Moving Altec Lansing A4 210 Speakers

[Bill Seipel]

We've sold all 3 of our Altec Lansing A4 speakers and they need to be MOVED out of the theater.

Several problems:

1. They're HUGE. 84" x 34" x 39.5" I think. Just monsters. Won't go through stage door unless we take out the sawzall.

2. We could LIFT the screen and the mask, temporarily. Have never installed a screen or mask. I do know to wear gloves (rubber?) when handling it. The screen is held in place by SPRINGS and a homemade wooden frame.

3. Even if we get the speakers to the lip of the stage... there's a 4 foot drop to the ground.

It's a BIG logistics lift guys....

[Steve Guttag]

I've moved a LOT of A4s. I never found them all that difficult, seriously. As you note, they are 34" wide (without the wings attached) so if your door jambs are not that wide then they won't go through. But if the door is wide enough, on their backs with a dolly and they balance quite nice.

On/off the stage isn't too bad either. Again, on their backs, slide them off the stage enough to where you can push down on the lower section to force it to stand up and use the stage lip as the fulcrum to ease it down to the bottom back corner. Then, back up on stage to push it back up vertical and it is down on the ground. Again, lean it back on its back to a dolly for moving or use an appliance truck to move it vertical though I find that harder since getting through doors with a tall thing is harder than a long/short thing. I've done it both ways. If going vertical, when leaning it back, hold the speaker at its top and let the truck be the wheels...there is more weight on you with this method though, going through doors.

Every move I've done with them, it has been a 1-2 person job for the bulk of it. Only when lowering them, from above, into position on speaker stands did we get into more people.

As for the screen. Since it is sprung...unspring it from the bottom and ½-2/3rds up the sides. Pull the bottom up and use multiple springs to hold it up near the top of the frame (so it is like flap)...you don't want to crease anything and just handle it by the webbing, not the surface. Once you are done unhook it form the top and let it down and respring. Once it is under tension again, it should go back to flat (give it a few hours, depending on how it was shaped when it was help up).

Good luck and stay safe...wear gloves.

[Bill Seipel]

I've moved a LOT of A4s. I never found them all that difficult, seriously. As you note, they are 34" wide (without the wings attached) so if your door jambs are not that wide then they won't go through. But if the door is wide enough, on their backs with a dolly and they balance quite nice.

On/off the stage isn't too bad either. Again, on their backs, slide them off the stage enough to where you can push down on the lower section to force it to stand up and use the stage lip as the fulcrum to ease it down to the bottom back corner. Then, back up on stage to push it back up vertical and it is down on the ground. Again, lean it back on its back to a dolly for moving or use an appliance truck to move it vertical though I find that harder since getting through doors with a tall thing is harder than a long/short thing. I've done it both ways. If going vertical, when leaning it back, hold the speaker at its top and let the truck be the wheels...there is more weight on you with this method though, going through doors.

Every move I've done with them, it has been a 1-2 person job for the bulk of it. Only when lowering them, from above, into position on speaker stands did we get into more people.

As for the screen. Since it is sprung...unspring it from the bottom and ½-2/3rds up the sides. Pull the bottom up and use multiple springs to hold it up near the top of the frame (so it is like flap)...you don't want to crease anything and just handle it by the webbing, not the surface. Once you are done unhook it form the top and let it down and respring. Once it is under tension again, it should go back to flat (give it a few hours, depending on how it was shaped when it was help up).

Good luck and stay safe...wear gloves.

Thank you for this detailed response.

The mask we have is actuated by a lever and I have not examined it but hopeful it is fairly rudimentary to remove. I will also have to examine the bottom part of the screen frame to see how that can be removed.

The stage door is not wide enough. Add to that, upon exiting it there is a hard right or left, both options having short/steep stairs.

I think OFF the lip of the stage is the only option.

[Frank Cox]

Put a ladder up against the lip of where the speaker is or is going. Lay the back of the speaker against the ladder and then you can slide it up and down.

[Ryan Gallagher]

Thank you for this detailed response.

The mask we have is actuated by a lever and I have not examined it but hopeful it is fairly rudimentary to remove. I will also have to examine the bottom part of the screen frame to see how that can be removed.

The stage door is not wide enough. Add to that, upon exiting it there is a hard right or left, both options having short/steep stairs.

I think OFF the lip of the stage is the only option.

With enough bodies I feel like up and over the bottom masking/frame is the way to go, unless it is very easy to remove. Same for the bottom of the screen frame.

[Randy Stankey]

Is there any way you could rent or borrow a pallet toter? I worked on a stage for years. Most of the time, we moved things by hand. With enough strong bodies who know how to lift and carry, you can move virtually anything but there were a few occasions where we had to rent equipment in order to move certain things.

We hosted a group of Japanese Taiko drummers whose biggest drum was about six feet in diameter. It was hewn from a single piece of wood and they claimed that the drum was five hundred years old. The thing weighed a ton, easily! That drum was not to be moved by hand. We had to rent an electric toter to move it.

We might have used a forklift but moving such a large, heavy object in and out of tight spaces between scenery, on stage, would have been unwieldy.

Just from that experience, I was thinking that, if you don't have enough bodies to move the speakers with confidence and if you have enough space between the front row of seats and the screen, you might be able to get a toter and haul it up the aisle out the main door of the auditorium. If you have somebody who knows how to use a toter or if you can hire somebody for the day, it might be the safest way to handle things.

[Gordon McLeod]

I used a engine hoist once to move them over a orchestra pit

[Tony Bandiera Jr]

You can also make the move a bit easier by removing the Bass speaker and back door to cut down on weight. Of course the HF horn and driver too.

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

Are you shutting down or replacing them?

[Ryan Gallagher]

A co worker has this book and loves it, of course he is a flyman in a traditionally rigged hemp house, so he is biased. But most production/install types would enjoy, great gift idea for anyone who does physical things for a living.

Move Heavy Things
https://a.co/d/0TvsBjH