Altec Lansing D130 & Mcintosh

[SMK]

The more I research our hi fi history and speaker design the more I realize I have a lot to learn about both. About two months ago I bought a large single speaker cabinet at a sale and brought it home. I removed the back and found an Altec Lansing (JBL) D130 15" full range speaker. I hooked it up to my old Pioneer SX980 and it sounded pretty good.

This week I brought the beast upstairs and wired it up to my Mc 275 V running mono. I put on a CD of saxaphone music and was impressed. I expected the big 15" speaker to move some air and have bass, but really didn't think it would be on par with the Sonus Faber Concertos I am using through the mids and highs. I was wrong.

When I hooked up the D130 and fired it up with quality juice several things became apparent.

First, it is really efficient.

Second, the speaker suprised me by how resolving it is. So much so that records I could play through the Concertos which were not spotlessly deep clean were painful to listen to through the D130. Every bit of background noise and pop and click was right there. Also I noticed I could hear the squeaks of the players moving their fingers on the fret boards more so than with the Concertos--closer to the music.

Third, the bass as expected from the big 15" speaker and Alnico magnet is far and away better. At 16' from the speaker with the volume at 930 I can feel the bass in my chest and through the chair. At volume levels equal to or greater than conversation level the D130 made me forget the Concertos. I thought I would miss the magic of the mids and highs. Nope. If anything it is better.

The D130 does have one big shortcoming for me though. I found that at sound levels below conversation level (near field low level listening) it became dull and lifeless. The magic was gone.

So, what does all this mean for me as a guy who is comtemplating what speakers to upgrade to in the future?

I am sold on the value of a high quality 15" speaker/driver. It can just plain move a lot of air and contrary to what I thought it does not have to mean a loss of the magic mid range I love. It also means the D130 is not the answer as I do a lot of near field low level listening. I have noted how the big Tannoy speakers are used for near field listening. I think they must be better than the D130 in this regard.

Lastly, I have learned I can be quite happy listening to music through a single speaker. This is good as space is currently tight and if I were to have a pair of say Tannoy Canterbury speakers it is quite possible one is all I could put in service until we move to larger digs.

Are you still with me?

If so, I would be interested to hear your experiences with JBL C35 or C36 systems and how the D130 speaker compares to say the Tannoy Canterbury or a field coil speaker like the Shindo Petite Latour. I've not heard the Tannoys or Latours, but I am within 4 hours drive of Don Better so I think a road trip will be in order

In my limited hi fi experience I have owned Polk Audio Monitor 7s, Mcintosh XR5s, KLH 6s, and the Sonus Faber Concertos. If I could play my system regularly at or above conversation level the D130 would top these for sure. I played the entire Wall album through it and felt it was a performance and I was in the auditorium the whole way through. Big sound, dramtic scale, and lots of detail. Nice speaker.

I read an article concerning a vist to the Shindo workshop which noted a large collection of vintage Altec Lansing speakers. If these are the starting point I can see why it would make for a good point of departure. I've also noted the princely sums Western Electric speakers and amps bring. The pioneers of hi fi apparently got some things very right.

I am also blessed to have a lovely wife who doesn't mind what some would consider to be a huge ugly cube occupying a big chunk of our living room and who will let me run through all four sides of a double album at volume

This was a really fun experiment and now I plan to put the D130 back in the basement and pair it with an old HH Scott 99D mono 22 watt tube amp once I have it recapped. What a fun hobby!

Good listening!

Scott

[Masterlu]

Scott... Your gear looks great!

[SMK]

Thanks Ivan!

Its a lot of fun to build up a system and listen to it. I do like the glow of the tubes in a dark room.

Scott

[Steady339]

Scott, I have many fond memories of JBL D130 speakers. They were widely used for both hi-fi, starting in 1948, and as a popular hi-end musical instrument and sound reinforcement speaker in the '60s and '70s.

The D130 is a wide range but not really a full range speaker. From your photo it looks like there was a hole in the baffel board of the cabinet for a JBL horn and compression driver that sat above the D130. I believe there were several JBL systems designed to use the D130 as a woofer.

I do remember a JBL system designed to use D130s woofers and 075 ring radiators tweeters. At one time I owned a set of JBL D120 speakers with a pair of 075 ring radiators and N7000 crossovers in DIY cabinets. This combo sounded very sweet and detailed through a tube amp.

Roger