Another newbie question?

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R/T
R/T Posts: 7
edited January 2005 in Vintage Speakers
I inherited a pair of polks from my father that were
purchased in the 80's sometime and they have a tweeter that sits on top with a grill that lifts straight up. Does anyone have any idea what models they are? I believe they went for around $1200 for the pair at the time of purchase. I did not see a model number on them. They are about 3 feet high and around 20 inches wide.

Thanks
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  • TroyD
    TroyD Posts: 13,077
    edited January 2005
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    Sounds like you have an RTA 12....

    Search around here, there are more than a few threads on them.

    BDT
    I plan for the future. - F1Nut
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  • R/T
    R/T Posts: 7
    edited January 2005
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    Thanks! Were there similar models with a smaller sub than 12 inches. For some reason I don't remeber the sub being that large. I'll have to have another look when I get home tonight.
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  • Tour2ma
    Tour2ma Posts: 10,177
    edited January 2005
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    Welcome to the Club...

    Not sub... "passive radiator". It is not powered, it produces bass via equal and opposite movement of the twin mid-woofers and the sealed cabinet. The PR is the basis of all the great, old Polks.

    The RTA12, with its top mounted tweeter, was one of a kind in the Polk line-up.
    More later,
    Tour...
    Vox Copuli
    Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. - Old English Proverb

    "Death doesn't come with a Uhaul." - Dennis Gardner
    "It's easy to get lost in price vs performance vs ego vs illusion." - doro
    "There is a certain entertainment value in ripping the occaisonal (sic) buttmunch..." - TroyD
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  • R/T
    R/T Posts: 7
    edited January 2005
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    I don't get it. Since when does it have to be powered to be a subwoofer?
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,805
    edited January 2005
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    A driver, be it mid-driver, woofer or subwoofer has wires connected to it, so that it can receive a signal and therefore produce sound. A passive radiator doesn't have any wires connected to it, therefore is passive and since it radiates sound from the movement of other drivers, it's a radiator. Simple really.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • Tour2ma
    Tour2ma Posts: 10,177
    edited January 2005
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    Yup...

    R/T, when you said "sub" I took you to mean a device that receives a music signal via wiring and has a voice coil to translate that signal into acoustic energy.

    If you simply meant "sub" as a term relating to the production of deep bass, then a PR sorta is a "sub", but it's not the way we use use the term around here...
    More later,
    Tour...
    Vox Copuli
    Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. - Old English Proverb

    "Death doesn't come with a Uhaul." - Dennis Gardner
    "It's easy to get lost in price vs performance vs ego vs illusion." - doro
    "There is a certain entertainment value in ripping the occaisonal (sic) buttmunch..." - TroyD
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  • R/T
    R/T Posts: 7
    edited January 2005
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    And here I was thinking there are wires connected to the passive radiator and apparently there are not. Something that big 12" and it does nothing like I thought. Thanks for the info guys.
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  • nadams
    nadams Posts: 5,877
    edited January 2005
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    That's what makes it passive :). It receives no signal, no power, nothing. It's "driven" by the movement of the smaller mid-bass drivers. If you notice, there's no port in the cabinets anywhere for air to get out. It's a totally sealed system, which is why it works.

    What do you think of them, anyway? :D
    Ludicrous gibs!
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  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited January 2005
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    welcome R/T

    enjoy your new speakers.

    treasure them.. they will bring years of listening enjoyment.
    PolkFest 2012, who's going>?
    Vancouver, Canada Sept 30th, 2012 - Madonna concert :cheesygrin:
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,805
    edited January 2005
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    Just make sure you hook them up to something respectable, no receivers!
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • R/T
    R/T Posts: 7
    edited January 2005
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    I just looked at them a little closer and I see what you mean about the passive radiator. They are the RT12A's and they rock. I will be using an old school pioneer
    receiver sx-950. Not an amp but still pretty good stuff for it's time. I've been a Polk fan since I was a kid and went shopping with my old man for his SDA series polks.
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,805
    edited January 2005
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    Glad you like them. If you ever have the chance to feed them some amp power I think you'll like them even more. :)
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,576
    edited January 2005
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    That's a cool speaker.

    As a side note, you can't "power" a speaker with air, thus it's "passive". When you add electricity, it becomes "active".

    I love the old Polk Audio ads that say "Fluid Coupled Subwoofer".....sounds cool eh?

    What they mean is "Passive Radiator", and how lame does that sound? Yep, real lame, stick with the marketing suggestion.
    CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
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  • nadams
    nadams Posts: 5,877
    edited January 2005
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    The SX-950 is a beast of a receiver, and should be able to handle them for now. 85wpc might not seem like much, but them's old-skool watts, not those newfangled plasticised watts ;)

    Here's a link to some light specs- http://www.classicaudio.com/value/pio/SX950.html

    I lot of specs are missing for these, even on www.classic-audio.com which usually has some of the best classic Pioneer info on the web.

    I have a Pioneer SX-450, and I love it. I'm not currently using it to drive anything because it needs a little work. But once and a while I pull it out and hook it up, and it never fails to bring a smile to my face :). (and it's only rated 15wpc!)
    Ludicrous gibs!
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  • R/T
    R/T Posts: 7
    edited January 2005
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    I hooked up my sx-950 to a pair of cheap bookshelfs and was amazed at how good they sounded with the Pioneer receiver vs the Aiwa plastic jobby.
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  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited January 2005
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    Originally posted by R/T
    I hooked up my sx-950 to a pair of cheap bookshelfs and was amazed at how good they sounded with the Pioneer receiver vs the Aiwa plastic jobby.


    umm yeah. hello. is the Pioneer silver faced? it's vintage classic sounding gear. from when receivers sounded good. unlike some of todays stuff.

    good work.
    PolkFest 2012, who's going>?
    Vancouver, Canada Sept 30th, 2012 - Madonna concert :cheesygrin:
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  • R/T
    R/T Posts: 7
    edited January 2005
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    Yes it is silver faced....I have the Eq,Casette Deck,Reel to Reel,turntable and reverberation amp all silver face stuff to go with it. All collecter's items and I'm proud to have them come my way.
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  • nadams
    nadams Posts: 5,877
    edited January 2005
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    R/T- NEVER GET RID OF THOSE

    or, GET RID OF THEM TO ME

    :D
    Ludicrous gibs!
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