Rectilinear Research Corporation
Encyclopedia
The first known main office location for the company (1966–68) was 30 Main St., Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, NY 11201. Some time around 1968, the company moved headquarters, manufacturing assembly, and service center to 107 Bruckner Blvd (AKA E 133rd St.), Bronx, NY 10454. The company remained at this address until it was shuttered in 1977-8 .
Arnold Schwartz (Micro-Acoustics, founded in 1966), James Bongiorno (Ampzilla, founded in 1974 ), Marty Gersten (Ohm Acoustics, founded 1971), Jon Dahlquist (co-founder [with Saul B. Marantz
Marantz
Marantz is a company that develops and sells upper-mid range to high-end audio products.The first Marantz audio product was designed and built by Saul B. Marantz in his home in Kew Gardens, New York...
] of Dahlquist Phased Array in 1978 ), and Richard Shahinian (later engineer designer with Harman Kardon
Harman Kardon
harman/kardon is a division of Harman International Industries and manufactures home and car audio equipment.Founded in 1953 by Dr. Sidney Harman and Bernard Kardon — two men with a deep interest in music and the arts — the company helped create the high-fidelity audio industry. Their first product...
and founder of Shahinian Acoustics at or around 1975) were at different times and at different stages working with the company as engineers to develop speaker models.
The company launched its first model, the Rectilinear III, in 1966. The early versions were designed by Arnold Schwartz and later by James Bongiorno (who also designed the Rectilinear X model).
The first known independent notice for the "III" is a retailer advertisement dated 12/4/1966 . This model, as did many later Rectilinear models, received many positive reviews by audio journalists in major audio magazines, including Stereo Review
Stereo Review
Stereo Review was an American magazine first published in 1958 by Ziff-Davis with the title HiFi and Music Review. It was one of a handful of magazines then available for the individual interested in high fidelity. Throughout its life it published a blend of record and equipment reviews, articles...
, Popular Electronics
Popular Electronics
Popular Electronics was an American magazine started by Ziff-Davis Publishing in October 1954 for electronics hobbyists and experimenters. It soon became the "World's Largest-Selling Electronics Magazine". The circulation was 240,151 in April 1957 and 400,000 by 1963. Ziff-Davis published Popular...
, Buyer's Guide Magazine, and Stereo & Hi-Fi Times. Three of the company's print advertisements were illustrated by the artist Rick Meyerowitz
Rick Meyerowitz
Rick Meyerowitz is an American artist. He started drawing during his childhood and attended art school at Boston University...
and ran in publications such as Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
, National Lampoon, and others in 1973 and 1974.
Although formally this model always carried the name "III", it was colloquially often nicknamed the "Highboy" following the launch of the "III Lowboy" (around 1970) in order not to confuse the two models. Both the III "Highboy" and III Lowboy are pictured here.
By 1971, Rectilinear had expanded its product range to include the following speaker models (MSRP prices per speaker):
- III (3-way, six drivers) - 35x18x12" - $279
- III Lowboy (3-way, six drivers) - 28x22x12" - $299
- Mini III (3-way) - 19x12x10" - $100
- VI (3-way, six drivers) - 25x14x11" - $239 (discontinued by 1971)
- Xa (3-way) - 25x14x11" - $199
- XI (2-way) - 23x12x11" - $80
- XII (3-way) - 25x14x11" - $139
Some of these early 3-way models featured 10" and 12" woofers manufactured by Jensen
Jensen
-People with the given name:*Jensen Ackles , American actor*Jensen Atwood , American actor*Jensen Buchanan , American actress*Jensen Daggett , American actress*Jensen Lewis , American baseball player...
("Flex-Air") and CTS (Chicago Telephone Supply), 5" whizzer cone squawkers manufactured by Philips Electronics of the Netherlands, and 2" and 2.5" cone tweeters by Peerless of Denmark. The Rectilinear speakers were typically, but not always, of ported design and finished in walnut with fabric or fretwork grilles. Many models featured one, or sometimes two, rear tone controls. The company offered some of their models as kits and "semi-kits".
Later models (1971 - approx. 1977) include:
- 2
- 4
- 4.5
- 5
- 7 (high output fuse version "MTH 4" also available)
- 7A
- IIIa
- IIIb
- X
- XIa
- XIb
The company also produced a tilted speaker stand, the "Rectilinear Dispersion Base", intended to be used with the Model 5 speaker .
Although the Rectilinear speakers were distributed through a nationwide network of up to 400 dealers, most of their sales was generated on the East Coast. Distributor in Canada was H Roy Gray Ltd., 14 Laidlaw Blvd., Markham, Ontario
Markham, Ontario
Markham is a town in the Regional Municipality of York, located within the Greater Toronto Area of Southern Ontario, Canada. The population was 261,573 at the 2006 Canadian census...
, Canada. International and military sales were offered by Royal Sound Co., 409 North Main St., Freeport, New York
Freeport, New York
Freeport is a village in the town of Hempstead, Nassau County, New York, USA, on the South Shore of Long Island. The population was 42,860 at the 2010 census. A settlement since the 1640s, it was once an oystering community and later a resort popular with the New York City theater community...
11520.