RDO-194 on their way

factorz
factorz Posts: 353
edited July 2011 in Vintage Speakers
Well I just couldn't leave well enough alone and I decided to order a pair for my recently purchased RTA-12C's. From my reading it does not sound like they are hard to put in.

I plan on doing the crossovers in fall and will report back if the RDO's are worth the money.
Post edited by factorz on
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  • punk-roc
    punk-roc Posts: 1,150
    edited April 2011
    dropping the RDO's in was super easy on my SDA-II's, so I'm assuming they should be similarly easy for the 12Cs.. just a few screws and plugs..

    Jason
    2-Channel - So far...
    Pre: Dodd ELP
    DAC: W4S-Dac2
    Source(s): Computer and Denon 2910
    Amp: Parasound HCA-1200II
    Speakers: LSi9s - Vr3 Fortress Mod
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  • renowilliams
    renowilliams Posts: 920
    edited April 2011
    Yup...I just did mine although I will tell ya that they will work even if you hook them backwards. If your is the same as mine, you hook the black wire to the clip with red on it.
    "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
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  • factorz
    factorz Posts: 353
    edited April 2011
    Thanks for the advice guys. I know it can be tough to describe, but what did you feel the difference was?
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  • punk-roc
    punk-roc Posts: 1,150
    edited April 2011
    its been so long.. the new tweeters are a lot less fatiguing and everything seemed a little more appealing on longer listens or louder volumes. Was definitely worth the money

    Jason
    2-Channel - So far...
    Pre: Dodd ELP
    DAC: W4S-Dac2
    Source(s): Computer and Denon 2910
    Amp: Parasound HCA-1200II
    Speakers: LSi9s - Vr3 Fortress Mod
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  • geoff727
    geoff727 Posts: 546
    edited April 2011
    You should see a very, very small lip on the outside of the 194's face plate. This lip fits on top of the mounting plate, not inside the cutout. If your 12's mounting plates fit the same as ones I've seen, there is a "snap" to get the tweeters' faceplates (minus the very small lip) into the cutout.

    G~
    Polk SDA SRS 2
    Polk RTA 15tl
    Polk Monitor 7C
    Polk Lsi9
    Infinity RS-II (modded)
    Infinity RS-IIIa (modded)
    Infinity RS 2.5 x 2
    Magnepan 1.6QR (modded)

    System: http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?vevol&1290711373
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  • factorz
    factorz Posts: 353
    edited May 2011
    Well I got my new tweeters in the mail and have not been able to install them yet. It appears on one of them the screw holes are too big and the screws will not grab it. So I will need to make a trip to the hardware store for some new screws.

    Just to be clear the white wire connects to the red terminal?
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  • renowilliams
    renowilliams Posts: 920
    edited May 2011
    No, black to the red terminal.
    "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
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,566
    edited May 2011
    factorz wrote: »
    Just to be clear the white wire connects to the red terminal?

    This matter was discussed very recently. I believe the consensus was that on the RTA 12's, the white wire going to the tweeter goes to the positive terminal.

    Here it is.....
    DaveHo wrote: »
    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
    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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  • factorz
    factorz Posts: 353
    edited May 2011
    Ok hardware replaced and tweeters are in. Only had a few minutes to listen so no report yet. Hopefully this weekend I will get some qt time.
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  • factorz
    factorz Posts: 353
    edited May 2011
    Well I told myself I would stop here, but who I am kidding and have gone full steam ahead on these bad boys.

    Here is what I am looking to do.
    -RDO-194 (Done)
    -JB Weld Drivers (Done)
    -Dynamat Drivers
    -Apply Sonic Barrier
    -New Binding posts
    -Redo the xo, new wiring, new connector (Vr3MxStyler2k3 will be doing this)
    -New hardware (If I can get all the glue off!!!)

    Things I might do
    -Speaker spikes
    -Larry's ring (If I get the glue off and don't do new hardware)

    First big thanks to Vr3Mx for offering up his services. The truth is I had kicked around the idea of doing them myself, but I have never even used a solder gun before or own one. I was the guy in your shop class that has his projects start smoking and catch fire :eek:

    Also I wanted to say big thanks to Geoff727 who has answered about a million of my questions. Also his thread on the RTA he did was my motivation to do mine.

    I plan on doing the Dynamat and SB this weekend and will try to snap some pictures as I go.
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  • factorz
    factorz Posts: 353
    edited May 2011
    So if anyone has some advice how to get all this glue out! I saw the thread about rubbing alcohol and will try that.

    Any other good tricks?

    Attachment not found.

    Attachment not found.
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,566
    edited May 2011
    You do not want to "get all this glue out". You can use a sharp chisel to chip away the areas that are in the way, but make sure you leave the quarter rounds in place and reseal any area that you may have removed too much glue from.
    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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  • headrott
    headrott Posts: 5,496
    edited May 2011
    I would absolutely add Larry's rings to the speakers. Very nice and easily heard difference for the better. Much greater bass attack and overall clarity after the rings are in place.

    Greg
    Relayer-Big-O-Poster.jpg
    Taken from a recent Audioholics reply regarding "Club Polk" and Polk speakers:
    "I'm yet to hear a Polk speaker that merits more than a sentence and 60 seconds discussion." :\
    My response is: If you need 60 seconds to respond in one sentence, you probably should't be evaluating Polk speakers.....

    "Green leaves reveal the heart spoken Khatru"- Jon Anderson

    "Have A Little Faith! And Everything You'll Face, Will Jump From Out Right On Into Place! Yeah! Take A Little Time! And Everything You'll Find, Will Move From Gloom Right On Into Shine!"- Arthur Lee
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  • factorz
    factorz Posts: 353
    edited May 2011
    Dynamat done and SB is installed.

    Attachment not found.

    Attachment not found.
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  • factorz
    factorz Posts: 353
    edited July 2011
    I posted this over in the DIY area, but in case you don't spend much time in that area here is my quick review.

    Well I have spent most of the early morning listening and I am happy with the results. Now I am not much of a writer so please forgive me if I don't paint a great picture, but everything just sounds cleaner! The bass is so much tighter and as I said in a previous post the sub I have is no longer needed.

    I am a huge Phish fan so a good majority of my listening is their live shows and now I really get a sense of the venue they are planning. It's if it's something from the early years I can hear that small club sound compared to a large festival show. I also feel like I can hear where each of them is standing on the stage.

    It was funny as I had a party last night and I put on the Little Feats record Waiting on Columbus and one of my friends commented how life like it sounded. I tend to agree.

    So overall I am very happy with my decision to do these mods and feel I have some great speakers that are going to be with me for a long time. I also want to say that anyone of thinking of working with Trey it was a good experience. While we did have some set backs I know this is the first set of RTA's he has done and I don't think it would happen to the next guy.

    Again I am sorry if I wasn't able to write what I am hearing, but I if your thinking of doing these mods my .02 is it's worth it.
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  • george daniel
    george daniel Posts: 12,096
    edited July 2011
    atta' boy--good job.:smile:
    JC approves....he told me so. (F-1 nut)
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