Help identifying these speakers please.

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Jonas
Jonas Posts: 4
edited July 2005 in Vintage Speakers
I recently purchased these speakers at a house sale. I must admit I wasn't familiar with Polk speakers but I consulted with a friend of mine who advised me to purchase them. I was wondering if anyone could help me identify them.
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  • Jonas
    Jonas Posts: 4
    edited July 2005
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    The tweeters are SL1000's. Thanks to everyone in advance.
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,794
    edited July 2005
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    RTA 12B's according to the crossover label.
    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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  • ND13
    ND13 Posts: 7,601
    edited July 2005
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    Looks like a nice set of RTA 12s to me, but I could be mistaken. I seem to remember seeing one of the Monitor series (12s or 15s) that had the tweeter on top like that,also.

    Jesse you posted at the same time, sorry.

    They look pretty minty from the pics. If you don't mind telling, what did you get 'em for? There's a set on Ebay right now for $379 bin
    "SOME PEOPLE CALL ME MAURICE,
    CAUSE I SPEAK OF THE POMPITIOUS OF LOVE"
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,794
    edited July 2005
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    No problem, two heads are better than one.

    They are refered to by some as Monitor 12's, but they are really part of the RTA (Real Time Array) series. Polk's labeling was confusing at times as with other RTA labels they have both Monitor and RTA printed on them.

    They do look minty, don't they!
    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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  • ND13
    ND13 Posts: 7,601
    edited July 2005
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    Originally posted by F1nut
    No problem, two heads are better than one.

    They are refered to by some as Monitor 12's, but they are really part of the RTA (Real Time Array) series. Polk's labeling was confusing at times as with other RTA labels they have both Monitor and RTA printed on them.

    They do look minty, don't they!

    Aha, I always wondered if that was the case. That's the only thing about trying to research vintage Polks. There were so many models that were transitional, like my SDA 2Bs.
    "SOME PEOPLE CALL ME MAURICE,
    CAUSE I SPEAK OF THE POMPITIOUS OF LOVE"
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  • Jonas
    Jonas Posts: 4
    edited July 2005
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    Thanks for the information everyone. I paid $80 for the pair at the house sale. The former owner was moving from a house to an apartment and said he didn't have the room for them. The tweeters are dated October 27, 1983.
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  • ND13
    ND13 Posts: 7,601
    edited July 2005
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    Originally posted by Jonas
    Thanks for the information everyone. I paid $80 for the pair at the house sale. The former owner was moving from a house to an apartment and said he didn't have the room for them. The tweeters are dated October 27, 1983.

    WOW!!!, That's a steal. With what you paid, I would most definitely upgrade to the silk replacement tweeters from Polk. They can be had for $48 each with free shipping, just mention Club Polk Member to get the discounts.

    You'll never be able to come close to the sound you'll get from these for that kind of dough.

    You're in for a treat.
    "SOME PEOPLE CALL ME MAURICE,
    CAUSE I SPEAK OF THE POMPITIOUS OF LOVE"
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  • Spawndn72
    Spawndn72 Posts: 453
    edited July 2005
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    You got a very good deal. What are you going to power them with?
    Setup:
    Adcom GFA-545 amp
    Nad 1600 pre
    Dual 704 TT
    Pioneer 707 R2R
    Pioneer DV-578A Multi-format
    Polk SDA-2 Mains
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  • Loud & Clear
    Loud & Clear Posts: 1,538
    edited July 2005
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    The silk replacements aren't drop-in, in this case. The SL1000 and Peerless tweeters are affixed to smaller plates than the others. So, you could find some Peerless if you want to replace. Great speakers, imo, with or without tweeter replacement.

    Two Channel Setup:

    Speakers: Wharfedale Opus 2-3
    Integrated Amp: Krell S-300i
    DAC: Arcam irDac
    Source: iMac
    Remote Control: iPad Mini

    3.2 Home Theater Setup:

    Fronts: Klipsch RP-160M
    Center: Klipsch RP-160M
    Subwoofer: SVS PB12NSD (X 2)
    AVR: Yamaha Aventage RX-A2030
    Blu Ray: Sony BDP-S790
    TV Source: DirecTV Genie
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  • Jonas
    Jonas Posts: 4
    edited July 2005
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    Originally posted by ND13
    WOW!!!, That's a steal. With what you paid, I would most definitely upgrade to the silk replacement tweeters from Polk. They can be had for $48 each with free shipping, just mention Club Polk Member to get the discounts.

    You'll never be able to come close to the sound you'll get from these for that kind of dough.

    You're in for a treat.

    Thanks I will definitely have to check out the silk replacement tweeters.
    Originally posted by Spawndn72
    You got a very good deal. What are you going to power them with?

    I plan on driving them with a Sansui AU-717 amplifier.
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  • Spawndn72
    Spawndn72 Posts: 453
    edited July 2005
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    That should power those pretty well. You are going to be happy with those.
    Setup:
    Adcom GFA-545 amp
    Nad 1600 pre
    Dual 704 TT
    Pioneer 707 R2R
    Pioneer DV-578A Multi-format
    Polk SDA-2 Mains
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  • ND13
    ND13 Posts: 7,601
    edited July 2005
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    Originally posted by Loud & Clear
    The silk replacements aren't drop-in, in this case. The SL1000 and Peerless tweeters are affixed to smaller plates than the others. So, you could find some Peerless if you want to replace. Great speakers, imo, with or without tweeter replacement.

    Very true, I had forgot about the plate size issue. If you can find some used Peerless made 1000s that would be the ticket. My Monitor 10As have the Peerless tweeters and I wouldn't consider replacing them for anything. I love the way they sound. Sometimes on Ebay you can find some vintage Polks, that have the Peerless tweeters in them, that can be had on the cheap and then take them out of them and replace them with your Polk made 1000's and resell them and you wouldn't be out much except for shipping.

    Like these for instance:http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=71572&item=5785216301&rd=1
    "SOME PEOPLE CALL ME MAURICE,
    CAUSE I SPEAK OF THE POMPITIOUS OF LOVE"
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  • HBombToo
    HBombToo Posts: 5,256
    edited July 2005
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    is there a conversion kit or idea of how they would sound with an SDA crossover and inter connect cable??

    HBomb
    ***WAREMTAE***
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  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,576
    edited July 2005
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    Originally posted by HBombToo
    is there a conversion kit or idea of how they would sound with an SDA crossover and inter connect cable??

    HBomb

    Why would that even make any sense? No, there isn't a conversion kit. They should change your Polk name.
    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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  • HBombToo
    HBombToo Posts: 5,256
    edited July 2005
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    Originally posted by dorokusai
    Why would that even make any sense? No, there isn't a conversion kit. They should change your Polk name.

    i would suspect class clown would be appropriate:p

    HBomb
    ***WAREMTAE***
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  • HBombToo
    HBombToo Posts: 5,256
    edited July 2005
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    Originally posted by dorokusai
    Why would that even make any sense?

    btw
    They look identical to my 2B's with an external tweeter. the interconnect ties the mid drivers together if I understand sda correctly....

    HBomb
    ***WAREMTAE***
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  • joelll
    joelll Posts: 120
    edited July 2005
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    One source of confusion is that the speakers were marketed under both the Monitor 12 and RTA-12 names at different times during the series history. In this forum, they're usually called RTA-12 because there is a speaker of different design that was *also* called the Monitor 12, which didn't have the tweeter-on-top design.

    That friend gave great advice on the purchase. Pairs of RTA-12's often sell for over $200, and they're a good buy at that price.
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