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Rectilinear Highboys and KLH MODEL TWENTY-THREEs In da House!

I have two pairs of Highboys. One is much lighter in color than the other; I think it's likely they spent most of their lives in a sunnier room. The literature I've seen from Rectilinear makes no mention of any finish other than oiled walnut.

http://sportsbil.com/stereo/rectilinear-db/

There are a few threads here on AK about recapping Highboys.
 
ra.ra said:
Sometimes it is rather difficult to determine an unknown wood species, but the only flavor I've ever seen on vintage Rectilinears is walnut. KLH's of similar era occasionally had blonde cabinets (birch?), but a very large majority of them were always walnut. The color and grain of American walnut can vary quite a bit, including almost blonde streaks, and I'd wager both pairs of yours are gorgeous walnut. I am most familiar with AR's, and their speakers produced in Europe sometimes used teak veneer as well as a walnut that I suspect was English walnut.

Your speakers are in great shape, so a good cleaning and several coats of Danish oil sounds like a very good prescription. For cleaning and prep, mineral spirits on a Scotch-brite pad or bronze wool would be my first thought.

Both pairs will benefit from new caps. For the R-III's, I'd suggest finding one of my favorite threads by AK member Dr. Biggles.
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I'm reading through the Dr. Biggles thread now, all 11 pages.

I always use mineral spirits and a Scotch-brite pad to clean wood before applying a finish. So, I have both here already.
 
MCM_Fan said:
Well, hello there 1967. You're looking mighty fine!

Look what followed me home tonight:
1967_1.jpg

1967_2.jpg

1967_3.jpg

1967_4.jpg

1967_5.jpg

Two pair of classic speakers in one night. Quite the haul. I bought the early Highboys from the original owner. The have beautiful teak cabinets and are in very clean, 100% original condition. The KLH Model TWENTY-THREEs aren't quite as pristine, but still pretty good considering the age. One of the woofers isn't working. I'll start looking into that this weekend.

I had to also include my 1967 Benjamin Miracord 50H (bought from the original owner last summer) in the photo with it's beautiful teak case. Only the Yamaha A-1000 integrated amp isn't period appropriate.

More to come...
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WOW... clean, neat, mid-century look. Just beautiful... nicely done.
 
I've just been using Dayton film caps in everything and have not been disappointed yet, although the rectilinears use a high value cap that was kind of pricey I don't see them going anywhere any time soon so I've accepted it and moved on. I even had glass cut to put on top of them so they wouldn't get marred by knickknacks I like them that much. I'd actually feel the same way about the twenty threes had I not found a pair of infinity rs-5bs for a price I won't Kenton for fear of causing anger :)
 
Also, if you don't want to spring for the pricy high uf film cap, you can do a lower value film, in parallel with a electrolytic. For my 60uf, I think I used a 10uf poly, with a 50uf electrolytic. The 10uf poly is way cheaper that the 60.
 
WillVT said:
Also, if you don't want to spring for the pricy high uf film cap, you can do a lower value film, in parallel with a electrolytic. For my 60uf, I think I used a 10uf poly, with a 50uf electrolytic. The 10uf poly is way cheaper that the 60.
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Thanks. I just finished reading your Highboy restoration thread. From the photos, I see the original Temple 60uF cap was only rated for 25V. I used Mundorf E-Cap NP electrolytics in my L-36 Decade restoration and am very pleased with the way they sound. They make a 56uF E-Cap that I could put in parallel with a 4uF film cap to get the desired 60uF value. The Mundorf is rated at 50V, twice as much as the original Temple. So, it should do the job.
 
ra.ra said:
Yep, Mundorf E-lytics....good choice. :thumbsup:
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I'm enjoying these Rectilinear Highboys so much, I hate to shut them down, but I have a 15% off coupon from Parts Connexion and I need to pop them open to see which version of the crossover I have.

The Model 23s are easy. I already pulled the bad woofer earlier today. As expected, it has the single Temple 4uF cap. I have that one nailed. I plan to use a 3.9uF Clarity Cap PX bypassed with a 0.1uF Vishay-Roderstein MKP-1837. An inexpensive, but in my experience, a very sweet sounding combo.

Crime_of_the_Century_Highboys.jpg

Boston.jpg
 
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MCM_Fan said:
The Highboys have metal furniture glides on the four corners of the risers. I'm not sure if those are original, or were placed there by the previous owner. Without any form of isolation between the speakers and the floors, vibrations are being transmitted from the speakers through the floor to the turntable. My first step to isolate this will be to replace the metal glides with strobothane bumpers. The feedback is only audible when cranking the volume to the Highboys. At normal listening levels it doesn't seem to be a problem. Still, I want to isolate it.
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I don't know if it was original either, but my Lowboys have what sounds like the same glides on them.
 
Great looking pairs there MCM. Congrats.
I'm with you as a MCM fan and collector, speakers from this era can be really gorgeous.

My bet with how light the highboys are is simply how they were taken care of all these years. Color at this point will really depend on the stuff that was used to clean and or oil them. Or if they were in a home with smoke etc.
 
MCM_Fan said:
I need to pop them open to see which version of the crossover
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A touch more work required, but for peace of mind, it's a good idea to inspect BOTH speaker's innards just to evaluate the entire situation before placing the parts order. It's doubtful that you'll not find identical cap values, but it is not unusual to find different cap brands. Vintage Rectilinear crossovers (or Advent or AR or.....) were sometimes a bit of a mash-up, and I have encountered slightly different resistor values within a "pair" of speakers. This could be an appropriate time to apply the carpenter's maxim: Measure twice, cut once.
 
ra.ra said:
A touch more work required, but for peace of mind, it's a good idea to inspect BOTH speaker's innards just to evaluate the entire situation before placing the parts order. It's doubtful that you'll not find identical cap values, but it is not unusual to find different cap brands. Vintage Rectilinear crossovers (or Advent or AR or.....) were sometimes a bit of a mash-up, and I have encountered slightly different resistor values within a "pair" of speakers. This could be an appropriate time to apply the carpenter's maxim: Measure twice, cut once.
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Ok, it looks like I need to pop off the grills so I can remove the front baffles to get at the crossovers. The grills have never been off. It's my understanding that they are nailed in place. Any tips for how to best go about removing them without risk of damage to either the grills or the cabinets?
 
MarZutra said:
I'd use something on the wider side, like a small painting spatula and gently work at them. Don't want to put any dents in the sides or damage the grill boards... They'll come off just be cautious... Good luck.
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Ok, thanks. I have a couple options. I have some wide putty knives, but they are metal. I'd prefer to use something plastic to minimize the risk of damage. In the past, I've used an old credit card to remove glued on grills, but I think these nailed on Highboy grills may be a little too stubborn for than method. I have a couple plastic painter spatulas I use for stripping furniture and I also have a set of plastic pry tools for removing the interior door trim in automobiles. I think I should be able to make those work and if I go slow, should (hopefully) not damage anything.
 
MarZutra said:
You should be golden. If I'm not mistaken they were small finishing nails that came out rather easily.. Good luck. The capping is an entirely different issue. My friend's ordering his from Huw at HUMAN speaker. I don't think he has the capacitors listed on his website but he does carry them.
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Depending on the cap values, I'll probably order them from Parts Connexion and/or Sonic Craft. I already have some 3.9uF ClarityCap PX series on hand from a previous order. I was planning on using those, bypassed with 0.1 uF Vishay-Roderstein MKP-1837s for the KLH Model 23s. That will give me both bypassing and the correct 4.0uF value.

Depending on what's in the Highboys, I'll probably use a Mundorf E-Cap for the large midrange cap and either a Sonicap Gen 1 or a ClarityCap PX, either bypassed with a 0.01uF 1837, for the tweeter cap. I already have the little 0.01uF Vishays on hand. I stocked up a while back when they were on sale.

The good thing is, between the two brands of speakers, they only have a total of 3 caps per crossovers (two the Highboys and 1 in the Model 23s). It should be easy to come up with something that sounds nice, bit doesn't cost too much.

I used all three of those (Mundorf E-Cap, ClarityCap Px and Sonicap Gen 1 bypassed with the Vishay 1837s) when I recapped my JBL L36 Decades and I'm very pleased with the way those sound.
 
WillVT said:
Also, if you don't want to spring for the pricy high uf film cap, you can do a lower value film, in parallel with a electrolytic. For my 60uf, I think I used a 10uf poly, with a 50uf electrolytic. The 10uf poly is way cheaper that the 60.
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I'm doing the same with the initial recap of my Rect. IIIs.
 
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