I plan to pay tribute to Jack Frazier and the Super Texan model by documenting some of it's history while simultaneously providing a centralized resource for information on this rare speaker. There is a F.U.G. (Frazier's User Group) that is quite active on Facebook. There is also a 200+ page FUG thread on the Klipsch forum. Unfortunately, both take hours of searching to find small bits of information pertaining to the Super Texan. If you own Frazier Super Texan's or have ever heard a pair, PLEASE email me. I would like to obtain as much information as possible from actual owners, past owners or those who enjoyed their sound. I want to pay special thanks to Todd Crane and John Daggett. Todd was the sales manager for Frazier from the early 1970’s until 1983, when Jack Frazier died and the company was sold. John worked in the woodworking plant and the electronics plant. Both men have been helpful in my research. This post will continue to evolve as I collect more information. I hope in the end, it is a good resource for the Super Texan aficionado.
The Super Texan, manufactured first as the “Texan” with an 8” woofer began around 1959. Later transitioning to a 12” woofer, it earned the “Super Texan” moniker. Made by a small group of craftsman in Dallas, Texas the Super Texan was a folded low frequency exponential horn with a Frazier F-333-300 medium throw high frequency exponential horn. The drivers installed were a Frazier F-1277 12" heavy duty woofer with 2-1/2" edgewound aluminum voice coil and 78 oz. ceramic magnet.
The F333 horn was fitted with a Frazier compression driver manufactured by Atlas.
Frazier noted frequency response of 35hz to 15,000hz with an efficiency of 105db!
The crossover frequency of the stock cabinets was 600hz with a 12db slope. The stock crossover of the Texan was a 2.25mh coil and 24uf capacitor. It is believed the same crossover values migrated to the Super Texan. The dimensions of the system are
36-5/8" x 33" x24" with a weight of 190 pounds each.
Super Texans were typically employed in Discos, night clubs, movie theaters, churches and auditoriums.
The Frazier Super Texan F1290 folded horn bass speaker was equipped with a 12" woofer.
The original woofer installed was a Frazier F-1277. However, many are found to have Electro-Voice (EV) woofers installed. These were special order when requested by the customer or often installed as replacements by their respective owners. (My pair had EVM 12S drivers) The horn path is 7.5 feet in length.
The F-333-300 exponential medium throw high frequency horn had a dispersion of 90 x 40 with a rated frequency response of 600-15000hz. The impedance of the compression driver was 16 ohms. Power handling was 30 watts continuous and a rated efficiency of 119db. Interesting note, the stock crossovers used a tapped resistor as opposed to a rotating L pad to attenuate the F-333.
The gentleman I purchased my pair from told me they came from the Cornerstone Church in Livonia, Michigan after it closed. He believes that is where they lived since new, but I have not been able to substantiate that. The seller elected to keep the EVM12L woofers that were installed. One horn had a missing compression driver and there were no crossovers installed.
The modified Frazier Super Texans are nearing completion.
The cabinets have a primer coat on them and are awaiting black paint. I will be building stands and possibly baffles for the midrange horns.
The midrange compression driver is the EV DH1A with ZXPC 10x18 horns. The bass bin is equipped with an EV12L woofer at the moment. Ciare 12” woofers are on order. I designed and built the passive crossovers, using measurements from my seating position and hours of listening tests with various components.
The soundstage is very large and the dynamics are excellent. The EV DH1A combined with the ZXPC horns are very smooth and among the smoothest horn combination I’ve heard.
These photos and Super Texan story were graciously shared by Bob…..
Here's my Frazier Super Texans story.
In 1987, I was hired by the Ryan Road Baptist Church in Warren, Michigan to be their youth pastor. The church had a "youth center" building next door to the main church building where the young people (teens) met. In the youth center, there was a great PA-based sound system, but the speakers were unlike anything I had ever seen.
For one thing, they were huge and heavy and hung from the ceiling joists by chains. For another, they didn't look like any speakers I had ever seen. They had horns on top, and openings along each side for the bass to come out (I would later learn what folded horns are). I didn't understand how they worked, or why they looked the way they did. I only knew they ROCKED. They could play deafeningly loud and had very clear sound, driven in mono by a sound board and a Peavey amp (model/power unknown).
I remember the church's lead audio tech telling me, "Those are really special speakers," but he didn't elaborate. I believe the Super Texans in our youth center were originally the main speakers for the church auditorium; and that they were handed down to the youth center after the church auditorium was redone with Bose 802's.
I would learn over thirty years later, thanks to the internet (including your blog) that those special speakers were in fact Frazier Super Texans. Ours did not have the logo sticker on the front of the cabinet like some I've seen; and they had two metal carrying handles on each side of each cabinet which I believe may have been added. Otherwise, I remember them as being quite stock in appearance and function, with the original horns on top and no modifications other than the handles.
The church sold that building in 1994. I have no idea what ever became of the speakers.
The church audio tech, who became a close friend of mine, passed away of brain cancer many years ago. I wish I could ask him more about those speakers.
I am attaching a picture of the stage end of the youth center, with the Super Texans clearly visible.
Regards,
Bob
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