ctkrohn
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Altec Voice of the Theater for $500... worth buying?
Jan Vigne
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I would consider a few things before making the plunge. First, how will you transport the speakers? Will that add appreciably to the cost of the deal? These won't fit in the back of a Honda Accord. Secondly, how much room do you have for these boxes? Voice of the Theaters are not tiny, you will need a good sized room to both place them and appreciate them. They are anything but a plop-and-drop speaker system. Thirdly, what are you expecting from these speakers? Vintage sound? Some exotic mix of Alnico magic that isn't available from contemporary manufacturers? Will you be running vintage or retro gear with these speakers? Just my opinion, but I wouldn't be buying these speakers if I was intending to run them off a solid state receiver or mid-line amp. These speakers cry out for single ended triodes or, at the very least, a good push-pull tube amp. Finally, are you in the mood for a restoration project? No matter how the speakers are described, vintage gear almost always requires some rehabilitation before you're going to get the best from the product. Read the recent review of some vintage speakers in Stereophile to get an idea what you might be looking at in terms of cost and finished product. Speakers such as this can put you in touch with the music in a very unique manner, but if you are expecting modern audiophile attributes such as great soundstaging and imaging from the speaker, look else where.

Jim Tavegia
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I would be careful about the condition of the woofers and their surrounds. That is not to say they still might not be a good buy, just that you might have some work to do to get most out of them.

If you love rock music they might be right up your alley, a little on the bright-side perhaps.

ctkrohn
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Thanks for the comments. Someone else ended up buying these speakers before I could. It seems like they probably wouldn't have made much sense for me anyway, since I have newer equipment and a smaller room.

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