Altec Lansing is all about great sound. It has a rich legacy of blending art and science to stir the soul with high quality speaker systems. Over the years the company’s innovative products have formed the backbone of sound systems in such world renowned places as Carnegie Hall, The Beatles’ Abbey Road Studios, New York\'s Lincoln Philharmonic Center and The Sydney Opera House to name a few. The Altec Lansing brand traces its roots to the beginning of sound in motion pictures. Motion picture sound was introduced in 1927 with the release of the first \"talkie,\" The Jazz Singer. This landmark event was made possible by engineers at Western Electric who would later form The Altec Lansing Company. In 1928, Western Electric formed Electric Research Products, Inc. (ERPI), to manufacture, install and service the talking picture systems in studios and theaters. In the 1930\'s ERPI was spun off into a separate company renamed All Technical Products Company. The name was later changed to Altec Service Corporation.In 1941, the Altec Service Corporation purchased the nearly bankrupt Lansing Manufacturing Company – named after its founder James B. Lansing, who eventually went on to found the James B. Lansing Company (JBL), another manufacturer of high-quality professional loudspeakers – and melded the Altec Lansing is all about great sound. It has a rich legacy of blending art and science to stir the soul with high quality speaker systems. Over the years the company’s innovative products have formed the backbone of sound systems in such world renowned places as Carnegie Hall, The Beatles’ Abbey Road Studios, New York\'s Lincoln Philharmonic Center and The Sydney Opera House to name a few. The Altec Lansing brand traces its roots to the beginning of sound in motion pictures. Motion picture sound was introduced in 1927 with the release of the first \"talkie,\" The Jazz Singer. This landmark event was made possible by engineers at Western Electric who would later form The Altec Lansing Company. In 1928, Western Electric formed Electric Research Products, Inc. (ERPI), to manufacture, install and service the talking picture systems in studios and theaters. In the 1930\'s ERPI was spun off into a separate company renamed All Technical Products Company. The name was later changed to Altec Service Corporation.In 1941, the Altec Service Corporation purchased the nearly bankrupt Lansing Manufacturing Company – named after its founder James B. Lansing, who eventually went on to found the James B. Lansing Company (JBL), another manufacturer of high-quality professional loudspeakers – and melded the two names to form the Altec Lansing Corporation. The first Altec Lansing power amplifier, Model 142B, was produced the same year.In 1942, Altec Lansing developed and introduced its first permanent magnet in a 15\" Duplex speaker, a version of which remains the worldwide recording standard even today. In 1945, the company entered the home market with products such as Duplex loudspeakers and Power Amplifiers. In 1947, the company introduced the “Voice of the Theatre” speaker systems which greatly enhanced the quality of motion picture fidelity. This was widely viewed as the first major contribution in over 20 years to theater fidelity in sound. Since then, the company has continued to bring innovative products to the market. Over the last three decades, the Company was first to market with the first desktop PC speakers, the first iPod audio dock, and one of the first iPad docking products. The company’s latest systems feature bold new acoustic designs for listening on the go, watching movies, and gaming. Altec Lansing’s products can now be found across much of the globe- from developed markets in the US and Europe to emerging metropolises in Asia and Latin America. Taken together, the company’s 70 year history of technological developments in acoustical and electronic components have earned a place of prominence in sound reproduction that few companies can match. The predominance of Altec Lansing\'s name in sports stadiums, arenas, theaters, airports, auditoriums, churches, amusement parks and more recently on desktops within homes and at the workplace attests to this fact. Latest Development
On December 2, 2009 Altec Lansing was acquired by Prophet Equity LP, a Texas-based operationally-oriented private equity firm. As a result of this new ownership, Altec Lansing is continuing to take active steps to strengthen its leadership team as the company expands into new market segments. In November 2010, the Company purchased a competitor in the lifestyle docking category. The Company also purchased a software company to help it compete in the emerging market for networked audio devices.
