New Rectilinear III Highboys vs my beloved Polk Monitor 10s....

msg1975

Active Member
I'm not sure how it happened, but I somehow developed into a bit of a Polk fan. Among the 20 something sets of speakers I have around the house or in storage, most are Polk with some Wharfadale, Cambridge Soundworks, McIntosh, and a few other mixed in. Plus many other brands that moved both ways over my threshold over the years...

One of my favorite sets is my Polk Monitor 10bs with fresh caps. I can listen to them all day...

A few years ago, I picked up a pair of Rectilinear Mini III bookshelfs with good bones and restored them. New caps, and a refinish of the beautiful walnut cabinets. They're some of the best bookshelf speakers I've ever listened to. When researching them, I read about their big brothers the Highboys. So I kept a lookout. They're pretty rare, and I hadn't seen any come my way locally on any of the typical resale sights....

But yesterday someone posted a pair on CL not too far from me and for not much money. Timing couldn't be worse. I'm between houses while the new (old) one is being renovated. And all my gear is in storage except my old Sony receiver from high school. But I figured, what could it hurt to go listen. .

As has happened so many times before, I couldn't say no. They are so natural sounding, with just the right mix of highs and lows for me. And they sound SO much nicer than my Polk Monitor 10s... Extremely clear, with a broad soundstage that is easy to visualize with your eyes closed. I played them with a variety of music from rock to jazz to classical and blues. They're keepers for sure! Literally, my new favorite speaker.

I recommend these speakers to anyone who stumbles across them. Well, unless you live in Austin, in which case they sound TERRIBLE.

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You have the early version with the small port and Jensen back mount woofer not CTS front mount woofer. Pre 71 I think. They all sound the same. Very good. Stock up on some spare drivers.
 
So, how on earth did Rec manage to make a speaker with the tweeters miles apart and yet mitigate comb filtering?

I love Recs, but every time I see a highboy, I think " how is that even possible?"
 
So, how on earth did Rec manage to make a speaker with the tweeters miles apart and yet mitigate comb filtering?

I love Recs, but every time I see a highboy, I think " how is that even possible?"

It's gotta be magic. I don't get it either.

Biggles
 
So, how on earth did Rec manage to make a speaker with the tweeters miles apart and yet mitigate comb filtering?

I love Recs, but every time I see a highboy, I think " how is that even possible?"
The first time I saw a pair without The grills I thought, "that ain't right."
 
Had lowboys long ago which also had drivers spread across wide expanses ...
Never heard them directly compared to the Highboys, but the Highboys that I heard in other systems sounded similar to the Lowboys ... well balanced, and easy to listen to.
The Lowboys didn't sound nearly as detailed or as neutral as the AR LST's that I replaced them with though ..
Unfortunately they're cursed with cone tweeters, all of which, in my experience sound great until they get spitty because they're being over-driven by complicated passages... everything's fine if you're only listening to easy slow acoustic pieces ..

Course they were half as expensive, and didn't require half the power that the AR's did either ..
 
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Ah, another Highboy fan is born. So very clear, accurate and precise, while being extremely pleasant to listen to.
 
Every time I see a Rectilinear thread, I miss my Highboys! I too am between houses, so most of my gear is in storage, including the highboys. The house we are renting comes with a pair of Avid 105's, which are kind of similar in some ways, with odd tweeter placement, but some days I just want my Recs! I have a personal relationship with them, since I pretty much brought them back from the dead.

Do your's have fresh capacitors? I thought mine sounded good before a recap, but new caps make a huge difference. It's a fairly painless procedure, and totally worth it.
 
I think a lot of people that moved on to better speakers would still have the Rec 111's somewhere in the house if they weren't so big. I will most likely store several pair of large speakers under the beds.
Some of these old speakers I just done want to give up. Maybe never will. The Rec 111 is one of them.
Rec 111, OLA, A40XL, 302a, W70D, KLH5, AR3a, CS99a …………...
 
The highboys create nice depth and a large soundstage, at least in my system. I reluctantly relegated them to backup as I picked up Vandy 2ces.
 
The highboys create nice depth and a large soundstage, at least in my system. I reluctantly relegated them to backup as I picked up Vandy 2ces.

I've got Vandersteen 2ce speakers as well as a recently acquired pair of Highboys. My sore back and general inertia have prevented me from lugging the Highboys up to the listening room. How do you compare the two? Should I risk the hernia to find out for myself?
 
I've got Vandersteen 2ce speakers as well as a recently acquired pair of Highboys. My sore back and general inertia have prevented me from lugging the Highboys up to the listening room. How do you compare the two? Should I risk the hernia to find out for myself?
Hehe - both sets need helper to move them! Definitely good speakers to have in your collection. An edge for detail goes to Vandy while rock and rolling are the Highboys. IMHO.
 
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