Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
This is a speaker set for the critical and occasional listener alike. It is brilliant in design being a simple two way type. This is not just any simple two way type speaker however. The herritage behind the "19" is of the Altec Voice Of The Theature legacy. This is somewhat of a scaled down version of the venerable VOTT - but with better frequency extentions.

The "Tangerine" horn driver has extended upper range capability not many, if any, had when these were originally built. It was revolutionary in its day for a horn driver this size to have the farther high end frequency capability this driver offered. The 811 horn lens has outstanding dispersion charateristics for very good room coverage and super smooth frequency responce. Another fact is that the horn is efficient and a well proven design by Altec. Combining the 811 lens with this driver was pure audio art!.

The Altec 416-8B 16" woofer offered excellent higher end range to best meet the lower end capability of the great horn combination. Matching this particular mid woofer to that horn set made pure sonic sence. They matched and blended so well their sound is renowned in the audiophile community- at last a trully BIG sound in a sylish and accurate package. Another bonus is that this mid woofer was rugged and had a true low end capability of 30 hz- even better than all that is that it could do it loudly with a 99db effientcy, which again helped match it up to the horn combinations ability to play loud and clear.

As great as the driver match up was the crossover made it all possible, a very smooth transition aided by a couple of L-Pads, where one could tweak the frequency upper ranges or even the lower vocal ranges. The crossover was magic to me and gave this great speaker set its soull of sound reproduction. Another great thing is that you do not need a big muscle amp- a simple, modest, well made tube amp is easily played through these!.

Lastly were the cabinets, they came in a rugged Oak type or the stylish Walnut wood. They were very solid and heavy. They did not rattle or ring but provided a sturdy platform for the lower end bass extention port and to house the drivvers in wonderful style. These were large furniture pieces and very much looked the part with a nice finish and good construction. While they did house the drivers, they in fact opened and allowed the sound to look and flow like no other speaker made quite since.

Altec Model 19's are in a niche all their own. It is one of those speakers that your remeber when and where you were when you first heard them, you remember what played through them as you were taken aback by their wonderful sound. You remember BIG probably above all- BIG sound, BIG cabinets, BIG everthing! You reember the huge sounding bass, the soft clean clear vocals, you are captivated by sound that is more than unique. While other speakers may certainly sound good in their own right and ways- nothing captures you like the "19's'" ever do. These speakers really cannot be explained with any lofty words or expanded praises- they need to be heard to be belived and then you will know just how truely believable speaker audio can sound and be reproduced. quite like nothing else.

It was my unique pleasure to have rebuilt my Altec Model 19's after receiving them recently. I understand what makes them the fine speaker they still are even today. You see I AM one of those people who remembers where I was some 30 + years ago when I first heard them, and also remember what was playing through them. I also remember not being able to affoad them until just a few weeks ago. Now here I am playing that music I heard through them once again and exposing others to the experience they may have one day as well!. I won't belabor the finer aspects of this wonderful speaker as I know it should be a personal one, that moment where you too will be ambushed by excellence to the ears.
DC. .

groland

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
4.60 of 5, 5.00 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
I have owned a lot of speakers. The list includes B&O Beovox S60s, Bose 901 IIIs, Klipsch Cornwalls and Klipschorns, KEF 104aBs, PSB Stratus Golds, Magneplanar MG 1.6QRs, Quad ESL-63s, Thiel CS 3.6s and the Altec Lansing Model 19s. At this writing, I still have the Quads, and I love them, but they are not the subject of this review.
The Model 19s are, simply stated, wonderful speakers. First of all they are HUGE, both in physical size and sound. They have the "big sound" that allows huge orchestral works to pass climaxes effortlessly, without any sense of compression or strain. I use an Audio Research VT-100 Mk I tube power amp (100 w/ch) with mine, and I couldn't be happier with the sound. They will play very, very loudly, but because they are very efficient, they play very clearly and cleanly at low volumes too. They do well with solo voice, piano and chamber ensembles. I listen mostly to classical music and opera, but I have eclectic enough tastes to sample pop, country, rock, jazz, disco, electronic and hosts of other types of music, and I think the Model 19s do a fabulous job with ANY kind of music!
The 15" bass driver produces some of the cleanest, clearest bass I have ever heard. The speakers will pressurize the room, shaking it with deep bass where the source requires it, yet the bass is free of boom or exaggerations. They have "slam" in abundance, but also finesse.
This is a two-way system. The top end is handled by a compression driver attached to a sectoral horn. I have had several pairs of horn loudspeakers before and while I loved their clarity and efficiency, they could be shouty, aggressive, honky, edgy or otherwise irritating. That constricted megaphone effect of some horn speakers is simply not there with the Model 19s. Trebles are clean as a whistle and clear. I suppose if deemed too strong, the treble could be lessened by the adjustments provided in the crossover network, but I set it to flat and have never felt the need to change the settings.
The clarity of these speakers is astonishing. They reveal instrumental timbers accurately. For example in a passage where a flute, oboe and clarinet are playing close harmonies and pitches, most speakers generalize this into one high-pitched woodwind-like sound. On the Model 19s it is easy to tell how many instruments are playing, which instruments they are and what they are playing. This startling clarity is true also of the bass, and the transition from the bass to the treble is smooth with seamless continuity.
Vocal reproduction is outstanding. I am an opera lover and go to the opera live quite often. Vocal reproduction is the acid test of speakers, and the Model 19s do a great job with solos, ensembles and choruses. The onset transients of a singer's words are so cleanly reproduced that comprehension of the sung text is enhanced. On some recordings you can actually hear the singer's intake of breath prior to singing, something that is all but lost on almost every other speaker I have listed to. the clarity is outstanding.
The Model 19s have a nice spacious image too, doing a good job of replicating the space in which the performers are in. Their left-to-right localization of performers I would judge to be about average on this speaker.
I was listening to Mahler's Symphony No. 2 this afternoon in the Telarc CD with Slatkin conducting the St. Louis Symphony, and I literally had goose bumps all over my body while listening to the Altecs pumping out huge waves of clean detailed orchestral sound. Yeah! This is what audio is supposed to be!
Altec Lansing Model 19s are some of the best of vintage audio. If you can find a pair with stock drivers and crossovers in good condition, just get them. I did, and I may just have bought my last pair of speakers.