Should I? RTA 12B

muddywatts

I won an auction for a pair of RTA 12B's with Peerless highs. The total with shipping came to $117. I called the consignment place in Colorado that's selling them. In the auction it said that they had tried them and they sounded great. Well, when I called them and talked to the guy, he said that they had never been checked for sound by his guys. So, he's gonna try and find a source to hook up to them and let me know. It's important to mention that they also are missing the top hats or crossover covers. You can still see them on the "bay" in completed auctions. They'll be hooked up to a sweet Kenwood 9600 that I'm currently having an affair with. Please, don't tell my Marantz 2275! What's the consensus on this model? Is the price right? Thanks again.

Dennis Gardner

You've run into the common problem with this model. Loose parts that owners lose over the years. Too big to ship easily without damage and generally not a highly regarded speaker since the largest of vintage Polks got the SDA treatment that helped them hold value better.

If they were local I would say nice buy, but spending 2-3 times the purchase price takes the shine off personally.

joelll

If the total *including* shipping came to $117, then the price is pretty good. The lack of "hats" (the grilles that fit over the tweeters) won't affect the sound, and you get to look at the massive crossovers all the time. You might need to dust fairly often, though.

For shipping, the top-mounted tweeter/crossover units can be dismounted -- the speakers originally shipped in four boxes.

Tour2ma

I was on those, too. Just thought they needed too much work to be right with hats missing and the miscellaneous cabinet damage.

I wrote the question about "protecting the tweeters during shipment". They had the right answer there.

As for the hats, somewhere around here is a thread where I took all the dimensions off of the pair I own (another reason to not go too high on these) and gave them to a member looking to make a pair for himself.

I'll see if I can find the info for you, if you end up with them.

ohskigod

my 12B's were missing the hats, and the cabinets were banged up a bit, but I still loved em. Dont let the fact that these arent SDA fool you, for that price shipped, if they work, you did allright. with the peerless tweet, your in for a treat.

for that price, screw how they look, just focus on how they sound. I sold mine to a friend real cheap and he loves em as much as I did...and I get to still listen to them and get all nostalgic. They were my first speakers that really openned my eyes to what I was looking for in audio reproduction.

muddywatts

Well, that eBay store isn't gonna check the rta's before they ship to see if they're working like their customer who dropped them off said they did. What a crummy way to do business - relying on what the guy off the street says about a product and then advertising them as if they themselves had checked them over. They filed a failure to pay notice, so I guess I'm buggered into buying them. But, hey, if they work, I'll be happy. It's just that I've been burned lately on the bay by those who don't give full, honest disclosure.

Does anyone know the specs on these speakers? I can't find them anywhere. They're not even on Polk's site. Do those deflectors come off of the tweeters or are they welded on? Tour, thanks for the help on the hats. I'll get back to you if and when the speakers arrive.

billbillw

muddywatts wrote:

Does anyone know the specs on these speakers? I can't find them anywhere. They're not even on Polk's site. Do those deflectors come off of the tweeters or are they welded on? Tour, thanks for the help on the hats. I'll get back to you if and when the speakers arrive.

Here is a link to the 1985 sales brochure which includes the RTA 12B.
http://www.polksda.com/pdfs/1985Sales.pdf

Tour2ma

mw,
If push comes to shove, at that price you can part them out and make back most of what you paid.

I've noticed the same "working condition" thing with all the various ebay drop franchises. Guessing that they do not want to know the condition 1st hand so they can always insulate themselves from any disputes. But if they take the "our client said" approach, then they do have to work with you on insurance claims should they arrive not working.

It'll work out...

jpumphrey

Hey I too have a pair of these and am now looking feverishly for a tweeter driver (Peerless). Wow I also have a Kenwood 9600! It's a great beast of a receiver....... 150 watts RMS I beleve! Theseare great sounding speakers, do it! If you want to piece them out, lemmee know about it!

Tour2ma

.... and the vultures begin to circle...

Welcome to the Club... jp...

George Grand

I told you guys the holes in the net are too big, but what do I know?

George Grand (of the Jersey Grands)

Tour2ma

Well.... that list in reverse alphabetical order would start with "Zappa".

God knows where it would go from there, but it would end up somewhere around "AR"...

BobMcG

Congrats on the speaker deal and welcome to the forums.

I'm not sure how much of a difference there is between them, but the spec sheet linked to is for 1985 12Cs with SL1000s whereas you have indicated yours are the older 12Bs with the Peerless tweets. I've already put up the spec sheet for the 12Bs (1982) with the Peerless tweets HERE post #9.

BobMcG

Hi George!

dorokusai

joelll wrote:

For shipping, the top-mounted tweeter/crossover units can be dismounted -- the speakers originally shipped in four boxes.

I'm not saying it never happened, but of the 3 pairs that I've owned...they have been factory shipped in three boxes. The tweeter/grill assemblies are in one box, mounted opposite one another.

The driver compliment of this series is all over the place. I've seen RTA12C, with SL1000's. They make the Monitor series spec's look like kid stuff.

You have to remember that the Polk gang was in rehab at that point....the weed was too heavy from the 70's.

joelll

dorokusai wrote:

I'm not saying it never happened, but of the 3 pairs that I've owned...they have been factory shipped in three boxes. The tweeter/grill assemblies are in one box, mounted opposite one another.

The driver compliment of this series is all over the place. I've seen RTA12C, with SL1000's. They make the Monitor series spec's look like kid stuff.

You have to remember that the Polk gang was in rehab at that point....the weed was too heavy from the 70's.

My mistake, I had heard four boxes, I'm glad to be corrected. Three makes much more sense.

When I move my RTA-12's around, the tweeter units get a box with two smaller boxes inside to themselves (which I need to re-engineer, the current hack-job I built is falling apart), and the cabinets take up a whole lot of space in the back of my station wagon.

They just played their third annual 80's dance last weekend, and now they're back in my livingroom after rocking 75 people for 4.5 hours. Hint: if you're going to DJ a dance with them, get an amp with 120+ wpc RMS... I've always wondered about the claimed 500wpc power handling listed in the specs, seems a bit outlandish to me.

Tour2ma

My first edition 12's had four boxes: Main cab's one each and x-over/ tweeters ones each...

dorokusai

Joell - I wasn't saying you were incorrect, just that I hadn't seen it personally. Tour essentially solves all this for us

Tour2ma

Just didn't want the guy to think his memory is going south I him.

Mine is and I know how bad that feels...

joelll

And I thought it was just my memory going... cool...

Of course, my RTA-12s' boxes are long, long gone...