Rewired the innards of my RT16 towers...

CrazyHead

Well, I just got done with this little project of mine some of you may remember me talking about.

In the quest to get the maximum performance from my older (1996 era) Polk RT16 towers, I was planning on re-wiring them with better internal wiring. Last weekend, I completed the project and thought I'd share my results with you.

I removed each driver and the crossover (desoldering the connections on the crossover). I kept the original wire around in order to keep as close to specification with the wire length as possible. I cleaned virtually all of the original solder off the crossover to make the connection as clean as possible.

I used Teflon coated 18AWG stranded silver plated copper wire for this project. Just so you know, silver plated copper is very white in appearance versus tinned copper. Tinned copper is to be avoided at all cost! The cost of the teflon wire will run anywhere from $0.25/ft and up depending on where you get it.

I removed the original wires and, using silver bearing lead free solder, soldered the fresh silver plated wires directly to the leads on the drivers themselves after first crimping the wire down tightly. After the solder cooled, I covered my work with some RVT sealant to keep oxygen from attacking the silver.

The difference is decent. Some may wonder why I would use silver plated wire with a Polk tweeter (which is notoriously harsh). Well, I was testing a theory basically. I was not sure what would happen (who could be?). But, I will say I was pleasantly surprised when, after a night of burn in, my RT16's now had the ability to reach peaks not heard before. Extended and more open sound comes from the high end which is exactly what I was going for.

Now, keep in mind that this mod has not increased the resolution of the Polks. While I love these speakers to death, I am a realist. The Polk drivers don't have the resolving power as $3500 ProAc loudspeakers. The ProAcs are, in my opinion, the most incredibly revealing speaker in the sub $50,000 range. Of course, I've yet to hear the Polk LSi series which, if I read the marketing lit right, might be Polk's re-entry into the music speaker world.

Anyone out there with aging Polk speakers, a couple of hours of time, and a soldering iron... give this mod a try. It makes a great difference and should only cost about $10.


-crazyhead-

gidrah

A couple of months ago I had to replace a mid/woofer in my 10Bs. I've been wanting to replace the wires ever since. Someday I'll get around to it.
Glad to hear you used silver plated as that's probably what I'll use. Depending on what I can get from work. Scrap of course.

Aaron

Sounds cool, man! Did you ever think about replacing the crossover components (i.e. capacitors) with high-quality ones? I would venture to say that this would improve your performance at least as much as your internal wiring upgrade, if not more.

Aaron

CrazyHead

Originally posted by Aaron
Sounds cool, man! Did you ever think about replacing the crossover components (i.e. capacitors) with high-quality ones? I would venture to say that this would improve your performance at least as much as your internal wiring upgrade, if not more.

That's next on my list of things to do! I recently received the schematics for the RT16 including the crossover. As soon as I find audio-grade replacement capacitors that match up, this mod will be done to. I will replace the crossover wiring with the same silver plated teflon wire as well.

However, I am not sure that this change will provide much in terms of additional resolution. While the Polks sound great, I don't think I can make them into ProAc's with capacitor changes in the crossover.

But we'll see what happens! I wont be getting rid of my RT16's any time soon.


-crazyhead-

CrazyHead

Originally posted by gidrah
Glad to hear you used silver plated as that's probably what I'll use. Depending on what I can get from work. Scrap of course.

Yeah, pure silver is too bright in my opinion (and quite pricey), even if you are running tubes. Copper, if done poorly, can sound a little dark. Silver plated can give you the best of both words, if done properly.

I'll let you know the results of my crossover mods when complete as well.


-crazyhead-

I-SIG

dhumm, from Mike's Polk Page, replaced all the crossover components in his SDA 1C's a year or 2 ago. When he had finished one speaker, he fired them both up for a comparison. He said the one with the factory components sounded like it was playing through a mattress, or something to that effect. Just something to think about. I'm just making a conjecture, but I bet new components would help some older speakers like SDA's more than the newer stuff.

Wes

lax01

You got me interested, how about some pics? Did you take any?

CrazyHead

Originally posted by lax01
You got me interested, how about some pics? Did you take any?

Of the new wires? Unfortunately, I did not.

I have some scraps of it laying around if you want to see it.

But rewiring the guts of the speakers didn't really make for a good photo opportunity. I mean, it's too dark to see in there and there's not really much to it. Two lengths of wire, both 36-inches, one pair cut about 6-inches from the end to accomodate the two larger drivers in the RT16. Everything is wired exactly how it was according to the schematic, just better wire.

When I do the crossover mod, I will take some pictures.


-crazyhead-

lax01

Cool I would like to see the crossover pictures.

simonsayshey

Crazyhead,

You said in a recent post that performance improved after
"Burn In" ... Anyone out there have a few seconds to catch up someone new to HT and Audio on this phenomenom and why it's important.....

Thanks

J.