RD1098-1 and RD1094-1 difference?

Loco57

Marty,
had a good read on the rules for this forum and if any of my comments were construed as rubbishing the POLK product that in no way was my intention. My comments were an observation of the speakers that I own and their condition when I started this refurb project on them.

I employ a number of people and yes sometimes things get done not quite how I would have liked them but you cannot supervise all aspects of a product personally and their are commercial considerations to take into account.

Correct me if I am wrong but in 1988-89 the SDA SRS speakers in the US would have been in the $3,000-3,500 US range? I paid just on $10,000 AUS for these speakers in 1989 and I was surprised at the finished internal construction of the cabinets.

My observations of my speakers were that they were not designed without a rigid bracing system in place just that the glue application in more areas than not was dissappointing and the alignment of the corners on one cabinet was more than 3mm out.

On a $10k pair of speakers I think it not unreasonable to expect a little better is all I am getting at, issue addressed, it is hard to describe the change in the cabinets after the internal bracing mods I have now completed on both speakers cabinets so very happy.

Picked up the new tweeters and yes remembered to keep the foam seals so now I am just waiting for the new electronics to arrive and then I can get on with the Crossover upgrade get it back together and give them a run.

I have also been thinking about the issue of potentially bright tweeters and how to attenuate them ( if required ) a company we use here to cut Gortex teflon gaskets that we use could cut me some rabbit felt rings to fit over the tweeter body and by varying the thickness I could adjust the response of the tweeters?

I understand that certain tweeters only operate at varying frequency ranges on the SDA's and this could be the secret to fine tuning the finished product as part of the internal works has involved physically separating the 4 tweeters in their own chamber using 18mm MDF board.

On the one speaker that I have completed the bracing and deadening works on (but no other mods except wiring upgrade and terminal block) the sound definately showed a more controlled tighter sound all be it at a lower sound level compared to the non modded cabinet.

Time and experimenting will tell I suppose.

BL, everyone is entitled to their opinion and that includes CL if we all thought the same things I guess this would be a boring forum, no doubt many here would not agree with me on some of my posts or comments but that is what makes this place work.

The short time I have been a member on this forum I have learn't many things and this is what started me on the upgrade road with these speakers rather than just sell them off. It has given me an interest to see just how well I can get them to perform and once these are finished I have a pair of Magnepan Tympani 1D's that I will start on and I only hope their might be a forum like this one to draw information from on how to do it the right way.

To date I would like to thank everyone for their help on every question I have asked. Geeez just looked back on this post what a mouth full!

Cheers.

Marty913

NONE of your posts have been construed negatively by me. If I have given you that impression, then it is I who owe you the apology. You seem to be on a worthwhile (and well thought out) quest to make you Polk's the best that they can be. That is exactly what it's all about. I'm looking forward to the posting of your results.

GreggyG

Hi, just to confirm, the RD0198-1 are considered to be the "newer/Upgrades" for the RTA-15TL correct? And, to confirm, are these worth $60 each if the current tweeters are functioning fine as fas as I can tell but are just 30 years old? Thank you

Emlyn

The RD0198-1 is the replacement for the SL-3000 tweeters in all Polk speakers with the TL designation.

I consider them to be an upgrade, but I could have lived with the original SL-3000 sound. The sound quality is quite different though.

I couldn't live with the original SL-2000 sound however.

pitdogg2

GreggyG wrote: »

Hi, just to confirm, the RD0198-1 are considered to be the "newer/Upgrades" for the RTA-15TL correct? And, to confirm, are these worth $60 each if the current tweeters are functioning fine as fas as I can tell but are just 30 years old? Thank you

If you call polk CS and mention you belong here they are a bit cheaper. Changing out the 6 in my SDA's was money well spent. Like Emlyn said I was ok with the SL3000...UNTIL I got the RDO198's. The 198's present a much clearer difference in the different cymble sounds.

GreggyG

Excellent, thank you Emlyn and pitdogg2, that's very helpful. I called Polk and wow, they were unhelpful. One rep said they didn't have the 198's anymore. Then another rep couldn't/wouldn't get me to a tech advisor, then said she emailed the tech person but couldn't answer my questions. However, mentioned they did have the 198's but also had the 194's which may be right, then said they could do a 20% off discount. That's when I found this post to inquire more. Thank you. I'll take this as a worthy upgrade.

boston1450

I got my rd0198 tweeters in the mail from Polk. I switched out 1 tweeter in my RTA15tl's & turned on the amplifier to hear difference & was blown away. Shut it down & swap'd out the other. Best $$$ worth every penny.. Enjoy

GreggyG

Thank you boston1450, that's very helpful.