It was quite an encounter to listen to the rather uncomplicated system with the original Altec-Lansing A7 Voice of the Theater loudspeakers and a 1979 vintage Marantz amplifier. Both of them without internal modifications. The sound!? Well… It was a sobering experience. Many would simply label these as vintage, obsolete and a thing of the past. I wouldn’t even dare to say so with the impact this combo can still produce.
Many of high-praised contemporary horn based speakers don’t even come close to what Voice of the Theater can offer in terms of immediacy, instant emotional engagement, and the transfer of pure music’s energy. There is a lot of technical blurbing and theoretical explorations, but when it comes down to the reproduction of the music the reality strikes; and it hits unapologetically hard!
While driving home I was contemplating about what was the actual step-up in this particular regard if we consider that the Altec-Lansing A7 Voice of the Theater were made in 1966 (and designed during the World War II)… This is a debate for another occasion, but there are little or no substations it comes to the physical impact of the 15″ driver and the associated horn paraphernalia. The physics simply cannot be cheated.
I can fully understand the un-bottled passion for Voice of the Theater, but these iconic loudspeakers do need a larger environment so the sound can form and time align properly.