Every once in a while something magnificent happens that gets me all excited about audio at a level that only a child waiting for Christmas to arrive understands completely.
Good ol' Saint Nicholas is coming and he's bringing something special for you and me!
In this case Saint Nicholas is Gary Fischer (Gary Fischer Speakers), and in a collaboration with Marcus Klug (Klughoerner) and Santos Oropel (Great Plains Acoustics), Gary is offering reproduction "Altec" A7 and A5 Voice of the Theatre loudspeakers.
You might remember Gary as the gentleman that restored and built a pair of vintage Altec A5 Voice of the Theatre loudspeakers for me (above), which was my first step to becoming a full-fledge VOTT loonie (more HERE)!
On the left is the original Altec 1505B multi-cell horn, and on the right is Markus Klug's Klughoerner hand-crafted wood replica of the 1505B.
Just to underscore how truly momentous this announcement is, Markus Klug is the artisan who handcrafts replicas of vintage Altec horns out of wood in Germany (above, and more HERE), which are recognized worldwide as the finest sounding horns for Altec loudspeakers that have ever been built.
Great Plains Acoustics (formerly called Great Plains Audio) shares DNA as a direct descendent of Altec.
Way back in the early days of audio, Western Electric was founded by Elisha Gray in 1869, and a bit later would begin building their famous loudspeaker systems for cinemas that kicked off the whole cinema "talkies" movement.
When Western Electric ceased their cinema operations, their loudspeaker "DNA" was passed on to Altec, which was founded in 1927 by a group of Western Electric audio engineers to maintain those early Western Electric cinema installations, and to develop new speaker drivers and loudspeaker systems for cinema use.
In 1945 the Altec A5 Voice of the Theatre loudspeakers were released, which immediately became the go-to loudspeakers choice for small to medium sized movie theaters across North America.
The Altec "DNA" torch was passed to Great Plains Audio (more HERE), which was formed in 1998, after the closing of the Altec Lansing factory in Oklahoma City.
Great Plains Audio would continue to service and offer replacement parts for vintage Altec drivers, which possess near eternal life due to their rugged & quality build, and then even offered updated & new versions of those beloved "Altec" drivers under the Great Plains Audio banner.
Then in 2018, Francisco Jileta (above), a passionate Altec and audio enthusiast, entered into a financial agreement to buy shares in Great Plains Audio, and as a result of this new business collaboration Great Plains Audio morphed into Great Plains Acoustics.
With Francisco Jileta the CEO at the helm, and Bill Hanuschak serving as the CTO, there are exciting times ahead for "Altec" enthusiasts, recording studio professionals, and commercial sound integrators, as Great Plains Acoustics continues the Altec tradition of manufacturing repair parts and complete audio products of the highest quality.
Jeff's A5 VOTTs as restored by Gary Fischer.
Gary Fischer (Gary Fischer Speakers) builds custom A7/A5 cabinets to the same dimensions as the original Altec cabinets (more HERE), and he will build you a pair of your very own A7/A5 loudspeakers using Markus' wood horns and the GPA drivers, so that you too can experience that Voice of the Theatre magic in your own home. Contact Gary for details HERE.
Let me add this: While normally we think of the Altec A5/A7 Voice of the Theatre loudspeakers in the context of the larger spaces of small to medium sized cinemas, or as sound systems for auditoriums and recording studios, they make fantastic home loudspeakers as well.
The highly sensitive A7/A5 loudspeakers can also work brilliantly even in small domestic rooms, which is a siren call out to all of you single-ended-triode amplification lovers around the world.
All it takes to match A5/A7s to a smaller room is balancing the output of low-frequency & high-frequency drivers to match the room, which is an easy thing to do with a Jean Hiraga style of crossover equipped with L-pads.
The result is a pair of enthusiast home loudspeakers that make for an amazing listening experience.
I adore my vintage Altec A5 Voice of the Theatre (VOTT) loudspeakers (above) that Gary restored and built for me, and I enjoy listening to them every day as the beating heart of my audio-visual system.
A huge thank you to Gary, Markus, and GPA for bringing this Altec lovers dream collaboration to life, and now you too have the opportunity to own new "Altec" A7 and A5 Voice of the Theatre loudspeakers.
A note to the wise: if you are interested in these special edition loudspeakers, don't tarry in placing an order with Gary for a pair of your own, as this sort of unique opportunity doesn't come around every day, and may not come around again. Just sayin'!
As always, thanks for stopping by, and may the tone be with you!
