I have had these speakers on the back burner all summer and finally got around to doing a large re foam job on both the woofers and the mid range drivers.
These first generation Altecs 9's are the top of the consumer range before customers went into the Santana's or even higher up the food chain to the 15's, 18's or 19's that are horn loaded.
These speakers came to me in mint condition and their oak veneer cabinets in perfect shape.
They have a large 12" woofer with a 4" mid range and a 3" tweeter, the efficiency is up there at 93db's, which suits a single ended tube amp.
Once I had the box open a replacement of the tweeter cap was an easy upgrade with a Solen 2.2uf cap and installed proper banana plugs.
These speakers are beast, not as large as the
JBL CF150's but pretty darn close, the Altecs are a much better build.
The finished product turned out really well, one last thing I need to do is install the cosmetic foam ring around the woofer, I was excited to listen to them and get some pictures up first.
So the big question is how do they sound, well before I begin I have tried them on my Single Ended 4WPC tube amp and a monster Sony STR-V5 at a whopping 85WPC and they are two very different speakers.
In solid state mode at half volume these speakers rock the house to the point of shaking the wooden structure that is the my place. They are loud, but they loose there coherency, the bass gets muddled and the mid range and highs become shrill. At lower volumes they do a nice job with the solid state gear but to the limits of solid state.
When attached to the Single Ended Tube amp, Wow, pure lusciousness! These speakers are incredibly well matched with really nice full bass, like really full. The mid range images wonderfully with zero chestiness in make vocals, female vocals like Mazzy Star are pure heaven. the tweeter is spot on with crisp crisp highs. You do not miss a thing in detail with these speakers. Luscious, it is the only way to sum up the pairing of a tube amp with these speakers, this is what high fidelity is meant to be.
If you google the Altec Model 9's you will find mediocre to satisfying reviews of these speakers, I would suspect that most have only heard these through solid state gear and I understand that. Through a tube amp these are a speaker that is stunning to listen to, it is too bad that most probably listen to these through the wrong type of amplifier.
The
Tannoy Oxford Gold's have always been the reference speaker that all others are measured against in my space and these can easily trump the Oxfords.
These are an absolute wonderful find and a very welcome addition to my ever so eclectic collection of speakers.
