WARNING: Kinda off topic. Please forgive the wanderings of an old man!
Egad! Nearly a month since I was here! Well, that’s another thing about getting old…your remaining days just seem to go so fast!
Fun to read the comments. Thanks, guys! While I may be older, I have nothing like DJ Vintage’s experience. 38 years behind the decks is awesome! I’ve barely got 36 months. It would be really great to have all those good memories. My hat is off to ya, Vintage!!
But I will respectfully quibble about the incompatibility of audiophile gear with PA/DJ use. Let me admit from the jump that you are about 99% correct – the sole exception I know is a small group of high efficiency horn loaded speaker systems exemplified by the designs of James B. Lansing while he was at Altec and later his own company, JBL. These systems were mostly designed for industrial sound reinforcement use, but many of us feel their sonic qualities put them firmly into the audiophile category. If you have a chance to look at The Absolute Sound’s History Of High-End Audio Volume 1: Loudspeakers you will find quite a nice discussion of how many of us think those old systems compare quite favorably with the best audiophile speakers available. I have a wealthy friend who built a system around Wilson Audio Alexandria XLF’s, Macintosh tube amps, and all the trimmings. After listening to her cost-is-no-object system, I played the same recordings on my tri-amped Voice Of The Theaters and honestly feel the Altecs are 90% of the $250,000/pr Wilson’s. (God, I sure hope Wilson doesn’t hear me say that!)
And, those of us of a certain “maturity” (that is, old!) will remember how a number of classic rock acts like CSN&Y, Rod Stewart and others used Voice Of The Theater systems on stage because they sounded heavenly and could really belt out the SPL’s too.
Now, I’ll be honest and admit that I do not DJ with my hot-rodded Altecs. They are simply too darn big and heavy for me to move without a team of roadies. But I sometimes do use smaller 2-way Altec 1234’s. They are still big and heavy enough that I pulled my old-man back loading them up for my last gig! Go ahead, laugh at me! I would too, but it hurts!
Mostly, I use 12″ powered subs with 10″ PA speakers up on poles. Much easier on the back!
Anyhow, lunch is over any my next patient will be ready any minute so it’s back to work for me. Thanks again for the warm welcome, all!!
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