Altec Lansing VOTT A7 - 'Voice Of The Theatre' Speakers Play BOUREE JETHRO TULL

Listening to Jethro Tull - Stand Up, on the Altec Lansing VOTT A7 speakers.

The system includes a Basis Audio Debut Turntable w/Vacuum platter, Graham Engineering 2.2 tonearm, Manley Labs Steelhead phonostage, Veloce Audio Platino LS-1 preamp and Veloce Audio Saetta hybrid 6H30 monoblocks.
The Veloce Audio gear is battery-powered and everything is fed from a PS Audio PS10 regenerator.

The VOTT A7, or "Voice of the Theatre" A7 speakers are pretty remarkable given their age and given the fact that they were never intended to be used in a home audio system. These were designed to be used in movie theatres, large halls, and auditoriums. But, remarkably, they can be made to work in a small room given some investment in time and energy both with respect to placement and finding the proper amps.
The VOTT A7 work well with small low-powered tube amps, though surprisingly, I preferred the sound of the A7 with more power. I used a Dennis Had Inspire KT88 amp and found it to sound lean and thin with the VOTT A7, whereas my Veloce Audio Saetta Hybrid monoblocks (6h30 tube input with Class D output) sounded more full-bodied and more dynamic.

Anyway, I'm a big fan of Jethro Tull. I met him one time in the lobby of a hotel in Downtown Appleton WI where he and the band were staying following a concert in town!

Obviously, I'm not putting a lot of time and energy into YouTube vids, but if I get a few likes and subscribers I may try a little harder! So PLEASE LIKE THIS VIDEO AND SUBSCRIBE TO MY CHANNEL for the occasional update.

Music/Copyright - Jethro Tull Stand UP 1969 Track - Bourée

Additional Info:
The VOTT A7s are big and they sound big. I was amazed at just how well they do at getting out of the soundstage, given their immense size. Even before messing with toe-in and placement, the VOTT A7 does a great job of ‘disappearing’ from the soundscape, a feat I never would have imagined to be possible.

Initially, the upper frequency seemed a little rolled-off, giving the speakers a dark tonal balance, a quick adjustment of the potentiometer on the N501-8A addresses the imbalance somewhat and it took only a couple more adjustments to get the horn output dialed in nicely with the woofers. Even with the potentiometer wide open, the highs on the A7 are pretty rolled off.

The A7 was made available with an inverted configuration where the high-frequency horn could be mounted inside the bass horn instead of being mounted on top of the box, as my version are. The standard A7 (which I have) has the 511B horn sitting atop the inverted cabinet and was intended for theatre use, hence ‘Voice Of The Theatre’. The standard A7 used different drivers over the years, my pair has the 416A 15″ Woofers, 802-8D Drivers, 511B Horns, with N501-8A Crossovers, which cross at 500hz.

[zzgwzvi]

Cool beans, excellent choice…enjoy *thumbsup*

[kevinbourne]

Those Altec A-7s were glorious monsters! An old friend had a pair in his tiny living-room (purloined from a theatre). What incredible sound!

[cnhhnc]

There are a lot of older guys who love, and many who also remember, these. Incredibly imposing and super efficient (can be powered by flea amps, lol). They certainly deserve their reputation, but HOW many of us can HOUSE such monsters, lol? And our wives? Forget about it! So we do with speakers somewhat smaller.

Enjoy the music! Jethro Tull, yeah, Aqualung was the soundtrack of our High School years-highlighting the rebellious nature of that time. Alas, the youth of today rightly asks us, What happened to you? And some of us, not many, reply, "That is THE question!"

[MrBonger]

I really want to love these speakers (I actually like the way they look) but every time I hear them they seem to lack something in the very top end. Maybe I’m just to used to modern day speakers. Anyway, I’ve subbed for the cool videos