Western Electric 124-style PP 6V6 mono amp

!!!ADDENDUM!!!

Another Western Electric-inspired push-pull amplifier.😊

Western Electric 131A/133A Inspired Amp - Mono

 

While I was relishing a pair of Altec 32C horns in the attic during the late aughts, unbeknownst to me, my stateside audio comrades, Dave V. and Joe Roberts, were praising the same horn's virtues in audio forums. When these veteran audio hobbyists consider the Western Electric 124 one of the finest-sounding amps they've ever heard, I listen. 

See Dave's (@Salectric) WE124 amp project and WECo 133A clone thread started by another 32 horn adherent (@gilmorneau) at Hifi Haven.

Silbatone Acoustics at the Munich Audio Show 2025

My buddy Joe Roberts of Sound Practices has been sending me pictures from the Silbatone Acoustics room at High-End Munich 2025. I'm sharing them in this blog with his permission.

Graybar Electric Company

The Graybar Building is a landmarked art deco structure on 420 Lexington Ave., NYC. It was once the corporate headquarters of Graybar Electric Company They distributed the Western Electric 755A, 756A, 728B wide range drivers, 753C, 757A studio monitor speakers + more, which inspired projects featured in this blog.

Audio Facilities by Western Electric 1946 (WE753C + more)

Altec 756B + 32C + 806 + 23744 = mini 757

The WE756A is the middle child in the Western Electric series of wide range drivers introduced in the late 40s.

I've seen and heard a couple of WE/Altec 728Bs + a dozen or so pairs of 755As, but I've never heard a WE756A and have only seen one in the metal at a radio show many years ago. Although still quite scarce, its Altec 756B brother isn't quite as elusive.

Back: Blonde + Mahogany Altec Melodist 700A
Front L-R : WE728B, Altec 755A/pr. + Altec 756B

JP's Western Electric WE757A Remake

 

Those were the words of the late Walt Bender in Part II of his Olden Golden Components article in Issue 51 of The Absolute Sound (TAS) in the Winter of 1988. This was my first exposure to Western Electric audio equipment. I eagerly awaited TAS's promised feature of Walt's Western Electric-based audio system but that never materialized. I let my TAS subscription lapse and replaced it with Glass Audio, Sound Practices and Vacuum Tube Valley. 

My only encounter with an original WE757A was a single unit being tested on the tailgate of a Honda Civic hatchback at a ham fest in the early 90s. Keep in mind that this speaker system predates the stereo era by at least 10 years, thus, they were never available in stereo pairs.

KS12027 Horn

The KS12027 horn perched on top of my repurposed Altec 861 cabinet loaded with an Altec 414A woofer should actually be residing inside a ~ 4 cubic foot slanted cabinet with a Western Electric WE713C compression driver  bolted to its throat + a WE728B 12" woofer = Western Electric WE757A monitor speaker system.

I was honored to host this KS12027 horn and provide more modest accommodations for a couple of weeks courtesy of my audio preservationist buddy John Piro.

A visit to J-Rob's and the Silbatone 755A box by Dr. Stefano Bae

OB/755A

Despite the fact that Joe Roberts and I both revere the 755A, he never thought highly of my open baffle set-up. To this day, I'm still baffled as to why he featured my home-brewer article in Sound Practices. 😉 I enjoy the engulfing planar-like airiness of the 755A/OB combo which Joe finds lifeless, boring and lacking in snap. 

Altec 753C

Altec 32 Horn Nomenclature

This Altec 32 horn update was prompted by this must read article from Electravolt tracing how the Altec 32 horn evolved from the Western Electric 32A.

Altec 32A

Cast aluminum + longer throat

Azzolina Audio KS12024

Western Electric KS12024

Western Electric KS12024
Note: ~ 140° throat bend

The Western Electric KS12024 is a 2-piece cast aluminum 4-cell sectoral high frequency (800-1000Hz cut-off) horn with a 50°H x 40°V dispersion pattern. It was implemented in the Western Electric L-8  and L-9 speaker systems.

Western Electric L-8
from the Silbatone Collection

Altec 32A, 32C, Emilar EH1210, EH800, EH500 and Faital Pro STH100

+ 

This is a cumulative report on horns I listened to and tested from May 2016 until the end of 2017. All the tests were done through the mono hifi rig using the above Altec 802 compression driver fitted with a GPA 34852 diaphragm + an Altec 414A in a repurposed Altec 861 cabinet running in full-range mode tied together by a 6dB/octave high pass crossover/EQ hinged at 2500 Hz.