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An Introduction to Great Plains Audio and Troy Audio – Keeping the Altec Tradition Vibrant! by Jeff Day

12-07-2019 | By Jeff Day |

If you read my “Today’s Fresh Catch: The Great Plains Audio 802-16G Series II & 416-16B Drivers” post (HERE), you know I am pretty excited about the Great Plains Audio and Troy Audio commitment to keeping the vintage Altec tradition vibrant.

GPA family of loudspeakers

I asked our Great Plains Audio and Troy Audio friends if they would tell us a little about the past, present, and future of Great Plains Audio and Troy Audio (nee Altec), and today I received a nice overview from Santos Oropel, which I have provided for you below. Thank you, Santos!

My chance meeting with Eliseo (Troy Audio), Bill Hanuschak (Great Plains Audio), and Santos Oropel (Troy Audio) in Munich – a great group of guys!

“Great Plains Audio was formed in 1998 after the closing of the Altec Lansing factory in Oklahoma City. It was clear to Bill Hanuschak, who worked for them from 1980 until they closed, that there would be a need for someone to continue the maintenance of the large number of Altec acoustic products in use around the world.

Bill went to EVI/Telex, who had purchased Altec Lansing, with a plan to purchase all of the tooling, drawings, and equipment Altec used to build and service their loudspeakers, and to become their authorized service center for all of the Altec Lansing products that were still under warranty at that time.

In addition, Great Plains Audio assumed repair duties for all of the older, classic products that had served Altec’s customers since its inception with the parts manufactured from the original Altec tooling.

Great Plains Audio is also the source for original parts and warranty service for Altec Lansing Professional, which was a division of Altec Lansing Technologies. This includes all of their speaker products that were built through 2005.

Keep reading:

https://jeffsplace.positive-feedback.com/an-introduction-to-great-plains-audio-and-troy-audio-keeping-the-altec-tradition-vibrant/

The 415-8B is the newest loudspeaker manufactured by Great Plains Audio

 

 

The 415-8B is the newest loudspeaker manufactured by Great Plains Audio

This project was inspired by Mr. Jean Hiraga who is well known in the high-end world for his crossover designs, redesigns and modification of loudspeakers and amplifier.
After building successful speaker systems using used Altec 415’s he contacted Great Plains Audio with the idea of make them again.

So here it is the brand new 415-8B.

The Biflex principle solves the problem of obtaining full frequency reproduction from a single-cone loudspeaker. It is no longer necessary to compromise between the small cone of minimum weight diameter best for HF reproduction and the larger, heavier cone, optimum for bass response. The Biflex speaker utilizes the principle of dampened cone compliances. The entire area of the speaker cone propagates the low frequencies, and the smaller central cone the high frequencies

Below 1000 Hz , the stiffness of the mid-cone compliance couples the inner and outer sections into a single moving element. Above 1000 Hz , the balanced mass of the outer section prevents the transmission of sound beyond the mid-compliance. The outer portion of the cone uncouples at this point, permitting the inner section to operate independently.

The Biflex design coupled with the famed Altec standards, produces a loudspeaker with specifications for exceeding those of many two and three-way speaker designs.

Inner cone couples to outer cone and the center cone structure vibrates to reproduce frequencies below 1000 cycles

 

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

The 415-8B employs an Alnico V magnet for maximum efficiency; the edge wound copper/clad aluminum edge-wound voice coil is situated in a deep magnetic gap to maintain proper cone linearity, this results in extremely low distortion, even during excessive cone excursion.

Although the 415 does have the extended high frequency response to 14,000 Hz alone, because of its efficiency it will match up well with other GPA components such as the 802-8G driver and our N1200-8C crossover for that extended HF output above 20 kHz.

Customers will find that the new 415-8B will maintain the same high quality and reliability as all the other products Great Plains Audio has been building for years

Each member of our team at Great Plains Audio has over 20 years of experience in building high quality audio products. We employ our combined skills and expertise to make the 415-8B one of the best loudspeakers in the world.

The Vintage Altec Experience by Jeff Day

The Vintage Altec Experience by Jeff Day

Let’s start with a short Altec history lesson 

Original text published: https://jeffsplace.positive-feedback.com/the-vintage-altec-experience/

I’ve been wanting to write an article about the “musicality magic” of vintage Altec loudspeakers for a while now, so consider this a mini-installment towards that goal, with – I hope – much more to come.

Let’s start with a short Altec history lesson.

Altec’s origins are inextricably linked to the Western Electric movie theater loudspeaker systems of the mid-1920’s.

The movie theater industry was a new and rapidly growing market in the mid-1920’s and Western Electric was busy providing loudspeakers to movie theaters across the USA.

Keep reading:

https://jeffsplace.positive-feedback.com/the-vintage-altec-experience/

GPA 212-8A

Great Plains Audio Model 212-8A

Great Plains Audio designs and manufactures some of the finest loudspeakers in the world. We continue this tradition of excellence with the release of our newest loudspeaker, the Great Plains Audio Model 212-8A. The extension of usable lower frequency limits and the expansion of available dynamic range have placed greater demands on audio monitoring systems. As audio-video facilities are constructed or upgraded to accommodate HDTV, equal attention should be placed on providing a superior acoustic setting. Th e 212-8A will deliver the high definition audio reproduction required for this environment. Recording studios, mastering facilities, and home theater rooms are also......

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GPA 604-8H-III-Rev-02

Great Plains Audio 604-8H III Rev. 2 Duplex

The Great Plains Audio 604-8H III Rev. 2 is more than just an evolution in the classic series of 604 Duplexes, it's an AUDIO REVELATION! For more than fifty years, there has been one studio monitor loudspeaker that has been the defacto standard by which all others have been measured. Though it has been through various generations, it is still known by the simple model number which graced the very first unit manufactured – 604. The popularity of this outstanding loudspeaker grew until, by the 1970's, 604-based systems were used in more recording studios than all other types combined. It’s......

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