Just received my first Altec 755-C based single-driver high-efficiency bookshelf speaker. Cost me a relatively paltry $1200. This pair, beautifully finished in original bamboo wood, was owned originally by Gordon Rankin, founder of Wavelength. God bless your heart, Gordon, if you’re reading this.
Initial impressions: holy smokes, this little speaker, if made today, could easily cost 10 grand. Can any manufacturer really make a single high efficiency driver with the quality of the Altec 755-C? I see why the original Western Electric sourced 755A cones sells for close to 10 grand. Scuttlebutt says the 755-Cs are better.
First, my 300B 10 watt Cary SET monoblocks drives them effortlessly. I’m guessing efficiency is around 96dB. There’s no crossover, so the sound is pure and the clarity approaches my Quad 57s (shown in the background pic below). The Cary struggles a bit to drive the 57s. No such issue with the 755-C. This little speaker has drive! Transients are effortless. Rimshots on drums are fast and quick. Imaging is superlative. Detail is natural. Voices in a chorus are revealed with startling clarity. You can count the number of singers.
I haven’t measured them yet, but I would guesstimate response is fairly flat from 50-60 Hz to around 14 KHZ. There’s a little rise in frequency around 2-3 kHZ. You young whippersnappers can look for speakers that play at 120 dB up to 60 kHZ scaring all the bats in your neighborhood. As a grizzled 60 something audiophile, who’d like to keep his hearing intact, I’m happy if a speaker can play at 90-100 dB from 50 Hz up to 15 kHZ. I have a pair of gigantic REL G1 Mk2 subs, which I haven’t hooked up yet. Plenty of time later for tweaks. I need a better stand. These “bookshelf” speakers are quite deep. But for now I want to enjoy them for what they are, warts and all. No, they’re not for organ fanatics.
Comparisons: I’ve owned far too many bookshelf speakers over the past 30 years to count. Most recent was a pair of Kef LS 50 Meta. Sorry, Kef, you’re going to have to up your game if you want to better the Altec 755-C. The LS 50 sounds so slooow and lethargic compared to the 755-C. The LS 50 is also like 10 dB less efficient, so forget using it with SETs. Next up, Harbeth Monitor 30.1s and 30.2s. Both sound grainy compared to the magical Altec 755-C. I’m guessing the complex crossover in the Harbeth messes the sound. While Alan Shaw’s RADIAL midrange is fabulous, his crossover design and tweeters are not at the same exalted level. Hey, Alan? How about a single driver highly efficient Harbeth? The 30.x models are too inefficient for SETs. Who’s left? Ah, I have the little Spendor S3/5, lovely little unit that Herb Reichert raved about in Listener 20 years ago (Herb writes for Stereophile now). The S3/5 is everything Herb raved about. But it’s not as pure sounding as its tweeter has this resonance peak that gives it a glare. Also, it’s dynamically not in the same class. Efficiency? Forget about it. Like low 80s.
Ok, now let’s compare against far more expensive speakers. Yes, my Harbeth Monitor 40.1s sounds better on voices, but their bass is so sluggish that they put you to sleep on any music with bounce to it. Mendelssohn string symphonies sound fabulous on the 40.1s. Wes Montgomery’s fabulous live jazz recording at the Tsubo club in nearby Berkeley in the early 60s sounds way too sluggish on the big Harbeth. How about the Quad 57s? Ah, now things start to get tough for the little Altec 755-C. But the 57s are not quite as easy to drive with my Cary 300Bs, as they have a weird impedance. They have an even lovelier midrange, but don’t have quite the same boogie factor. The bigger 2805s and 2905s that I have owned for many years are clearly far more sophisticated, but resemble the point source nature of the single driver 755-C. Now it’s a bit unfair to the little 755-C, but the 2805s snd 2005s cannot be driven by SETs. Also, the complex delay lines that Peter Walker used on the 63 designs has a bit of midrange grain.
So, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the little gem of a speaker, the Altec 755-C, a contender for the world’s best single driver high efficiency antique bookshelf speaker. What’s that, you ask? Am I selling my just acquired pair? No. Eh, you say you’re offering 10 grand. No dice. Ask Gordon to make you another pair.
Initial impressions: holy smokes, this little speaker, if made today, could easily cost 10 grand. Can any manufacturer really make a single high efficiency driver with the quality of the Altec 755-C? I see why the original Western Electric sourced 755A cones sells for close to 10 grand. Scuttlebutt says the 755-Cs are better.
First, my 300B 10 watt Cary SET monoblocks drives them effortlessly. I’m guessing efficiency is around 96dB. There’s no crossover, so the sound is pure and the clarity approaches my Quad 57s (shown in the background pic below). The Cary struggles a bit to drive the 57s. No such issue with the 755-C. This little speaker has drive! Transients are effortless. Rimshots on drums are fast and quick. Imaging is superlative. Detail is natural. Voices in a chorus are revealed with startling clarity. You can count the number of singers.
I haven’t measured them yet, but I would guesstimate response is fairly flat from 50-60 Hz to around 14 KHZ. There’s a little rise in frequency around 2-3 kHZ. You young whippersnappers can look for speakers that play at 120 dB up to 60 kHZ scaring all the bats in your neighborhood. As a grizzled 60 something audiophile, who’d like to keep his hearing intact, I’m happy if a speaker can play at 90-100 dB from 50 Hz up to 15 kHZ. I have a pair of gigantic REL G1 Mk2 subs, which I haven’t hooked up yet. Plenty of time later for tweaks. I need a better stand. These “bookshelf” speakers are quite deep. But for now I want to enjoy them for what they are, warts and all. No, they’re not for organ fanatics.
Comparisons: I’ve owned far too many bookshelf speakers over the past 30 years to count. Most recent was a pair of Kef LS 50 Meta. Sorry, Kef, you’re going to have to up your game if you want to better the Altec 755-C. The LS 50 sounds so slooow and lethargic compared to the 755-C. The LS 50 is also like 10 dB less efficient, so forget using it with SETs. Next up, Harbeth Monitor 30.1s and 30.2s. Both sound grainy compared to the magical Altec 755-C. I’m guessing the complex crossover in the Harbeth messes the sound. While Alan Shaw’s RADIAL midrange is fabulous, his crossover design and tweeters are not at the same exalted level. Hey, Alan? How about a single driver highly efficient Harbeth? The 30.x models are too inefficient for SETs. Who’s left? Ah, I have the little Spendor S3/5, lovely little unit that Herb Reichert raved about in Listener 20 years ago (Herb writes for Stereophile now). The S3/5 is everything Herb raved about. But it’s not as pure sounding as its tweeter has this resonance peak that gives it a glare. Also, it’s dynamically not in the same class. Efficiency? Forget about it. Like low 80s.
Ok, now let’s compare against far more expensive speakers. Yes, my Harbeth Monitor 40.1s sounds better on voices, but their bass is so sluggish that they put you to sleep on any music with bounce to it. Mendelssohn string symphonies sound fabulous on the 40.1s. Wes Montgomery’s fabulous live jazz recording at the Tsubo club in nearby Berkeley in the early 60s sounds way too sluggish on the big Harbeth. How about the Quad 57s? Ah, now things start to get tough for the little Altec 755-C. But the 57s are not quite as easy to drive with my Cary 300Bs, as they have a weird impedance. They have an even lovelier midrange, but don’t have quite the same boogie factor. The bigger 2805s and 2905s that I have owned for many years are clearly far more sophisticated, but resemble the point source nature of the single driver 755-C. Now it’s a bit unfair to the little 755-C, but the 2805s snd 2005s cannot be driven by SETs. Also, the complex delay lines that Peter Walker used on the 63 designs has a bit of midrange grain.
So, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the little gem of a speaker, the Altec 755-C, a contender for the world’s best single driver high efficiency antique bookshelf speaker. What’s that, you ask? Am I selling my just acquired pair? No. Eh, you say you’re offering 10 grand. No dice. Ask Gordon to make you another pair.