RSC Santa Maria speakers

Claytron

New Member
Just got a set of RSC Columbus series Santa Maria speakers given to me by a customer.. any one have any info on these?
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Made in Canada. All the drivers are connected to the front baffle. You just unscrew the baffle to get at them. Very well-made cabinets. Nice, warm sound. Not a sparkling high end because of the cone tweeters, but they should mate nicely with tubes. Decent but not excellent bass, which is surprising given the 12 in. woofers and acoustic suspension enclosures. I had a pair for a couple years, but parted them out. Only the woofers remain. I would re-cap them, since they are about 30 or so years old.
 
I've never seen heard them, but from a 1972 advertisement, looks like they were the top of a 3 speaker line. Made in Toronto.
"At no additional cost, with a Santa Maria Speaker you receive 3 pleated grille cloths; El Toro Brown, Spanish Gold and Matador Red..."
 
This is not the santa maria 2. its the santa maria 1. looks the same only the speakers mount in front of the baffle not behind and there is a wood border around the cabinet face. id post pics if i could. ?
 
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Any one know a $ value?
Not all that valuable as they are rather obscure speakers. Radio Speakers of Canada has been around a long time and made all types of quality speakers, including some huge corner horns along the lines of a Klipschorn. I had a chance at getting a pair for free, but they were just too big for my taste. RSC also made all their own drivers. A shame they are not more appreciated.
 
They were part of the Columbus Series. I owned a pair of Pinta 2's back in the early 70's. Liked them alot and the cabinets were very well built.
 

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Hey I got two pairs of Santa MAria II and a pair of Santa MAria I... I also restored bout six sets of them for a shop here in Quebec. Those speakers are the HOTTEST right now in the vintage market for those looking for that specific round and warm sound that is typical of the 70's. They are awesome with low powered amps... I find that pioneer is the best for them... Lot of guys here are waiting for a set to appear on the market... They are pretty rare since people tend to keep em... ENJOY :banana:
 
Santa Maria 2 Speakers

The RSC Santa Maria 2 are simply outstanding speakers. Have A/B'd against Acoustic research model 11, 2AX and 3A, Pioneer HPM's including the 100, large advent, klh 6, ADS, rectilinear, numerous JBL bookshelfs/ montitors and epi 200 and the Santa Maria's are in most cases far superior. I can tell that most people who have commented on them have never owned or even heard them. The best bass of any vintage I have ever heard, mids are clear and accurate and better tweeter response than any of my vintage domes including EPI inverted, kef T27, JBL 035TI or any of the AR domes even though they are cones. If I was only allowed to own three pairs of hifi speakers this would be one of them, without question.
 
Old thread I know...
But I just picked up a pair of RSC Columbus Nina II's.
Appear all original. Any info would be great.

Thanks
 
Oh shite, I totally forgot about this thread.

I was trying to figure out an asking price for my speakers, now that I have perfectly functioning Large Advents. Maybe I should hold on to them?? The cabs are a tad rough, and the surrounds are really soft. I'm surprised they lasted this long. They do indeed have a ton of bass for such a small speaker. Maybe I'll call them bookshelf speakers and keep them, I've two other sets of vintage speakers I can get rid of instead.

Any known specs? I'm, mostly interested in sensitivity, I run tubes.
 
They seem to sell in the $150 range on CAM. I had the Columbus model and loved them. Later sold for $200. They were a Toronto based company and seem to have a following in that area, IIRC. Never listened to mine with tubes. Could not find specs for mine, either. I think these speakers are really good and a bit of a sleeper.
 
I think I've run mine on my maggie tube amp, but only to test it while working on the amp. I actually have another pair of obscure Canadian speaks, can't recall the name, but I remember reading how the company offered speaker kits. Heavy cabs for such small speakers. I don't think I've ever hooked them up come to think of it.
 
Santa Maria 2 Speakers

The RSC Santa Maria 2 are simply outstanding speakers. Have A/B'd against Acoustic research model 11, 2AX and 3A, Pioneer HPM's including the 100, large advent, klh 6, ADS, rectilinear, numerous JBL bookshelfs/ montitors and epi 200 and the Santa Maria's are in most cases far superior. I can tell that most people who have commented on them have never owned or even heard them. The best bass of any vintage I have ever heard, mids are clear and accurate and better tweeter response than any of my vintage domes including EPI inverted, kef T27, JBL 035TI or any of the AR domes even though they are cones. If I was only allowed to own three pairs of hifi speakers this would be one of them, without question.
The tweeters in this speaker line remind me of the original Winslow Burhoe tweeters used in the AR4x.
 
I just got pair of these rare speakers man do they sound good I prefer them over my JBL 4311’s. I used a variety of amps from a 40 watt NAD to an Acurus A250 and a Technics SA-700, I’m impressed with their sound, they used to call the JBL L100 clones or a poor man’s JBL, and they are not imho
 
I just got pair of these rare speakers man do they sound good I prefer them over my JBL 4311’s. I used a variety of amps from a 40 watt NAD to an Acurus A250 and a Technics SA-700, I’m impressed with their sound, they used to call the JBL L100 clones or a poor man’s JBL, and they are not imho
I just picked up a used pair with a bad tweeter on at least one side. Is there a recommended replacement for all tweeters out there? I'm wondering what others have used successfully. The bass sounds great, the midrange I'm not so sure about, but I have to get past the tweeter before I can judge accurately. Once they're working, I'll refinish and have a pretty sweet set of speakers.
 
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