Altec Lansing

Altec Lansing grew out of the cinema. In 1937 executives of ERPI, the Western Electric division that serviced theatre sound systems, bought it and reincorporated it as Altec Service Company; the name stood for "all technical". On 1 May 1941 Altec bought the bankrupt Lansing Manufacturing Company, and Altec Lansing Corporation was born. Its first power amplifier, the 142B, came out the same year.

That lineage explains what turns up in collections today: heavy, conservatively rated amplifiers and preamps built for theatres, studios and broadcast work, often with Western Electric ancestry, alongside the Voice of the Theatre loudspeakers developed by John Hilliard and Jim Lansing. Lansing himself left in 1946 to found JBL. The company changed hands many times after James Ling bought it in the late 1950s, and the name now lives on mostly in consumer speakers.

The archive holds an Altec 440B preamp set and a pair of 1530T power amplifiers with Western Electric connections.

Altec Lansing: quick answers

What does the name Altec stand for?

"All technical". It began as Altec Service Company in 1937, when executives of ERPI, Western Electric's theatre-sound service division, bought that business and reincorporated it.

Why do so many Altec amplifiers trace back to Western Electric?

Because Altec grew out of the people who serviced Western Electric theatre systems. When it bought the bankrupt Lansing Manufacturing Company on 1 May 1941, Altec Lansing Corporation took that cinema and broadcast background with it.

Did Jim Lansing stay with Altec?

No. He left in 1946 and founded JBL.