Rectilinear III Woofer ID

[relaximus]

Picked up a pair of Rectilinear III's from a friend this past weekend. The walnut cabs and grills are in very nice shape, but the woofers seem wrong (possible replacements?). They have what's left of an inverted roll, foam surround. I'm unable to find an EIA code anywhere on the basket. There are numbers on the magnet and cone. Can anyone identify this woofer?

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=312232&d=1321838141

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=312233&d=1321838141

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=312234&d=1321838141

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=312235&d=1321838141

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=312236&d=1321838141

Cheers!

[Njord Noatun]

I think one needs to be a logged in AK member to access your photos, Relaximus. Seeing as many of us are not members there, I would recommend you upload the photos to the TH server so we can all see them.

And welcome to TH!

[relaximus]

I think one needs to be a logged in AK member to access your photos, Relaximus. Seeing as many of us are not members there, I would recommend you upload the photos to the TH server so we can all see them.

And welcome to TH!
Thanks Njord! Let's see if this works a little better.

http://www.tapeheads.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=24716&d=1321957218

http://www.tapeheads.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=24717&d=1321957218

http://www.tapeheads.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=24718&d=1321957218

http://www.tapeheads.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=24719&d=1321957218

http://www.tapeheads.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=24720&d=1321957218

[relaximus]

Okay, perhaps, mystery solved! With a little digging through Njord's site, I found this picture of a woofer from the infamous Rectilinear IIIa.

http://www.tapeheads.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=24731&d=1321997383

http://www.tapeheads.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=24732&d=1321997383

So what I have appears to be a v2 or v3 Rectilinear III (beveled-edge walnut cabinets, round Peerless tweeters/supertweeters, Philips "whizzer" cone mids and later woofers. They also have the brown/orange grills with plastic grill badges. Transitional model? Below are pics of my connection cup, mid and tweeters.

http://www.tapeheads.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=24733&d=1321997972

http://www.tapeheads.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=24734&d=1321997972

http://www.tapeheads.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=24735&d=1321997972

http://www.tapeheads.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=24736&d=1321997972

[Njord Noatun]

Rectilinear went through various iterations of the drivers they put into their IIIs; their longest lasting speaker model. Notably, both a CTS and a Jensen woofer was used. I can't tell from where I am if you have any of these two, but the square magnet does not "ring a bell", and I believe that the woofer came both in a paper surround and a black foam surround. So is it not possible that yours is the black foam version that has been refoamed at some point? Again, I need to check on the square magnet, as they do not jump out at me as the right kind. The basket, however, does look right.

It is possible that yours is a transitionary model - you really don't know; there is precious little info available - except that the driver choices were in constant transition!

If they were my speakers that I wanted to keep I would probably look for the version with the paper surround (CTS, I think from memory) as refoaming then would become a thing of the past.

[relaximus]

... If they were my speakers that I wanted to keep I would probably look for the version with the paper surround (CTS, I think from memory) as refoaming then would become a thing of the past.
Njord:

Indeed, that is my plan. As I intend to keep these, I will refoam the current woofers for use until I can obtain those with cloth (either half-roll or pleated) surrounds. Until then, I will re-cap these and enjoy them! The cabinets and grills are in truly wonderful condition. I'll post some better pics once I get them cleaned up a bit.

Dave

[Njord Noatun]

Thanks for the correction - cloth, not paper.

Refoaming the current ones is a good plan, so that you can enjoy the speakers right away! When you find the "right" woofer, swap out against the foam ones, which will carry some eBay (etc.) value.

[relaximus]

Success! I've found a pair of the proper CTS woofers locally. They look identical to these:

http://www.tapeheads.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=24825&d=1322160725

Dave

[Njord Noatun]

They sure look like the right ones - now go enjoy them! In my experience they spring to life when fed by a higher output amp.

[relaximus]

Njord:

Here are pics of the actual woofers I got. I plan on shaving off the mounting gasket as these will be flush-mounted to the front of the baffle:

http://www.tapeheads.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=24829&d=1322167177

http://www.tapeheads.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=24830&d=1322167177

As for a power source, I'll be driving them with a Kenwood Nine G in my office.

http://www.tapeheads.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=24831&d=1322167177

Njord: Thanks to you for your wonderful database resource. Without it, I would not have even known that my R-III's had the wrong woofers!

Cheers!
Dave

[Njord Noatun]

There is a driver replacement guide in the DB, I think from 1976, and it may be that the drivers that were in yours were "correct equivalent" replacements during the post-Highboy era, when it had been superceded by IIIa.

[relaximus]

Picked up the woofers and got them installed today. Man, do these things sound sweet! Next up is to order new caps for the x-overs and put these into rotation.

http://www.tapeheads.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=24834&d=1322262357

Dave

[Njord Noatun]

Looking good! The cabs look a little darker than I'm used to - perhaps they have had a stained oil at some point. Or it could just be the lighting in the photo.

Do the x-over caps have values on them? If so, would you mind posting them for others looking to recap their Highboys?

[relaximus]

The pic in my first post of this thread is a better representation of the actual color of the cabs. I've only put the woofers in temporarily to test them, I'm going to pull them tomorrow to try and get the cap values. I'll take a pic of the x-over while I'm in there. I am truly amazed at just how good these sound already! I'm also going to change the grill attachment from brads/nails to velcro.

Dave

[relaximus]

I must say, these Rectilinears are really quite something. How something with a, seemingly, haphazard splaying of assorted drivers can sound and image this well is quite astonishing. To say that I am impressed would be a gross understatement! I am in love with the midrange presented by these Philips mids. Just luscious and enveloping. Not too forward, just "right". And the lower octaves pumped out by these woofers is just to die for. I can't discern any "chuffing" from the reflex ports; just deep, authoritative bass that rattles the walls. How they managed to get bass like this from a 12" driver is beyond me. And the Peerless tweeters are very sweet. A bit rolled-off in an "East-Coast" fashion, but there with an almost soft-dome like quality that I could listen to for hours without fatigue. All-in-all, an extremely surprising and supremely enjoyable loudspeaker system. My first taste of Rectilinear is one I plan to enjoy for many hours to come. These are keepers for sure!

More to come after a recap, but for now I am just enjoying.

Dave

[relaximus]

Grill in place.

http://www.tapeheads.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=24841&d=1322317656

Dave

[Njord Noatun]

Looking good - the original stapled grill was a PITA.

A lot of speakers have come and gone at my place, but the Highboys are here to stay: One can listen to them forever without any fatigue.

They may not be the most sought after or collectible speaker in the world, but there is no doubt they are the best-sounding speaker around -- to my ears!

*Hi5*

[Warped Bezel]

Njord:

As for a power source, I'll be driving them with a Kenwood Nine G in my office.

http://www.tapeheads.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=24831&d=1322167177

Njord: Thanks to you for your wonderful database resource. Without it, I would not have even known that my R-III's had the wrong woofers!

Cheers!
Dave

Those are wonderful but I'm still drooling over the STR-xx00 receiver from 1976 to the left. Esto mejor Audiodelicioso ummmm, muy sabor!*bigthumbup*

[relaximus]

That's an STR-6800SD that I had custom-made, solid walnut side panels crafted for. It's a nice piece.

http://www.tapeheads.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=24904&d=1322350840

http://www.tapeheads.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=24905&d=1322350840

http://www.tapeheads.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=24906&d=1322350840

Dave

[relaximus]

If you like older Sony's, you might like this one as well. An STR-7045. I actually prefer the sonics of this over the 6800SD.

http://www.tapeheads.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=24907&d=1322351138

http://www.tapeheads.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=24908&d=1322351138

Dave