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Rectilinear lll b

Zach Nelson

How deep is this rabbit hole?
I found these today at a price you don't say no to. They happen to be the only model I can't find info on. Anyone know much?IMG_20191214_180923_MP.jpg IMG_20191214_181214.jpg
 
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Those look sweet. Very clean , well preserved speakers from the 1970s. They were great speakers then. Drivers look clean. You might consider replacing the capacitors in the crossovers. Otherwise a Major Score.
 
This is what I think, not what I know.
Those are indeed Rectilinear, but after 1977. About the time Rectilinear went belly up, or maybe soon after. They don't have anything in common with the earlier Rectilinear 111 high boys from 1966 to 1976 other than size. The driving force after the bankruptcy was to cash in on the name and make some money. My understanding is they don't share any of the earlier parts, quality, or sound. But the biggest problem is no spare parts because so few were sold.
What do they sound like?
 
This is what I think, not what I know.
Those are indeed Rectilinear, but after 1977. About the time Rectilinear went belly up, or maybe soon after. They don't have anything in common with the earlier Rectilinear 111 high boys from 1966 to 1976 other than size. The driving force after the bankruptcy was to cash in on the name and make some money. My understanding is they don't share any of the earlier parts, quality, or sound. But the biggest problem is no spare parts because so few were sold.
What do they sound like?
They sound incredible! I am blown away by them beings I knew nothing of them. They may end up taking the place of my Klipsch kg5.5's. Best $30 I spent all year.
 
I am not aware of another Rectilinear woofer that had a ribbed cone. The original Model 7 woofer which didn't have ribs had foam which failed very fast so if they used Model 7 woofers, the ones in these IIIs are probably replacements. The input plate looks like a Model 4.5 because it doesn't have trim pots. The tweeters DO look like Peerless units. The midrange is a mystery.
 
I am not aware of another Rectilinear woofer that had a ribbed cone. The original Model 7 woofer which didn't have ribs had foam which failed very fast so if they used Model 7 woofers, the ones in these IIIs are probably replacements. The input plate looks like a Model 4.5 because it doesn't have trim pots. The tweeters DO look like Peerless units. The midrange is a mystery.
The woofers have been replaced I discoveredIMG_20191214_181428.jpg
 
There is very little info available on some of these late model Rectilinears. The pic attached here is the Rectilinear III-A, and except for your non-original woofers, the drivers appear to be the same between the A and B models. At least your "B" cabinets appear to have real wood veneer and the nice profiled edge, whereas the "A" cabinets are clunky and wrapped with vinyl.

Rect-IIIA.jpg
 
Ra.ra your picture of the IIIa does look like the OP's midrange. The pictures of IIIa's I have do have Philips midranges. They don't have whizzers so may be 5060's not 5061's like original IIIs. It would be good if someone could pull one of these mystery midranges and see if there is an EIA code on it.
 
Found the data for the Visaton woofer which has a fairly normal impedance plot for a 8 ohm woofer. I don't know what the impedance curve for the original Eminence woofers was. I know the Jensen Flexair woofers in the IIIs are actually 12 ohms not 8. My point is did they mod the IIIb crossover when they swapped the woofers or would they need to? If anyone has a refoamed original Eminence (good luck with that) it would be great if they could measure them.
 
Ra.ra your picture of the IIIa does look like the OP's midrange. The pictures of IIIa's I have do have Philips midranges. They don't have whizzers so may be 5060's not 5061's like original IIIs. It would be good if someone could pull one of these mystery midranges and see if there is an EIA code on it.
IMG_20191215_194928.jpg
 
Found the data for the Visaton woofer which has a fairly normal impedance plot for a 8 ohm woofer. I don't know what the impedance curve for the original Eminence woofers was. I know the Jensen Flexair woofers in the IIIs are actually 12 ohms not 8. My point is did they mod the IIIb crossover when they swapped the woofers or would they need to? If anyone has a refoamed original Eminence (good luck with that) it would be great if they could measure them.
Found the data for the Visaton woofer which has a fairly normal impedance plot for a 8 ohm woofer. I don't know what the impedance curve for the original Eminence woofers was. I know the Jensen Flexair woofers in the IIIs are actually 12 ohms not 8. My point is did they mod the IIIb crossover when they swapped the woofers or would they need to? If anyone has a refoamed original Eminence (good luck with that) it would be great if they could measure them.
Found the data for the Visaton woofer which has a fairly normal impedance plot for a 8 ohm woofer. I don't know what the impedance curve for the original Eminence woofers was. I know the Jensen Flexair woofers in the IIIs are actually 12 ohms not 8. My point is did they mod the IIIb crossover when they swapped the woofers or would they need to? If anyone has a refoamed original Eminence (good luck with that) it would be great if they could measure them.
I
Found the data for the Visaton woofer which has a fairly normal impedance plot for a 8 ohm woofer. I don't know what the impedance curve for the original Eminence woofers was. I know the Jensen Flexair woofers in the IIIs are actually 12 ohms not 8. My point is did they mod the IIIb crossover when they swapped the woofers or would they need to? If anyone has a refoamed original Eminence (good luck with that) it would be great if they could measure them.
I doubt the crossovers have been touched. I'm sure it was just a quick speaker swap that wasn't thought out.
 
IIRC the tweeters that look like peerless with hard black domes in the center are made by Matsushita, and are actually pretty good. I wouldn't be surprised if the midrange was made by Matsushita also but.... Technics and Audioanalyst used those tweeters (and probably some others in the late 70's/early 80's also,. MY 2 cents.
 
IIRC the tweeters that look like peerless with hard black domes in the center are made by Matsushita, and are actually pretty good. I wouldn't be surprised if the midrange was made by Matsushita also but.... Technics and Audioanalyst used those tweeters (and probably some others in the late 70's/early 80's also,. MY 2 cents.
good eye
Matsushita also made the tweeters for the Ohm Model I, for example
Single-Technics-Matsushita-EAS-9KH05S-8-Ohm-5-KHz.jpg


also drop ins for the Peerless MT-225


post-10-1170964057.jpg
 
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