mark fader

That is a good point. Today’s electronics, the good stuff anyway, does sound better than ever before.

I don’t change the way the music sounds. I change the system to allow the music to be heard the way it is supposed to. If you set set up a stereo in a room and play music you are at the mercy of those. You need some sort of reference. Pink noise with an rta and a calibrated mic allow you to reference the system using the eq’s. That being said - reference is different than preference but , you are starting out with a baseline / a comparison / a reference. Now that the system is set to reference you can tweak it a bit to taste and find a nice balance for all the different music you want to listen to. If you need to make a on the fly adjustment just use the tone controls on the receiver. As stated above, there is no perfect setup given all the variables but to me you have to have control to deal with all those variables and work around them. In my opinion, that allows the music to be reproduced as close to the way the sound tech / artist wanted it to sound. That is my reasoning as to these guys who rip the way music sounds from one pressing to another or the difference between digital and analog. They base there findings on their stereo. Well who says their stereo is set up correctly ? Are they even hearing it as it was intended ? It’s impossible to reproduce the music on any system as it sounded in the recording studio or live. Having a referenced system has to be closer than not having a referenced system. You can only do that with eq’s. Of of course all of this is my opinion based on my experience. I don’t want this to come across as I’m right and any who disagree are wrong. That’s not what this is about. I’m just sharing my thoughts.

I don’t tinker. Once I set the eq I pretty much leave it. For about a week or so I may fiddle with the eq to adjust it to my taste. when I first set the eq the tone controls on the receiver are set to zero. I use those to make on the fly adjustments. I want to enjoy listening to the music not be distracted by over tweaking or be to absorbed by constantly making silly little adjustments. No system is perfect because there are just to many variables. Even if you did get it close to perfect as possible , play the next song and start all over. No thanks. All that zaps the enjoyment right out of it. At least for me anyway.

Some just love their toys and turn it into a science by making decisions based on graphs and algorithms and theory and base there conclusions on what other people say in books and such. And there is some truth to doing it that way. But I am finding more and more who don’t even know what they like or what they want because they are listening to others more than themselves . for some reason they feel wrong if they disagree or go a different direction even if they like it. So to all those who want to reference Klipsch and villchur as absolute and choose to base your conclusions on that point of view , that’s ok. As for me , I’ll set mine up as I like it based on my taste because in this situation my opinion is the only one that matters.

Here is the kitchen sink that was left out : I did several mic placements and let the software get me a curve. But software can only do so much. My ears are the final “ word “ and my eq’s will never be put in the garage.

As far as the sub stuff , those eq’s are just used as low pass filters. The amp has sub crossover but I wanted a bit more control so I added the eq’s.

As far as” pink noise “- I have a rta that produces pink noise. I run the pink noise into an input on the receiver. Then I “balance the room” or “ flatten the spectrum “ with the eq’s as I watch the rta. This gives me a reference. From there I will adjust by ear / taste to get what sounds good to me. Nothing against dsp but I just like good ole fashion knobs and faders. But I see these guys on the internet who claim to be audio files but only have a turntable into an amp and then to speakers. No control whatsoever over tone. They are relying completely on the sound of their equipment and room to reproduce the music. Then they are the ones who claim they have the right sound. But take their same setup to another room and it will sound different because they are at mercy of the equipment and room. However , a few eq’s and some rta and most of the difference / issues can be helped. At at least that is the way I see it. So that is my reasoning for the two 31 band eq’s.

i did . its in the " 2 channel home audio " topic area . " are equalizers still relevant ? "

Just curious as to what people think. My set is : pioneer sx1050 with Frazier model 7 speakers. I use two Yamaha 31 band eq ( one for each channel ). I run pink noise Thur the system and balanced the system with the eq’s. At this point the system is flat. Then I tweak to preference using the bass and treble controls as needed. Maybe even tweak the eq a bit for taste. But I don’t see anybody else doing this. Btw - the rane eq’s are for sub and I use them basically as crossovers. Just wanting to explore this topic topic and see what people think.

Curious ?.?. Nobody has commented on my 31 band eq’s and how I run them. Thought I would’ve heard all kinds of comments. Maybe I should start a new thread and see what people have to say ?

I like your cabinets ( dixielanders ). As long as the speakers are still Fraziers I would rather have your new wood cabinets. I know , I know , it’s not original but it looks better and is solid and you have the same original sound. To me that’s the best of both worlds. Nicely done. The texans look like a crazy project. But it looks like you are up for the task. Have fun !

The top 2 eq’s are 31 band Yamaha which are super clean. 1 is left channel and the other is right channel. They are between preamp and power amp of the receiver. I ran pink noise thru the system and balanced it with a real time analyzer. The tone controls on the receiver are set to “zero” while this is being done. Once the system is balanced , if a song needs a little adjustment I can do it right there on the receiver. The other 2 are dual 15 band rane eq’s. These are for sub only. The mackie amp on the very bottom is my sub amp and it has a sub crossover in it and I use that but to isolate the lows more I use the ranes. All of it works real good and to me it sounds great and I have lots of control over it. Yes the tt is a jvc ql-f4 . Good eye. Yes it does sound good. Better than I expected and I was impressed so I got one. Works real good to. I can’t go back to a manual tt ever again. Auto is real nice. Many have never even heard of Frazier but I see them here and there. But you have to know what to look for because if it needs work , replacement parts are unavailable. Keep looking and be willing to make the drive and you will find them. Thanks for checking it out !!

Pic 4

Pic 3

Pic 2

Here are some pics of the finished setup. Pic 1

I know it’s been awhile just because life got a little busy but I did get around to finally getting my set up all back together. To recap - I have Frazier model 7 cabinets, pioneer sx1050 receiver. The Frazier’s got a recap and Lpads ( to replace the pots ). the pioneer got the relay replaced and a good cleaning. This is the same set up I have been listening to for years. I didn’t do an a/b comparison but according to my ears everything sounds the same. The mid/ high started out sounding a little flat but after awhile they brighten up. So... I can’t complain. As far as I’m concerned nothing has changed and I hope to have many hours of happy listening in the future. Thanks for all your input over the weeks !!

Good point and makes sense. What mods do you suggest for the tweeters ? So Frazier used pots on mine. Then pads later ? pads can handle the power better. Even though a wirewound pot is the toughest of the pots , mine still got bad spots. I think they went bad because I never moved them and I play music loud sometimes. The pot finally burnt out. After all its only a 2 watt pot. Maybe the change was because the pads can handle the power. Frazier had a 5 year warranty. Maybe he got tired of replacing pots and started using pads ?

As you said...( referring to my above post ) as with anything, especially something this old , and where tech has got better , there is room for improvement. But that’s why someone would go out and buy the new stuff. The reason to keep it stock is to keep the original sound . If there is a need to tweak the hz a bit , there are eq’s that can be used , and the L-pads to knock the mids and highs down a bit if needed.

Talk as much as you want. And anybody else for that matter. I want to hear all of your thoughts. But as far as the the pics go from the other guy on the other site with the original L-pads , what is the difference between his cabinets and mine at this point ? His tweeters , mids , crossover , woofer , l-pads , wiring , are stock. So I should be ok. At least by Frazier’s original standards anyway.

Yea that’s the link. My wiring is even the same as his. Even the same caps( uf value ).

Maybe this is it : https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/frazier-model-7-images.811090/

You are right. that’s original wiring. My top post has an original pic and a post pick. I don’t know why it’s that way but it was the same on both cabinets. I just copied what was there. I looked and looked at that and although it is out of phase it is how Frazier wired it up. I even confirmed that to another website post with pictures. His were just like mine except his had L-pads not pots. He says the pads are original. If I can find the link I’ll post it.

On the other site ( audiokarma ) there is a guy named snade. Who was in the same situation as me. He had the same pots and couldn’t find a replacement. He went with the l-pads and he claims that he can’t hear any difference. Others on the site who have heard them say the same thing. His reasoning was that other sevens he saw had l-pads. I would love to stay stock , but if I can’t I’m leaning towards the pads because that makes sense to me. I’ll let my ears decide once I try the other set ups out.

I agree with all of you because I don’t know enough about the specifics to disagree. I’m out of town the next few days so I won’t be able to try any different set ups but once I get back I’ll see what I can do. Once I do I’ll post the results. In the meantime I’ll get some pots and resistors and work on the idea above. If I hear anything from Honeywell I’ll post it. Thanks you guys. Any others are free to chime in. I want to hear it all.