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Thread: RJ speaker enclosures

  1. #1
    Senior Member Donald's Avatar
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    RJ speaker enclosures

    I have 2 boxes with a brand of RJ. My Dad says they are from the mid 50s. The speaker in side is a Duotone. The boxes leak air like a sieve. I put a 123A in and the nylon fishline wover grill vibrates like crazy.

    Any know the RJ brand of enclosures? Worth anything for nostalgia's sake?
    had L25,L36,L40,L120,L300,AquariusIV(2),S1,4408 have L65,L100,L222,DorianS12,B380

  2. #2
    jrh
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    R-J Enclosures

    Greeting to all from a new member. Concerning and old post [Nov 2004] about a pair of old R-J Enclosures - Donald, can you tell me something about their condition, if you still have the old [& probably defunkt] driver, if the filter straws are still intact, etc, I have been going over this old idea but didn't expect to find a surviving example. Yours ... James Hill

  3. #3
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    RJ enclosures

    This enclosure type is an ideal match for Wharfedale 8 CS/AL loudspeakers in its size for 8" drivers, a bookshelf type. RJ's were also made in a larger, square size for 12" drivers. The fron opening on both is distinguished by "Mickey Mouse" ears, behind the grill cloth. The speaker is mounted on a square panel recessed 3/4" behind this front panel. This is a somewhat unusual type of bass reflex. According to G. A. Briggs (in one of his many books), it was the hit of a 1950 Audio Fair, with a pair used to play dance music (mono). It was the first design able to extract reasonably deep bass from a small box.
    There is a hole in the rear panel for the wire. This can be improved by mounting a mounting strip, thus sealing the hole. The rear panel should not leak otherwise, as there is a thin layer of felt around the edges of the box. If your grille cloth vibrates noisily, replace it.
    I have tried a number of drivers in the 8" size RJ and found only one other which seems to work reasonably well, an 8" University triaxial.
    Beware of later 8" Wharfedales with foam surrounds. These deteriorate. Perhaps they could be replaced with a flat felt ring, similar to the CS model.
    The originators of the RJ design were two men named Robbins and Joseph.
    Except for the Klipschorn, the 8" RJ probably had the longest production run of any enclosure, about twenty years as I recall, rivalling the controversial Karlson.
    I have several of these enclosures, but only one 8 CS/AL driver. Let me know if you have one for sale.

  4. #4
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    More on RJ history

    This enclosure (I forget with which driver) was reviewed in the 1950's in "High Fidelity" magazine by noe other than J. Gordon Holt, who later started "Stereophile" magazine, in their "Tested in the Home" column. As I recall, his only negative comment was about its inability to play very loudly.
    This enclosure was popular enough that unauthorized copies were made by at least two other makers. The real RJ has a round logo on the front, proclaiming it to be an "Authentic RJ Enclosure", at least on the bookshelf type. It was also the least expensive type which could be considered "high fidelity" according to one paperback book from its time. It cost about $20 empty, unfinished, and the Wharfedale 8 CS/AL wasn't much more in addition. "CS" stands for cloth surround. "AL" stands for aluminum voice coil. Another paperback book criticized it for poor polar response. I was lucky enough to find an unfinished one, which I finished in a stain I like. My others tend to have had the finish go bad on one end, either from water damage or whatever. I also have an early type in the same size as a Wharfedale enclosure which has a separate tweeter mounted in the front panel. As I recall, it doesn't have the recessed woofer.

  5. #5
    Senior Member 1audiohack's Avatar
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    What?!? There's dates on these threads?!?

    This is not a list serve where questions and answers sink into ambiguity among those on the list, it's a forum and sometimes information is added to an old post that the originator may or may no longer be interested in. What is hoped for is the additions are useful and posative, now and in the future.

    A question never asked is rarely answered, someone else may respond, so ask away.

    Thanks for the posative contribution jsprague, I found that interesting.
    If we knew what the hell we were doing, we wouldn't call it research would we.

  6. #6
    Senior Member Don C's Avatar
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    I don't own this one anymore. But it seems to be the of type being discussed here. It had a D208.

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