ResonantLive Sound Archive

Equipment file · Two-way theatre horn loudspeaker system

Voice of the Theatre A4

Altec Lansing · 1945

Evidence status · documented

Identity and core specifications are documented; some historical fields remain unavailable.

The A4 Voice of the Theatre, co-designed by James B. Lansing and John Hilliard and introduced in 1945, paired a horn-loaded bass cabinet with two 15-inch [[altec-515|515]] woofers and a multicellular horn driven by the [[altec-288|288]] compression driver.

Introduced
1945
Category
Two-way theatre horn loudspeaker system
Intended use
Cinema sound, later live sound reinforcement
Production
Altec Lansing

Why it mattered

  1. 01

    It corrected the mid-bass dip and cabinet resonance of the Shearer Horn and became the most widely used Voice of the Theatre model.

  2. 02

    Before purpose-built touring boxes existed, A4-type cabinets were a reference for early large-venue live sound.

Engineering record

Low-frequency section
Two 515 15-inch woofers in a horn-loaded, ported bass cabinet[1]
High-frequency section
288 compression driver on a multicellular horn[1]

Original pricing

No reliable period price located

2026 equivalent

Not calculated without a reliable original price.

Public price evidence was not sufficient to publish a defensible original figure.

Use in the field

Many remained in cinema use decades after introduction[2]

Manuals & original documents

No authoritative manual or original document has been located for this profile.

Sources

  1. 1Altec LansingAudio Heritage · reference
  2. 2Voice of the Theatre speaker systemstheatrecrafts.com · reference

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