Rectilinear 7 - Free Empty Enclosures, an Audio Adventure

drbiggles

I like to pull weeds.
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It's been a very long week, both in wet weather and navigating email to get a hold of these rare beasts. Even empty, I still wanted them.

For a handful of weeks on CL, then on ebay I noticed a very used pair of Rectilinear 7's for sale. They were way out of my price range and in pretty rough shape. Complete though, but rough. I let them slide for a long while, for the obvious reasons, but they were also a 3 hour roundtrip from me. A user PM'd me here and urged me to at least contact the seller to see if they had any room on the price. I fired off an email, the worst they could say is no, right?

He did come down a tad, but not even remotely to what I could afford. I didn't offer him a price, I told him I didn't want to insult him. But what I did ask him was that if he parted them out, could I have the enclosures? These are so darned rare, and in my estimation this doesn't equate to large volumes of cash for them in whole, or in part. They didn't sell in whole, so today my oldest boy and I headed out to pick up the empties.

Oddly enough, the 3 hour roundtrip went really quickly and without issue. Since I was on a Free Trip, he tossed in a 1963 Wharfedale 12" woofer that he'd dropped and broke the cast frame. We were loaded up and headed back in short order. I got 'em!

But now, what to do with them? Over the last 3 or 4 days, I figured I'd find parts and make myself another pair of III's. And that's probably what I'll do. They're the same size (haven't measured) as the III's and the driver layout is nearly the same. There's one less port and the baffle doesn't unscrew easily like the III. This seems like the smartest route.

History on the 7? I really suggest you read the following PDF files, they're really interesting. It looks as though there were two different versions. One had a woofer with pleated surrounds, could handle a peak of 1000 watts and had no crossover. It sported only a choke for the woofer, that's it. The second version had a foam surround woofer with a crossover, this is the version I have. Both version's exterior adjustments for the highs and mids were factory set and non-adjustable.

http://sportsbil.com/stereo/rectilinear-db/model-7-ad.pdf

http://sportsbil.com/stereo/rectilinear-db/model-7-7a-om.pdf

The veneer is fair and will refinish well enough for them to be inside without anyone complaining about them. But they do have their issues, missing little bits, and a slightly bashed front left corner. And the veneer was spliced together, fairly obvious. They aren't that wide, it's too bad they couldn't go full width on the veneer. I'm sure there's more, but I haven't spent any time with them. I do really really like the detail though, they're nice to look at, very very very solid. They've even got a nice front to back brace inside.

I'm sure this thread will lanquish for a while, I've go so many other projects to work on before this one gets on its way. I just wanted to share the pair with ya'll. It's fun.

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Biggles
 
Another freebie for Big's, what a surprise! Those cabinets look nice and will be even better once you work your magic with them. With a little patience maybe some of the original drivers will become available from other AK members or you will come across them in your travels. Good luck.
 
Another freebie for Big's, what a surprise! Those cabinets look nice and will be even better once you work your magic with them. With a little patience maybe some of the original drivers will become available from other AK members or you will come across them in your travels. Good luck.

Yuppers, need to get me an ad up on BT and get to searchin'. These Rectlinear enclosures are so darned easy to refinish, don't take much time at all.

Biggles
 
That's lucky for you. My 5's were neglected, veneer was very dried out, splitting, and lifting away from the MDF. Rectilinear had some very nice cabinets. Keep us posted.
 
Cool! I had no idea Rectilinear had other models so similar to the III's.

I'm confused though, I thought you said they were just empty enclosures. In those pics, I see a full set of drivers, albeit missing some surrounds. Are they not originals?

Anyhow, congrats! I look forward to watching your progress with these.
 
Cool! I had no idea Rectilinear had other models so similar to the III's.

I'm confused though, I thought you said they were just empty enclosures. In those pics, I see a full set of drivers, albeit missing some surrounds. Are they not originals?

Anyhow, congrats! I look forward to watching your progress with these.

Hey,

Yeah, sorry about that, a tad confusing. The guy I got them from removed the drivers to sell on ebay. Those are his pictures before he gutted them. The after shots are mine, as they are today.

Who knows, depending on whether they sell or not, I may get them or some of them.

Biggles
 
That's lucky for you. My 5's were neglected, veneer was very dried out, splitting, and lifting away from the MDF. Rectilinear had some very nice cabinets. Keep us posted.

Sheeyuh, I may have to get my hands dirty and refinish them sooner rather than later. It's like a christmas present, I just want to see what's under there.

Biggles
 
Cool! I had no idea Rectilinear had other models so similar to the III's.

I'm confused though, I thought you said they were just empty enclosures. In those pics, I see a full set of drivers, albeit missing some surrounds. Are they not originals?

Anyhow, congrats! I look forward to watching your progress with these.

Listed below is a link for the other Rectilinear models if you are interested.

http://www.sportsbil.com/stereo/rectilinear-db/
 
Thanks. I have actually seen that, but for whatever reason, I never read past the info about my III's.

Me too. I haven't had the opportunity to listen, touch or drag home anything other than the III's. Hopefully very soon, I'll have the inspiration to research the Mini III's.

Biggles
 
Hey Biggles, glad to see you were able to add these to your stable, but am still disappointed that Mr. Previous Owner decided to harvest all twelve drivers from these rare beasts. In your hands, those cabinets will turn out simply beautiful, and that thin black front edge gives a decidedly modern update to the typical 60's walnut box. Grilles look really good, too, and I'm loving that Wharfedale woofer as well.

About this model, the Rectilinear 7....... it does indeed seem to be a bit of a strange bird. The two links you attached in the first post seem to reference the Rect 7 and the Rect 7a, - whatever their differences - but other sources seem to indicate that there was also some unfortunately labelled model called the Disco 7 (WTF?). What puzzles me with your pics is that the model 7 literature suggests a speaker with no tone controls and virtually no crossover - - - so that's not exactly what you have - - - but the model 7a literature shows the speaker grille badges in the lower right rather the lower left - - -which is what you have (left). Me dunno, but perhaps you have 7a cabinets (or Discos?) with model 7 grille cloths?

About the drivers. If the previous owner couldn't sell these speakers in complete original form (as shown in pics), well... best of luck to him trying to sell these oddball (but possibly very good) drivers individually. Enough about him ... and more about your project. Since you already have two pairs of Rect III's, you'll know much better than me, but I'm doubtful that Rect III drivers will all be drop-in replacements - - - maybe the tweets and super-tweets, but definitely not that large Phillips mid-range.

And the crossover. If this is anything like other Rect. x-o's, I'm guessing the three caps must be aimed at the super-tweet (1.5uf), the tweet (10uf), and the mid (wow! ... 70 uf). Many restorers have documented that those black/red caps (often named Callins, Temple, etc.) are usually way out-of-spec and require replacement. Am very interested to see that the two potentiometers are fully identical to the Aetna-Pollak pots used on all of the early AR speakers - - I've never seen this before in Rectilinears - - - and these will require removal and restoration unless they require replacement if too far corroded. More on this as you get into this project in future months.
 
Am very interested to see that the two potentiometers are fully identical to the Aetna-Pollak pots used on all of the early AR speakers - - I've never seen this before in Rectilinears - - - and these will require removal and restoration unless they require replacement if too far corroded. More on this as you get into this project in future months.

I agree that the pots are just like the AR's. Here is a link to my Rectilinear 5 thread.

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=577633
 
Always love your saves, Dr. B. We are of like minds, you and I. :thmbsp: (The major difference being that you get shit DONE. :D )
 
Thx, doc-olds (or is it beavis?), somehow I missed your thread on the R-5's, which appear to be very much the first cousin of the Rect-7's - - - same (but fewer) drivers, except for 10" (R-5) woof instead of 12" (R-7).
 
Hey Biggles, glad to see you were able to add these to your stable, but am still disappointed that Mr. Previous Owner decided to harvest all twelve drivers from these rare beasts. In your hands, those cabinets will turn out simply beautiful, and that thin black front edge gives a decidedly modern update to the typical 60's walnut box. Grilles look really good, too, and I'm loving that Wharfedale woofer as well.

About this model, the Rectilinear 7....... it does indeed seem to be a bit of a strange bird. The two links you attached in the first post seem to reference the Rect 7 and the Rect 7a, - whatever their differences - but other sources seem to indicate that there was also some unfortunately labelled model called the Disco 7 (WTF?). What puzzles me with your pics is that the model 7 literature suggests a speaker with no tone controls and virtually no crossover - - - so that's not exactly what you have - - - but the model 7a literature shows the speaker grille badges in the lower right rather the lower left - - -which is what you have (left). Me dunno, but perhaps you have 7a cabinets (or Discos?) with model 7 grille cloths?

About the drivers. If the previous owner couldn't sell these speakers in complete original form (as shown in pics), well... best of luck to him trying to sell these oddball (but possibly very good) drivers individually. Enough about him ... and more about your project. Since you already have two pairs of Rect III's, you'll know much better than me, but I'm doubtful that Rect III drivers will all be drop-in replacements - - - maybe the tweets and super-tweets, but definitely not that large Phillips mid-range.

And the crossover. If this is anything like other Rect. x-o's, I'm guessing the three caps must be aimed at the super-tweet (1.5uf), the tweet (10uf), and the mid (wow! ... 70 uf). Many restorers have documented that those black/red caps (often named Callins, Temple, etc.) are usually way out-of-spec and require replacement. Am very interested to see that the two potentiometers are fully identical to the Aetna-Pollak pots used on all of the early AR speakers - - I've never seen this before in Rectilinears - - - and these will require removal and restoration unless they require replacement if too far corroded. More on this as you get into this project in future months.

Hey!

It's good to finally see you out on the forum regarding this pair, feels good to have gotten it this far. It was quite an odyssey, eh?

I agree on the aesthetics, they did a swell job. I wish the baffle came off as easily as the III's did.

Your observations on the models and their variations are exactly what I surmised as well. If you read the brochures, these are the 7a's. But they are not labeled as such. I had the same thought about the grills too. But they're so damned rare, I can't believe someone would have been able to swap them. I figure the assemblage of these things were all over the map during their production.

You're right about drop-in replacements, that's not going to happen. There's going to have to be some modifications to the baffle. That's okay though, over the last 8 months I've been buying and collecting tools. Two of which is a plunge router and a Jasper circle jig. Both of which I have no experience in using. So, I imagine with some practice I can bring it around.

I do have the crossovers, but have no thoughts yet on whether I should use them or not. Yes, those capacitors were inexpensive when new and today they should be replaced immediately. The pots look corroded to me, but I don't really know yet whether they're functional. The factory set them and we're told not to mess with them. This is how they want them. If we want more treble, do it on the receiver.

I agree that the pots are just like the AR's. Here is a link to my Rectilinear 5 thread.

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=577633

Cool, thank you sir! I will take a look at the link later, it's getting later here and am losing my interest at the moment.

Always love your saves, Dr. B. We are of like minds, you and I. :thmbsp: (The major difference being that you get shit DONE. :D )

Thank you and please say a word for me and the Wharfedale Super 12 project. I will not work on these 7's until I can get a bulk of the 12's done. As of last week, I think I have all the tools on hand now to complete the baffles. A 1/4" bit for the router was my last purchase. Need to be able to make me some perfectly round holes.

Biggles
 
Thx, doc-olds (or is it beavis?), somehow I missed your thread on the R-5's, which appear to be very much the first cousin of the Rect-7's - - - same (but fewer) drivers, except for 10" (R-5) woof instead of 12" (R-7).

It is actually Beavis sometimes, my good buddy calls me that when we talk on the phone.

The 5's do have a 12" woofer and sounded great on their first test run and I cannot wait to finish them up. Here are the specs:

http://www.sportsbil.com/stereo/rectilinear-db/model-5-brochure.pdf
 
I read that the original Rectilinear III used a 12 inch Jensen Flexair woofer. Are the 7 models interchangeable in the woofer department?
 
I read that the original Rectilinear III used a 12 inch Jensen Flexair woofer. Are the 7 models interchangeable in the woofer department?

Yeah, Jensen. The one after that was a CTS, still a really good performer. Those woofers are not a direct replacement for the Rectilinear 7's woofer. The 7's woofer was stamped Rectilinear and was made with a whole bunch of different specifications. If you read the brochures, the 7's woofer was able to withstand huge amounts of power (rated at 350 watts with peaks up to 1000). Whereas the III's got a little tapped out at 120 watt peaks, but can withstand a solid 100 watts without issue.

But that's fine, am not looking for an original woofer pair. Either the Jensen or CTS would be fine at this point. 1 to 2 years ago, that huge auction site that cannot be named, had plenty of all the drivers available. Not so much any more, kinda dry at the moment.

Biggles
 
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