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Western Electric

Western Electric in the late 40s: Audio Engineering Mag pt. 5

The Western Electric 755A speaker

In a previous post, we looked at some early Western Electric cinema-sound equipment and the cult that surrounds this early kit.  Here’s a series of print ads from 1948 that describe some of the last-ever pro audio offerings from Western Electric.  WE was soon to be broken up by the government, and many of these products would then re-surface as Altec-branded components.

The Western Electric 756A speaker


The Western Electric 25B mixing console

The Western Electric 141, 142, and 143 audio amplifiers

The Western Electric speaker line up, featuring the 757A

 

7 replies on “Western Electric in the late 40s: Audio Engineering Mag pt. 5”

It might be mentioned that Western Electric was the manufacturing arm of AT&T, before the Justice Department forced WE to divest themselves of their audio division which was called Westrex (Western Electric Export). As far as I know, Western Electric was the inventor and developer of the first usable loudspeaker, called by WE as a ‘loud-speaking telephone.)

Ive been cleaning out a shed and found some machinery marked Western Electric … is there anyone out there could help me identify it? I could furnish photos etc

Hi there. Sure make a tumblr and post the pics there and tell us the links. A lot of WE fans check this site; someone might be able to tell you.

Those WE amps would be a good down payment on a house today in the Asian market.

It’s very important to look at current values in MJ or Stereo Sound magazines in Japan before selling any of that stuff.

I got a W 142 , 143 , 5129A and a 1126 limiter for nothing and I gave them away for 500 bucks to WALT BENDER several years ago. I didn’t know what they were WORTH at the time and I needed money in a hurry. I was a damned FOOL!
Dennis Hoyer
Audio Transformers

I want to buy WE 25B Input Console. If you have please contact me. 971-5332823

Dear Folks! I’m an old First Phone broadcast engineer and now a professional writer. I need information on a Western Electric console that came before the WE25A. It so for a history of the previous KABR Radio in Aberdeen, South Dakota, I’m writing. It was my first radio job. I wrote up the console for a term paper but it is now lost. So I would be most grateful to have info on this old console. I combed the web and found some info. But now I can’t find it. From what I recall, it was used for film sound mixing. I can tell you that it had an undamped volume meter and wirewound pots. It used 76 tubes. So please email me at “wordsandmusique@gmail.com.” I vague recall a “11xx” model number. But that is a guess.

By the way, thanks so very much for the info on the WE, later Altec, consoles. They are by far the best looking consoles in broadcast history. KSDN had either a WE25A or WE25B for their control room back in the 1950s when I was hooked on radio. They are the only console I know that had a built in patch bay! I believe they; used the smaller Kellogg plugs and jacks because of space limitations.

And by the way, I have several PT6 Magnecord tape machines I keep for nostalgia.

Best Regards!

Jim Stokes
wordsandmusique@gmail.com

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