Want to Mod a pair of RTA 11Ts... and I have some questions...

marcc78735

I have a pair of RTA RT11Ts in great condition. One of the drivers was frozen but I was able to get a replacement from one of the other forum members within hours of joining. Pretty amazing start here.

After poking around several threads to get an idea of what is involved I'd like to upgrade both speakers.

The speakers currently have the SL2000 tweeters. I understand I can replace those with RDO194s and it is a drop in replacement. I'm also considering upgrading the crossovers (at least the caps and resistors) but then noticed that the schematics for both models have the same 6510 drivers and same driver crossover components but the tweeter crossover components are different. If I'm going to replace the tweeters and the crossovers components, I'd rather upgrade to a TL type driver and tweeter crossover design. Does this make sense? If so, what would the appropriate tweeter replacement be? Also, are there other differences (i.e., cabinet dimensions or design) between the models that need to be taken into account as well.

I'm new to this forum and would love any guidance from anyone that has gone down this path before. Thanks.

-marcc78735

agfrost

You can update the 11Ts to TLs; it has been done successfully by at least a couple of people I'm aware of. The tweeter replacement if you're going to TL them is the RDO-198.

Here's one documentation. This guy went all in as he even replaced the binding posts. You will need to change out the smaller inductor, decreasing its value from 0.40mH to 0.30mH, IIRC. Double-check the schematics to be sure. The only driver that needs replacing is the tweeter, but you're doing those anyway so no problem.

I posted a couple of pics of my modded 11TL crossovers at the end of Braddles' thread (probably helping to drag it off course). I did change my inductors for reasons I explained there.

Good luck!

Jay

skrol

I believe the PR's are also tuned differently for the TL vs T.

Joe08867

I think skrol is right, although I am guessing the tuning is so minimal that the difference would be negligible.

Having 198's instead of SL2000's is worth the chance. Although 194's aren't slouches either.

heiney9

I believe the T and TL used the exact same model PR's.

H9

agfrost

H9 is correct, both models have the same passives. Each speaker has two different-mass centers. One is the SW80, the other is the SW81.

I recently bought a pair of scratch-and-dent 11Ts off craigslist so that I'd have spare drivers and passives for my 11TLs in case of emergency (and/or children!). I've lent the Ts to a friend and they're sounding scary good feeding off a few watts of Decware tube power.

I read in a thread elsewhere on this site that one of the RTA11 models used the SW83, but I'm pretty sure that's incorrect--I believe that PR belonged to some version of the Monitor 5.

skrol

Ok, I was basing it on the tech literature that mentions "new extended low frequency alignments" for the TL. You might find the attached tech info interesting.
Stan