Little is documented about the Altec 1568A, even by vintage audio standards. The record shows a 40-watt vacuum tube power amplifier, the low-power entry in Altec's long-lived professional amplifier line that also included the 1569A and the mighty 1570B. Audio (December 1957, p.73) ran a brief notice on the 1568A and its sibling when they were new. A later issue (June 1958, p.49) revisited the models, though neither review survives in complete form. A later retrospective in Vacuum-Tube-Valley noted the 1568A was introduced at $195 and called it "the low power version of this long-lived line of vacuum tube amplifiers."
Beyond those fragments, almost nothing else is recorded. No schematic, no detailed spec sheet and no production run figures seem to have made it into the usual reference channels. It appears to have been an amplifier - the kind of rugged, no-frills workhorse Altec built for decades. A handful of units still surface on the secondary market. With no original manual in wide circulation, restoration relies on experience with Altec's other tube amps of the era.
Known facts, assembled from period mentions:
- Power output: 40 watts (per Vacuum-Tube-Valley retrospective)
- Introduced: ca. 1957
- Original price: $195
- Lineage: part of a series with 1569A and 1570B
- Reviewed in Audio (Dec. 1957, p.73; June 1958, p.49)
If you own a 1568A or have come across a manual, service notes, or period advertising, the Archive would welcome a contribution.
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