Altec 834A "Monterey"
Not much is documented about the Altec 834A "Monterey" speaker system. The only known references are advertisements from 1960 and 1961 (Audio, June 1961, p.47; Audio, December 1960, p.47). There are no reviews or service literature, so everything here comes from period advertising.
Audio (June 1961, p.47) listed the 834A as the "Monterey" speaker system at $169.00 unfinished. That put it among Altec's more affordable home offerings. A similar Audio spread (December 1960, p.47) grouped the Monterey with the 831A Capistrano ($399.00), which suggests the 834A sat near the lower end of Altec's consumer loudspeaker line at the time.
The system appears to have been a bookcase-style speaker, in line with Altec's "Little Giant" bookcase series advertised at the same time (High-Fidelity, August 1959, p.17). The 834A itself is not named in those specific efficiency claims. Nobody knows whether it shared drivers with other Altec models or was a unique configuration.
Beyond these advertising fragments, nothing has been found — no schematics, no measurements, no owner impressions. The 834A remains a name and a price in the catalog, with the Monterey badge as its only firm identity.
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