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How good are Rectilinear III Highboys ...REALLY?

TomD62 said:
And since it has provisions for three sets of speakers, I felt obliged.
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Must be why I have extra speakers stuffed into corners in the sound room. My amps only have one speaker output. The other speakers have to wait their turn. But this gives me the chance to put the main set in the right spot each time I rotate speakers. But that is a bit of work, not like just selecting speaker B.
 
As to the Rectilinear III, these were very well reviewed back in the day. I briefly considered them but they were more expensive than what I ended up with (Acoustic Research AR-5) and were much bigger. Not a great speaker for someone that was moving a lot back then and having to haul all my stuff.

There are reviews of the lowboy in a few of the magazines over on www.worldradiohistory.com.
 
Blue Shadow said:
And a set of lowboys shows up on PHL CL.
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Those have been on CL for a year or so. The original version of the ad mentioned that one of the mids wasn't working. The price recently went down $100 and the line about the nonfunctioning mid driver disappeared. Proceed with caution.
 
biscuitdough said:
Those have been on CL for a year or so. The original version of the ad mentioned that one of the mids wasn't working. The price recently went down $100 and the line about the nonfunctioning mid driver disappeared. Proceed with caution.
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I paid $100 for my pair of Highboys without hearing them. The mid pots were frozen / burnt and the mid drivers were toast. Replaced pots, recapped, and installed some NOS Philips AD5061M8 mids. New fabric installed and refinished the cabinets and now they sound great. Probably have around $300 into them complete. I like a good project when I am not in a rush.

If you can get them for a good price and don't mind doing some work, you will be rewarded. There is a pair of Lowboys on the Western MA CL for $250 but the mids don't look original.
 
TomD62 said:
I paid $100 for my pair of Highboys without hearing them. The mid pots were frozen / burnt and the mid drivers were toast. Replaced pots, recapped, and installed some NOS Philips AD5061M8 mids. New fabric installed and refinished the cabinets and now they sound great. Probably have around $300 into them complete. I like a good project when I am not in a rush.

If you can get them for a good price and don't mind doing some work, you will be rewarded. There is a pair of Lowboys on the Western MA CL for $250 but the mids don't look original.
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$250 speakers
$130 NOS pair of mids or $50 salvaged single mid, depending on how "right" you want to do this
$? caps, L-pads

To be fair, these cabinets might not even need refinishing.
 
biscuitdough said:
$250 speakers
$130 NOS pair of mids or $50 salvaged single mid, depending on how "right" you want to do this
$? caps, L-pads

To be fair, these cabinets might not even need refinishing.
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I think I would try to get the price down a little, at least 150 - 200 range. I did not review the CL ad to determine the overall condition though.
 
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TomD62 said:
Just finished the restoration of some Rectilinear III's (aka Highboys). Recapped, new 30 ohm potentiometers (couldn't find 32 ohm pots), new old stock mids, new cloth, and sanded the cabinets and applied three coats of Tung oil. Added them to the Rectilinear XII's and Forte IV's connected to a SX-939.
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Those turned out beautiful. Did you have to refurbish the cabinets at all and did they already have perfect grills on them? My grills are shot. where did you get those stands for the XII's?
 
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Rectilinear1 said:
Those turned out beautiful. Did you have to refurbish the cabinets at all and did they already have perfect grills on them? My grills are shot. where did you get those stands for the XII's?
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Both the XII's and the Highboys had the cabinets sanded with 150, 220, 300, then 400 grit sandpaper and three coats of Tung oil applied. Original veneer. The fabric was replaced with black from Parts Express as the originals were not in good shape and I don't miss the orange either. The cloth looked and felt like curtains from your grandmother's house. The grills on the XII's are held in place by 6 magnets; the Highboys I used Velcro.

I made the stands for the XII's out of oak and applied three coats of Tung oil as well. I built them so the tweeter is near ear level and tilted back 5 degrees..
 
Great work on those stands buddy, that's some fine craftsmanship there. I like how they all sit at the same height. Do you play all of them at once or do you rotate speakers?
 
Rectilinear1 said:
Great work on those stands buddy, that's some fine craftsmanship there. I like how they all sit at the same height. Do you play all of them at once or do you rotate speakers?
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The Pioneer SX-939 has connection for three sets of speakers, but only two can output at the same time as the impedance would be too low. I mix and match as the two sets of Rectilinears were just completed.
 
Those do look great, good job @TomD62 - the ones in the CL ad still have pretty nice looking grilles and veneer. I would be tempted to just spot clean the grilles if I got them. Very 60s retro, and more "midcentury modest" than modern. No room at the inn, though.
 
That looks like it would be a nice little winter garage project. I like the look of the butcher block style component rack. That'll be a fun one. not to mention the loads of fun you'll have rewiring everything. :)
 
I picked up a set of these on marketplace for 40 dollars in very good to excellent condition with no damage to any of the drivers. The style I have are the first cabinet version (low and wide) and I need to hook them up to one of my systems. I did look at the magazine test listed above and may take the front off to see what if any damping materials are inside. I will also recap the crossover since they are at least 50 yr old caps installed along with cleaning the rear controls to eliminate any poor contact points of any oxidation.
 
40 dollars is a steal. I just picked up another pair of Highboys for $100 from a guy who purchased them from the original owner but didn't use them and stored them for 10 years. I was not able to listen to them, but everything looks in great shape. Hope to run some music through them soon to determine overall condition. Cabinets are really nice. A recap and new cloth are a must.
 
TomD62 said:
Just finished the restoration of some Rectilinear III's (aka Highboys). Recapped, new 30 ohm potentiometers (couldn't find 32 ohm pots), new old stock mids, new cloth, and sanded the cabinets and applied three coats of Tung oil. Added them to the Rectilinear XII's and Forte IV's connected to a SX-939.
View attachment 2681849
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Where did you find those 32 ohm pots? I have just snagged a pair of lowboys, and I might need to replace mine.
Thanks, and the speakers look really nice:)
 
Love my Rectilinear III Highboys. They are playing quite nicely with Sansui 5000a for a simple vintage rig in the living room. Would love to try them out with my 8080 but it won’t fit in the spot in the credenza where we have the 5000a placed. @kirk57 helped me sort out my pair many years ago after they were given to me by an aunt.
 
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