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I have been playing with the 2 pairs of Frazier Dixielander Speakers I was fortunate to find here locally in Tampa.
These speakers have a wonderful midrange, w/o squak, harshness, or honk.
However, they are rolled off in comparison with almost every other speaker I have heard.
I called Frazier Speakers in Texas.
They are not the same company as they once were.
There has been several new owners.
I asked the new owner what compression driver was used, thinking it was an Altec.
It turns out is is an Atlas SA 333 phenolic diaphragm driver that was specially made by Atlas way back when to Jack Fraziers specs.
I talked to an old Atlas engineer who actually remembered what Jack was trying to do with this driver.
Since my Dixielanders came out of a movie theatre, the engineer told me that Jack Frazier was very concerned with midrange performance.
He felt the phenolic diaphragm Atlas driver had better midrange performance in his set up, and decided to go with it.
I have been told that metal diaphragms have better top end, and was thinking of screwing a pair onto my horns.
But, the Atlas engineer told me it was a trade off, and told me he doubted I would equal the lower mid range performance of the custom phenolic compression driver they made for Jack Frazier.
He told me that Frazier "drove them nuts" years ago trying several different compression driver variations until he got "his sound".
Any thoughts ?
Follow Ups:
I'm not familiar with your Frazier system or the drivers employed but I do know how good some phenolic diaphram large format compression drivers can sound (RCA.) None will have any high end performance, that is just not what they were built for. Take the advice above and add a tweeter. Movie systems from 50 years ago have no top end because there was nothing on the soundtrack in that frequency range.
Jonathan
My favorite (current production) midrange driver is a Selenium D405, a 2" exit driver with a 4" phenolic diaphragm. It rolls off above 5k or so, but I prefer its midrange to the metal diaphragm types. In my opinion, this isnt a problem. If you want to use the driver low enough to take advantage of its midrange performance (500Hz or lower), then any horn you mount it to will not have great HF performance (it will usually beam too much). For this reason, you will need to use a tweeter anyway, regardless of the HF performance of your midrange driver.
I am kinda new to horns, and don't really understand all the exit size stuff as well as I would like.
I know my current driver screws on the horn, and it will also screw of some old Gollehon wooden horns I kept.
I believe it to be a one inch driver.
Dont you need a one inch driver to screw on the horn I have ?
Ig I went to a 1.4 or two inch, I would have to change the horn too, wouldn't I ?
Sorry, I didnt mean to imply that you should change drivers, just that I like the sound of phenolic drivers for midrange use. If your existing drivers sound good to you, keep them, and add a tweeter. Selenium makes a few low cost ones that sound good. I am using the Selenium DT150, also a phenolic driver, with sound very similar to the classic EV T35, but more rugged than the old EV. It rolls off above 16k (also like the EV), but I cant hear that high anymore anyway.
"Dont you need a one inch driver to screw on the horn I have ?"
Actually, your horn has a 0.707 throat. A reducer adaptor will lose some high end.
"Ig I went to a 1.4 or two inch, I would have to change the horn too, wouldn't I ?"
Yes, you could use an adaptor (as above), but you would want to use a tweeter.
The RCF N280 had a 0.707 throat, and would screw on to your horn. It has a similar phenolic construction (doesn't ring), radial ribs moulded in (similar to a JBL 2450), and a better phase plug than the Atlas.
What kind of tweeter is good down to a 5kHz crossover, with sensitivity to match?
I liked the little Goto I heard in an Audionautes monitor recently. Unfortunately $$$.
and keep the phenolic diaphragm .
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