Vintage 1967 Built In High End Home Hi Fi

So, are you considering a vint sys as well as a TV sys?

From what I've experienced/read, people tend to get carried away with want they want NOW, then have to pay the price down the road.

Y'all thinking proactively, which is good! I know that yer torn with what you got and want you want...but got to decide on the two worlds.

Keep us updated. I gotta sleep some time...wondering about all these suppositions!:)

Q
 
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Welcome!!! Cool find of a house, and equally cool find with the built-in electronics. I think you are on the right track cutting out the front baffles and installing modern wall-mount speakers in/over the existing cabinets to keep the "retro" look. I don't know what current market value is, but those cast aluminum Frazier horns (especially since you have 12 of them) should be worth a decent buck to contribute to your upgrade fund. They're not Altecs, but they still should command decent money on the open market.

I too have a rather unique home--the main part of the house is an ~200 year old farmhouse (it has been added onto over the years), but I have kept a lot of the exposed brick, exposed rough-cut beams, and traditional barn floor in the main portion. It can be a "labor of love" to retain that "originality", but it is worth it IMO.

Good Luck!!!
 
Djcoolray said:
Sounds like inheriting someone else's headache....

But I'd go up into the attic and learn the construction process. City hall probably has the blueprints that were submitted when the improvements were made. Then replace them with modern.... I wouldn't butcher up a custom home !!
Click to expand...

Flat room - I believe the image the OP posted implies there is no attic - MCM design.
I think the solution is cut a hole around the box and get the box out of the ceiling,
then replace the hole with a solid sheetrock, and after you fix them, put the speakers elsewhere.
 
Well, by a wild chance of events or a case of serendipity, I have located what I hope is a perfect solution to a replacement for the Frazier 6.5" woofer.

Needing to cut about a 2" X 2" inch square out of the Frazier cabinet face to remove the woofer made me cringe. But it was not going to come out any other way. Then this morning in the shower (where I do my best thinking) I realized if I had a woofer replacement I could attach to the outside of the cabinet I would not need to cut the cabinet or the ceiling at all. After removing the tweeter I have enough room to unbolt the old speaker and cut the wires. So instead of cutting the cabinet I can either cut or bend the the old speaker to remove it, or just screw the old speaker to the back of the cabinet to get it out of the way.

Then at lunch while checking my email I saw a banner ad from a guitar shop selling portable amp replacement speakers. I had been searching the web for a potential woofer replacement and had come out empty handed. My searches centered on home stereo woofer replacements and found only high power (100 watt) replacements for modern speakers. Turns out however there is a market out there for low power, high efficiency replacement speakers for vintage portable guitar tube amps! Eminence Speakers manufactures a 20 watt 6.5" woofer with good specs that may be a perfect replacement . Plus it is made in the USA. Check out the Eminence 620H specs a : https://www.eminence.com/pdf/620H.pdf

I plan to join the Klipsch Frazier forum to ask this question also. But can any of the AK gurus take a look at the specs for the Eminence 620H and give me guidance? The best I can determine the Frazier horn tweeter gets flat between 5K and 20K. The capacitor is 3.0 MFD 50 VDC.

For 12 speakers cabinets at $54 a woofer and 1 hour to install versus $170 and 3 hours to install (and a lot of dust) I like really this solution. Maybe the performance will not be as perfect as a with a metal ceramic woofer with a Ti dome tweeter. But for background music in rooms it should hopefully sound pretty good. Plus it will be as close to a 1967 high end Hi Fi as possible.
 
Thanks Katalyst,

I saw those, and the price is great. But I couldn't find a detailed spec for the cheaper Chinese version. I may pick up a couple just to compare if the USA made unit specs prove compatible.
 
Seems to me that the Eminence 620H woofers you are looking at have a usable range down to only 100hz which is not going to give you much bass response at all. The sensitivity appears to be decent at 94.6db.

Sorry I don't have a woofer recommendation for you but I hope you get it all sorted out. As you mentioned, after getting the old woofer basket out, I'd mount the new woofer from the front for future removal. I'd use T nuts installed from the backside so as not to tear the wood up near as much. Something similar to the link below with the appropriate screws to match the threads.

T-Nuts

Welcome to AK and I wish you the best of luck.
 
SPL db said:
Seems to me that the Eminence 620H woofers you are looking at have a usable range down to only 100hz which is not going to give you much bass response at all. The sensitivity appears to be decent at 94.6db.

Sorry I don't have a woofer recommendation for you but I hope you get it all sorted out. As you mentioned, after getting the old woofer basket out, I'd mount the new woofer from the front for future removal. I'd use T nuts installed from the backside so as not to tear the wood up near as much. Something similar to the link below with the appropriate screws to match the threads.

T-Nuts

Welcome to AK and I wish you the best of luck.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestions SPL. One thing to remember about the numbers on the 620H spec sheet is that they are for a speaker with no cabinet. Once installed in a cabinet I hope the bass at 3 db will be extended down closer to 50 hz. Not modern high end speaker performance, but most likely a better than original bass performance.
 
Flashback67 said:
Thanks for the suggestions SPL. One thing to remember about the numbers on the 620H spec sheet is that they are for a speaker with no cabinet. Once installed in a cabinet I hope the bass at 3 db will be extended down closer to 50 hz. Not modern high end speaker performance, but most likely a better than original bass performance.
Click to expand...

I was wondering if that might be the case. When you get closer to purchase time, I'd order two (assuming there are two boxes per room) and try a pair out before ordering the the entire lot.

Course, I'm sure you have more than thought of this already... ;) :thumbsup:
 
SPL db said:
I was wondering if that might be the case. When you get closer to purchase time, I'd order two (assuming there are two boxes per room) and try a pair out before ordering the the entire lot.

Course, I'm sure you have more than thought of this already... ;) :thumbsup:
Click to expand...
Actually there is a Guitar Center shop not far from me that may have them in stock. To busy with work however to stop by. I have this Friday off and may get a chance to pick 2 up (stereo in every room).

Posted the question to the Klipsch Frazier forum late last night.
 
luckyed said:
Welcome. Nice find with the speakers. Good luck finding replacements.
Click to expand...
Flashback67 2[/paste:font]
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Posted 6 minutes ago ·

Well along with the woofers it looks like I will be replacing some tweeters. As shown in the photo the tweeters are the black bell type with alnico magnetics. The tweeters are blown in at least 2 of 12 tweeters, and there are at least a couple more.

Knowing that there is a lot of common driver parts between Vintsge speakers I am posting my questions here and in the Klipsch Frazier site.

Checking the internet I cannot find any diaphragm replacement kits. Are there any available?

Next option is I have found some 5 X 7 Frazier replacement tweeter assemblies at a decent price, but the magnetic arrangement is different. Instead of the tall small diameter alnico style magnet under a plastic cup, it has a short large diameter magnetic and no cup. The tweeters are marked on the back with:

Frazier

F-3x7

N4850-F

114850-F

U.S.PAT.

3,898,393

Are these equivalent specs? And what are the differences?

Thanks in advance
 
My internet searches for adequate replacements has been coming up with more questions than answers.

But by luck or good fortune I may have found the light at the end of the tunnel. Today I meet with a retired aerospace engineer to buy 10 later model replacement Frazier tweeters. When I showed the man my old Frazier Alnico tweeter I brought for comparison, he said "Why don't you restore these? I can get the parts." He is also is pretty confident he can recone my woofers. His quote is also with in my pain tolerance.

So that hat is now the plan. Tomorrow I start pulling out speakers. And I now feel I can remove the old woofers with a much smaller cut in the cabinet face.
 
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