Your oppions please...RTA 11TL vs. RTA 12...sadly one must go

bored184

Sadly its time for me to thin the heard a bit and I find myself stuck. I know the answer to this question should be "which one does your ears like", for me though its not that easy. They both have their strengths and weakness and sound completely different. If you were in my shoes and had to let one of these two sets of speakers go which one would it be and why? The break down of each speaker is below.

RTA-11TL: Black cabinets, stock, with original paperwork: Small foot print in the living which my wife likes.

RTA-12s: Peerless tweeters, rebuilt crossovers using a combination of solen and clarity caps, resistors are mundorf I think, rebuilt tops and cherry veneer. My wife cant stand the top hats in the living room.


PS: This is NOT a for sale thread, I was told one has to go but my wife did not give me a time frame

pitdogg2

I vote for the wife to go....Now start telling her she has too many pots and pans when only 3 are needed:cool:

erniejade

I almost spit my water out that i was drinking pitdogg!

Looking at your sig, you also have srs2, 1c, infinity k8, .. This might sound strange but, with that combo, unless you are jjust collecting, why do you need the 11 or 12?

I would take the rta 12 over the 11tl. I think the highs were smoother on the 12;'s and just a bit more pleasing sounding when turned up. THe 11's i thought souned ok till pushed then i thought the highs got a little on the piercing side of things.

boston1450

Weeding out the herd really stinks. There both good speakers

EndersShadow

pitdogg2 wrote: »

I vote for the wife to go....Now start telling her she has too many pots and pans when only 3 are needed:cool:

Nah, you benefit from the pots and pans.... Focus on shoes and purses.....

11tsteve

I really love my 11T's, about as modded as they can be. A much better speaker than original... and I know you have the TL's, but I think at this point in the game, we know it is hard to judge these vintage Polks if they are still untouched. Sorry though, I have not heard updated 12's, so I can not offer a comparison.
Even if I could, it would be my ears, not yours, and your ears, and your wife's needs, are all that really matter.
If you want another project, keep the wife happy and yourself busy, keep the 11TL's, and get that ball rolling. Otherwise you will probably be keeping the 12's, and shuffling speakers around so she is happy with the speakers in that room.

pitdogg2

EndersShadow wrote: »

Nah, you benefit from the pots and pans.... Focus on shoes and purses.....

nope my wife has only 3pr of shoes and has never carried a purse....


I guess I should of read that sig I agree with erniejade you need to downsize get rid of the infinity's and monitor 4's. kidding really I am
I have heard the RTA 11 and yes they tend to get a little fatiguing at higher volumes but I have never heard a pair with rdo194's.
It is hard to get rid of something but jeesh you do have some fine speakers....
I'll take the SRS2's if that is any help

Mystery

Bored,
I had RTA-8TL and RTA-12C.
I didn't like 8TL.
If 11TL are much better than 8TL, then my opinion doesn't count but otherwise RTA-12 is the one to keep.

bored184

pitdogg2 wrote: »

I vote for the wife to go....Now start telling her she has too many pots and pans when only 3 are needed:cool:

That I can't do, I love to cook and I am all in favor of more pots and pans!

erniejade wrote: »

I almost spit my water out that i was drinking pitdogg!

Looking at your sig, you also have srs2, 1c, infinity k8, .. This might sound strange but, with that combo, unless you are jjust collecting, why do you need the 11 or 12?

I would take the rta 12 over the 11tl. I think the highs were smoother on the 12;'s and just a bit more pleasing sounding when turned up. THe 11's i thought souned ok till pushed then i thought the highs got a little on the piercing side of things.

I have two setups. The man cave setup consists of the SRS-2s and the Kappa 8s. Up stairs in the living room is my second/smaller set up, this is where either pair of RTAs will end up. The SDA-1Cs are now comfortably resting at my fathers house which means I need to update my sig.


Thanks for all your input, I have been leaning towards keeping the RTA 12s. To my ears the peerless tweeter sounds better then the SL3000. I was tempted to put the RD0 198s in seeing as I have the 11TLversion. However all that will do I am afraid will made the decision harder.

hochpt21

EndersShadow wrote: »

Nah, you benefit from the pots and pans.... Focus on shoes and purses.....

LOL, great post.

EndersShadow

bored184 wrote: »

That I can't do, I love to cook and I am all in favor of more pots and pans!

I have two setups. The man cave setup consists of the SRS-2s and the Kappa 8s. Up stairs in the living room is my second/smaller set up, this is where either pair of RTAs will end up. The SDA-1Cs are now comfortably resting at my fathers house which means I need to update my sig.


Thanks for all your input, I have been leaning towards keeping the RTA 12s. To my ears the peerless tweeter sounds better then the SL3000. I was tempted to put the RD0 198s in seeing as I have the 11TLversion. However all that will do I am afraid will made the decision harder.

Jon, here's my thought.

Both speakers sound good. You are OK with both. The one's going are in a location not primarily focused on music. Yes you probably use them more... but.....

If you make the wife happy and keep the 11T's which she prefers and you dont "totally" hate, perhaps it will give you some more points to use in a later discussion about something in the man cave?

The SRS's and Kappa 8's are what would be REALLY hard to part with, so honestly make this a "keep the wife happy" discussion if one set has to go. Lord knows its not like BubbleGuppies takes you to AudioNirvana on either set of speakers up there, so dont stress about this too much lol...

brgman

I like the 12's a lot but if she really doesn't like them and you're not thrilled with the 11t's sell both sets and geta pair of even nicer speaks that she likes the look of.

bored184

brgman wrote: »

I like the 12's a lot but if she really doesn't like them and you're not thrilled with the 11t's sell both sets and geta pair of even nicer speaks that she likes the look of.

That's not a bad idea!

cfrizz

I'd keep the 11Ts. They look better, take up less space AND you will make the wife happy.

nooshinjohn

brgman wrote: »

I like the 12's a lot but if she really doesn't like them and you're not thrilled with the 11t's sell both sets and geta pair of even nicer speaks that she likes the look of.

A pair of Magnepan MMG, can be had from the factory for about 600 bucks. easy to move when you want to hear them, easy to place, and easy to hide when not in use.

A pair of Magnepan 1.6's would be not quite as easy to hide away but can still be moved and set up pretty easily

EndersShadow

nooshinjohn wrote: »

A pair of Magnepan MMG, can be had from the factory for about 600 bucks. easy to move when you want to hear them, easy to place, and easy to hide when not in use.

A pair of Magnepan 1.6's would be not quite as easy to hide away but can still be moved and set up pretty easily

John these would be in the main room 24/7 for TV listening, etc. His SRS and Kappa 8 are in his main listening room. The MMG's aren't super kid friendly either and he's got a 2 year old and an infant that will start crawling soon....

bored184

I am keeping this question in the same thread because it somewhat related. Ive got a gentleman interested in the RTA 12s, on his trade list he has a Adccom GFA-5500 listed. I have wanted to try one of these amp for quite sometime now, would it be a fair trade if I do the RTA 12s for the GFA 5500 and maybe a little cash?

PS If this question is not permitted then a mod can go ahead and delete this reply.

trav0810

I'd be all over that 5500 if you can get it for those 12's.

bored184

DSkip wrote: »

The 5500 is worth more than stock rta12's. If he's offering cash with it, it's a no brainer.

These are far from stock RTA-12s. Crossovers have been completely re done with clarity and solen caps along with mundorf resistors.