I picked up a pair of Rectilinear walnut speakers today from a Craig'slister. He called them lowboys. The badges are missing on the heavy plactic Sansui like lattice looking grills. The rear has adjustments for tweeter and midrange, but no model #. I pulled the grills and found an 11" or 12" woofer, 5" mid and 2- 2" and 2- 2 1/2" tweeters. The surrounds appear to be cloth. H-27 1/2" x W-18" x D-12". They sound pretty darn good. I've done a little Googleing and they may be III's or IIIA's. I paid $50. I'd love any info you all could provide and opinions as well. Also, how do I post a picture here? I look forward to your replys.
Rectilinear "Lowboy"?
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judgeschreber
Well-Known Member
Great find--that's certainly a good deal!
Those are III lowboys. The highboys have the same componants, but are taller and skinnier. They are not IIIa, since those would've had the model number indicated on the back (the III's are better-they have higher quality drivers).
Do a little searching here, and you will find extensive info on these fine speakers. There have even been a couple great threads within the last couple of days about rectilinears. Good listening!
Those are III lowboys. The highboys have the same componants, but are taller and skinnier. They are not IIIa, since those would've had the model number indicated on the back (the III's are better-they have higher quality drivers).
Do a little searching here, and you will find extensive info on these fine speakers. There have even been a couple great threads within the last couple of days about rectilinears. Good listening!
When it rains, it pours. Thanks for the info Judge. I checked out some of the other posts and it appears I have a very nice pair of speakers. And Bosak Ron. Another pair of III highboys "in great condition" appeared on Craigs list this evening for free. I've offered $30 and am waiting for a reply. Until today, Rectilinear is a name I had heard, but knew nothing about. Thanks again to all!
What a day! Offered $50 to a Craig'slist seller for a pair of lowboys and he accepted. Came home and checked out the forum and was pleased to read the favorable reviews. Went back to Craig'slist and found a pair of highboys offered for free. I responded and offered $30 and was accepted. Both have the origional drivers in great shape. What a day!
judgeschreber
Well-Known Member
Congrats!
When you get these set up, I'd love to here your impressions about the differences between these two. Rectilinear claims they are identical, but several people here say the lowboys are a bit more veiled or muddy (could be the bizarre grills, or perhaps the drivers being closer to the ground).
Also, what verision of the highboy do you have? Are there one or two tone controls? Is the port a smaller diameter than your lowboys, or is it the same? There are three different crossover designs as far as I know, with the later one being very different than the first two. Also, some earlier versions had Jensen woofers instead of CTS. The number on the woofer frome should tell you. If it starts with 137 it is CTS, if it starts with 220 it is Jensen. I'd love to see some pics if you ever get around to it, especially of the crossovers.
When you get these set up, I'd love to here your impressions about the differences between these two. Rectilinear claims they are identical, but several people here say the lowboys are a bit more veiled or muddy (could be the bizarre grills, or perhaps the drivers being closer to the ground).
Also, what verision of the highboy do you have? Are there one or two tone controls? Is the port a smaller diameter than your lowboys, or is it the same? There are three different crossover designs as far as I know, with the later one being very different than the first two. Also, some earlier versions had Jensen woofers instead of CTS. The number on the woofer frome should tell you. If it starts with 137 it is CTS, if it starts with 220 it is Jensen. I'd love to see some pics if you ever get around to it, especially of the crossovers.
Are there significant sonic differences to the three Highboy varieties? Or are they all equally successful designs, sonically?judgeschreber said:
Bst rgds,
judgeschreber
Well-Known Member
To tell you the truth, I have no idea. I just recently finished restoring my earlier pair with the Jensen speakers and the more traditional parallel crossover, but I have not yet had a chance for a side-by-side comparison with the later ones. Because I've got a small listening room, I'd need to do some considerable moving around of these big boys to get an accurate setup for comparison. When I do get around to a comparison, I will be sure to post my observations here.
joelongwood
No more room at the inn
I'm very curious to see how you feel about each if you do a side by side comparison. I have both High and Lowboys as well, and find the Highboys to be more open and airy sounding. Rectilinear made a big deal in their advertising about how the cabinet volume was identical, and that the two were sonically indistinguishable, but my ears tell me otherwise. Removing that plastic grill helps to to reduce the somewhat bass heavy presentation of the Lowboys, but the Highboys are still the winners in my book.
Please let us know what you hear. Thanks.
BTW.....GREAT deal!!!!
Please let us know what you hear. Thanks.
BTW.....GREAT deal!!!!
Thanks Guys, I'm excited to compare them myself. I hooked up the high boys today to a 35+/- Watt Sherwood amp and seemed to, after a while, experiance what I think has been described here as clipping. What is clipping? I know from reading here that the more watts the better with these speakers. I just had the Sherwood handy. I do have a 9090db, sx1050 and a Mitsubishi DA A15DC amp at 125 wpc, 120wpc and 150 wpc respectivly. Any suggestions on a good match? What is the minimum wire gauge I should use? Is there such a thing as line loss with speaker wire? Can one of my receivers or amp drive both of these sets at the same time? That would be fun.
The III highboys have adjustments for both midrange and tweeter, same as the Lowboys. The Lowboys have a heavy duty plastic grill attached with valcro and the Highboys have rust colored fabric grills attached with brads. The drivers look the same except the Lowboy woofers have an orangish accordian like surround and the Highboys have a dark blue surround. I haven't had the time to open them up. All drivers appear to be in amazing original condition. The ports are the same size also. How do I go about posting a picture here? I am so happy to have found this forum. There is so much I would like to learn and everyone is so generous with their help. Thank you all!
The III highboys have adjustments for both midrange and tweeter, same as the Lowboys. The Lowboys have a heavy duty plastic grill attached with valcro and the Highboys have rust colored fabric grills attached with brads. The drivers look the same except the Lowboy woofers have an orangish accordian like surround and the Highboys have a dark blue surround. I haven't had the time to open them up. All drivers appear to be in amazing original condition. The ports are the same size also. How do I go about posting a picture here? I am so happy to have found this forum. There is so much I would like to learn and everyone is so generous with their help. Thank you all!
joelongwood
No more room at the inn
Mitman said:
Depending on how loud you listen, 35 watts might not be enough, even though normal listening is done with only a few watts. Demanding bass passages can really tax a 35 watt amp. Remember, increasing your volume by only 3 dB doubles the amp power called for, so you can see how you can run out of room real fast. Clipping is a distorted sound that comes out of the speakers when the amp is trying to do more than it's capable of.
I've found the Sansui 9090 to be an excellent match for the III's, and you shouldn't need more power than that.
Also, Whitehall is correct about mounbting them on stands. I tried it and it definitely lessened the tendency towards the bass heaviness the Lowboys generally exhibit. And don't forget to try them without the grills.
As for speaker wire, unless you're going to be runnning it more than 25 feet, simple 16 guage zip cord should do just fine. According to Edgar Villchur, inventor of the acoustic suspension principle and the founder of Acoustic Research, when AR conducted its famous Live vs. Recorded demonstrations back in the 60's, they used Dynaco amps connected to AR speakers using 18 gauge zip cord.....so I think 16 gauge is more than sufficient. If you're interested, here's what I think is a great read on speaker wire in general:
http://www.roger-russell.com/wire.htm
Enjoy!
Joe, that was a great article on speaker wire. I'm going to give it to a friend of mine who was talked into spending in excess of $600. for his stereo wires.
I was leaning toward the 9090 already. Thanks for the advice on that. I do my testing on a very solidly built surface about 3" high. Would this have the same effect as speaker stands or do I need to seperate the speakers from this table to achieve the results? Thanks again. I learn more and more each day from this forum!
I was leaning toward the 9090 already. Thanks for the advice on that. I do my testing on a very solidly built surface about 3" high. Would this have the same effect as speaker stands or do I need to seperate the speakers from this table to achieve the results? Thanks again. I learn more and more each day from this forum!
joelongwood
No more room at the inn
You want to get that wonderful midrange driver at, or slightly above, your ears when you are in your listening position......also, you want that large woofer off the floor. I would say placing them on stands about 18"-24" high would do the trick. Unfortunately, the size and weight of the LowBoys makes that rather impractical for most people..........I know it does for me. So, I do my Rectilinear listening with the HighBoys, and the Lowboys remain silent until I can find a solution.Mitman said:
Wornears
Age & Treachery
You could try tilting the LowBoys back a few degrees -- I do so with my HighBoys with small wood shims under the front edges. Gets the great mid up and raises the bass driver's directionality to pointing less into my carpeted floor.
Easier on the back and keeps them from turning into plant stands, too.
Easier on the back and keeps them from turning into plant stands, too.