The Altec 420A speaker is unusual in that is was designed to cover both bass and midrange frequencies through an inner and outer cone section separated by a rubber gasket. Enough bass and the outer 15" cone section moves, but for midrange, the center section covers it well like a 6 or 8 inch midrange. I will stage for you to hear.
As Altec tells it:
This 38 cm special cone type full-range speaker unit was also used in the 879A Santa Ana.
The 420A is called a bi-flex speaker. It consists of a large cone and a 16 cm diameter cone with different stiffness integrated into a multi-dumped corrugation. This enables playback with less distortion from the ultra-low, mid-low and mid-range included in the program source.
Also, in the center of the cone, the dome radiator made of light alloy is in charge up to the upper limit of the high range.
The voice coil uses a 75 mm diameter voice coil with aluminum ribbon wire edgewise winding, and the magnetic circuit uses a 11,400 gauss, 4.9 kg internal magnetic type Alnico V.
Type 38 cm special cone type full-range speaker
Frequency characteristic 25 Hz to 14 kHz
Lowest resonance frequency 27Hz
Impedance 8 Ω
Rated input 25W
Allowable input 50W
Magnet used 4.9 kg Alnico V
Magnetic flux density 11,400gauss
Crossover frequency 1 kHz (Mechanical)
External dimensions Diameter 386x Depth 178 mm
Weight 7.9kg
To come see and hear, call or text John @ 847-915-022 thr e e