Polk RTA11t questions

byteme · January 2003

Hello,

I bought these new in 1986, I think, along with a B&K ST202 amp and Superphon Revelation II preamp. I was 2 years out of high school and my parents thought I was nuts spending over $2K on all this. Everything else has been replaced (I'm still sorry I sold the B&K) at least once when we moved to home theater. I'm now trying to improve 2 channel sound again because I miss what I had. The RTA11t's have stayed throughout though! I'm now pushing them with a Newcastle 9080 5ch amp through a Denon 3802 pre/pro or a B&K Sonata pro-10 MC preamp and Rega Planet.

As I said, I'm trying to improve two channel now and with all this upgrading I've been thinking of replacing the 11t's. Has anyone compared these with Vandersteen 2ce, KEF 104.2, PSB Gold i, or Sonus Grand Piano?

Lastly, are there any reviews of the RTA's around anywhere? I'd love to read a vintage review again to remind me why I love these and talk me out of thinking of getting rid of them - I'll leave that to my wife! Even audioreview.com doesn't have anything on these...!!

Thanks!

F1nut · January 2003

byteme,

I can't help you with your questions, but if you do sell your 11's and they are the TL version, I'm interested in buying them.

I can say this much, the RTA line is close to some of the SDA line, less the SDA features.

F1nut

BTW, Welcome to the forum.

byteme · January 2003

F1nut,

No, they are the RTA11t, not the tl. What was the difference?

F1nut · January 2003

The tweeter and crossover. The 11T has the SL2000 tweeter and the 11TL has the SL3000, which I find a little smoother. Still, the 11T is a nice speaker. Sometimes you can't tell by looking at the id tag, pull out one of the tweeters and see what it says on the back.

har_navalta · January 2003

There is 1 available at ebay RTA 11T not TL though.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=14993&item=1949302340

All I can say about the RTA TL Version is that the sound is open and crystal clear with a nice punchy bottom end similar to my 1.2TL's only no SDA imaging. I prefer the RTA 11TL's better than
the NEW LSi 9's.

Har

har_navalta · January 2003

Since I posted the RTA 11T that is up for bid, which had zero number of bids when I saw it, a lot of people started to bid. I was surprised at the drastic climb of number of people who started to bid.

Polk Vintage still highly aclaimed even though they are already
10 to 20 years old...hmm amazing quality of speakers...thanks
from Polk Audio for their continued support of their parts still
available.

No wonder I'm with Polks:)

Har

byteme · January 2003

Pulled a tweeter last night, definately the RTA11t, not the tl version. Har, you mentioned parts are still available. Is the SL3000 that much better? Are they still available from Polk and if so how much are they? I assume it would be a direct drop in replacement?

Brian.

F1nut · January 2003

If you don't mind, I can answer that. IMHO, the SL3000 is a smoother sounding tweeter, the SL2000 sounds bright to me. The SL2000 has a peak at 13,000 kHz that the SL3000 corrected. The original SL3000 is no longer available, but Polk does have a replacement. To change the tweeter you would also have to change the crossover. Look under Service and Parts at the top of this page for more info.

har_navalta · January 2003

Yeah... Jesse was right, thats the difference between the SL2000
and SL3000 tweeters. You can buy them at Polk for $80.00.
Just call customer service and place your order.

I have here the Actual pic. between the SL2000 on
RTA 11T...

har_navalta · January 2003

SL3000 on RTA 11TL...

byteme · January 2003

Have either of you (or anyone else) compared these to the LSi15? It's not that I'm LOOKING to replace these, but you never know!!

Also, thanks both of you for the updates - do you have a picture of the SL2300 tweeter? Or the front of an RTA11tl? (nevermind!!) thanks har!

OK, also, if you were to upgrade the SL2000 to the SL3000 it certainly looks like a direct drop in replacement - would you HAVE to replace the crossover? Is that actually what smooths out the response or could you just do the tweeter and get better sound?

Thanks!

har_navalta · January 2003

Like I said, I prefer the RTA 11TL's better than the NEW LSi 9's. The sound is open and crystal clear with a nice punchy bottom end similar to my 1.2TL's only no SDA imaging, same as the LSi
line NO SDA Imaging. The 15's have built in subwoofer, so that
is different story.

But if you have the 11TL's and a descent sub that matches the
LSi 15's or the 25's. I've heard the LSi 15's and, still, I like the sound of RTA TL Version though. But don't take my word for it, it's up to you to decide.

The pictures above are the RTA 11T and RTA 11TL.

Har

byteme · January 2003

OK, so this pipe dream is over. Called Polk CS, turns out they have a replacement tweeter for the SL2500 / SL3000 which is RD0198-1, however, they said don't just do the tweeter, do the crossover too since that fine tunes everything and they don't have any stock on replacement crossovers for the 11tl. So, no upgrade for my 11t's. Perhaps it's time to listen to the LSi15's.

F1nut · January 2003

I'm not sure about this, but I think it can be done. Just upgrade the original crossover, Polk has schematics they will provide to you. Get one of each to study the differences and to determine if it can be done and what you would need to do it. Perhaps, the pipe dream lives. I'm curious about this, let us know the results.

byteme · January 2003

Jesse,

The CS guy mentioned that too, that I could tweak the crossover myself by looking at schematics. However, I was not blessed with the soldering gene. Trying to do it does nothing but frustrate the hell out of me. By the time I broke the speakers and spent $130 on tweeters and shipping, plus the extra resistors and caps I'd be ready to end it all.

I do have to agree with you though. The one thing (really the only thing) I can pick out about the 11t's that I don't like is they tend to be bright. Other than that - lovely!

F1nut · January 2003

Send me the xovers, the schematics and the parts. I'll do them up for you or you could have any local hi-fi shop do it or (I'm volunteering you Har) maybe Har would do it. I think it would be fun and worthwhile, but it's up to you.

byteme · January 2003

Thanks for the offer. That is an option. I'll call Polk back and get the schematics for the x-overs and look them over. We're going on vacation for a week at the begining of February so that might be a good time if I decide to give this a shot. I can also check around here to find if anyone is capable. I've got a couple of electrical engineer friends that may remember how to solder from college!!

You all may talk me into this yet!

F1nut · January 2003

Cool, the offer is open.

hotwheelman · January 2003

I believe that plastic piece is a deflector for standing waves? Or maybe it is for defraction of waves from the driver next to it? Maybe ken could enlighten us about it.

har_navalta · January 2003

Jesse,

Thats looks fine and fun too. I have the 11TL's, I can compare
which is which to upgrade and comparing which parts to add
or update.

Har

F1nut · January 2003

Har,

Yeah, that's a great idea!

byteme · January 2003

Thanks guys, schematics are on their way. I'll keep you posted and scan them in when I get them. I'm sure a handful of resistors and caps can't cost very much. If my wife complains I can tell her this is cheaper than new LSi15's!!

I never thought of it, but Har is right, having a TL crossover handy while doing this would sure help!

F1nut · January 2003

byteme,

You'll still have to upgrade to the new tweeters too. Damn, I can't wait to see how this turns out.

hotwheelman · January 2003

Should be interesting to say the least, keep us posted.

byteme · January 2003

Jesse,

Ya, the new tweeters will run $60 each plus $5 shipping. Once I determine how much effort is involved in the crossovers and how many parts I'll need I'll determine if I'll go forward with this.

I'm hoping that the crossovers are basically the identical with only resistor/capacitor values being different. Then it would be a simple case of swapping out parts here and there. Something tells me it won't be that simple - if it is, it's getting done for sure - if not, we'll have to see how things go and what additional needs to be done.

Again, thanks, you guys have me all worked up about this now!!

Brian.

George Grand · January 2003

The object circled in the image, was a "wing" designed to stop the tweet and mid from dicking with each other. Standing waves are a low frequency phenomenon, so the "wing" had nothing to do with that. It was one of the improvements incorporated into the TL, along with the tweeter upgrade, and a different base/pedestal that could now be threaded and spiked. I also remember the cabinet edges on the "t"s being beveled and the "TL"s not. I've had three pair of "t"s and one pair of "TL"s. I didn't think there was a whole lot of diff between the two. Stereophile beat the **** out of the "t's in the very first issue I ever received from them. It happened to be the day after I got the "t"s (Jan '89?). I never thought they sounded NEARLY as bad as they claimed. Actually, I thought they sounded good enough to eventually buy 2 more pair and a pair of "TL"s! Screw Stereophile you know? I think Polk responded more to the negative review than I did (the TL).

If the speakers want for anything, they are a little light in the mid to upper bass. Extreme low end is there in buckets. It's odd, and can at times make for a thin sound, especially if there is no DEEP bass present.

I said "changes to the base/pedestal allowing the "TL" to be spiked". Actually, the "t"was the version that had a cheesy base/pedestal type affair. It was made out of wood or a wood PRODUCT that wasn't thick enough to accept decent spikes. The "TL" did away with the thing entirely.

George Grand (of the Jersey Grand's)

byteme · January 2003

George,

You're right about the crap base on the t's. I ditched that long ago and built a home made platform with spikes. I've since uncoupled the spiked base from the speaker and now have the base on 3 spikes each, with 6 vibrapods on them with the speakers resting on those. Works out rather well.

I remember having read a couple reviews when I bought them in 98 or so - they were pretty good, but I never read the Sterophile one. I listened to at least 10 different speakers when I bought these, actually had two pair bought and in the house before the Polks. One was a JBL L100t which were pretty decent and I don't recall the others. I actually packed up the L100t's and brought them to the local polk dealer and A/B'd them with the 11t's. It's obvious which sounded better! The only thing I heard that I really liked better were the KEF 104.2's. But I don't remember if I actually like them more or if I was so smitten with the looks and reviews - oh, and the fact they were $500 more per pair and therefore out of reach!

byteme · January 2003

Jesse and Har,

I had the back off one of the 11t's this afternoon. The crossover is actually mounted to the round piece where the speaker wire plugs into. It doesn't look like too much effort to get them out easily - it would simply entail marking which of the wires inside are for the mid drivers and the tweeter and then cutting them. Once the changes are made to the crossover I'd just have to splice them back together.

The crossover looks quite simple. There aren't more than 10 things on the circuit board so there is hope that the schematics will show it's a relatively simple "cut and paste" as it were.

I'll keep you posted!!

By the way. I just picked up a Zcable Live v3 interconnect and threw it in the system between my CD player and preamp, still have a Mapleshade clearview ultrathin II plus from preamp to amp. DAMN is the zcable sweet!! Live is a perfect name for it. It's very close to being there. Can't wait to listen more!

har_navalta · January 2003

byteme,

I'd pulled out the 11TL's crossover and there is only 5 pieces
of resistor or capacitors attached to it. It is quite simple
I can even tell you the values of the resistors.

The 11TL and 15TL almost the same crossovers, 15TL have
6 pieces parts attached to it while the 11TL has 5.

The resistors values for the 11TL xover are;
12uf 50v and the other one is 34uf 50v

I think you can easily do it by yourself. damn, if I have a
digital camera I can easily show it to you.:mad:

Har

F1nut · January 2003

Brian,

DO NOT cut the wires, label them and pull them off each driver. No need for extra work. As you and Har indicate, it should be an easy upgrade and my offer to do it for you stands.

Jesse

gidrah · January 2003

Wow! What a great read. What a great offer and effort from other members. Man I love this site!

byteme - I've had limited exposure to the speakers you mention. I've also done a dedicated listening with the Vandersteens. They seem to have an "air" and "transparency" to them that I really fell in love with. But, wile the Vandersteens didn't wrong, I prefer the over-all sound of my current Polks. If I had to start from ground-up it might be a different story, but in current hindsight I think I made the right decision.

Polk RTA11t questions

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