Need Help with SRS 2.3TL's

obxdiver

Hello Polk Lovers
I am new to this forum and this is my first post. I read for 2 hours through al;l of these threads, and have questions

I own 2 pairs of Polks Audio speakers
SRS SDA 2.3TL's
SRS SDA 1C's

I want to completly rebiuld both pairs of these babies. Can someone possible post the schematics for both models? I know longer am sure if I have all of the MW drivers wired with proper phasing. Color codes would be very helpful.

Can someone describe the reason for replacing the SL3000 tweeters with the RDO-194, and should I do this on both pairs of my Polk's?

I have read alot about crossover network upgrades. Can someone point me to the details for doing this and links to order the components?

My 2.3's use the MW6510 drivers. Are they still available? If not, what should I replace them with.

I want to bite the bullit and replace everything with new drivers and tweeters, and keep all the old ones as spares.

I am running my Polk's with Aragon Class A amps at 200 W/channel @ 8 ohms.

Sometimes when I run it loud, the drivers pop loudly. Why would this happen?

Too much power, or clipping?

I read that Ken is the one to call for replacement parts. Can someone post his phone number?

Please let me thank anyone who takes the time to answer my questions.

Steve Phelps

Proud Polk Owner.

george daniel

Look for the schem's under "troubleshooting"

beef316

Just call Polk customer service can get you the drivers you need. if you want to speak w/ Ken, just ask for him directly. Otherwise anyone there will help you and forward you to the right person. Tell them that you are a club polk member and you will get a hefty discount and free shipping.

obxdiver

george daniel wrote:

Look for the schem's under "troubleshooting"

Thanks for the quick reply
I just looked there and it appears that every model except the one I own are posted there.
Do you know where the schmatics for my models are?

george daniel

pm me your e-mail address

obxdiver

george daniel wrote:

pm me your e-mail address

I tried. It says I must have 10 posts to PM a member. I only have 3.
obxdiver@verizon.net

george daniel

check your e-mail

schwarcw

Welcome to the Club Polk Forums Obxdiver! You have some real nice speakers. A little money and they'll be back in tip top shape!

How long have you had them?

F1nut

I want to completly rebiuld both pairs of these babies. Can someone possible post the schematics for both models? I know longer am sure if I have all of the MW drivers wired with proper phasing. Color codes would be very helpful.

Black or blue = positive
White or green = negative

Can someone describe the reason for replacing the SL3000 tweeters with the RDO-194, and should I do this on both pairs of my Polk's?

The replacement for the SL3000 is part # RD0198-1. The replacement for the SL2000 is part # RD0194-1. You replace them because they sound better.

My 2.3's use the MW6510 drivers. Are they still available? If not, what should I replace them with.

6510's are no longer available. The only ones that sort of work as replacements are the 6503, but they will not sound the same.

I want to bite the bullit and replace everything with new drivers and tweeters, and keep all the old ones as spares.

Replace the tweeters, forget about the drivers, no point.

I am running my Polk's with Aragon Class A amps at 200 W/channel @ 8 ohms. Sometimes when I run it loud, the drivers pop loudly. Why would this happen? Too much power, or clipping?

How loud is loud as in what is the position of the volume control knob, less than 12 noon or more than 12 noon? If less than 12 noon it's likely that your amp(s) don't have very good control over the drivers. If pass 12 noon, turn it down.

nadams

F1nut wrote:

less than 12 noon or more than 12 noon? If less than 12 noon it's likely that your amp(s) don't have very good control over the drivers. If pass 12 noon, turn it down.

What if it's around 12 midnight?

danger boy

the highest i can turn my volume is to 11 O'clock. anything past that and my ears will bleed. i guess other SDA's would be different.. plus a person's amp would also make a difference.

I once had the drivers pop... it was because the music had terrible overdriven mid range in the CD audio mix.

obxdiver

F1nut wrote:

Black or blue = positive
White or green = negative

OK Thanks, does this mean all 6 drivers in the 2.3TL uses this color code, or are the dimentional drivers get wires out of phase?

I just looked in one of my 2.3's and the top dimensional driver has the green wire on the red dot MW6510 lug, and the bottom one has the blue wires on the red dot lug.

Can you confirm this is correct?

George sent me schems, but the dont show color codes.

Thanks
steve

F1nut

The green wire is connected wrong.

obxdiver

F1nut wrote:

The green wire is connected wrong.

OK Thanks
I have corrected this.
I also found one of the dimensional drivers was a MW6511 instead of MW6510.
So I have corrected that and all are now connected as per color code and all with the MW6510 drivers.

Also, I called Polk audio, and ordered 10 RD-198 tweeters. This will be enough for all my polks. I will have many spare SL3000's and SL2500's
I asked about the interconnect cable (pin and blade) and they said the blade has no connection, and only there as a support for the plug.
He said just run a single conductor from pin to pin (Left to Right pins)
I have made my own using AWG 12 fine stranded and soldered a pin that fits the hole snug. This should be better than the small AWG 18 that was in the polk cable.
My RD198's will be here in 2 days.
He also confirmed that the MW6510's are no longer available and I should use RD-6503-2's for a replacement. He said you won't here any difference.

Is this true?

beef316

obxdiver wrote:

He also confirmed that the MW6510's are no longer available and I should use RD-6503-2's for a replacement. He said you won't here any difference.

Is this true?

I have replaced a 6510 with a 6503 and cannot tell the difference. That's not to say that YOU can't or anyone else can't.

Mike Reeter

Steve,you might want to double ck.the tweeters in your SDA 1C's...ours are SL2000,the tweeters in our SDA 2.3TL's are SL3000's.

The replacements for the 2000 and 3000 are different.

Maybe your 1C's came with SL2500's...might check this out.

F1nut

1C's never came with SL2500's, only SL2000's.

I'll post this again. The replacement for the SL3000 is part # RD0198-1. The replacement for the SL2000 is part # RD0194-1.

As for the mid drivers. They have different specs, I can't see them sounding the same, maybe close, but not the same.

Steve, you never answered my question about volume levels.

obxdiver

F1nut wrote:

Steve, you never answered my question about volume levels.

Thats because I don't go by clock scales. My processor shows dB level.
I have a Lexicon audio processor which is properly calibrated to 75dB with the calibration tone and sound pressure meter.
Therefore, when I playback DVD material, 00 dB on the volume display is considered to be reference level.
On some movies, in 5.1 DD or DTS, the SDA 2.3 drivers will pop when sent a full range signal with heavy bass or explosions. They are of course the main left/right fronts. The 1C's are the left/right rears.

This is not due to clipping, or the volume being adjusted too loud.
I think that the 2.3TL's were not designed for home theater. To solve this problem, I have the crossover set to 80Hz, thus sending frequencies below 80Hz to the sub.

The POLK person I spoke with on the phone said that the RD198 tweeters will be fine in the 1C's.
2 of the 4 tweetes in my 1C's are SL2500's. They were probably replaced at some point.

I will call Polk and ask them this again. Thanks for pointing that out for me....again.

F1nut

Ok, that answers my question. I'd have to say that either the amp(s) do not have good control over the drivers or the drivers have been damaged at some point in life. I have never had the drivers pop on my 2.3TL's, even at extreme volume levels.

The person you spoke with knows not what they are talking about. The RD0198-1 will not work in the 1C's without a crossover modification. Talk to Ken Swauger.

obxdiver

When I do hear the popping it seems to always be the left speaker, and the 2 dimensional drivers are the ones popping.
Thats why I wanted new MW6510's so I could replace them. I will replace them with the 6503's and see if that helps.
The amps, I'm sure, can handle the load.
I run Aragon 4004 MKii amps which are high end Class A amps with 200W/ch @ 8 ohms or 400 W/ch @ 4 ohms.
These high current amps were rated by Sterophile magazine as being very close to the Krell FBP series of amps. Aragon amps were designed by the same guy who now works for Krell, designing thier amps. Aragon amps can handle speakers loads down to 2 ohms stable.

Ricardo

I had a "popping" issue on my 1st SDA's; try gently pushing on each driver with your 5 fingers well distributed around the cone; if you hear a scratch, the driver needs replacement. You can take the passive radiator out so that they don't move all, but you should be able to "feel" the scratch without doing this.

F1nut

Well, that would seem to indicate a problem with the drivers themselves. You could swap the two left channel drivers with the two right channel drivers to see if the issue follows before buying new drivers. If you end up having to replace the two drivers put one new one in each cabinet, better balance that way.

I couldn't find much info on your amp other than Stereophile rated them Class B back in 1995. Do you know what the peak amps rating is?

obxdiver

F1nut wrote:

I couldn't find much info on your amp other than Stereophile rated them Class B back in 1995. Do you know what the peak amps rating is?

The 4004 MK II was a major re-design of the orginal 4004. It's design changes were broght over to the 8008 series later on in 1996
Here is a link to a Sterophile review of the 8008. Its pretty much the same specs as the 4004 MKii.
http://www.stereophile.com/solidpoweramps/562/

I also have the Aragon 8008x3 running the same power output specs as my 4004 MKii except it is 3 channels instead of 2.
It is currently running the SDA 1C's (rears) and my center channel.
I have tried running the 2.3TL's with the 2 of the 3 channels in the 8008x3 amp.
The popping still occurs on the 2.3TL's no matter which amp is used.
Here is a link to my Aragon 8008x3
http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_6_2/aragon8008x3.html

obxdiver

HTrookie wrote:

I had a "popping" issue on my 1st SDA's; try gently pushing on each driver with your 5 fingers well distributed around the cone; if you hear a scratch, the driver needs replacement. You can take the passive radiator out so that they don't move all, but you should be able to "feel" the scratch without doing this.

Thanks for your input
If I "PUSH" in on the driver with my 5 fingers, evenly applying pressure, I feel no resistance, and hear or feel no scratching.
However, I removed the driver from the cabinet, and if I PUSH the cone outwards, from the back, as if the driver was being driven by heavy bass, I feel some scratching when the driver is nearly fully extended.

Is this normal?

Ricardo

Not sure.....you say fully extended, so that's not "gently" in my mind

If you don't feel any scratching, then try swapping the drivers as F1Nut suggests; see if the popping follows the drivers.

Loud & Clear

Just do what F1 tells you to do. This will accomplish two goals: 1. You'll get to the root of the problem and solve your issues with your speakers. 2. You'll be allowed to keep your speakers and associated equipment.

obxdiver

I swapped the top dimensional drivers over to the right speaker, and the popping indeed moved to the right speaker.
This proves its the driver.
My new shipment of drivers/tweeters should arrive today. I will install a 6503 in the top dimensional driver position on L/R as was suggested.
Cant wait to hear the new tweeters.

Thanks for all the help

F1nut

Keep in mind that the new tweeters take 24 hours to burn in. They will sound a bit hollow until then.

obxdiver

Well I got my shipment from Polk today.
I must say, I am NOT very impressed with these new RD198 tweeters.
I am not talking about the sound quality. I will give them time to break in, as suggested, before making judgment there.
I am talking about:
-Very cheap looking construction compared to the SL3000's I took out.
-Very thin plastic body, that flexes when **** in. Careful, they may crack if you over torque them.
-Scuffs around the dome tweeter due to shipping methods (all 6 of them)
-No new foam sealing gasket. I had to use the old ones
-No label on the back. In 5 years, I will have no idea when they were made, nor the part number. For my own benefit, I wrote the Polk part number on the magnet and today's date myself.
-less attractive compared to the SL3000's


For the RD6503's, they were shipped as a set of 4, in a clear plastic bag !!!
Give me a break, can't they get boxes for these things.
The cones and magnets were all touching each other. :mad:
Also, these RD6503's don't have the red dot to indicate the plus connection. How do I tell which lug is the positive one?
I will take a guess until I hopefully get an answer to this.


I now know why these are the new tweeters and drivers that Polk has moved to.
They are cheaper to make. Its very obvious

I will let you know about sound quality after a few days.

EDIT:
I have installed the 6 new RD198's. And..I have installed 4 RD6503's. Both in the dimensional driver positions.
As I said above, there is no red dot on these drivers. I guessed and chose one way for all four drivers.
I put in the DVD-Audio disk for Fleetwood Mac Rumours.
The sound was terrible...awful. I was horrified. No bass, and terrible popping of the new 6503's.
Then, I noticed, when removing the interconnect cable, that I got better sound, and bass responce.
So I took all four 6503's out, and swapped the polarity (blue/green)
Put the same track back on....and WOW WOW WOW !!!
What a difference +/- phasing makes.
No more popping at all. I even set the speaker sizes back to "LARGE" in my audio processor.
Now, these speakers sound brand new again.
The new RD198 tweeters are also very clean and crisp, even in the first 2 hours of use.
I am happy, even though I was not when I wrote the first part of this post.

Again. Thanks for everyone's help

danger boy

Whew. i was going to say.. if you were not happy with them new tweeters.. you should have your ears checked. LOL

glad you like em... they are an improvement over the 20 yr old SLXXXX ones give them a few days/weeks to break in.. they sound a little better then too.

BobMcG

Drivers in plastic bags??? Wow, what a change. I've ordered a number of new drivers from Polk over the years (none very recent) and they always came in boxes. You did as I did on my new tweets for my 2.3s... Sharpied the info onto the backs of them. I think it's the way to go.

Congrats on the new (rebuilt) SDAs. And definitely get the proper replacement tweets for the 1Cs as they aren't the same as the ones that go into the 2.3tls.