RD0194 Tweeter polarity in RTA12C
Comments
-
I think the difference when wiring is reversed will be subtle, but for the sake of trying to listen to these speakers as they were designed, I am hoping the white to negative and black to positive is correct. Hopefully some others may be able to confirm this by having a peek at the composite image.
Cheers -
When reversed, the difference is subtle due to the null created at the crossover point. If it were a peak, it would be obvious.
If you care about imaging and uncolored frequency response, the tweeter should be connected in reverse polarity. This is completely normal for the crossover slopes used in it's design."He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche -
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.
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?
Yes, I may have been wrong about the labeled outputs from the crossover. I'll verify by ohmmeter if the white tweeter wire indeed rings to the negative speaker terminal. It would appear that the crossover is labeled as to how it hooks to the tweeter. The ground in the whole system is white according to the schematic. A DC ohmmeter should ring through common the whole way through the high pass and not so well through the other side where the caps are in series although the inductor will likely allow dc through. Hopefully the inductors willl show significant resistance.
The part that messed me up was the terminal fiber rings on the SL1000 where the one with a reddish colored fiber washer was connected to the black wire. Apparently the SL1000 does not have any meaningful terminal markings? These are the silver faced polyamide tweets that showed up mid 2003 I think. -
Hmmm...... It's not as clear as it should be and my first post is correct. The white wire coming into the top crossover board does indeed go to the negative terminal on the back of the main cabinet and is connected to the black hf gnd out by way of the soldered jumper closest to the teeter. Further testing proved that the SL1000 terminal with the red fiber washer under it is indeed positive and has always been connected to the HF GND out. If one sticks with wire colors throughout the whole system and does NOT read into what is printed on the crossover board they will be fine.
Throughout the speaker system, there are wires at every driver (obviously), white goes to the negative driver terminal. -
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
You got it backwards. On the newer tweeter when looking at it right side up with the terminals facing you, is the red one on the left? This is how my SL1000 is. Not surprisingly, the white wire is closest to the negative terminal of the SL1000 and the black wire is closest to the positive. Just remember, the white wire ALWAYS goes to the negative terminal on every driver.
In my digging in and tracing by disassembling the speaker system WITHOUT unplugging anything, it was apparent that Polk chose wire colors for ease of assembly by the final assemblers and they wouldn't have had to read the crossover board at all.
