Altec 1594a Amp

[LaneB]

Anybody have the specs for an Altec 1594a PA system amp ? I picked up a pair of them for $40 just because it seemed like the right thing to do . I would like to find out what the specs say and see if they are suitable for home audio use in a multi amped setup. I'm a financial guy and I'm off into an area that I have no education nor training for but I'm sure having fun. My objective was to setup a tri-amped system but with the acquisition of these 2 boat anchors I'm wondering if they could be used as left and right channel woofer amps ? I have 3 Marantz 1060 amps that I was originally going to use which can now be used for lower mid, upper mid and tweeter ? The active crossover is the missing element at this moment. The Altec 1594a's just looked like something that belonged in the mix somewhere. I'm new to the DIYAudio group and have found the info thus far to be most interesting and valuable in my novice status. Thanks for any help, suggestions, etc. And finally, as my wife asks, Why am I doing this ? Because I can.
Lane

[Voiceoftheatre]

Your 1594's are industrial, professional products. Altec produced three variations of the 1594, the A,B,and C. The A and B version were produced in Anahiem Ca. circ 1960-70, the C version was produced in Oklahoma, circa 1980. The "A" version (which you have) are the first of the line, it has a positive ground as opposed to the B and C version which have a negative ground. That should pose no problem.

They are a very stable amp and because they have an output transformer, have a constant power output of 100 watts regardless of the speaker impedance. The output transformer has 4,8,16 and 70 volt output capabilitys. The input has the capability to use a high or low impedance input device, since your other devices are consumer products you'll be using the high impedance input (terms 1&2).

I use my 1594's in a triamp setup with 1593B's in the high and 1590's as subs with my "Voice of the Theater" speakers. Triamping has many advantages just to list a few: less distortion, minimum loss at crossover, direct speaker damping, less phase shift etc etc etc. Most up to date theaters use triamping.

Why do I use these old ship anchors? Because I want that "True voice of the theater sound". They were used in most theaters that offered 3 or 5 sound tracks behind the screen. All Fox, MGM and Paramount theaters Like the Graumans Chinese, Egyptian, Pantages and the Paramount and many other theaters and recording studios. If you ever attended a large theatre, you were listening to this equipment. It was the only equipment ever approved by the academy of motion pictures for theater reproduction.

Sorry to answer so late, hope you still have those puppies and hope this helped.
regards
Bob
Altec Lansing Plant Mgr Ret

[Frank Berry]

As a side note, I used a pair of Altec 1594A amplifiers to drive a pair of Altec A7-500 VOT loudspeakers at one of my transmitter sites back in the late 70s and early 80s.
These amplifiers and loudspeakers were a marriage made in heaven.
I'll bet the amplifiers are still in use somewhere.

[ElectricMan]

Hi

I have been running into a lot of solid state amps the last two years.

I used two scrap Altec 1606a amps to make one power supply and then I installed a mike preamp in the one chassis.

I would say, you could re-cap the amps for better coupling caps, like with Xicon Reds and get the sound quality up.

Bob is right in that like the McIntosh amps, the output transformersreally smooth the sound out and balance the tonal range.

Also, using big monsters below 150 Hz, then nice clear sound amps for mids, and then small smooth amps for above 5000Hz is the best way.


Make sure you either bring them up slow or charge all the caps up first so you do not damage the amp by just turning it on full pop

Best of luck

I just started this blog, Grid Leak and there will be a lot of stuff about SS amps and circuits