Sl-2000, mw6511, mw6503 (still availible?)

Joe08867

nadams wrote: »

You can't say that they're "sonically the same", and then say that the RDO is better. It has to be one or the other

In this case, it's a GOOD thing that they're not sonically the same. The only downside is that you have to replace all your active tweeters at the same time.

You got me on that. :redface:

heiney9

Ok, Noah.....are we spliiting hairs . Electrically they are the same, but I see your point about sonically not being the same. I think Joe meant "electrically" the same as in "compatible".

H9

nadams

I'm sure that's what he meant, but we don't need to be steering paingod any more wronger

heiney9

I will ask Paingod, how often do you run your SDA's w/o grills? That's the only time the slight cosmetic issue is an issue.

You have 2 choices (well 3 actually) 1) go onto Ebay and take you chances with used drivers and people who have no clue how to ship them are in the majority 2) buy the new drivers which are a little different cosmetically from Polk 3) sell the SDA's and be done with it.

H9

heiney9

nadams wrote: »

but we don't need to be steering paingod any more wronger

Can I get an AMEN.

Although, he hasn't been steered wrong at all.

H9

pitdogg2

heiney9 wrote: »

Can I get an AMEN.

Although, he hasn't been steered wrong at all.

H9

AMEN

nope just clueless and hard headed...

now can those Macs be strapped by the negetive binding post?

heiney9

pitdogg2 wrote: »

now can those Macs be strapped by the negetive binding post?

Doubtful, it's rare that mono's can be strapped. Besides the damage may be already done. He may not still be using them, but he did at one point and it's a good guess that's waht caused his issues based on the very limited info presented.

H9

michaeljhsda2

michaeljhsda2 wrote: »

I didn't say tweeters... I'm talking about the MW RDO's.

Correction: They're not RDO's, they're RD's although no one on the forum refers to them that way. The part number is RD-6519-1 for the MW6510.

paingod

michaeljhsda2 wrote: »

Original MWxxxx



Replacement MWxxxx

Thanks for posting the images! (I've not seen them)
the MW driver differences are totally acceptable!

However the the tweeter differences are not!
I've already decided to pop on 8 new tweets, (due to such positive reviews) so the spare sl-2000 tweets can be backups for the 2.3's!

Thanks for the input

Joe08867

I am glad they are acceptable.

You still have other issues to worry about.

gimpod

From 4/14/2011

dorokusai wrote: »

These are the only drivers, aside from the RD tweeters, being manufactured to support vintage products, such as, Monitor, RTA and SDA. You should print this as a reference and keep it handy for the values it contains. There are no grill parts, cables, crossovers, plates or anything else available for the older loudspeakers, unless you know the Polk G O D.

1 Driver Type Q BL Compliance DC Resistance Fs

3 MW 6501 1.470 5.96 N 3.250 E - 3N/M 7.750 Ohms 31 Hertz
4 MW 6502 1.970 5.16 N 1.470 E - 3N/M 3.520 Ohms 44 Hertz
5 MW 6503 1.820 5.24 N 3.550 E - 3N/M 6.540 Ohms 29 Hertz
6 MW 6509 2.100 4.57 N 3.540 E - 3N/M 8.970 Ohms 30 Hertz
7 MW 6510 1.390 6.32 N 3.410 E - 3N/M 6.570 Ohms 31 Hertz
8 MW 6511 1.405 4.34 N 3.496 E - 3N/M 3.130 Ohms 29 Hertz
9 MW 6512 1.905 4.99 N 1.588 E - 3N/M 3.466 Ohms 40 Hertz

P.S. Search is your friend.

SDA1C

Thanks F1, concise and to the point. Where have all the non bullsh..ers gone? lol. Gimpod, you sir are my new best friend for that post. I'm not sure how I missed the tread but that info is golden!

P.s. Polk CS is the best there is. Well at least the best I'm aware of as far as far as support for vintage, ease of communication, timeliness, fun conversation, and a general "aren't totally bummed when you have to call them" though its very rare type of transaction. I for one completely love their willingness to satisfy even when its been my own ignorance that caused the problem to begin with. I challenge any and all to provide a better example of what CS is supposed to be.

1C

paingod

I'll take that challenge! Call OHM! They not only "KNOW" their
Products they support, service, and offer "upgrades" to their vintage models!
They will even buy them back! (well credit towards new products).
What you WON'T find there are CS people talking out of their behinds.
If they don't know the answer, they will have someone call you back who does!
(don't be surprised if it's the president of the company!)

I realize this is a Polk board full of "slappeys"
But gimmie a break! 2 calls to CS and 2 incorrect answers? = NOT GOOD

Toolfan66

Some customers you just can't please!!! maybe time to move on??

SDA1C

Lol.....

headrott

TOOLFORLIFEFAN wrote: »

Some customers you just can't please!!! maybe time to move on??

Sounds like it Larry.

Greg

heiney9

paingod wrote: »

I'll take that challenge! Call OHM! They not only "KNOW" their
Products they support, service, and offer "upgrades" to their vintage models!
They will even buy them back! (well credit towards new products).
What you WON'T find there are CS people talking out of their behinds.
If they don't know the answer, they will have someone call you back who does!
(don't be surprised if it's the president of the company!)

I realize this is a Polk board full of "slappeys"
But gimmie a break! 2 calls to CS and 2 incorrect answers? = NOT GOOD

Maybe you should go for option #3 I posted.

"sell your SDA's and move on". Sounds like there is no pleasing you.

H9

evhudsons

I dropped one of my sda crs+ speakers not long ago and both magnets separated on the drivers. That set off the whole saga of me trying to find out what to do about it when I discovered this forum. Since then I am in the midst of upgrading and am about to mod the crossovers. I had the same experience when ordering the sl2000 tweeters, and was confused as to what is a sl2000 and a rdo194 when they were both used in many posts in the forums. Now I know the difference, but what I am missing still is why did Polk have two different drivers for Stereo and SDA, and what difference does it make, and what do I have to gain or lose by using the "replacement" which is the mw 6503's. I had panicked before calling Polk, and got two 6503's to replace my drivers. After getting to see how difficult the 6511 is to find, I bought one on ebay a few weeks ago. I am waiting to install it later when I do the xcrossover mod, but is the 6503 more like the 6511 or the 6510, neither, or does it make a difference. I am assuming it must, because they did have two different electrical specs. I want to maximize the system I have, but I'm not worried about cosmetics or exact replacements, I just don't want to lose out on my SDA experience.

heiney9

Why does any manufacturer use different drivers for different positions in a speaker design. They used different drivers because they needed the drivers to have sightly different characteristics in order for them to sound the way they wanted them in their design.

That's the "why"; as to the differences, the engineers would know, but you don't need to know the differences because you probably wouldn't understand how they correlate to the speaker design. I'm sure the "f", "q", and other parameters are different as well as the impedence, etc. You need to know what you need in your particular model speaker and replace with the same thing.

As far as your question about the 6503 and 6510/6511, what did Polk say? They are the experts and if they say the 6503 is the closest replacement for you that they carry new; then you have 2 choices 1) buy it new 2) source a used original.

Don't know what else to tell you. DK could probably lay it all out for you in technical terms since he's picked the brains of the engineers more than anyone over the years. Not sure unless you have an engineering background and speaker building background you'd even understand it enough to be worth the effort.

It seems paingod had cast a bit of doubt on Polk CS. They are solid and the most knowledgable you will find.........no worries there. They know what they are talking about and they wouldn;t sell you a part that didn't work as intended in your particular speaker.

H9

sda2mike

paingod wrote: »

I'll take that challenge! Call OHM! They not only "KNOW" their
Products they support, service, and offer "upgrades" to their vintage models!
They will even buy them back! (well credit towards new products).
What you WON'T find there are CS people talking out of their behinds.
If they don't know the answer, they will have someone call you back who does!
(don't be surprised if it's the president of the company!)

I realize this is a Polk board full of "slappeys"
But gimmie a break! 2 calls to CS and 2 incorrect answers? = NOT GOOD

on this site, we are all 'audio-****-hats'..i believe RuSsMaN coined that..Polk cs rocks...you got some iffy answers...you then verified the info here...i dont get it...move on

heiney9

evhudsons,

I can see where your concern is but Polk feels the 6503 is a close enough match to the 6510 or 6511 (I forget which one) then you have no worries. I doubt anyone could hear the very slight differences between the drivers.

If like me, you are anal, then you would source an original used driver.

H9

SDA1C

Just thought I'd bolster the view of + Polk CS and possibly reverse some of the crap spewed fourth.

On 2 separate occasions I have sent back a pair of RDO with a very simple explanation as to the problem....something along these lines "My dumbass overdrove these awesome tweets with no breakin and a weak amp/receiver" or "I know these are past warranty but I had some friends over and we were drinking...."

Both were met with no questions other than maybe an underlined section in the proper break in procedure or a note on the invoice saying "enjoy ".

If that isnt the best CS around for vintage support I don't know what is!

1C

dorokusai

Paingod - We all use different ways to explain things and so what if the verbage was wrong, the result is the same. The drivers in question can all be replaced with new models that are available from Polk Audio.

Is it really that big of a deal? We have a couple new folks up in CS so it's bound to happen. The fact is that historically, Polk CS has been untouchable and remarkable when it comes to their support of the members here and otherwise. They are top notch and I should know since I'm one of them and worked with Ken Swauger, who just retired after 15 years. Kim Jasper and Helen Yarbor are also above their peers when it comes to CS support.

If you have any additional questions, you may contact me directly and I assure you of the correct answers. You can also ask for Helen or Kim directly, if that helps.

Mark - Polk CS
mnestor@ polkaudio.com

geppy1

I want to make sure I understand this. as i am getting old and stupid The chart above appears to be the same as the one I got from ken years ago .
Am I to understand these are all the new drivers Polk carries at this time?? I understand they are made in China and have different dust caps ect.
I had understood they had a one fits all driver that covered all these numbers even though the drivers are different.
I guess the question is do they have one fits all or do they have all the numbers shown above in rereleased units??
Like H9 said it is great they do that but if it is one fits all I like to have originals as they do sound slightly different

dorokusai

It must be keep it in context since it was an answer from another thread. You're correct, the current MWdrivers cover multiple older MWdrivers as far as replacement. There isn't just one.

DarqueKnight

Here are some additional pictures showing the cosmetic differences between the old and new MWxxxx drivers. The driver on the left in all pictures is a new MW6511.

The new drivers have dark gray cones with a matte finish. The old drivers have black cones with a semi-gloss finish.

I did not hear a sonic difference between the new MWxxxx drivers and their original counterparts.


Figure 1.


Figure 2. The color and finish differences in the cones show up better with camera flash.


Figure 3.


Figure 4. The old MW6511 above has Dynamat Xtreme vibration damping material applied to the basket and Mortite caulk around
the rim as a cabinet sealant.


Figure 5.

dorokusai

I haven't heard a sonic difference between the models either. I've even used the wrong driver in models and not heard any changes. The spec's are minor and as long as the impedence is matched, I wouldn't stress over using an incorrect driver to get by....I've done it at least a dozen times.

Great pics DK, thanks for posting them.

nadams

In the thread just below this one, we can see that the technical specifications are all very close - http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=121745

With the exception of the Fs for the 6502 and the 6517

Joe08867

Like Doro said the only difference that could cause issue is Ohm rating. I have used a different MW in places and honestly could not tell a difference.

Neskahi

Of the replacement drivers currently available, which one replaces the MW6513 ?
As a replacement, I know it won't have the doughnut which is good cosmetically if
all four are replaced.