Technologies. This includes all of their speaker products that were built through 2005.

"Altec" drivers being built like they always were, by hand.

Today, Great Plains Audio continues the Altec tradition by manufacturing repair parts and complete products to the highest quality. Recently, Great Plains Audio re-released some of Altec’s most famous loudspeakers under the Great Plains Audio moniker, which they call the ‘Classic Series,’ including products like the world-famous 515C and 417-8H Alnico woofers, and the NEW 288H-series Alnico High-Frequency Compression Driver.

Hand assembly of the Great Plains Audio (nee Altec) drivers.

Great Plains Audio is very excited about several new designs that are in development. Two examples of these are the impressive redesign of Altec’s famous 604-series of studio monitors, the 604-8H-III 16″ Two-Way Loudspeaker, and the new 212-8A Twelve-inch Two-Way Loudspeaker, which unitizes the large format diaphragm used in the large 288 drivers. 

Some of the new drivers that GPA are introducing are the new 515-SW, 12 inch and the 8-inch drivers.

Troy Audio was born from the love and affection of Francisco Jileta for Altec loudspeakers.

Francisco is an avid fan of Altec, and has followed the writings of Jean Hiraga, Doug Sax, Ken Shindo, and Shigeki Yamamoto, as they wrote about their love for Altec loudspeakers. Francisco  also builds some of the best Onken speakers available today using Altec drivers (Way cool! Send photos! - Jeff).

Francisco has amassed a collection of exquisite vintage Altec speakers, Western Electric amplifiers, McIntosh amplifiers, as well as many others, not to mention his collection of more than 20 different brands of old reel-to-reel recording and playback machines.

Francisco employs a full time electronic technician who works daily just to make sure that all of Francisco's historic collection of audio equipment is running as perfectly as the day it was made.

Troy Audio Hellena MKII

Francisco Jileta has more than thirty years experience building custom loudspeakers for himself and a handful of friends, who have trusted and proven that music needs high-performance speakers to bring out its best.

Now some of these designs are being offered to the public through Troy Audio, like the Troy Audio Hellena MKII (above) and the Troy Audio Achilles (below).

Troy Audio Achilles loudspeaker utilizing the Great Plains Audio as the 212-8A driver.

Francisco Jileta is a follower of the French philosophy upheld by Gérard Chrétien, Jacques Mahul, and Jean Hiraga (from the magazine L' Áudiophile). Francisco Jileta is also in love with the designs of Japanese cabinets, especially the Onken, and in his audiophile heart he knows that the horn with the most natural musical reproduction has a name and surname: Altec 604 (below).

In 2017, Francisco Jileta made a trip to the First Japan Triode Meeting, organized by Jean Hiraga, an international event by invitation only for 40 true fans of the sound of vacuum tubes.

Francisco Jileta, Fukuoka, Japan Triode Meeting, at Moriyama's place.

Francisco's learning experience was immeasurable, but he also noticed that his long walk in the High End was not wrong.

Francisco's conception of ultra-high efficiency loudspeakers, with large drivers, and the use of horns, could reveal the most natural sound possible. And the vacuum tube amplifiers using very low-power triodes were more than enough to "move" the Hellena MkII loudspeakers.

Troy Audio Helena MkII

After the First Japan Triode Meeting meeting Francisco went to the Munich show looking for somebody that could help him achieve his dream of an Altec revival.

Purely by accident, Francisco met me (Santos) in the hallway, and randomly asked me if I could provide tube electronics for his new company and loudspeakers that would be exhibited in RMAF show (The Troy Audio Helena MkII loudspeakers).  

Jean Hiraga (left), Santos Oropel (right), at the 2nd Triode meeting in Thailand.

I asked him what’s the name of his company - Troy Audio - and his loudspeakers - the Troy Audio Helena MkII loudspeakers.

Then, Francisco went and knocked on the door of Great Plains Audio and asked if he could buy the company.

Now the main goal of Troy Audio is to show the world that Altec/GPA drivers can be used to create a beautiful natural sound, not only by using vintage Altec cabinet designs, but also new and modern looking loudspeakers that will fit into the modern household.

Troy Audio started their statement model, the Hellena, with two models. The first has onboard crossovers with all Mundorf capacitors and inductors, and the other with outboard crossovers using the top of the line Duelund CAST components.

Troy Audio also created the new Achilles loudspeaker utilizing the 212-8A drivers, and just finished the prototype of a new entry level speaker using the new GPA 12-inch driver matched with with the 902-8C.

Troy Audio will continue doing its research & development with Great Plains Audio, and introducing to audio enthusiasts loudspeakers that create real emotion during the listening experience, and bringing loudspeakers to audiophiles and music lovers around the world that will fit into all segments of the audio marketplace."

I hope you are as excited as I am to hear about Great Plains Audio's and Troy Audio's plans to keep the "Altec" experience vibrant and relevant to today's audiophile and music lover communities. 

I'll be "test driving" the Great Plains Audio (nee Altec) 802-16G Series II compression drivers and the 416-16B low-frequency drivers in my Duelund-ized "Stokowski" Altec's (above & below), so stay tuned for much more on this developing story!

Duelund CAST tinned-copper crossovers in the "Stokowski" Altec loudspeakers.

As a fellow Altec devotee, I really admire Bill Hanuschak, Francisco Jileta, and Santos Oropel, and all they are doing with Great Plains Audio and Troy Audio to keep the "Altec" tradition vibrant for a new generation of listeners.

A tip of my hat to these fine gentlemen, and I wish them all the best in their endeavors to bring you the best of vintage and new "Altec" designs.

Please join me in a big "Thank you!" to Bill Hanuschak, Francisco Jileta, and Santos Oropel for keeping the Altec dream alive and vibrant!

These are exciting times, and you can expect me to be telling you all about it as I explore the latest handmade Great Plains Audio 802-16G Series II compression drivers and 416-16B low-frequency drivers in my vintage "Stokowski" Altec's.

As always, thanks for stopping by, and may the tone be with you!