Altec A6 (1952–1972)
The Altec A6 is a two-way speaker system introduced in 1952 as the seventh model in the company's "Duplex" series. It uses a 12-inch duplex driver, the 803A, paired with an 802D high-frequency driver mounted on an 811B sectoral horn. The low-frequency section is a direct radiator. The highs are horn-loaded. The crossover network is a simple 6 dB-per-octave design, and the source notes crossover points at 2 kHz and 6 kHz.
The cabinet drove the design. Altec styled it as an acoustically "slimline" enclosure and kept it to less than 18 inches deep so it would fit alongside the projection TVs of the era. Rated power is 10 watts, with a frequency range of 40-20,000 cycles. Impedance is listed at 8 ohms, though that figure appears truncated in the source record. The A6 was discontinued in 1972, a twenty-year run for a home speaker.
Surviving documentation on the A6 is thin. No original price, full dimensions, weight, or sensitivity rating are recorded in the sources available to the Archive. The record is also unclear on how the A6 relates to the later A6-A variant. The A6-A appears in the same series, but no comparison of the two is documented. The A6A was noted in theatre settings alongside the A4 (Recording-Engineer, April 1983, p.104).
Known Specs
- Type: Two-way speaker system, Duplex series
- Drivers: 803A 12" duplex (LF), 802D driver with 811B sectoral horn (HF)
- Frequency range: 40–20,000 cycles
- Crossover: 6 dB/octave; 2 kHz and 6 kHz points
- Rated power: 10 watts
- Impedance: 8 ohms (partial record)
- Cabinet depth: less than 18 inches
- Introduced: 1952; discontinued 1972
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