RD0194 Tweeter polarity in RTA12C
Crashdot
Posts: 182
Greetings,
I am changing out the crossovers in my RTA12C's and noticed that the tweeters were not consistently wired, which may have been an error while reassembling after initial testing. I would like to know which wire goes to the red marked terminal on the RD0194 tweeter.
Sorry if this has been discussed before, but I've seen contradicting posts.
The wires are:
Black: HF GND OUT
White: HF OUT
Thanks
I am changing out the crossovers in my RTA12C's and noticed that the tweeters were not consistently wired, which may have been an error while reassembling after initial testing. I would like to know which wire goes to the red marked terminal on the RD0194 tweeter.
Sorry if this has been discussed before, but I've seen contradicting posts.
The wires are:
Black: HF GND OUT
White: HF OUT
Thanks
Post edited by Crashdot on
Comments
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On mine, I believe black goes to positive and white to negative or ground. I'll have to look when I get home.
I recently completed rebuilding both the upper and lower xovers, and the color of the wires was consistent in terms of polarity.
I'm thinking about the RDO194's as well, but I'm waiting to see what effect the xover upgrade has once everything is burned in.
FYI I immediately noticed a richer, smoother 3D sound. Also, I realize I'm in the minority, but I don't hear the harshness out of the SL1000 tweeters that so many others complain about."Science is suppose to explain observations not dismiss them as impossible" - Norm on AA; 2.3TL's w/sonicaps/mills/jantzen inductors, Gimpod's boards, Lg Solen SDA inductors, RD-0198's, MW's dynamatted, Armaflex speaker gaskets, H-nuts, brass spikes, Cardas CCGR BP's, upgraded IC Cable, Black Hole Damping Sheet strips, interior of cabinets sealed with Loctite Power Grab, AI-1 interface with 1000VA A-L transformer -
The red post gets the hot wire, so you want to connect the white one to it.
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Plus 1 voteintangible wrote: »The red post gets the hot wire, so you want to connect the white one to it. -
Did Polk go back and forth on the color coding of their hookup wires for different models? Other Polk models I've been in use the black wire for hot and white for ground.
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I was wondering the same thing. I know this thread is about RTA12c speakers but I thought all Polks would use the same wire colors for + and - connections.On3s&Z3r0s wrote: »Did Polk go back and forth on the color coding of their hookup wires for different models? Other Polk models I've been in use the black wire for hot and white for ground.
The black wire was connected to the + terminal on the sl2000 tweeter in my Monitor 10Bs when I got them. I replaced the sl2000 with RDO-194s and connected the black wire to the red terminal on the RDO-194s. Isn't that the way they should be connected?- SDA 2BTL · Sonicaps · Mills resistors · RDO-198s · New gaskets · H-nuts · Erse inductors · BH5 · Dynamat
- Crossover upgrades by westmassguy
- Marantz 1504 AVR (front speaker pre-outs to Adcom 555)
- Adcom GFA-555 amp · Upgrades & speaker protection added by OldmanSRS
- Pioneer DV-610AV DVD/CD player
- SDA CRS+ · Hidden away in the closet
- SDA 2BTL · Sonicaps · Mills resistors · RDO-198s · New gaskets · H-nuts · Erse inductors · BH5 · Dynamat
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I was wondering the same thing. I know this thread is about RTA12c speakers but I thought all Polks would use the same wire colors for + and - connections.
The black wire was connected to the + terminal on the sl2000 tweeter in my Monitor 10Bs when I got them. I replaced the sl2000 with RDO-194s and connected the black wire to the red terminal on the RDO-194s. Isn't that the way they should be connected?
Yep. It's true that the positive lead from the crossover should connect to the positive terminal (marked with a + or colored red) on the tweeter. In the 5Jr and SDA 2B black is used for the positive on tweeter and MW. Other colors were occasionally used (like for the dimensionals in the SDAs) but I don't know why they wouldn't be consistent with the black and white for the models with a single tweeter. -
The RTA12's are a bit different than other Polks. The negative, white, wire does indeed go to the positive terminal on the tweeter. I believe this is due to the phase being inverted somewhere in it's complex xover. See the wiring diagram here: http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=18713&d=1155781986
-Dave -
DaveHo is right. The white wire goes to the positive side of the tweeter.
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I'm not sure why none of these tweeters (SL2000, RDO194) seems to have a + sign anywhere to be seen; am I missing something?
So just to be clear, you are saying:
Black: HF GND OUT connects to silver (untinted) terminal on tweeter
White: HF OUT connects to red terminal on tweeter
Thanks -
The SL2000 probably has a plus molded (not very visibly) on the plastic baffle near one of the terminals. It might be under the foam gasket if that came off with the tweeter. You want that foam behind the new RD tweeter by the way. On the RD tweeters they just made the terminal red with no other indication from what I've seen. Thanks to Dave posting the link to the wiring diagram, I agree with everybody else that white connects to positive/red and black to the untinted terminal.
That is one wacky XO! (Actually, they all look pretty wacky to me, just more used to looking at the SDA ones.) -
The RTA12's are a bit different than other Polks. The negative, white, wire does indeed go to the positive terminal on the tweeter. I believe this is due to the phase being inverted somewhere in it's complex xover. See the wiring diagram here: http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=18713&d=1155781986
-Dave
I looked at how mine are wired and the white goes to the positive, the black to negative. The black is definitely positive throughout the rest of the wiring, but coming off the Xover to the tweeter it's labelled "HF ground out." :rolleyes:"Science is suppose to explain observations not dismiss them as impossible" - Norm on AA; 2.3TL's w/sonicaps/mills/jantzen inductors, Gimpod's boards, Lg Solen SDA inductors, RD-0198's, MW's dynamatted, Armaflex speaker gaskets, H-nuts, brass spikes, Cardas CCGR BP's, upgraded IC Cable, Black Hole Damping Sheet strips, interior of cabinets sealed with Loctite Power Grab, AI-1 interface with 1000VA A-L transformer -
Is it bad when an SDA crossover makes more sense than the RTA line.
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Just curious....what would happen if you wires the rdo-194 backwards? would it work or not?"They're always talking about my drinking, but never mention my thirst" Oscar Wilde
Pre-Amp: Anthem AVM 20
Amp: Carver TFM-35
Amp: Rotel RB-870BX
Fronts : SDA 1B w/ RDO-194s
T.V.:Plasma TC-P54G25
Bluray: Oppo BDP-93
Speaker Cables: MIT Terminater
Interconnect Cables:DH Labs Silver Sonic BL-1isonic -
renowilliams wrote: »Just curious....what would happen if you wires the rdo-194 backwards? would it work or not?
Do you remember the scene where they cross the streams in Ghostbusters? Probably nothing worse than that.
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lol....well I guess mine are right....they sure sound much better,which I'll take as a good sign."They're always talking about my drinking, but never mention my thirst" Oscar Wilde
Pre-Amp: Anthem AVM 20
Amp: Carver TFM-35
Amp: Rotel RB-870BX
Fronts : SDA 1B w/ RDO-194s
T.V.:Plasma TC-P54G25
Bluray: Oppo BDP-93
Speaker Cables: MIT Terminater
Interconnect Cables:DH Labs Silver Sonic BL-1isonic -
:biggrin: Obviously, I don't know the real answer to the question, but I'm 99% sure that in the case of the 2A's you should be black to positive and white to negative.
I think there would be a difference, but only because when I was soldering leads onto my RD0-198's they buzzed when soldering the ground but not the hot terminal. Weird. -
Since one of mine was wired in reverse, I can tell you that it does work, but my understanding is that it would not be in proper phase and may therefore cancel out frequencies from the other tweeter.
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Since one of mine was wired in reverse, I can tell you that it does work, but my understanding is that it would not be in proper phase and may therefore cancel out frequencies from the other tweeter.
Bingo, give that man a prize. -
I see a lot of misinformation here about tweeter polarity. In the RTA12B or C, the tweeter polarity is reversed. HF+ out does NOT go to the red terminal! It goes to negative! The wiring diagram reflects this as well. You're dealing with a recessed tweeter crossed at 24db per octave. The crossover throws it 360 degrees out of phase meaning that it's a full cycle behind. The combo of crossover phase, tweeter polarity and recessed top mounting is all part of the phasing of the entire system. Wire them with + to + and - to - and you'll create a undesirable though not dire audible effects.
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Correct and the resulting frequency response would show a null or suckout around the crossover frequency atleast on the designed listening axis.Davesworld wrote: »The combo of crossover phase, tweeter polarity and recessed top mounting is all part of the phasing of the entire system. Wire them with + to + and - to - and you'll create a undesirable though not dire audible effects. -
Clearly there is considerable disagreement on this, so how can I confirm which is correct?
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Clearly there is considerable disagreement on this, so how can I confirm which is correct?
I don't see the schematic for the 12C but the one for the 12B indicates the tweeter is connected in reverse polarity. -
The only difference in the later RTA schematics appears to be the use of a polyswitch in lieu of a 3/4 amp fuse.
When I rebuilt my upper and lower crossovers I compared what was in front of me with the schematic for the 12B.
The tweeters are definitely wired out of phase. "Science is suppose to explain observations not dismiss them as impossible" - Norm on AA; 2.3TL's w/sonicaps/mills/jantzen inductors, Gimpod's boards, Lg Solen SDA inductors, RD-0198's, MW's dynamatted, Armaflex speaker gaskets, H-nuts, brass spikes, Cardas CCGR BP's, upgraded IC Cable, Black Hole Damping Sheet strips, interior of cabinets sealed with Loctite Power Grab, AI-1 interface with 1000VA A-L transformer -
Like Drumminman said they are wired out of phase.
It has been discussed and even checked by several of the CP fellows.
The tweeters are definitely wired out of phase. -
drumminman wrote: »The only difference in the later RTA schematics appears to be the use of a polyswitch in lieu of a 3/4 amp fuse.
When I rebuilt my upper and lower crossovers I compared what was in front of me with the schematic for the 12B.
The tweeters are definitely wired out of phase.
Wire your tweeters with black to + and white to -. Listen to some music you know well. Then reverse the wiring.
Reverse phase yields an amazingly smooth, deep, 3D soundstage. :cool: In phase should sound pretty wonky.
"Science is suppose to explain observations not dismiss them as impossible" - Norm on AA; 2.3TL's w/sonicaps/mills/jantzen inductors, Gimpod's boards, Lg Solen SDA inductors, RD-0198's, MW's dynamatted, Armaflex speaker gaskets, H-nuts, brass spikes, Cardas CCGR BP's, upgraded IC Cable, Black Hole Damping Sheet strips, interior of cabinets sealed with Loctite Power Grab, AI-1 interface with 1000VA A-L transformer -
Correct and the resulting frequency response would show a null or suckout around the crossover frequency at least on the designed listening axis.
I figured there would be a suckout. I'm also sure that a lot of people have their RTA's wired wrong too at this point. -
Davesworld wrote: »I'm also sure that a lot of people have their RTA's wired wrong too at this point.
Yes theres likely a few that have been tinkered(tampered) with without the benifit of consulting the schematic.
btw.welcome Dave. -
Thanks! Still got my early 12C's from 1983.
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After looking over the PCB and schematics to the best of my abilities, I have to agree. I opened up the HFM and took a photo for comparison to the pcb and schematic images, and it does appear that the HF OUT white tweeter wire is intended to go to the tweeter's negative terminal.Davesworld wrote: »I see a lot of misinformation here about tweeter polarity. In the RTA12B or C, the tweeter polarity is reversed. HF+ out does NOT go to the red terminal! It goes to negative!
I have attached a composite drawing with the overlayed a photo of the flipped version of the underside of the PCB with the PCB diagram and schematic for consideration.
To summarize:
HF OUT white wire = Tweeter Negative (-) aka Silver Terminal
HF GND OUT black wire = Tweeter Positive (+) aka Red Terminal
Concur? -
So confusing!....Looked at my 12C's I picked up awhile back and one speaker had the white wire going to the red "positive" terminal on the RDO194 and the other speaker had it going to the negative. Obviously they were not the same, but after reading this entire thread I do not know which one was correct...sound wise was pretty close going from left to right, but I know they are meant to work together.
I ended up going with the White wire to the red "positive" terminal on the RDO for both and they sound great. It may be backwards or correct....who knows anymore...ha ha
