restore or modify rta 12b's

soundfreak1

Have a very nice sounding pair of 12b's they are ( I believe ) built in 83. No issues with them but they are getting old (like me) might like to restore some of the ele. In them but don't know where to start or if I should! Happy with the sound so I don't want to make them into something " else" but if new caps and ? Replaced what could I expect??? And where should I start? Help appreatiated. Just want to go slow and not ruin them. Thanks

stubby

Do they have the Peerless tweeters or the Silver Coils? If you have Peerless, I would leave them. If you have the others, I would change to RDO's (194). Most prefer the sound of the silk dome tweets.
If you replace the original caps and resistors with same value replacements, you are not really modifying per se. When these components get some age on them, it shows. (Sounds) I personally haven't heard anyone say that replacing their crossover components resulted in poorer sound. Unless they used different values than original.

stubby

soundfreak1

I'm more inclined to replace cap first reveling as much of the original sound as poss. Before "altering" the speaker.at least there will be a good baseline to judge from--as I said earlier they sound very good now but I know there is loss from age. Can the orig. Cap be found or is it. Nec. To go to other brands?

stubby

You will need to use other brands - which is a good thing. As good as they sound now, you will notice an improvement when you switch to "aftermarket" caps. Do a search on crossovers and you will find a wealth of info. What brands work well, price/performance ratio, lots of good to know info.

FWIW, I used Sonicaps on the high end and Solens for the lows. It worked out really well for me. It would have been very cost prohibitive to use Multiple Sonicaps for the low end......just one cap had a value of 185uF! $$$$$

stubby

soundfreak1

What can I expect to spent to replace the caps assuming I do it right (not worth doing if not right) I don't expect to get any money spent back but gotta see if it makes sense! I do really enjoy these speakers but---- I. Am speaker poor!LOL 3 pair of (mains) to rotate around according to mood . None are considered less than the polks, just diff. But I do like the polks. A lot! They seem to handle a wide veriety of diff. Music very nicely. They complament my ele. Nicely. Do appreiate the help.