Altec Lansing is an American audio electronics company that was founded in 1941 when the Altec Services Company purchased the nearly bankrupt Lansing Manufacturing Company and melded the two names, forming the Altec Lansing Corporation. Their primary products were loudspeakers and associated audio electronics for professional and home applications.
Altec traces its history to 1927 when motion picture sound was introduced with the release of “The Jazz Singer”. Engineers at Western Electric, who later formed Altec Services Company, developed the technology. The company originally serviced theater sound systems, then quickly expanded into manufacturing horn loudspeakers. The Altec Lansing Duplex 600-series coaxial loudspeaker was popular for making studio monitors from the 1940s to the 1980s. The Altec “Voice of the Theatre” line of loudspeakers was widely used in movie theaters, concert halls, and also in rock concerts from the 1960s to the 1990s, such as custom designs used at Woodstock Festival.
The Altec brand was bought by James Ling in 1958. By 1974, the company was saddled with debt; in 1984, Gulton purchased the brand out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The trademark was bought in the mid-1990s by Telex Communications who held it until 2000 when it was bought by Sparkomatic.
See the Wikipedia article for more information about the history of the company. For parts and upgrades of classic Altec Lansing Products visit Great Plains Audio.
Altec Lansing Loudpseaker Systems
- Altec Lansing Model 19
- Altec Lansing Model 18
- Altec Lansing Model 15
- Altec Lansing Model 14
- Altec Lansing Santana & Santana II
- Altec Lansing LF1 & LF2
- Altec Lansing Santiago
- Altec Lansing Valencia
- Altec Lansing Voice of the Theater Systems
- Altec Lansing 604 Duplex