Rt 16's

mantis

Hello all,
What are Rt 16's going for these days? I saw a pair for sale for $350.00. I gotta assume they are mint. Not sure if anyone in here is selling them but I think that price is a bit high for such an old speaker.

Thoughts?

dromunds

That's high. At least around here, they would sit and sit even at a much reduced price.

pitdogg2

Too high

rooftop59

Way too high. Maybe $150-200 in excellent to mint condition. Even then they’ll be hard to sell. Almost 25 years old but not really a sought after vintage piece...

adb3da

I think I paid $400 brand new on clearance in 1996. I would not spend more than $100 on a pair today. They did sound sweet, I just don't think there's much value in them in 2021.

mantis

The value of me isn't as a main system piece but I always wanted to own them.

Short RT16 story.

Back in the day when they where current I went and listened to pair of them and was taken by how good they sounded. I had Advents at that time.

Income tax was coming and I knew I was getting a decent return and that was the plan on getting them basically no cost out of pocket.

Well when I got to Nobody Beats the Wiz in Princeton NJ, they where sold out and a new model hit the floor. RT800 and the RT1000p. I was so disappointed as no one in the area had any in stock as the model year was gone. I missed it by a few months.

I purchased the RT1000p's that day as I liked them more then the RT800's . I liked the built in Subs and how I could dial in the bass to taste . But ever since that day , I have always had a hole in my heart as I wanted a pair of them still. I had the brochure and use to read it daily. I did however years later score a perfect pair of RT12's which where the smaller version and they just didn't fill the hole.

I sold them after owning them for a pretty short period of time and just figured if I run into a beautiful clean perfect condition pair of RT16's I'll grab them and put them in the basement.

I was looking over Facebook and someone 20 minutes from me is selling them and want $350.00. If they are in perfect condition like brand new with no scratches no issues nothing loved as I would have I might see what he will take. I didn't think speakers that old and not a collector's item except to me for personal reasons. That story is a lot shorter than what I wrote but you get the basic idea.

So if they are mint , should I give him $200- $250? Or is that still to much for them?

Thanks a lot I usually don't buy used speakers as I enjoy upgrading and buying new one. I haven't done that in a long time. I also may upgrade the main system as that is always on my mind.

VR3

I've always had a inkling for the rt 7 and rt16 with those beefy midbass drivers, but never had the opportunity to hear them!

I did own the rt5 early in my audio journey and found them a good sounding speaker.

VR3

As for price, Mint stuff cost more than beat up stuff. Rt16, mint condition, something you always wanted, I don't see a problem with 350.

I bought a pair of brand new in the box definitive powermonitor 500! brand new sans a mark on a top cap, still in the wrapping, original boxes, logos never installed, twenty years old... etc paid above the market price, I use them on my desk with the foam covering still on the top caps, they sound great and no regrets!!

pitdogg2

My son was gifted a pair of RT12's. Original owner had them for years. I guess after the woofer sits in the same position for years the surround tends to sag and you get scratchiness sounds. @KennethSwauger told me to rotate the driver and it has worked for about a year before it started again. I wonder if the upper model RT16 did the same thing?

They do sound good when playing correctly.

DaveHo

Somewhere along the line, I missed this series ever being offered. I was thinking they were the predecessor to the RTi12's, but no. They look like the LS series with downgraded cabinets. Going by looks & published specs, drivers appear to be exactly the same as the Ls-70.

VR3

The rt16 series was the very first rt series, linked to the srt

drselect

The RT16 are the second best set of speakers I have ever owned. Still use them in my HT setup and have no plans of replacing them until they no longer function. But I would agree $350 is on the high side for them. Saw a pair locally about a year ago for $90 and they were not in mint shape. Almost grabbed them for parts.

drselect

pitdogg2 wrote: »

My son was gifted a pair of RT12's. Original owner had them for years. I guess after the woofer sits in the same position for years the surround tends to sag and you get scratchiness sounds. @KennethSwauger told me to rotate the driver and it has worked for about a year before it started again. I wonder if the upper model RT16 did the same thing?

They do sound good when playing correctly.

I have had my set of RT16 since 97 and have not yet had an issue with a scatchiness sound but may look at rotating the drivers out of caution...

dromunds

Tell him your wife won’t let you spend more than $200 and if he ever gets to that point to let you know. After some time goes by, he’ll be calling you.

mantis

pitdogg2 wrote: »

My son was gifted a pair of RT12's. Original owner had them for years. I guess after the woofer sits in the same position for years the surround tends to sag and you get scratchiness sounds. @KennethSwauger told me to rotate the driver and it has worked for about a year before it started again. I wonder if the upper model RT16 did the same thing?

They do sound good when playing correctly.

Huh , thats new to me. Never heard of anyone rotating a driver to reduce sag. Well if it worked for a while then good on yeah.
It's probably harder to buy parts now for those speakers. I wonder if you can even get replacement woofers or tweeters from polk or aftermarket ?

mantis

dromunds wrote: »

Tell him your wife won’t let you spend more than $200 and if he ever gets to that point to let you know. After some time goes by, he’ll be calling you.

I'm hoping he is there now. If I drive over there I don't want to leave without them if they are mint. I think after I check them out , I'll pull out $200 and lay it on the table.

mantis

It's funny what people consider mint or in excellent condition. My opinion is either way to high or most people have no idea what mint is.

So I picked them up today, got them for $200.00 instead of $350.00. What I used as bargining was the fact the lamination on the bases are starting to peel off. It look like it could be easily fixed with some glue but I'm a bit anal and probably have the bases re done by someone who know how to do that soft of thing. Anyone know anybody who does that? I could get them wrapped from a friend who wraps cars, just the base in Flat or satin black with maybe a light texture or something. I'll have to ask him about that if I can find a laminate guy.

Anyway They are not perfect , I found one very small chip on the back of one of the speakers which I can easily fix with a black marker it's right on the corner so super easy to fix. It's about the size of a pen tip , super small but I found it LOL.

Next there was a few small scratches on the on side of the same speaker that where touched up with a marker. You have to look for them but under the right light , you can see the repair. Again nothing big or even deal breaking but to me that's not mint that's in good condition with light repair.

Yes I'm picky as hell and why I can't buy used gear unless it's absolutely perfect like new condition or at least damaged in places it doesn't matter like underneath or low on a side etc.

Another thing I found is one of the drivers is a bit static sounding. The lower driver on one of the speakers seems to have a slight scratchy sound to the voice coil. Don't know if it can be repaired or if a replacement drive is a better move. Anyone know where I could get one? Maybe all 4? If I'm gonna service it why not freshen them up to perfection.

Here's the shocker, the tweeters are perfect. Usually at least one of them would have a dent in one from someone with a finger touch. Not these, this made me very happy and the tweeters work perfectly. If they where damaged , I would have offered even less.

mantis

I may pull the jumpers on both , leave the lower bass driver off for now and run them with my Velodyne DD-10 Plus Subs, I have 2 setup in my system one in the right front and one in the left back. This gives me the best overall room bass performance.

What's strange about the one driver is that it doesn't sound like static all the time. It comes and goes. I wonder if because they haven't been played in 5 years it just needs to be re worn in? Maybe the coil is ok or should I do the flip for the sag?

Also is there regular philips head screws behind the rubber surrounds?

mantis

Nevermind I found it. The philips screw does sit right behind the small screw hole.
I did a rotation on the one with the static driver. Seemed to work I had to rotate the top driver to get enough internal wiring to rotate the bottom driver. They are connected to each other so the Binding posts are wired Tweeter top and both woofers are mid and low bass.

I'm running them in full range with the Niles SI-2125 amp. One thing I have always liked about the RT series is the Imaging. Rock solid dead center imaging. Amazing these are only $1000 speakers back in the day and they are pretty damn good.

If you can score a pair like I did for $200, your making out very well. Even if I have to replace the one woofer or all 4 which is what I'd like to do , you still have some pretty decent sounding speakers. I can listen to these for hours. They are not bright like my RT1000p's where. They are smooth and transition well. The Tweeter is damn good.

Polk should bring these back, remake them as they where no improvements well maybe in cabinet making , they are not the best quality there but they work man, they work.

dromunds

I have a pair of RT-7’s with bad cabinets and I was going to part out the woofers and tweeters. Not sure if the woofers are the same as the RT-16 but if you know of the top of your head let me know. I haven’t played them in awhile but I could pull them out and listen if you’re looking for some woofers

mantis

That rocks. What would you want for both the woofers? Could you check them out and make sure they work properly? Also where are you? I'm in Pa right near Philadelphia if your local .
This is the part number on mine. I'm pretty sure yours are the same, they look exact.

rooftop59

dromunds wrote: »

I have a pair of RT-7’s with bad cabinets and I was going to part out the woofers and tweeters. Not sure if the woofers are the same as the RT-16 but if you know of the top of your head let me know. I haven’t played them in awhile but I could pull them out and listen if you’re looking for some woofers

Yep same drivers in the rt7 and rt16

VR3

pair of 7 on ebay as well no affiliation

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Polk-Audio-RT7-Black-Speakers/402685026186?hash=item5dc1e5df8a:g:hNAAAOSwmBNgCI5S

mantis

VR3 wrote: »

pair of 7 on ebay as well no affiliation

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Polk-Audio-RT7-Black-Speakers/402685026186?hash=item5dc1e5df8a:g:hNAAAOSwmBNgCI5S

Thats a good deal. So you agree with driver is exactly the same as the one in the RT 16? Sure looks exact.

VR3

to my knowledge, yes

mantis

dromunds wrote: »

I have a pair of RT-7’s with bad cabinets and I was going to part out the woofers and tweeters. Not sure if the woofers are the same as the RT-16 but if you know of the top of your head let me know. I haven’t played them in awhile but I could pull them out and listen if you’re looking for some woofers

Let me know when you pull the driver .

dromunds

I’ll try to pull a driver tomorrow and confirm they’re the same and hook them up

mantis

Just a small review and thoughts more so than I posted already.
I spend a good part of the day on and off listening to the RT16's. I can get comfortable on the couch with a nice glass of California's awesome restaurant in Napa Valley Gots Cab. It's wonderful for listening to music , eating diner, just sipping away watching something or any activity you desire.

They took my down memory lane and all the things that where going on at that time. I was a detail Manager for Colonial Cadillac in Trenton NJ. I had this wonderful Co worker who worked as a Manager in the Body shop share an Office with me. His desk was Front to Font with mine. We talked about music , Polks Yamaha gear of all kinds wire etc every single day. Years later he came to a Swap meet when I worked at Audiolab , we had one every year which was awesome. I miss that place sometimes.

Anyway With Greg , I would tell him all about the RT16's and when my Income tax check comes in I'm gonna go buy them. He had some Infinity Speakers , Yamaha receiver and he loved his setup. I just got the Yamaha RXV992 which was Dolby Digital but not DTS , DTS came out with the next year model RXV995. I grabbed the 992 from Bryn Mawr Stereo just waiting to get the Polks. It was $999 and so was the Speakers.I got the Yamaha First then went after the Polks. As I talked about above I had to get the RT1000p's due to the RT16's where sold out and discontinued before I was able to gab a pair.

The Speakers really are more for memories and the sheer fact I always wanted them. My Partner Lvi4fam, some of you remember him when he use to post in here. He passed away a few years ago in a Bike Accident. That's been tuff on me as he was one of my close friends. He moved back to Arizona years ago but I was supposed to fly out for his wedding. We always talked about the RT16's and he said one day you'll find a pair worth buying used. He knew I didn't care for used gear but the RT16's where an exception and I just needed them in my life. If he was alive today he would be here listening to them with me at some point. A quick 5 hour flight and he's rocking along with me. He was here in spirit as he meant a lot to me especially when it came to audio and video. He was a very high end Audio Video installer when I met him. he taught me so much over the years. I do miss him a lot and these speakers remind me of him.

They do a lot of things right surprisingly . They have all the signature polk sound we all in here came to love at one point.They are like baby SRT's.Another system I may have to have one day just because.

I might have moved on to other things but I'll always cherish polk audio speakers.

pitdogg2

The 992 and 995 were great receivers, very under rated in their spec's by Yamaha.

mantis

I picked up a Denon AVR3801 shortly after it came out. I liked the Denon due to the fact it did surround back DTS and was pretty full featured back then BUT it didn't sound as good as the Yamaha. The Yamaha was way more dynamic and clear.

Today Yamaha gets a lot of praise. I have been slightly out of touch with them as we don't carry them so I don't get hands on with them. A friend of mine purchased one and raves about how much more he likes it over the Sony ES models. He had the same model I have in the STRZA5000ES flagship model.

dromunds

Ok, I pulled the woofers from my RT-7’s and the drivers are identical to each other and manufactured same month but are MW-8002 whereas the driver you depicted above is a MW-8103. Check out my photos and research if there is any difference. Also, your 8103 seems to have a dimpled dust cover whereas mine are smooth and I don’t recall my prior RT-16’s having a dimpled dust cover but it’s been awhile so they could have. Have you pulled any other drivers to see if they are also MW-8103? I always thought the woofers were the same in the RT-16 and the RT-7 but I’m no authority on it.