tweeter upgrade for RTi a5

scmagner
scmagner Posts: 2
in Technical/Setup
Picked up a couple of RTi a5 and was wondering if any one has modified these to be more musical. Its a good home theater speaker but I listen to these for music about 30 % of the time and they just sound not good (bad). I think they have plenty of bass and mid bass just way bright and almost unbearable for any amount of time. Love the look and size of the a5 and the price was right so I am hoping to help them out a little. Running them on a yamaha rx a3010 setup. With lsi surrounds and center. I know these cant match up to the lsi but with all the home made speaker combo and tweeters available making an improvement should be possible? I have tried different amps as well with only slight improvement.
ls 50 cls350 ls fx surrounds college 5.1 stereo
lsi 15 lsi 7 x4 lsic x3 lsi fx dolby atmos
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Comments

  • rooftop59
    rooftop59 Posts: 8,121
    @F1nut toned his A7s down with a pricy crossover upgrade and MIT cables that probably cost more that the speakers :p. So that’s a possibilty if you wish to invest a substantial amount of coin. Probably cheaper to just sell them and get the LSiM705s on adorama...

    I don’t think changing the tweeter is a good idea. If you don’t like the sound you just need to go backwards to something like the rt55is or sideways to the signatures or up to the LSiMs imho...
    Living Room 2.2: Usher BE-718 "tiny dancers"; Dual DIY Dayton audio RSS210HF-4 Subs with Dayton SPA-250 amps; Arcam SA30; Musical Fidelity A308; Sony UBP-x1000es
    Game Room 5.1.4:     Denon AVR-X4200w; Sony UBP-x700; Definitive Technology Power Monitor 900 mains, CLR-3000 center, StudioMonitor 350 surrounds, ProMonitor 800 atmos x4; Sub - Monoprice Monolith 15in THX Ultra
    Bedroom 2.1     Harmon Kardon HK3490; Bluesounds Node N130; Polk RT25i; ACI Titan Subwoofer
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  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 25,470
    Agree with rooftop. Since they're "reference theater" RTi then they are voiced to be that way which the others mentioned are not and are more music geared.
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  • scmagner
    scmagner Posts: 2
    With shipping the 705 are still a little pricey and I do prefer the look of the a5. I will keep my options open and look at tweeters. To me they only need a more refined top end and already have good mids. I will see whats out there and keep you posted.
    ls 50 cls350 ls fx surrounds college 5.1 stereo
    lsi 15 lsi 7 x4 lsic x3 lsi fx dolby atmos
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  • Cold_Forged
    Cold_Forged Posts: 10
    edited January 2019
    scmagner,

    It sounds like all you need to do is attenuate the tweeter a bit to tone down the brightness.
    There are several ways to do this rather inexpensively.

    If the tweeter is 8 ohms you could put a variable L-Pad control on each speaker.

    Or if you are handy with a soldering iron, make a fixed L-Pad to attenuate each tweeter a few db using good quality resistors (Like Jantzen or Mundorf). Check out the attached to determine the resistor values depending on tweeter impedance, wattage and the amount of attenuation required in db:

    https://www.diyaudioandvideo.com/Calculator/DriverAttenuationLPadCircuit/

    Here's a variable L-Pad that might work (if the tweeter is 8 ohms):
    https://www.parts-express.com/parts-express-speaker-l-pad-attenuator-100w-mono-3-8-shaft-8-ohm--260-262

    Or, there is always the traditional "home-fix" of taping a layer of open-cell foam in front of the tweeter...

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  • K_M
    K_M Posts: 1,629
    edited January 2019
    I think we used a one Ohm resistor in line with the tweeter on our Rti6's.
    Just doing it as an experiment, yes an L-Pad is better overall, but it sounded so good, we did not feel like taking it apart again.
    We did some other slight mods, but the resistor made them go from too bright to just about right.
    I believe it was 1-1.5 db change overall.
    Very easy to do.
    We have a Yamaha RX-A series, running ours and they are quite neutral sounding.
    So doubt your amp is hurting things any.

    If you want, I think we have some pics of the mods, but not sure if it shows all of them...PM me if interested.
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