Welcome home RTA 12C
MFattal
Posts: 25
Hello everyone, I'm looking for advice on how to run my new found pair of wonderful RTAs. Need advice on a good amp that would run them well as stereo speakers. Don't know what budget I can afford at the moment, but I'd like to spend on something worthwhile, not a temporary buy. I currently use a Yamaha RX-V673 amp. More importantly, I would like to hear from you all concerning maintenance for these guys. I will post pictures that bugged me as I didn't notice them until they were home, particularly the cracks in the midranges. They don't breathe air, but I'm worried they will. I will take better pictures soon. Someone also mentioned that the capacitors dry out? How do I test for that?
Would love to hear from you what you think of these speakers. I personally think they're very well balanced and will keep me company for a long time.
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Would love to hear from you what you think of these speakers. I personally think they're very well balanced and will keep me company for a long time.
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Comments
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Welcome aboard ! Nice speakers
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I've not seen cracks like that in vintage Polk drivers before. What country are you in?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 -
Those are some saweeet speakers but that AVR is a dumpster fire. I still have an RX-V667 sitting around for some reason.afterburnt wrote: »They didn't speak a word of English, they were from South Carolina.
Village Idiot of Club Polk -
What's up with the diffraction ramp in the right speaker?afterburnt wrote: »They didn't speak a word of English, they were from South Carolina.
Village Idiot of Club Polk -
I've not seen cracks like that in vintage Polk drivers before. What country are you in?
I'm in Egypt. The alleged story behind these speakers is that they were shipped here in the 90s and barely used, moved around between 4 houses, and then I found them for sale and thought I hit gold. Would you agree? They were being sold for 500USD, which seems to be what they go for abroad. Anything over here is usually marked up 1.5x minimum, and it's not like there's much of a selection. Anyway, I'm not the most knowledgeable person, but I'm trying to learn. I listened to them for hours and didn't find anything wrong with them. I am quite happy with the purchase as it was a gift for my little brother. -
Should I be worried about the cracks?
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What's up with the diffraction ramp in the right speaker?
Good eye, nothing is up with it other than the paper glued to it was coming off. So I pva-ed it back on. Still has a crease from time it spent unglued. -
I'll take better pictures tomorrow morning.
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Very hot and dry climate, so that might be why the rubber has not fared well. After enlarging the photo to me it looked like some has also come away from the cone.
If those are MW6600 drivers they can still be bought used. As long as they are still air tight I'd rock them for awhile and if you want to keep look to purchase some used drivers and other parts. -
Egypt....very cool. Welcome to Club Polk.
I wouldn't be surprised if the cracks are heat related damage. I'm only guessing, but logic says they will get worse. How long that takes is anyones guess. Maybe someone has an idea as to a sealant product that could be applied to stop further damage.
They are nice speakers and worth trying to save.
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 -
Very hot and dry climate, so that might be why the rubber has not fared well. After enlarging the photo to me it looked like some has also come away from the cone.
If those are MW6600 drivers they can still be bought used. As long as they are still air tight I'd rock them for awhile and if you want to keep look to purchase some used drivers and other parts.
Come away from the cone? Should I be worried? Are you talking about the strands of fiber from the cone? I was trying to clean them as sensibly as possible because they were extremely dusty. Maybe I was too harsh with them
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What did you use to clean?
And yes very cool about the Egypt location. -
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In short, yes you should be concerned about the cracks. I looked closer and in one photo it looks like some of the rubber has already fallen off.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 -
What did you use to clean?
And yes very cool about the Egypt location.
A damp cloth (not very sensible I know.) -
A damp cloth isn't going to hurt anything.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 -
I'll take better pictures tomorrow as I can't now. Much appreciated for your time and care. Happy to join such a good community.
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No that is ok. We recommend original windex on a lint free cloth. Wetting the cloth good holding driver with one hand and cleaning with the other carefully around the driver. The driver is supposed to be sticky when you're done so do not try and clean the sticky off them. Another test is. Carefully pushing on the driver around the center dustcap with your fingers and thumb centered on the driver and pushing slowly in and out to make sure there's no scratchy or rubbing from the voice coils.
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Right Speaker
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Left speaker
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@F1nut I don't see any rubber falling off. I asked the previous owner before If I should buy spareparts in advance, he said I should not as the parts dry up with time. The weather in Egypt is not that traumatic. It's neither too dry nor humid. It can get pretty hot in the summer, but not more than 36 degrees celsius indoors. But if they're not played for years, maybe that caused the dryness. Anyway, would love to hear what you recommend. Do the spare parts actually dry up with time? What parts would I have to change in order to fix these, IF they need fixing. Could you help me test them? I would love to learn! I'll even give them a test run on any song you ask for and post a video on YouTube.
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Egypt!! Very cool!! Welcome!!"Sometimes you have to look to the past to understand where you are going in the future"Anger is just anger. It isn’t good. It isn’t bad. It just is. What you do with it is what matters.
You can use it to build or to destroy. You just have to make the choice. Jim Butcher
Harry / Marietta GA -
Your left speaker's left woofer is definitely missing rubber around the surround.
The left speaker's tweeter looks cracked too.
You don't really need spare parts...you need replacements.
Maybe you could put black silicone caulking where the rubber is missing, but it would have to be done as close to perfect as can be! Even then, it's just a band-aid.
How much does shipping cost to send a woofer to Egypt? Even then, would somebody risk sending it that far for fear of damage or "magnet shift" happening to it.
I'm glad you're liking them for now though.
Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them. -
There's definitely rubber missing on the inside edge of the surrounds where it meets the cone. Perhaps some type of rubber sealant/glue would help, but do not use anything with silicone in it.
If you want to keep the speakers you should start looking for replacement drivers. You can also upgrade the SL2000 tweeters to the much better RD0194.
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 -
I'm guessing MW6501s, as I've seen that kind of cracking before. Unfortunately, salvaged 6501s are hard to find.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. The RTA 12C was arguably Polk's finest speaker until they started the SDA line. As previously mentioned, an easy upgrade is to replace the tweeters with the RD0194. You may want to remove one of the 6 1/2 drivers to confirm what model they are, so you can think about replacing Also, are the speakers marked "left" and 'right"? Hopefully at least one of them is marked so they can be set up correctly. They like some power, so a quality amp should be on your list. I really enjoy my 12's and hopefully you will too.
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Your left speaker's left woofer is definitely missing rubber around the surround.
The left speaker's tweeter looks cracked too.
You don't really need spare parts...you need replacements.
Maybe you could put black silicone caulking where the rubber is missing, but it would have to be done as close to perfect as can be! Even then, it's just a band-aid.
How much does shipping cost to send a woofer to Egypt? Even then, would somebody risk sending it that far for fear of damage or "magnet shift" happening to it.
I'm glad you're liking them for now though.
Firstly, I wholeheartedly appreciate your concern and comment, same goes to everyone else. Thank you. The tweeter isn't cracked, it's dented/pushed in.
I could send the parts to a friend. I'm American, so I show up in New York every few years. How often is it that there's a magnet shift in delivery? Is it that sensitive? -
Some pointers and advice. It looks like you're listening to them laying in bed? If you're back by the headboard they are toed in way too much. If a laser pointer came directly out of the tweeters you'd want them to cross just behind your head, not in front of you. They really should be further apart too but it doesn't look like you have much choice in that.
Second, you really shouldn't be blocking the vents on the AVR, especially with another hot device. It could really affect the longevity of the AVR, nor is it good for your laptop. It'll be working double duty to get rid of that excess heat.afterburnt wrote: »They didn't speak a word of English, they were from South Carolina.
Village Idiot of Club Polk -
Welcome to Club Polk. The RTA 12C was arguably Polk's finest speaker until they started the SDA line. As previously mentioned, an easy upgrade is to replace the tweeters with the RD0194. You may want to remove one of the 6 1/2 drivers to confirm what model they are, so you can think about replacing Also, are the speakers marked "left" and 'right"? Hopefully at least one of them is marked so they can be set up correctly. They like some power, so a quality amp should be on your list. I really enjoy my 12's and hopefully you will too.
Thank you for the reply and thee reassuring words regrding the purchase/gift to my brother/investment to audiophile lifestyle. No markings for left and right, I thought that was only important for mirror imaged speakers, which these are not. Do you recommend I keep everything as is until they give out, then upgrade them in one go? Out of curiosity, and this goes out to everyone here:
1) do I have to change the entire segment or can I simply repair the rubber that accompanies the midrange? I'm asking for further down the line, when I substitute new drivers, I should obviously repair the old ones, right? If y'all know who can do so in NYC, I'd appreciate it. (If i said something wrong, kindly look past my ignorance on the matter and explain what I should do.)
2) What amp should I look to in the future? Should I go for a monoblock Carver M400 i think or a stereo amp? What is a wiser buy, vintage or modern? Would love to hear from experience.
