Western Electric

Explore 37 Western Electric vintage audio models — specs, production history, reviews, and market values in the VTA archive.

Amplifiers

• 124 (1940) — The Western Electric 124 (1940s–1956) delivers 20W of broadcast-grade tube power. Legendary sound, rare today. Specs, history, and collector value.
• 129 (1939) — The Western Electric 129-A Amplifier (1939) is a mysterious, undocumented unit from Bell System's legendary supplier.
• 130 (1941) — The Western Electric 130B LINE AMP (1941) delivers 81 dB gain with Bell Labs precision. Specs, tubes, and collector pricing for this rare twin-channel tube amplifier.
• 133 (1942) — The Western Electric 133A (1942) is an 8-watt bridging amp with legendary clarity and the famed 171C transformers. Specs, history, and collectibility.
• 142 (1943) — The Western Electric 142-A (1943) delivers 25 watts of rugged, Bell System-grade PA power. Original Cornell-Dubilier caps, 6L6 push-pull.
• 143 (1944) — The Western Electric 143A (1950?) is a 75-watt PA amplifier with 350B/6L6 tube flexibility and 70-volt output. Specs, restoration notes.
• 91A (1936) — The Western Electric 91A (1936) delivered 8W of theater-grade tube power with 92dB gain. Specs, history, and replica pricing for this cinematic amplifier.
• 91B (1938) — The Western Electric 91B (1938) is a phantom model—cited in forums but unverified in history. Explore the facts, confusion with the 91E.

Other

• 22D (1929) — Western Electric 22D — built for the road, for urgency, for broadcasting live. Specs, history and review. Find full specifications and production years here.
• 25B (1938) — The Western Electric 25B (1938) was a broadcast console built like a tank, with dual mono circuitry and two audio busses.
• 618A (1931) — The Western Electric 618A (1931) was the world's first commercial dynamic mic—used for FDR's Fireside Chats. Specs, history, and collector pricing.
• 630A (1935) — The Western Electric 630A (1931) is a legendary omnidirectional dynamic mic with 40-10k cycle response. Used in broadcasting and film, it's a rare find.
• 633A (1937) — The Western Electric 633A (1937) is the rugged saltshaker mic with 40-10,000 Hz response and 30-ohm output. Specs, history, and collector pricing.
• 639A (1939) — The Western Electric 639A (1938) Bird-cage mic blends ribbon and dynamic elements for 3 patterns. 40Hz–10kHz response, 30–50Ω. Why broadcasters loved its bass.
• 640AA (1938) — Western Electric 640AA (1938) — one-inch steel-diaphragm condenser calibration mic, 200v polarizing, 600-ohm output, used by NBS, RCA, and Altec as the reference standard.
• KS-12024 (1940) — The Western Electric KS-12024 (1940) is a rare folded metal horn praised as the finest sounding little horn. Specs, history, and auction pricing.

Preamplifiers

• 110A (1938) — The Western Electric 110A (1937) was the first commercial compressor in the USA, using selenium rectifiers and a bridge network to control AM broadcast levels. Specs, history, and context.
• 111C (1940) — The Western Electric 111C (1976–1984) is a legendary toroidal repeating coil transformer used by Bell System for 50 years.
• 171A (1936) — The Western Electric 171A (1936) started as a telecom repeating coil — now its rewound cores power $3k tube amps. Specs, pricing, and why it's sold out.

Speakers

• 12A (1926) — The Western Electric 12A (1927) helped launch talking pictures with its 11' exponential horn and 100Hz–5kHz range. Specs, history, and replica pricing.
• 13A (1928) — The Western Electric 13A (1927) horn speaker helped launch talkies with its exponential design and theater-filling sound. History, replicas, and collectibility.
• 15A (1930) — The Western Electric 15A (1928) is the Mother of All Horns — a 438cm cinema speaker with 105dB sensitivity. Specs, history, and $80k collectibility.
• 22A Horn (1933) — The Western Electric 22A Horn (1933) is a cast aluminum theater horn for the WE 555 driver, prized for its classic sound. Specs, pricing, and replica notes.
• 24A Horn (1935) — The Western Electric 24A Horn (1935) weighs 25 kg and flares like a tractrix — owners say it sounds very free and open. Find detailed specs here.
• 31A Horn (1940) — The Western Electric 31A Horn (1940) is a cast aluminum short horn for the WE594A driver, made around 1949 from a 1930s design.
• 555 (1926) — The Western Electric 555 (1926) is a legendary 25% efficient compression driver that powered early talkies. Specs, history, and collector pricing.
• 594A (1933) — The Western Electric 594A (1933) is a legendary field coil compression driver from cinema's golden age. Specs, history. This page has detailed specs.
• 597A (1937) — The Western Electric 597A (1929) is a field coil horn tweeter with a hair-thin aluminum ribbon. Built to fix dull highs in WE horns. Specs, history, rarity.
• 713B (1940) — The Western Electric 713B (1940) is a phenolic high-frequency driver with 500-15,000 Hz response — one of the most sought-after vintage midrange drivers.
• 713C (1941) — The Western Electric 713C (1941) driver and KS12027 horn deliver transcendent midrange clarity. Rare, sought-after, and still commanding thousands on eBay.
• 728B (1940) — Western Electric 728B — 12-inch pre-war direct radiator, the holy grail of Western Electric drivers. Voice coil rub, originality, and $2,500 median.
• 753C (1947) — The Western Electric 753C (1946) is a legendary 30-inch walnut speaker with a Jensen 15-inch woofer and WE 32A horn. Rare, revered, and worth $50K+ for a pair.
• 754A (1950) — The Western Electric 754A (1950s) is a brass-chassised volume indicator with a 30 cm driver — part speaker, part meter, all mystery.
• 755A (1947) — The Western Electric 755A (1947) is an 8-inch full-range driver famed for its clarity and Alnico field coil design. Specs, history, and collector pricing.
• 756A (1949) — The Western Electric 756A (1949) is a 10-inch pre-Altec loudspeaker shrouded in myth—rare, revered, and priced from $1,700 to $5,000.

Tube

• 600 — Western Electric 600 (1924–1931) carbon double-button push-pull microphone from the early broadcasting era. Scarce documentation exists; known via two magazine profiles.
• 618 — Western Electric 618A dynamic moving-coil microphone (c.1932). Omni pattern, 35 Hz–10 kHz response, under $100 new. A rugged, high-end design of its day.
• 640 — Western Electric 640 microphone. Nearly undocumented; a single 1967 Audio mention cites the 640AA variant with flat response and $195 price.
• 728 — Western Electric 728 — a little-documented vintage audio component, possibly a phonograph pickup cartridge. Very few facts survive.

Tubes

• 300B — Western Electric 300B directly heated triode — 5.0V/1.2A filament, 60mA at 300V, introduced 1938, revived 1997. The theater-sound tube that became hi-fi legend.

Other Models

• 639B — Western Electric 639B dual-element microphone — six pickup patterns, 40–10,000 Hz, 30/50 ohms. A Bell Labs design that defined broadcast and film sound for two decades.
• 754B — Western Electric 754B — 12-inch outdoor direct radiator, 50W, 60-10,000 cycles, 94 dB at 30 ft. The weather-duty 754.
• WE-594A — Western Electric WE-594A compression driver — horn-mounted theater treble unit, crossed at 800 cps in period use, and a long-standing collector target.