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RtR Hybrid Electrostatic Speaker Help ?

hdewees

hdewees

Super Member
I acquired a pair of RtR speakers that have (each) 6 electrostatics around the top, one mid-range on three sides, one 8" on three sides, and a 12 " separate woofer enclosure, all in walnut. I have no idea what these are, I used to have the RtR 280's which I really loved, but blew up (actually they literally burned up from the amp I was then driving them with) . Can anyone help me with specs or model numbers on these speakers ? I love RtR speakers - I have pictures I can email. I got these from a classified ad and the woman included a Crown DC300 amp, Crown IC-150 pre-amp, Marantz Model 20 Tuner (not 10B) , a Vector Research VCX-800 cassette deck, a Pioneer receiver - All for $180.00. Anyone have info on the Vector Research ?

Thanks in advance -
 
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That's quite a haul. The RTR electrostatic elements had a very very good reputation as tweeters, though I don't know if the entire system is at the same level -- I would think a midrange might make less of a startling transition from very fast to so so going from the treble to bass. The Crown pieces were cutting edge for consumer electronics at the time they were built, and have the advantage of reliability, but the preamp was an early IC design, and is now widely derided as being the exemplar of everything thats bad about transistors and especially ICs (John Curl says its the worst sounding piece of audio equipment ever -- he obviously hasn't listened to some of the stuff I've heard). I agree its not so hot, but it seems pretty listenable to me, but only after DeOxiting the controls. I don't know why, but it seems particularly suspectible to corrosion -- I got one that sounded horrible, and I put it away for several months. When I hooked it up again, the phono had gone completely. After DeOxiting, the phono was back, and it sounded pretty decent on all inputs, though the panorama control and balance control are odd -- on mono, there is no balance control so both speakers are equal volume, and there is more hiss than on stereo.
Vectro Research was a late comer to the mass market audio scene. I think that, like NAD, they were not an actual manufacturer, but instead, had other companies build stuff to their specs. They had a pretty good reputation, but its a tough world out there. I would suspect that with new belts, the cassette deck ought to be pretty good, if you care about cassettes.
 
RtR - Speakers

Thank you for your input - I am still curious what kind of RtR's these are - I have never seen these before and I am 51 years old. I have a Polk system with a Velodyne sub and it took a while to balance the RtR's - I actually like the RtR's better than my Polks, which are very good at midrange. I have put the Polks in another suround sound room. I am driving the RtR's, Polk surrounds, Velodyne with Denon components which I think sounds much,much better than my Sony "surround sound" receiver.

Also - I would appreciate your input as to - I can get a Bose Acoustimass 10 for virtually free, but you know the saying -

"Friends don't let friends by Bose" So for free what do you think ?

It's for my sunroom.
 
OK smart a_-_s - I am an old coot so how do I post a pic ? I will show you great pics of the RtR's -
 
Well you said smartass so I am assuming you are talking to me :D

When you post, look below the text box, see the "Manage Attachments"? Click it and add the pix.
 
Heck for $180, you should have at least gotten a 10b. You got robbed but to help you feel better, I'll give you $200 for everything and I'll pay shipping.

The RTR hybrids, can not remember the model, were really decent and tweeters were excellent. RTR sold them to different speaker manufacturers for use in their systems such as Infinity. JansZen refused to do it and that difference put RTR in front and Art finally out of business.

The real deal is the 20 tuner. If you got only it for the $180 you still made out like a bandit. In fighting form, 1 of the better ss tuners made. The DC300A is bulletproof and has a following. I do not particularly care for these larger Crown amps nor the IC150 but, as a starting system you did really well. When you consider changing, do the preamp first and you'll see a big difference. Too see how the system can sound go from the tuner directly into the DC300A and use the level controls on the Crown as the volume controls. Then insert the IC150 and see the difference.
 
Well, better to be a smart ass than a dumb ass.

A while back, I posted instructions on how to do it, all the pictures were lost in the Great Database Crash of 2005, but the text should still help.

- JP
 
RtR Dumb A__ -

Ok - I can email you my pics and you can show me -
 
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RtR pics

I tried to attach the pictures but your web site is limited to like almost zero memory to attach files. - soooooooo
 
Yep, it's limited to 900x900 pixels or under 200 kb. If you're running Windows, you should be able to right click on the pictures, select the resize option and save as 800x600. The results should go right up using the attachment option.

Or if not, check your email.
- JP
 
Yeah hdewees, I never heard back from you on my offer to post the pics for you. Something come up?

- JP
 
Charivari said:
Yeah hdewees, I never heard back from you on my offer to post the pics for you. Something come up?

- JP
Click to expand...

Ah maybe his in box is full of spam after posting his email addy :sigh:
 
Army, you may be right about that. Didn't even dawn on me as a possible problem, but with how efficient spam bots are anymore, it wouldn't surprise me in the least.

- JP
 
I don't know what kind of firewall you guys have because I have emailed both of you but email me at
 
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some pics
 

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RtR Pics

Bolly - thank you for your help posting the pics !

- Back in the late 60's early 70's Crown DC300 amps were the dream of many guys to drive their speakers. 150 Watts per channel was very high back then. Many rock bands used multiples of them. RtR was not well known but the people that had them usually drove them with Crown, Macintosh, or Phase Linear 400's (hot, burn, ouch). They are very power hungry speakers. This was back when JBL actually made good speakers, Electrovoice had followers. Bose 901's came out (eh) I started out driving my speakers with a Dynaco 70 (which I sold for peanuts back then). I still have my Thorens TD150 with a Stanton 681EEE cartridge. I picked up a TEAC 4300 rtr for $20 and all it needed was a 50 cent diode in the power supply. My fiance still has a Pioneer 707 rtr, Technics turntable, and assorted other "stuff".

This is a great web site !
 
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