I've acquired a large pile of the old green face altec stuff: comps, mic pre plus comps, 4 ch mixers, cut only 1/3 octave eqs, etc.
Whats the general consensus on this stuff. Is it worth going through and replacing leaky caps etc? looking for opinions on the character of these units....
Thanks

I love the stuff.
I have: two 1567A Tube Mixers, two 1612A Limiters and three 436B Compressors. I use them every day.

Benjy

WHY do you use them everyday? Be specific in terms of application please!

depends on your goals / needs. I find the stuff to be VERY useful. I have an Altec 1566a mic pre that was fully refurbished but not seriously modified. I use it constantly; it may not be quite as "hifi" as a Siemens V78 that I also have, but it is still very nice,

A lot of the nasty things people say about old Altec gear has to do with the horrible condition of most of the stuff out there. 40 or 50 year old tube gear is gonna need some work, but I've found it to be well worth the time and effort. And the prices fon Ebay for the 436/438 models show that I'm not alone in liking this stuff.

The other common slag is that "Altec is PA gear, not meant for studio use." Altec was a huge company back then and sold lots of PA gear. But many of their products were designed with broadcast and studio use in mind. Just check out some 1960 era studio photos and you will see racks of Altec gear. The 1567 mixer was one of the most popular mixers during the mono era, both for location and studio recording. And just try finding a 322 tube limiter for under $2500 or so.

On the other hand, if you don't want to spend all the time and effort, I could always swing by with a UHaul......

good luck

steve
[email protected]

its total crap... please send it to me right away and rid yourself of such shameful gear

I'm being serious, give me some idea of the "timbre" of this stuff.
It's not a huge coup, most of it needs work. Fletch, whats up with these
"trans-Canisters"

If you would like to call me 'right now' I will give you the whole skinny on all of it. I have been using this stuff for about four years now. (It's just too much for me to type)
Benjy King
212.684.1172