RTA 11T's , a few questions.
ipsullivan
Posts: 65
I am relatively new to the vintage and audiophile game. I purchased a pair of RTA 11T's several months ago, more or less based on a whim due to them being available locally and a little bit of research. I am still happy with my purchase they are great towers.
They are currently being powered by a Yamaha M-65 amp and C-60 pre-amp. The amp could use a restoration but still performs.
Questions:
What can be done to upgrade the speakers with out spending too much money?
Upon further inspection and a rattling from one of the PRs what seems to be a diaphragm is torn and detached from the rear of the cone in spots. Anyway to repair this? I was thinking some sort of epoxy but needs to be flexible. I plan on getting a new PR when I can find the right one. What causes this? I am thinking just age, wear and tear.
The PRs seem to max out with a few songs that have deep bass unless I reduce the bass levels on the pre-amp. Sounds like the cone/diaphragm is hitting the rear of the PR's frame. Any solution to this other than turn the volume down?
Could I benefit from wiring these differently from the amp? I am currently using double wire for them it is marked CSA TYPE PCC FT4. The guy I bought the amp and pre-amp from said it would work well. What is recommended for a setup like this?
Any help would be much appreciated here.
Thanks,
Ian
A little eye candy:
They are currently being powered by a Yamaha M-65 amp and C-60 pre-amp. The amp could use a restoration but still performs.
Questions:
What can be done to upgrade the speakers with out spending too much money?
Upon further inspection and a rattling from one of the PRs what seems to be a diaphragm is torn and detached from the rear of the cone in spots. Anyway to repair this? I was thinking some sort of epoxy but needs to be flexible. I plan on getting a new PR when I can find the right one. What causes this? I am thinking just age, wear and tear.
The PRs seem to max out with a few songs that have deep bass unless I reduce the bass levels on the pre-amp. Sounds like the cone/diaphragm is hitting the rear of the PR's frame. Any solution to this other than turn the volume down?
Could I benefit from wiring these differently from the amp? I am currently using double wire for them it is marked CSA TYPE PCC FT4. The guy I bought the amp and pre-amp from said it would work well. What is recommended for a setup like this?
Any help would be much appreciated here.
Thanks,
Ian
A little eye candy:
Post edited by ipsullivan on
Comments
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Welcome to Club Polk. I agree, I really enjoy my RTA11TL's especially after the upgrades.
For upgrades, Polk came out with a tweeter upgrade to your SL-2000 tweeters. It is the RDO-194 which can be purchased through the Polk Audio parts department. Tell them that you are a Club Polk member to get a very nice discount. Next, consider upgrading crossover capacitors and resistors. I can recommend Clarity Caps or Sonicaps for the capacitors especially in the tweeter circuit. You can economize and go with Jantzen (Parts Express) for the mid-woofer circuits. Mils or Mundorf are good for the resistors. You can apply Dynamat (or similar product) to the baskets of the Mid-woofers and PRs to eliminate ringing.
On your PR when you say diaphragm, do you mean the spider spring? I have seen these detach from the basket and was able to re-attach using epoxy. If it is detached from the cone, something flexible like a silicone based adhesive may work. Post a pic if you can.Stan
Main 2ch:
Polk LSi15 (DB840 upgrade), Parasound: P/LD-1100, HCA-1000A; Denon: DVD-2910, DRM-800A; Benchmark DAC1, Monster HTS3600-MKII, Grado SR-225i; Technics SL-J2, Parasound PPH-100.
HT:
Marantz SR7010, Polk: RTA11TL (RDO198-1, XO and Damping Upgrades), S4, CS250, PSW110 , Marantz UD5005, Pioneer PL-530, Panasonic TC-P42S60
Other stuff:
Denon: DRA-835R, AVR-888, DCD-660, DRM-700A, DRR-780; Polk: S8, Monitor 5A, 5B, TSi100, RM7, PSW10 (DXi104 upgrade); Pioneer: CT-6R; Onkyo CP-1046F; Ortofon OM5E, Marantz: PM5004, CD5004, CDR-615; Parasound C/PT-600, HCA-800ii, Sony CDP-650ESD, Technics SA 5070, B&W DM601 -
I second what skrol said and may also mention that if you are pushing the amp too hard the speakers will get the bad end of the deal.aka distortion and ultimately damage.Main Rig-Realistic AM/FM Record player 8 track boasting 4 WPC
Backup Rig-2 CH-Rogue Audio Zeus w/Factory Special Dark Mods,Joule-Electra 300ME Platinum Preamp,OPPO-105 w/Modwright Tube Mod, Auralic Aries G2.1,Polk 2.3TL,3.1TL's,Dreadnought,RTA-15TL's,1C's All Fully Modded,2xRTA-12c's ,Benchmark DAC3 HGC,Synology NAS,VPI Scout w/Dynavector DV-20XH and Rogue Audio Ares Phono Preamp,Sony PCM-R500 DAT,HHB-850 Pro CDR,Tascam CC-222SLMKII Cassette/CDR,MIT S3.3 Shotgun Cables,Shunyata Hyra-8,Shunyata and Triode Labs Power Cords
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Actually you don't need any real specialty glue there. Aleen's Tacky Glue, available just about everywhere, will work just fine for both repairs. It's a Ketone modified white glue, which bonds with just about everything. Use a small artists bush to apply it where the separation is. If the rubber surround is detached, then a specialty glue would be required for that..
On your PR when you say diaphragm, do you mean the spider spring? I have seen these detach from the basket and was able to re-attach using epoxy. If it is detached from the cone, something flexible like a silicone based adhesive may work. Post a pic if you can.Home Theater/2 Channel:
Front: SDA-2ATL forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/143984/my-2as-finally-finished-almost/p1
Center: Custom Built forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/150760/my-center-channel-project/p1
Surrounds & Rears: Custom Built forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/151647/my-surround-project/p1
Sonicaps, Mills, RDO-194s-198s, Dynamat, Hurricane Nuts, Blackhole5
Pioneer Elite VSX-72TXV, Carver PM-600, SVS PB2-Plus Subwoofer
dhsspeakerservice.com/ -
Welcome to Club Polk. I agree, I really enjoy my RTA11TL's especially after the upgrades.
For upgrades, Polk came out with a tweeter upgrade to your SL-2000 tweeters. It is the RDO-194 which can be purchased through the Polk Audio parts department. Tell them that you are a Club Polk member to get a very nice discount. Next, consider upgrading crossover capacitors and resistors. I can recommend Clarity Caps or Sonicaps for the capacitors especially in the tweeter circuit. You can economize and go with Jantzen (Parts Express) for the mid-woofer circuits. Mils or Mundorf are good for the resistors. You can apply Dynamat (or similar product) to the baskets of the Mid-woofers and PRs to eliminate ringing.
On your PR when you say diaphragm, do you mean the spider spring? I have seen these detach from the basket and was able to re-attach using epoxy. If it is detached from the cone, something flexible like a silicone based adhesive may work. Post a pic if you can.
Yes I believe it is the spider spring. It has a partial tear as well as being detached. I am going to pick up some epoxy, how far on the spider spring should I apply the epoxy to? I was thinking about a 1/4".
As for crossovers, what kind of improvements will I see if I upgrade them?
Thanks,
Ian -
Is there entire crossover that I can purchase to swap with the originals?
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Do not use epoxy to repair the PR spider. Westmassguy suggested the proper glue.The PRs seem to max out with a few songs that have deep bass unless I reduce the bass levels on the pre-amp. Sounds like the cone/diaphragm is hitting the rear of the PR's frame. Any solution to this other than turn the volume down?
Well yeah! With a damaged PR that is going to happen.What can be done to upgrade the speakers with out spending too much money?
Define too much money. While you're thinking about that, a search here will turn up all kinds of ideas for mods.I am currently using double wire for them it is marked CSA TYPE PCC FT4.
No idea what that is. Is it actually speaker cable?As for crossovers, what kind of improvements will I see if I upgrade them?
Mo' better sound.Is there entire crossover that I can purchase to swap with the originals?
No.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 -
are you using Data cable for speaker wire? I have seen that rating on ethernet cables.The difference between genius and stupidity is; genius has its limits. -Albert Einstein
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White Lightning Moonshine DIY Speaker Cables and Interconnects -
I see the PRs pop-up on ebay sometimes, which PR is the problem? I was experiencing some distortion with my 11ts. It turned out to be the amp I using could not handle pushing the speakers. The distortion really showed up in the bass responce. The amp you are using is probablly not the problem but it could be the PR if it is broken? I have been able to rebuild my RTA 12s and RTA 11ts cheaply by watching ebay and the help this site has given me. Good luck, they are sweet speakers when they are working properly.
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I see the PRs pop-up on ebay sometimes, which PR is the problem? I was experiencing some distortion with my 11ts. It turned out to be the amp I using could not handle pushing the speakers. The distortion really showed up in the bass responce. The amp you are using is probablly not the problem but it could be the PR if it is broken? I have been able to rebuild my RTA 12s and RTA 11ts cheaply by watching ebay and the help this site has given me. Good luck, they are sweet speakers when they are working properly.
The upper PRs with both do it with extreme bass and high volume levels. Only one is damaged though. 95% of the music I put through it wont do it. -
PR's for this model come up on ebay now and then just enter Polk passive radiator.
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Some things to note when sourcing the replacement PR... You likely already noticed that the upper and lower PRs are different. Also make sure that they are for the RTA11T and not the RTA11TL. I believe that they are tuned differently.Stan
Main 2ch:
Polk LSi15 (DB840 upgrade), Parasound: P/LD-1100, HCA-1000A; Denon: DVD-2910, DRM-800A; Benchmark DAC1, Monster HTS3600-MKII, Grado SR-225i; Technics SL-J2, Parasound PPH-100.
HT:
Marantz SR7010, Polk: RTA11TL (RDO198-1, XO and Damping Upgrades), S4, CS250, PSW110 , Marantz UD5005, Pioneer PL-530, Panasonic TC-P42S60
Other stuff:
Denon: DRA-835R, AVR-888, DCD-660, DRM-700A, DRR-780; Polk: S8, Monitor 5A, 5B, TSi100, RM7, PSW10 (DXi104 upgrade); Pioneer: CT-6R; Onkyo CP-1046F; Ortofon OM5E, Marantz: PM5004, CD5004, CDR-615; Parasound C/PT-600, HCA-800ii, Sony CDP-650ESD, Technics SA 5070, B&W DM601 -
Check this out in the FS section... http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?138066-Passives-SW81-SW83-NOS-for-RTA11T-TL-sStan
Main 2ch:
Polk LSi15 (DB840 upgrade), Parasound: P/LD-1100, HCA-1000A; Denon: DVD-2910, DRM-800A; Benchmark DAC1, Monster HTS3600-MKII, Grado SR-225i; Technics SL-J2, Parasound PPH-100.
HT:
Marantz SR7010, Polk: RTA11TL (RDO198-1, XO and Damping Upgrades), S4, CS250, PSW110 , Marantz UD5005, Pioneer PL-530, Panasonic TC-P42S60
Other stuff:
Denon: DRA-835R, AVR-888, DCD-660, DRM-700A, DRR-780; Polk: S8, Monitor 5A, 5B, TSi100, RM7, PSW10 (DXi104 upgrade); Pioneer: CT-6R; Onkyo CP-1046F; Ortofon OM5E, Marantz: PM5004, CD5004, CDR-615; Parasound C/PT-600, HCA-800ii, Sony CDP-650ESD, Technics SA 5070, B&W DM601 -
Check this out in the FS section... http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?138066-Passives-SW81-SW83-NOS-for-RTA11T-TL-s
He can't, not enough posts...
