Altec 846A Valencia (1966)

The Altec 846A Valencia was a home loudspeaker system sold in 1966. It was advertised alongside the 847A Seville.

Altec's period advertising in Audio (August 1966, p.13) called it a "PLAYBACK SPEAKER SYSTEM" and said it used the same components as the company's famous A-7 "Voice of the Theatre" system, the professional cinema speaker that had been a studio standard for years. The 846A came in a floor-standing cabinet finished in hand-rubbed walnut, with a carved fretwork grille. The ads attributed that styling to "16th-Century Spain." The cabinet measured 29¾ inches high by 27½ inches wide by 19 inches deep and sold for $333 at introduction. High Fidelity (April 1966, p.35; July 1966, p.19) ran the same advertising copy, as did HiFI/Stereo (May 1966, p.19). No independent review or measured test data from the period has surfaced in the Archive's research. The available record is all manufacturer advertisements. The 846A appears to have been Altec's attempt to put professional-grade driver and horn technology into a domestically styled cabinet, with the performance of the A-7 system in furniture better suited to a living room. The "Valencia" tag