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

[MCM_Fan]

Well, hello there 1967. You're looking mighty fine!

Look what followed me home tonight:

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...

 

[peerson]

SCROE!!!! I have Model Twenty Three's. I really like them. Hope you like yours, too

 

[N8Nagel]

Nice. I have both and prefer the Rectilinear (lowboys) but the twenty threes are quite satisfying as well.

 

[Robie]

My guess is the Highboys will surprise and intrigue you. They can sound very good with the right equipment (tubes are good) and program source upstream.

I'm a KLH fan but haven't heard the Twenty Tree's.

 

[vwdeano]

Congrats! I've got the 23s, and lust over the highboys and lowboys... Well done.

 

[kirk57]

There will certainly be no shortage of bass with those Highboys on the floor and against the wall. Mine sound better on short stands (10" or so) and moved away from the wall.

 

[ra.ra]

They have beautiful teak cabinets

Congrats, both pairs are truly great speakers. One small point, however, is that it is most likely that the cabinet veneer on both is walnut rather than teak. To my knowledge, neither Rect or KLH offered teak as a veneer option. Good luck with that problem woofer.

 

[superdog]

Nice....real nice.

 

[MCM_Fan]

Thanks to everyone for all the responses. I'll admit, I am just a sucker for the visual beauty of speakers from this era. I love the beautiful hardwood veneered cabinets and the fabric grill cloth. But, I also love full, rich sound. My research told me the Rectilinear Highboys and the KLH Model TWENTY-THREEs were two models that offered both the visual aesthetic and the sound quality I seek. And, I just so happened to find both at the same time within a few miles of each other. How could I say no?

It only took about two minutes to figure out what's wrong with the bad KLH woofer. The cone has separated from the voice coil. I'll probably start a restoration thread dedicated to that project, but does anyone have an opinion if that's repairable, and if so if it's worth the cost? Used woofers seem to be plentiful, they seem to run about $25 - $30 plus another $20 or so for shipping. A replacement woofer would be the easy route to go, but the added 50 bucks makes them less of a score. But, I knew the risk going in. I didn't buy these because they were cheap, or to flip them. I bought them because I wanted them. So, I want to restore them to proper working condition.

 

[bobins08]

Beautiful equipment and cabinet. Add in a Fisher 500c (or Marantz 2270 if you prefer solid state) in a nice wood case and you are there.

 

[N8Nagel]

So how are you liking those Rectilinears?

I do have to say mine were pretty flat and lacking in sparkle until I recapped them. Same is actually true for the Twenty Threes.

 

[ra.ra]

Sounds like a glue joint gave way. Very possibly fixable as DIY. Post some pics and you'll get lots of help.

 

[MCM_Fan]

There will certainly be no shortage of bass with those Highboys on the floor and against the wall. Mine sound better on short stands (10" or so) and moved away from the wall.

Thanks. That photo was not the intended placement. I didn't even hook them up until this afternoon. That was just to grab a few quick photos.

I removed the KLHs from the top (again no plan to stack them, just wanted to grab a few quick photos of my new speakers) and moved the Highboys out a little further from the wall. How far do you recommend?

The bass is definitely different than my restored JBL L36 Decades. My first impression was that the Highboys actually lacked bass compared to the JBLs, but I don't think that's necessarily the case. I think the Highboys go lower, but the JBLs are tighter and punchier. I can feel and hear more bass from the JBLs from my listening position, but they have two benefits - recapped crossovers and sand filled stands.

On the other hand the Highboys are putting out enough bass to cause serious feedback problems with the turntable. As I mentioned the JBLs are on sand filled stands. I also have small strobothane bumpers between the speakers and the top of the stands and the bottom of the stands and the floor. That keeps the bass from radiating through the floor to the turntable.

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.

I like the sound improvement I get when using sand filled metal speaker stands, but for these vintage speakers, I'm thinking sand filled wooden stands would be more appropriate. I've been contemplating making some for the JBLs, and will probably eventually make some for the Rectilinears and the KHLs. Each will be custom made to be the correct height and match the look of the speakers.

So many projects, so little time...

 

[WillVT]

Gorgeous! I love seeing those Rectilinear's surrounded by all that wood. They look right at home.
As mentioned above, if they haven't been done already, they really need a recap. If you like how they sound now, you are in for a real treat after a recap. It really opens up the mids and highs.

Your comments about the bass are interesting, and somewhat similar to my experience. I feel like the III's have a real balanced bottom end. Almost polite, but really there when you need it. Never boomy and in your face, but powerful and engaging.

I run mine with everything from a 12-15 watt tube amp, up to a 400 watt Carver PM-1200, and love it all!

 

[MCM_Fan]

Congrats, both pairs are truly great speakers. One small point, however, is that it is most likely that the cabinet veneer on both is walnut rather than teak. To my knowledge, neither Rect or KLH offered teak as a veneer option. Good luck with that problem woofer.

Is there any definitive way to tell the difference between walnut and teak veneer? All the reference material I can find on the Rectilinear Highboys specifies walnut veneer, but they don't look like any of my other walnut speakers or furniture. For starters, they are much lighter. I know walnut lightens with UV exposure, but there are no obvious sighs of fading. But, it's not just the lighter color. My KEF 104/2 speakers, with English walnut veneer are also lighter (but with definite UV fading, the areas behind the grills are visibly darker) than most other walnut speakers and furniture I've seen. It's the grain. It just does not look like walnut to me. The original owner described them at teak, but I'm not 100% sure. I'll try to get a closeup photo of the grain structure.

Whatever it is, they are in really nice, original condition. As mentioned, I bought them from the original owner. They have been in an unheated storage unit (aka: garage) for the last five years. I just cleaned the cabinets with some furniture cleaner to remove an accumulated dust and grime. Not much, but there was some there. Whatever the veneer is, it's extremely dry. They feel like the original finish was some sort of oil. They have zero glass or sheen and there is no thickness to the finish. I can actually feel the grain. So, I was thinking about touching them up with a couple coats of neutral finish Danish Oil. Does that sound like the best course of action to renew 50 year old original finish? I see no reason to go the Restor-A-Finish/Feed and Wax route on these.

 

[MCM_Fan]

Gorgeous! I love seeing those Rectilinear's surrounded by all that wood. They look right at home.
As mentioned above, if they haven't been done already, they really need a recap. If you like how they sound now, you are in for a real treat after a recap. It really opens up the mids and highs.

Your comments about the bass are interesting, and somewhat similar to my experience. I feel like the III's have a real balanced bottom end. Almost polite, but really there when you need it. Never boomy and in your face, but powerful and engaging.

I run mine with everything from a 12-15 watt tube amp, up to a 400 watt Carver PM-1200, and love it all!

So how are you liking those Rectilinears?

I do have to say mine were pretty flat and lacking in sparkle until I recapped them. Same is actually true for the Twenty Threes.

I've been listening to them for the past 4 hours. I've been auditioning a couple turntables with different cartridge/stylus combinations for the last month and a half. So, I'm cycling through my stack of familiar favorite LPs.

I definitely hear the potential of these speakers. They image very nicely and are very musical and pleasant, even with the original 50 year old caps. The high frequencies do sound a bit rolled off to me. I can't wait to hear what the sound like with new caps.

Are there any online references to recapping the Highboys - specific cap recommendations, etc.? I recapped my JBL L36 Decades about 10 and a half months ago. I used a Mundorf NP electrolytic for the bass shunt cap, a Clarity Cap PX series for the midrange and a SoniCap Gen 1, bypassed with a Vishay Roderstein MKP-1837, on the tweeter. I was just telling my girlfriend yesterday how pleased I am with the way those speakers sound.

Once I get the Model TWENTY-THREEs sorted with a replacement woofer, recapped and redoped and these Highboys recapped, I may find myself with too many great sounding speakers.

Yeah right! Is there even such a thing?

 

[MCM_Fan]

Sounds like a glue joint gave way. Very possibly fixable as DIY. Post some pics and you'll get lots of help.

I'll start a separate restoration thread on the KLHs and try to get some closeup photos of the separated cone and voice coil.

 

[WillVT]

Here is my old thread about refurbing my III's. Somewhere in there is some good info about caps. I got a lot of help.

 

[ra.ra]

Is there any definitive way to tell the difference between walnut and teak veneer?

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.

 

[MCM_Fan]

Here is my old thread about refurbing my III's. Somewhere in there is some good info about caps. I got a lot of help.

Thanks, I'll check it out.