G.L. Carrington- quite a guy

[Steve Schell]

Hi gang,

Quite a discovery tonight. I was patent surfing as I do occasionally- reading U.S. Patents related to speakers, following cited references to earlier patents and printing out the juicy ones. This can easily go on for hours and drain printer cartridges.

Anyway, I happened on to a very surprising U.S. Patent issued to G.L. Carrington, long time president of Altec Lansing from the formation of the company in 1941 onward. It describes the speaker that Altec produced beginning about 1946 as the 603 Dia-cone; a 15" full range driver that used a 3" aluminum center dome loaded by a multicellular horn- essentially the same horn that was used in the 604 Duplex. It is U.S. Patent #2,568,883, "Loud-Speaker with Expanding Horn Unit."

The funny thing is that an article introducing the 603 Dia-cone was written by John Hilliard and published in the May, 1947 issue of Audio Engineering magazine ("High Fidelity Loudspeaker of Unique Design"). I had always assumed that the 603 was largely Hilliard's work, likely assisted by Jim Lansing before he left Altec in mid 1946. I am fortunate to own 603 #15, mounted on its original baffle board complete with the authentic-looking initials "JBL" in pencil. Now, kaboom, we find a patent on the design issued to Carrington!

I have always regarded George Carrington Sr. as a management "suit", a competent corporate cheiftain from the old ERPI heirarchy who came to lead Altec after their purchase of Lansing Manufacturing Company. Todd White of the Unofficial Altec Lansing web site has attempted to give credit to Carrington for loudspeaker engineering in our past sparring on the Audio Asylum, and I scoffed at this. It is now looking like some crow pie might be on the menu for me!

The patent can be viewed or printed out at:
http://www.pat2pdf.org/patents/pat2568883.pdf

One thing that has fascinated me ever since this web site was conceived is that the pieces of the history puzzle keep falling into place, bit by bit, seemingly at their own pace. The principals are nearly all dead now, yet useful information continues to surface regularly either in correspondence, in ebay auctions, or in happy accidental discoveries such as this one. Damn, this is fun!

[10 Watt Street]

Thanks Steve for connecting the dots. Here is a pair of the 603 Dia-cone:

[spkrman57]

Looks like one piece copper or brass!

Thanks for the pics!

Ron

[Mr. Widget]

Looks like one piece copper or brass!

It is die cut bakelite, an early plastic. That style of spider can be seen on many other early speakers.


Widget

[edgewound]

It is die cut bakelite, an early plastic. That style of spider can be seen on many other early speakers.


Widget

I thought it was phenolic. Seems bakelite would be too brittle?

[Mr. Widget]

You're right!

It is made of phenolic resin. Phenolic resin is what Bakelite is made of... Bakelite is actually a brand name... like Xerox. It has become synonymous with the product.


Widget

[Mr. Widget]

One thing that has fascinated me ever since this web site was conceived is that the pieces of the history puzzle keep falling into place, bit by bit, seemingly at their own pace. The principals are nearly all dead now, yet useful information continues to surface regularly either in correspondence, in ebay auctions, or in happy accidental discoveries such as this one. Damn, this is fun!

Thanks again for another interesting tid bit... and to you and Don for putting this place together.

As much as eBay is damned and sometimes rightly so, it is probably the single most powerful force keeping so many treasures out of the dumpsters around the world.


Widget

[franz]

Hi Steve and all!

why do you think did phenolic spiders vanish from the market in the 50ies?
Was it just a matter of price?
Were cloth spiders thouht to be more linear ? (I personally don´t think they are)
Was glueing becoming more convenient or popular with the manufacturers?
OTOH they must have been aware that by replacing screwed-on spiders one was also giving up the chance to re-adjust vc centering !?

Were/are phenolic spiders in fact the superior centering system? Goodmans I think still used them in their Axiom 80 reissue.

I would really enjoy to get to know your expertise oppinion here !! Thanks!!


Franz