RSL speakers, am I alone?

[RSL Speakers]

Oh, those 70's

Wow! This one keeps popping up. I'm sure glad I wasn't in this one, although I am keeping a couple of bellbottoms and tie-dyed shirts just in case this style comes back.
Howard

 

[tubed]

OK I'm ducking lol...

Classic.

I bought my first gear from the Van Nuys store.
A Pioneer SX-828
Pioneer PL-51a w/Ortofon MC20...a couple years later a beautiful Yamaha CA-1000. Still own all three

 

[Holy_Cow!]

Wow. You really should have 'gone the extra mile' so to speak. The RSL 3300's are amazing. They're 'monitor-class' and were used in recording studios and radio stations all over Los Angeles. Acoustic Suspension woofer and VERY loud and clear. Just nutty sounding - better than L-100's I think. Howard and I were just discussing a pair that I picked up recently. A set of RSL's would have to be more than 100 miles away before I would think twice about jumping in the car.

PS, If anyone needs to replace the tweeter dispersion foam on these or similar, this is a great source and they fit perfectly: http://www.reconingspeakers.com/products-page/tweeters/jbl-le25-tweeter-front-plate-foam/

I'll try to pickup a pair of the RSL3300 or 3600's then. I couldn't pass up on those Advent Heritage towers (two 8" driver and a tweeter per cab) they were in perfect condition and were less than a hundred bucks. I already have one pair and they are fantastic stereo speakers and look very nice with their pecan wood cabinets. I use them in our HT setup for surround speakers presently (with ADS M-12's as mains). I'll use the new set of Advents to setup a bedroom system next.
But I'll definitely keep my eye open for some RSL3300's. I'm still saving for some "new" RSL that Mr. Rodgers was kind enough to suggest for studio mixing, I have the RSL6600h set in my tiny little workspace now, overkill but they sure look great. Not practical because they are setup behind me so I can't really mix with them but for playback volume, WOW! Thanks again for the advice, this site is a great place for info on everything I could ever think of buying.

 

[Holy_Cow!]

Classic.

I bought my first gear from the Van Nuys store.
A Pioneer SX-828
Pioneer PL-51a w/Ortofon MC20...a couple years later a beautiful Yamaha CA-1000. Still own all three

My hair was longer in 1972, I was a junior in highschool, and I had a van with alum rims and wide tires, a little jacked up in the back, and woodpaneling and shag carpet inside. It had an 8 track and speakers in front and a pair of these Sansui wood floorstanders in the back with the lattice grills. Ah...the days of surfing and cruising with the buds. Soon learned to park the van down the street when picking up dates. Amazing how many dads just happened to be cleaning their guns when I came over to take out their daughters (I made sure to have them back in time, despite sometimes the girls protesting). That picture is the 70's alright.

 

[RSL Speakers]

Back then, my hair was more plentiful as well as longer. I also had a beard. My favorite groups included Genesis and Pink Floyd. It's fun to hear about those times. BTW, Buffalo Springfield is doing a concert tour here in June.

 

[Holy_Cow!]

Buffalo Springfield is a good sound of the sixties. I'll have to look that up. I came across a pair of Calibration Standard Instruments MDM-TA2 Time Align speakers. Designed by a Ed Long who I read originated the "nearfield monitor" concept. I bought them from the original owner with paperwork and need new foam surrounds. They sound really incredible but I can see the foam is deteriorating on the 6.5" drivers. The paperwork says these things were calibrated at the factory to be within one db of each other as a matched pair (they said to send them in when needed service to be re-calibrated but of course the company no longer exists). I would like to send the speakers to a shop that that can do the re-foam for me and hopefully the speakers will sound the same as they did without changing the original sound. Is that possible? They are working fine for me now and will be another reference set in my little studio, I sure hope I can get them fixed, I spent a lot at $110 I think but they are in perfect shape except fot the surrounds, look pretty cool and sound good too.

 

[RSL Speakers]

Most speaker repair places can re-foam those speakers. Were those made by UREI? If the 6 1/2 drivers have a blue cone, then I think they were made by Audax of France. Depending on where you live, you should contact Speaker City in Burbank, L.A. Speaker Repair in Los Angeles, or Orange County Speaker repair of Garden Grove. Good luck with them.
Howard

 

[Holy_Cow!]

Here is a picture (if I do this right?) of one of the CSI MDM-TA2 speakers I just bought. You can see that the tweeter is a little behind the woofer plane, I guess so the sounds "align up at arrival to our ears"? Although they sound good I can see the foam around the woofer would probably crack or crumble if I were to touch them, hence my need to re-foam. If this picture attachment thing works out I will take a picture of my pride and joy RSL 6600h's and post, since this is a RSL thread. Oops.....I just did a preview of this post and the pictures are sideways so rather than try to edit the pics I'm just gonna post anyway the way it is (the camera flash makes the speakers look thrashed, I can't see any of the smudges or that scratch normally). You can see where the foam has started it's death knell around the edges.

 

[RSL Speakers]

Cool looking speakers, although they aren't the ones I was thinking of. The re-foam shouldn't be difficult. Good luck with that.

I don't know if I mentioned it, but the tweeters in the 6600H were OEM versions of the famous Electrovoice T-35 horn tweeter. It was developed originally in the 50's using an alnico magnet. It was used in a lot of different studio speakers. Our version used a ceramic magnet. If you can find them on eBay, they bring a pretty high price.

Regards,
Howard

 

[halo71]

I wish a pair of these would show up for sale closer to me! :sigh:

 

[tubed]

I wish a pair of these would show up for sale closer to me! :sigh:

Those are good speakers.
A bit bass shy for my taste however well balanced and seem pretty accurate, the speaker array fills the room with very decent soundstage.
Also the original passive radiators can be repaired with inexpensive foam surrounds.

 

[Holy_Cow!]

Well just sold my RSL 6600h's to a guy who was giving them to his son and they are going to a real and proper recording studio so in a way I'm very happy but sad because they were so awesome sounding! I needed the room though for a new drafting/art desk I just got. Need to do more art and the music recording hobby has to downsize a bit. If I had a McMansion those RSL's would be right at home, but I'm hoping a lot of people will enjoy those speakers now rather than just selfish me. Who knows, maybe some hit records will be made on those things!

 

[RSL Speakers]

Well just sold my RSL 6600h's to a guy who was giving them to his son and they are going to a real and proper recording studio so in a way I'm very happy but sad because they were so awesome sounding! I needed the room though for a new drafting/art desk I just got. Need to do more art and the music recording hobby has to downsize a bit. If I had a McMansion those RSL's would be right at home, but I'm hoping a lot of people will enjoy those speakers now rather than just selfish me. Who knows, maybe some hit records will be made on those things!

I definitely understand about the space situation. We like the idea of a separate sub to provide the bass that would have normally been required by very large speaker cabinets.

On another subject, I don't know if any of you attended the T.H.E. Show this past weekend, but we were there with 2 demo rooms (home theater and stereo). We probably had the least expensive speakers at the show. It was a lot of fun and we met and had a chance to talk with a lot of RSL owners. We really appreciated the compliments about our new line.

 

[pabs911]

Hello Howard,
I was wondering what model this speaker is. That woofer is a 12" so the cabinet is quite large and they are rather heavy (not sure how much though). They were just refoamed and are a local pickup. They sound great. Any info would be very much appreciated. I hope you see this because I cannot find anything on this particular model anywhere on the web! Thanks in advance...

 

[invalidbuffa]

I have a pair of Studio Monitor 3800's. They sound great, but I'm still trying to find the right amplifier for them...

 

[RSL Speakers]

Identifying your RSL Speakers

Hello Howard,
I was wondering what model this speaker is. That woofer is a 12" so the cabinet is quite large and they are rather heavy (not sure how much though). They were just refoamed and are a local pickup. They sound great. Any info would be very much appreciated. I hope you see this because I cannot find anything on this particular model anywhere on the web! Thanks in advance...

Hi,

These are RSL Max's. They sold in the mid '70's for around $220 ea. If you go to our website and fill out a 'contact us' request with your email address, I'll send you a scan of an old brochure.

Best regards,
Howard
RSL Speakers

 

[RSL Speakers]

Rsl 3800

I have a pair of Studio Monitor 3800's. They sound great, but I'm still trying to find the right amplifier for them...

They look like they're in great shape.

Regards,
Howard

 

[pabs911]

Hi,

These are RSL Max's. They sold in the mid '70's for around $220 ea. If you go to our website and fill out a 'contact us' request with your email address, I'll send you a scan of an old brochure.

Best regards,
Howard
RSL Speakers

Well,
I went ahead and bought the RSL Max pair... and WOW! am I glad I did! Excellent speaker! Great impact, smoothness, and no fatigue after an hour of listening. They weigh about 56 pounds or so each and are 32" tall by 18" wide by 12" deep. I'll include a few pics once I refinish them. The veneer is going to look wonderful once I'm done. Very happy indeed!

 

[RSL Speakers]

RSL Max

Well,
I went ahead and bought the RSL Max pair... and WOW! am I glad I did! Excellent speaker! Great impact, smoothness, and no fatigue after an hour of listening. They weigh about 56 pounds or so each and are 32" tall by 18" wide by 12" deep. I'll include a few pics once I refinish them. The veneer is going to look wonderful once I'm done. Very happy indeed!

Great! I hope you enjoy them for a long time.
Regards,
Howard

 

[Columbo]

Rsl 512

I can't find much info on this MONSTER, other than it seems to be made more for sound reinforcement than for "hi-fi." It's larger than the JBL 4430s I have. And I don't really have room for them, but can't pass up the SCROE.