Sweet sounding old school tube amp/speaker combo

Evrythngmatters
Evrythngmatters Posts: 187
edited November 2011 in The Clubhouse
I picked up an Ampex 620 suitcase amp/speaker today. Everything is in awesome shape cosmetically and on the inside as well. Even the old tubes work great. The guy asks if I want a demo and who am I to say no. Low and behold he pulls out of the closet a 52' Les Paul. All I can say is, WOW!! For such a little amp/speaker combo the sound sure was sweeeet. I looked up some info on it and the speaker inside is a JBL. The speaker was actually done by John B. Lansing himself. Pretty cool I think. A fun hour or so listening to something other than 2 channel gear. Cannot remember the last time I had such a great listening session without having to lift a finger. Anyone here ever get an ear on one?
Everything matters. That is all.
Money cannot buy happiness, but it sure can buy a bad **** boat to pull up along side it though.
Post edited by Evrythngmatters on
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Comments

  • halo71
    halo71 Posts: 4,602
    edited November 2011
    I'd be more interested in getting my fingers on that LP than hearing that speaker. :mrgreen:
    --Gary--
    Onkyo Integra M504, Bottlehead Foreplay III, Denon SACD, Thiel CS2.3, NHT VT-2, VT-3 and Evolution T6, Infinity RSIIIa, SDA1C and a few dozen other speakers around the house I change in and out.
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  • falconcry72
    falconcry72 Posts: 3,580
    edited November 2011
    Nice, dude!:biggrin:

    I'm currently using a 1966 Fender Bandmaster tubed head through a 1980's Marshall 4x12. Creamy....:cool:
    2-Channel: PC > Schiit Eitr > Audio Research DAC-8 > Audio Research LS-26 > Pass Labs X-250.5 > Magnepan 3.7's

    Living Room: PC > Marantz AV-7703 > Emotiva XPA-5 > Sonus Faber Liuto Towers, Sonus Faber Liuto Center, Sonus Faber Liuto Bookshelves > Dual SVS PC12-Pluses

    Office: Phone/Tablet > AudioEngine B1 > McIntosh D100 > Bryston 4B-ST > Polk Audio LSiM-703's
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  • Evrythngmatters
    Evrythngmatters Posts: 187
    edited November 2011
    I don't play guitar but I did know what it was when I saw it. Was in like new condition but I see expensive guitars all the time. Not a dime a dozen guitar by any means but guitars dont do it for me. To tell you the truth I have a Martin D-15 hanging on my wall in my media room for decoration only. I was all giddy about this little amp combo though. The sound that came out of it was just awesome. I could not wait to get home and fire up the tubes myself. Ever since I picked up a little tube hybrid a while back I have been on an anything with tubes hunt. Picked up some cool stuff but this is the coolest so far imo.
    Everything matters. That is all.
    Money cannot buy happiness, but it sure can buy a bad **** boat to pull up along side it though.
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,769
    edited November 2011
    Don't tell James B. Lansing that John B. Lansing was involved with that speaker :-)
    James B. Lansing died (by his own hand) some years before the speaker in the 620 in this thread was made.
    http://www.audioheritage.org/html/history/lansing/founding.htm
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  • Evrythngmatters
    Evrythngmatters Posts: 187
    edited November 2011
    mhardy6647 wrote: »
    Don't tell James B. Lansing that John B. Lansing was involved with that speaker :-)
    James B. Lansing died (by his own hand) some years before the speaker in the 620 in this thread was made.
    http://www.audioheritage.org/html/history/lansing/founding.htm

    Thanks for the link. Just love the internet and how so much info. is actually wrong. After looking around a little more on this speaker I saw a thread with you in it from awhile back. Cool little combo.
    Everything matters. That is all.
    Money cannot buy happiness, but it sure can buy a bad **** boat to pull up along side it though.
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,769
    edited November 2011
    yes the amp and speaker are both quite nice. They're not even terribly uncommon (although it's not easy to find them cheap anymore).

    That was the companion speaker for the Ampex 600 reel to reel tape recorder.

    Speaking of the Ampex 600 but otherwise appropos of nothing, here's a photo of my old man, ca. 1957, manning the controls of an Ampex 600 at a remote recording session in Baltimore, MD for WITH radio. The guy holding the mic was Thomas D'alesandro III, the mayor of B-more at the time - his daughter is a lady called Nancy Pelosi. She's probably somewhat better known today than he is.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_D'Alesandro,_Jr.

    keysandampexforak.jpg
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  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 7,658
    edited November 2011
    Great photo, Mr. H, thanks for posting it!
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,769
    edited November 2011
    Thanks. I've got a couple (only a couple) from my late father's long-ago days as a radio broadcast engineer in Baltimore (WAYE-AM and WITH AM and [EDIT: I think!] FM).

    The Mayor is giving the keys to the city to WITH DJ Jack Gale in the photo above (FWIW).
    I don't know who the other guy, is, though.

    http://www.reelradio.com/gale/index.html
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