Possibly upgrading my RTA 11ts...

Adbl

Hi, i'm new to this forum and firstly i wanted to say thanks to Polk for allowing these types of discussions! I have two questions i'd like to discuss with you guys. First one is: I have a pair of RTA 11ts vintage early 90s and i'm thinking about upgrading/changing to a different pair of Polk speakers. I have always been a Polk fan and will continue to be! The dilemma i have though is this. When listening to music loud, which is mostly how i like to listen to my music, and heavy bass is present, it really distorts and breaks up badly. To the point where i have to turn the volume down or back off of the bass gain. I do tend to listen to music with the bass and treble gains pretty much close to neutral. My thought about that is this. I am driving these speakers with a HK 3490 rated at 125 watts into 8 ohms. Looking at the specs for these speakers they can handle up to 250 watts. I wonder if i'm not powering these enough? Would getting a 300 watt per channel amp really cure these low bass issues and make these speakers come to life? This issue has been there from day one so it's not like i did something to damage them. Other than this they really do sound great! I have been getting into Blue Ray movies as well and of course during all the explosion scenes, the bass breaks up badly. The other thought i had is this, these speakers are 6 ohms and i wonder if the amp primarily being an 8 ohm amp, although HK says they can drive anything, is a compatibility problem? If this is just a characteristic of these speakers, i am thinking about getting a pair of RTi A5s with the psw111 sub. I wonder if this is a better choice being they are much newer technology and having 2 woofers and 1 tweeter be easier for my HK 3490 to drive? I like my music tight and punchy, especially the bass and was thinking the A5s would be a better choice anyway. I welcome all thoughts and opinions on this. Thanks!!!

deronb1

First of all, welcome to CP! The 11Ts are a very nice speaker. I owned a pair of 8Ts for years and loved their sound. I was running mine on an AVR for years, but it wasn't until I bought a high current amp with 200wpc, that they came to life. Good low end sound requires a lot of clean power. Most AVRs are not built to handle the task. Low end in HT applications are handled by subs.

I would look at running them on a Parasound, Adcom, B&K, Rotel, etc. If you don't like them after that, change out speakers, but I think you will be pleasently surpised.

Also, long posts are much easier to read if you put a space between lines every now and then.:cheesygrin: Good luck in your search!

skrol

If your bass is distorting, you might want to check that your speaker sealed well. Lightly depress one of the PR's and hold. You should see the MW's move outward and eventually return over a time of several seconds (ie 5 sec.) If they don't move or move back immediately, then you have a leak and likely need new gaskets around the drivers or there may be a crack in a cabinet seam.

It could be the amp. Borrow an amp or receiver to see before you sell the RTA-11T's. They are a very nice speaker and worth keeping. I can drive mine pretty hard with out distorting (keeping out of clipping),

Adbl

Stan,

I have not looked up the specs on your gear so i wanted to ask you what kind of power are you putting through your 11Ts? The more i think about this the more i'm realizing i have never given these speakers the power they deserve!

skrol

The DRA-835R is rated 100W into 8 ohms and dynamic power 230W into 4 ohms, 330W into 2 ohms. It is a beefy receiver weighing in at 24 lbs.

A while back I had been working on a Carver PM-950 which is a pro series amp rated 325W @ 8 ohms and 475 @ 4 ohms. The RTA11TLs played LOUD! and clear.

Adbl

Stan,

Right now my thought is purchasing an Emotiva XPA-2 which is rated at 300w @ 8 ohms and 500w @ 4 ohms. I figure if i'm going to go for it, go big and then the amp can be used with just about any speaker!

So, with the Carver the sound was clear and tight? Really made them come alive?

F1nut

Keep thinking, seriously.

skrol

Yes, though I would not recommend a pro amp. That particular Carver amp is for pro sound use and intended to fill a large area with sound. While it is fairly clean sounding for a pro amp, it would be better to go with a Carver TFM series or something designed for home audio.

I believe that what F1nut is getting at is there are better amps to be had than the Emotiva. It is not just about watts. Even low wattage amps can drive a big load if they have the current drive capability. If you look around the Polk forums, you will find many good amp recommendations to suit different budgets. Personally I am rather low budget and am eying the used Adcom GFA-5x5 series and the Carver TFM series.

I find my RTA11TLs fairly easy to drive with my Denon receiver. The combo fills the room with fairly rich sound even at low volume. I recently pull the Denon out of the system for maintenance and have a Marantz PM-5004 integrated amp powering the system. It is only rated 35 watts into 8 ohms, 45 watts into 4 ohms but drives the RTA11TLs ok. It can't drive the bass like the Denon due to its modest power but is very clean and refined. The phono section and headphone section is also very good in this amp.

The Marantz PM-6004 (45Watts) and PM-8004 (70 Watts) don't look significantly better by the numbers but they would drive nicely given their beefy power supplies which provide better current drive.

thsmith

I am suprised no one had advised you to consider putting some money into better resisters and updated caps in the XO. I am sure the caps are tired and may be the source of your problems.