I Love SL2000 Tweeters

Boywonder

I replaced the top tweeters in my SDA-1C's with the RD-0914 leaving the SL-2000's in the lower position and it is an improvement. I had a pr of RD-0194's waiting to go into my monitor 10 project, so I put them in the SDA's last week. I just received 4 additional RD-0194's from Polk yesterday so I will complete the conversion shortly. If I do not hear any difference with 4 RD-0's in the SDA's I'll use 2 in the SDA's, 2 in the monitor 10's and 2 in the RTA-12's

Joe08867

I am positive you will hear a difference. Will it be an improvement? It is up to your ears.

heiney9

shadowofnight wrote: »

Oh yeah, I read the paper...the tri layer deposition on the dome ( Stiffness ..etc ) Is the only reason I was thinking not a good match. This was only a " What the hell , try it " spur of the moment thing as mentioned in my original post....be fun to try is all.

Then again, a lot of people on the forum don't like the SL3000 tweeter either...or the RD0 wouldnt be so popular with the TL series as well.

I was speaking of the sound of the RD0's and sl3000 not the construction, in case I wasn't clear .

Yes, many still prefer the RD0198-1 to the sl3000, but it is so much better than the sl2000. If you do decide to experiment keep us posted.

If one was on a very strict budget you could probably get away with replacing an sl3000 w/ an RD0198-1 and not notice the difference. But, me personally I would replace them all .

The same couldn't be said for the RD0194-1 and the sl2000. They are just too different to not notice the difference. But messing with the placement in a progressive point source might diminish the difference enough to be tolerable, especially in the big SRS's. Again personally I don't do things that way.

H9

shadowofnight

Money is no object for myself ( Even though I would need 16 of them ...SRS...2.3 and some CRS+'s if I wanted to swap...I havent felt that need yet) ....I was only mentioning it because of learning intimately how the crossovers work the other night while researching the SDA effect in the said same speakers.

I have installed 194's in 2 pair of SRS's before and 198's in some 1.2TL's ( Polk should have been shot when they used the crappy looking philips screws in the RD0 series tweeters ...I think they look terrible ) so I know what they sound like. I just thought it would be cool to try one RD0 in the 8K and above point source spot is all

That we are even discussing these 20+ year old speakers is what is so cool and amazing

heiney9 wrote: »

I was speaking of the sound of the RD0's and sl3000 not the construction, in case I wasn't clear .

Yes, many still prefer the RD0198-1 to the sl3000, but it is so much better than the sl2000. If you do decide to experiment keep us posted.

If one was on a very strict budget you could probably get away with replacing an sl3000 w/ an RD0198-1 and not notice the difference. But, me personally I would replace them all .

The same couldn't be said for the RD0194-1 and the sl2000. They are just too different to not notice the difference. But messing with the placement in a progressive point source might diminish the difference enough to be tolerable, especially in the big SRS's. Again personally I don't do things that way.

H9

heiney9

shadowofnight wrote: »

That we are even discussing these 20+ year old speakers is what is so cool and amazing

Yep, you got it! . I love my SDA 1C's. When I sold Polks (worked at a high end retailer) back in college I could never afford them even at accommodation pricing. I bought RTA 11T's instead and that was a lot of money to me 20 years ago.

Well roughly 15-20 years later with new tweets and Sonic Caps I'm as happy as can be.

H9

candyliquor35m

Maybe you don't have the right equipment to make the sl2000's sing like angels. Try some telefunkens and you'll be blown away. Or just put a $3 cap on them if you want to experiment a little with them before giving them all to me.

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/attachment.php?&attachmentid=30823

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=31246

avguytx

I still don't understand the philosophy of a cap being inline on a tweeter. Did someone call customer service and this was the recommendation they had or was it just pulled out of thin air? In all my years of being in this business (since 1979), I've never added a cap inline on a tweeter AFTER the main crossover network....just a resistor for padding. Unless it was a Zobel network but that requires both a cap AND a resistor.

ben62670

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heiney9

avguytx wrote: »

I still don't understand the philosophy of a cap being inline on a tweeter. Did someone call customer service and this was the recommendation they had or was it just pulled out of thin air? In all my years of being in this business (since 1979), I've never added a cap inline on a tweeter AFTER the main crossover network....just a resistor for padding. Unless it was a Zobel network but that requires both a cap AND a resistor.

Kip, if you haven't figured it out yet....................he is CLUELESS. It works for him so I can't say in his particular instance it's wrong, but it's not how one goes about experimenting unless one is a mad scientist type.

He punted and whether the change is real or perceived he's convinced it worked to his advantage.

ben62670

I changed my mind
\\\\\/////

Marty913

candyliquor35m wrote: »

Maybe you don't have the right equipment to make the sl2000's sing like angels. Try some telefunkens and you'll be blown away. Or just put a $3 cap on them if you want to experiment a little with them before giving them all to me.

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/attachment.php?&attachmentid=30823

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=31246

Oh my god, not the cap discussion again with the little "pig-in-a-blanket" pictures of the cap. Very disturbing when you start to "clothe" your electronic parts.

ShinAce

A Zobel network has the cap and resistor across the speaker.

Why would anyone warrant the use of a Zobel network on a tweeter? My head is going to explode.

The only option left is a first order high pass crossover, meaning the cap is in series.

F1nut

candyliquor35m wrote: »

Maybe you don't have the right equipment to make the sl2000's sing like angels. Try some telefunkens and you'll be blown away. Or just put a $3 cap on them if you want to experiment a little with them before giving them all to me.

It's a shame I can't post what needs to be said here.

dorokusai

Start tattooing yourself like Max Cady and recite scripture as you walk around the house.

F1nut

I'll pass, but let me know how it works out for you.

candyliquor35m

Boywonder wrote: »

I replaced the top tweeters in my SDA-1C's with the RD-0914 leaving the SL-2000's in the lower position and it is an improvement. I had a pr of RD-0194's waiting to go into my monitor 10 project, so I put them in the SDA's last week. I just received 4 additional RD-0194's from Polk yesterday so I will complete the conversion shortly. If I do not hear any difference with 4 RD-0's in the SDA's I'll use 2 in the SDA's, 2 in the monitor 10's and 2 in the RTA-12's

I recommend you only upgrade one channel (left or right) at a time and that way you can do a side by side comparison of your new tweeters (rd0194) and the old tweeters (sl2000). Let the new tweeters burn in for the recommended 50 hours before you make any conclusions.

Gary Batson

candyliquor35m wrote: »

I've tried many times to replace them and each time I end up putting them back in.

Without them I lose the magical smooth airyness and pure silk sounds that happen at the top end.

I put a cap on them to tame them down a bit as illustrated in the 2 attachments.

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=30823

I know this thread's run it's course and I'm kinda late joining in but I gotta say what I gotta say. I bought my SDA1's new and never liked them. They hurt my ears and spent many years stored in their boxes untill last summer when I got them out and they still sounded horrible. I replaced the SL1000 tweeters with the RDO replacements and I thought that was an improvement. But they had an irritating ring or spike in the 3-4 killohertz range. I thought it was a problem with the two side by side tweeters resonating together. That was just a guess. So I pulled the fuses on the demensional tweeters. The problem was still there so I put the fuses back in. Then I put two ohm resisters behind all the tweeters to tame the exagerated high end AND THAT HELPED A LOT...but the tweeters were still irritating so I pulled them and put the original SL1000's back in and they sound great with the resisters behind them. You couldn't make me put the RDO's back in. The speakers sound more smooth and natural than I ever thought they could. Not as good as my brothers B&W's, But they do sound good!!!

I think the RDO"s sounded better at first because they're not as loud as the SL1000's. But after adding the resisters, Even with it's faults the SL1000's were the better tweeter. BY FAR!!! You can't convince me otherwise.

F1nut

Thanks for sharing your experiences Gary. I know Polk sells the RD0194-1 as an replacement for the SL1000, but it was really designed to replace the SL2000, which may explain, in part, your experience. I also noted that you like the sound of B&W's, which I can't stand, so I'd say it's safe to say we hear things very differently. Trust me, no one is trying to convince you otherwise.

Enjoy!

Boywonder

candyliquor35m wrote: »

I recommend you only upgrade one channel (left or right) at a time and that way you can do a side by side comparison of your new tweeters (rd0194) and the old tweeters (sl2000). Let the new tweeters burn in for the recommended 50 hours before you make any conclusions.

Well, I've now got 6 RD-0194's so doing 2 in one speaker and leaving SL-2000's in the other shouldn't be a problem......I already know that they are going to be an improvement since a single RD-0194 and an SL-2000 in each speaker sounds less harsh than stock.

nms

I've just put SL2000s back in my SDAs and my M10s. To me, unless I'm listening to music very loud and it has vocals, the 12k peak is not annoying. After doing a side-by-side comparison between the SDAs with the RD0s and the M10s with the SL2000s I felt the 2ks let more detail in the highs through. To my ears, (and I'm betting this is mostly because of my equipment), piano and stringed instruments sounded more natural through the SL2000s. Since classical music makes up a significant portion of my listening, I decided to switch back to the SL2000s for a while and see what I think.

Also, a multi-band equalizer could easily take care of the 12k peak the tweeters have... I know a lot of you guys don't like extra stuff in the chain, but I'm just sayin'

candyliquor35m

avguytx wrote: »

I still don't understand the philosophy of a cap being inline on a tweeter. Did someone call customer service and this was the recommendation they had or was it just pulled out of thin air? In all my years of being in this business (since 1979), I've never added a cap inline on a tweeter AFTER the main crossover network....just a resistor for padding. Unless it was a Zobel network but that requires both a cap AND a resistor.

Kip,

I wish I could find the thread where someone recommended this a couple of years ago but so far I haven't been able to find it.

I'm not a EE so I can't explain how it works or why it works but as I said earlier, I did a side by side comparison of sl2000's and the one with the cap was noticeably less bright than the one without the cap.

I did some more listening tonight with my srs's. I used the cj pv7 on them tonight because my first impressions of the pv10 are it's more detailed than the pv7 thus it's also going to sound brighter.

Yes the pv7 was less detailed which slightly diminished the brightness but not as much as I thought it might. I still had the sl3000's in the right speaker and the sl3000 sounds almost identical to the rd0194 from my listening so far.

The right speaker sounded hollow and lifeless. The left speaker was alive and I could every minute fluctuation in the singer's voice. I felt like I could physically hear his vocal chords vibrating and the reed in the sax vibrating and the brass in the sax resonating especially on certain notes when the musician is pushing the sax to its limit without making the reed squeak. Every voice and instrument in the songs were full and rich sounding.

The right speaker sounded like someone singing into a mr microphone. Yes it was that bad.

Edit: I did find the receipts for the caps and it was nov 2006 so if anyone can find the thread which most likely would have been in sept, oct, or nov 2006. There was no discussion on the matter. The suggestion was made and it was left at that. It's not important because I'm sure I wrote the info down somewhere to make sure I ordered or bought the right caps, 2.2 uf mylar.

ben62670

a low value cap inline with the tweeter is a 6db roll off in the upper frequencies.

Dennis Gardner

I found that when I put a cap over my SL2000s it rolled off the upper freqs alot.....especially when I changed from a John Deere cap to a ski mask.;)

F1nut

I still had the sl3000's in the right speaker and the sl3000 sounds almost identical to the rd0194 from my listening so far.

Another tidbit that goes to show your credibility in this matter is zero. They sound nothing alike.

MarcLazarek78

will this thread die?

MG


SL2000 scream

RDO good replacement

both and all could benefit from newer crossovers.

and 5 pages worth.


Ur getting fantasticsised?

candyliquor35m

F1nut wrote: »

Another tidbit that goes to show your credibility in this matter is zero. They sound nothing alike.

Please report back after you've done your own side by side comparison like I have.

Joe08867

I have done a side by side and they sound nothing alike! The RDO's are so much smoother and don't cause the headache the SL's did. Even before they were completely burned in.

Why would Polk go Silk if the original was so good??????

They listened to customers and continued to improve the line even after they stopped producing them. That is why they are Number 1 with customer service Period.......

If you like them fine. But you are not going to convince many others that the SL's are just as good as the RDO's. They are not. What's next? Metal Domes??? If you like shrill that would be the way to go.

candyliquor35m

Did you do a left vs right comparison?

I'm running all tubes except 1 carver m1.0t on one rig. The sl2000's sound warm, rich and full. The rd0194's do not.

Ricardo

I think I read somewhere that we all have our own preferences, and what sounds good to me might sound horrible to you.

candyliquour likes his SL2000's, he has confirmed that doing A/B tests or whatever.

So why are people trying to force him to think otherwise?

To each his/her own. Damn it.

Joe08867

I did a left right comparison. I tried a tube amp (Heathkit & Mac) and SS amps (B&K & Adcom) and still found the SL's Shrill with that high end peak that causes a headache. It wasn't as bad with the Heathkit at moderate volumes but bad on all at higher listening levels.

Hey it's cool if you like them and they work with your setup it's all good.

I say we agree to disagree. BTW: The Carver M1.0t is a nice amp. Had one a while back always liked the sound.