Anyone know anything about Allison Acoustics?

[freddievortex1]

I worked at Allison Acoustics when they were in Natick,MA and employed only about 30 people from the top (Roy) down. I spent 4 years there, the last 2 1/2 years in charge of the Testing Dept.I tested each individual speaker in a chamber designed to duplicate a living room setting, and sent a audio signal and viewed the response on a scope, The freqency respose had to fit in a tight go-no go acceptance standard. After they were assembled I would put a variable full spectrum signal into the finished product. I started at about 25 cycles to see if there was any movenent of the midrange and/ or tweeter. This told me if the speakers had any airleaks from the inside (a big no-no). To get to the point these speakers were designed to interact with flooors, wall or ceilings (if you had say a pair of model 3's).This increases the bass output. If someone had a old or damaged pair of Allison Speakers then your car speakers would probably sound better. But also remember that Allison Acoustics are designed to be a flat frequency response( often called the East Coast sound VS say JBL's for a more West Coast sound). I found most repairs were due to underpowering (clips burn out the tweeter) or woofers that the family dog thought was a fire hydrant.Any aging or drying out of a component is going to affect the sound quality. And speaking of Bose comparisions, I also worked there in the early 70's When they were also in Natick. I even helped build the production areas when we moved to the 'mountain'. Bose's principal uses the same theory about using reflections from a wall, but tries to reproduce the low frequencies electronically (artficially?). A 4 inch speaker cannot produce a low frequency wave as well as a 10 inch or larger woofer.Their Quality control in Natick was very poor. When you spend all day doing nothing but screwing in the speakers (with a quota system) some time the screw would miss the speaker hole and hit a speaker cone or surround. The testers solution was to put clear nail polish on the tear and ship it out. Not when I took over testing did that ever happen on my watch. And to the guy who was listening to Allison Acoustics in the early 80's were probably tested by me.
For older audiophiles who might still have a Quadrafonic equipment, when I was a Hi-Fi salesman, another salesman and myself drove 3 hours to Conn. to a store where they hung 4 Allison 3's upside down. For those who don't know the model 3, it is wedge shaped to tuck in a corner with a 10 inch woofer, midrange and tweeter. The store put a cheesecloth screen from the ceiling to floor so you couldn't see them, but what an audio experience. I had them play Santana's Abraxis lp. WOW!! But as a salesman and someone who knows speakers, I sold what people liked to hear not just a namebrand.

[moreorles2]

Freddie, I worked across the street on Tech Circle from AA and picked up a set of CD7s back in the 80's for good price. Any idea where AA got their grills made? I'd love to bring mine back to 100% but nobody seems to know where to get replacement grills. Any suggestions?

[lucasb7]

I have a pair of AL-120s that I've had for a while and they are truly an outstanding speaker. They are crisp and versatile. I had them sitting in my living room for a while and then read an article about Roy Alison and decided I would rotate them into my Den. Best decision ever!

[lucasb7]

Oops... Just looked at the date. Sorry for reviving an old thread. I just googled Allison Acoustics and this was the first hit.