Lend me your RD0194-1s

mudslinger
mudslinger Posts: 20
edited July 2008 in Vintage Speakers
Ok, fat chance.

Anyway, after reading the forum lately, I'm inclined to replace the original tweeters in my 11Ts. I bought these new many moons ago, and have always thought them harsh on fast, multiple electric guitar passages. Almost like the speakers can't keep up.

Would the RD0194-1 replacement tweeters effect the electric guitar frequency spectrum in a positive way?

Incidentally, the 11s seem fine to me on female vocals, where the consensus indicates the problem hump in frequency. Acoustic, single blues guitar,male vocal the 11s do it right to my ears

I'm powering the 11s with a GFA-555 with its GFP-555 straight line with gain.

thanks
Joe
Post edited by mudslinger on
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Comments

  • ben62670
    ben62670 Posts: 15,969
    edited July 2008
    First welcome to Club Polk, and second replace them with the RDO's you'll never look back. Later you will want to mod the XO's. Very easy project.
    Ben
    Please. Please contact me a ben62670 @ yahoo.com. Make sure to include who you are, and you are from Polk so I don't delete your email. Also I am now physically unable to work on any projects. If you need help let these guys know. There are many people who will help if you let them know where you are.
    Thanks
    Ben
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  • madmax
    madmax Posts: 12,434
    edited July 2008
    The RDO's make everything seem more reasonable. Just a much higher quality device. No one would ever think the originals sounded better on any source material, ever.
    madmax
    Vinyl, the final frontier...

    Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want... :D
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  • engtaz
    engtaz Posts: 7,664
    edited July 2008
    Wecome mudslinger. +1 their comments.

    engtaz
    engtaz

    I love how music can brighten up a bad day.
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  • mudslinger
    mudslinger Posts: 20
    edited July 2008
    Thanks for the welcome and the comments.
    Would the RDO replacement smooth out my perceived mush in the area I have commented on? Single notes and vocals seem spot on, but more complex passages tend to be muddled (for lack of a better explanation). I'm going to spend the buck regardless.

    Candyliqour, thanks for the pm on the resistor thing. I've read through the debate thread and will try the RDOs. After all, it only amounts to a 20-25 dollar experiment if I do prefer the 2000s. BTW I did notice your trade offer on a set of RDOs. Are these the -1s?

    Hell, I may try the XOer tuneup, since im a tinkerer.

    Thanks to all
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,204
    edited July 2008
    I owned 11T's for 20 years and when I joined I was just as skeptical that a tweeter could make such a dramatic positive difference. I never did get them for my 11's before I sold them. I have them in my SDA 1C's and Monitor 5B's and kick myself for never putting them in my 11's. I might still have those 11's if I had replaced the tweeters.

    Yes, they will make a dramatic, positive difference in the electric guitar frequency. BUY THEM and don't look back. There is no other fix for the sl2000's shortcomings despite what another (slightly off his rocker) person might suggest.

    If you don't like them then you can recoup most if not all of your cost by reselling them.

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • ben62670
    ben62670 Posts: 15,969
    edited July 2008
    The SL2000 mod is a band-aid at best. It cuts the higher frequencies of with a 6db slope, and changes phase. Not a fix in the least.
    Please. Please contact me a ben62670 @ yahoo.com. Make sure to include who you are, and you are from Polk so I don't delete your email. Also I am now physically unable to work on any projects. If you need help let these guys know. There are many people who will help if you let them know where you are.
    Thanks
    Ben
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  • MillerLiteScott
    MillerLiteScott Posts: 2,561
    edited July 2008
    I have the 11T's with the RDO-194's and they are a very good speaker for both 2 channel and HT. If you sell your SL2000 it will off set the cost of the RDO's and make sure you burn the RDO's in for at least 50 hours before any real critical listening.

    You may want to include some tubes in your audio chain to help with the top end grain. As I found out quality speaker wire makes a huge difference.

    Enjoy
    I like speakers that are bigger than a small refrigerator but smaller than a big refrigerator:D
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  • mudslinger
    mudslinger Posts: 20
    edited July 2008
    Great input H9

    As to the 2000 mod, if all else failed, I'd try it if only to debunk. (the cynic in me)

    MLS, regarding the 50 hr burnin period. That's alot o burning. Guess i could loop a cd at low volume while at work. Would low volume suffice?

    While tubes in the chain would be nice, probably wont happen anytime soon, as I have been reasonably happy with the setup for quite some time. To each their own on the speaker wire thing.
    Maybe if I had an optimal room setup, I may be able to hear miniscule soundstage differences, but thats not the case at this point. I get a decent image from this setup, but as you can see no air.

    turntable.jpg
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  • candyliquor35m
    candyliquor35m Posts: 2,267
    edited July 2008
    I don't have any rd0's. I sold mine to dave for $30 each after trying for months to try to adjust to them. I always ended up putting the sl2000's back in and never regret it to this day. The rd0194 was dull and lifeless to me. I think I lost about 50% of the soundstage and detail when I used them compared to the sl2000. I've now solved all brightness and harshness issues with the sl2000 with a $1.50 1.0 uf/mfd 250v radial mylar cap.

    Good luck with the rd0's. The only way you'll find out if you like them is to buy them but they aren't for me. Unfortunately it's a $100-$200 gamble or more depending on the speaker you have.
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,735
    edited July 2008
    I've now solved all brightness and harshness issues with the sl2000 with a $1.50 1.0 uf/mfd 250v radial mylar cap.

    Yep and you now have more peaks and valleys than the Rocky Mountains. :rolleyes:
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,735
    edited July 2008
    Mudslinger, nice table!
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • mudslinger
    mudslinger Posts: 20
    edited July 2008
    French Provincial I think. From the dump.
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,735
    edited July 2008
    Hard to tell as I can't make out the details. Did it have drop leaves at one time. The legs are maple, the aprons could be pine or poplar. I'd also say that the shelf is an add on.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • mudslinger
    mudslinger Posts: 20
    edited July 2008
    Good eye. It did have drop leaves at one time, and the shelf was added on. The top has a tiger pattern. You know your stuff.
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,735
    edited July 2008
    Tiger maple top and legs, pine or poplar aprons with missing drop leaves. It's a classic New England drop leaf table. If you had the leaves, it'd be worth some coin.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • mudslinger
    mudslinger Posts: 20
    edited July 2008
    It took the wife 8 months and six million sq feet of retail shopping to end up with this solution. Actually, it was a Craigslist find. She paid sixty beans.
    If I had the leaves, they would be packed away. Couldn't go through that again.

    About tweeter burnin?
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,735
    edited July 2008
    LOL...gotcha.
    About tweeter burnin?

    Yep, it's real and will take about 50 hours, which is far less than the 200-400 hours it takes new caps to burn in.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • MillerLiteScott
    MillerLiteScott Posts: 2,561
    edited July 2008
    Jesse I am glad you mentioned the caps burn in duration. I did not have the heart to post it after he thought the 50 hours was to long.

    Mudslinger, it is well worth the wait for the 50 hours for the tweeters and my caps sounded fantastic after @ 400 hours on my 2B's.

    I may do the caps in my 11t's this fall.

    Scott
    I like speakers that are bigger than a small refrigerator but smaller than a big refrigerator:D
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  • mudslinger
    mudslinger Posts: 20
    edited July 2008
    Would white noise such as AM radio between stations, at low levels do the burnin job? Would such noise burn in caps as well?
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,735
    edited July 2008
    I can't say for sure as I've not tried that, but logic tells me that varying the frequencies and volume levels would be better.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • mudslinger
    mudslinger Posts: 20
    edited July 2008
    Since Polk folk are off on the weekends, The purchase will be Monday.
    Then, and I quote, "We must exercise the gaskets"

    I did however adjust VTA, VTF, AS, etc. After 2 hours I believe I'm back where I started.

    I's now time to adjust the VLH (vertical lawn height)

    Thanks to all
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  • MillerLiteScott
    MillerLiteScott Posts: 2,561
    edited July 2008
    I adjusted my VLH yesterday with my PM and WE. Today I am going to the BYC.:D
    I like speakers that are bigger than a small refrigerator but smaller than a big refrigerator:D
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  • mudslinger
    mudslinger Posts: 20
    edited July 2008
    It started raining so no VLH. More VTA adjustment ensued.
    Should have gone BYC instead
    Here's the result.
    Budget cartridge Advice?

    bust.jpg
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  • mudslinger
    mudslinger Posts: 20
    edited July 2008
    Pulled the trigger on the replacement tweeters. The person told me they were called BDxxx for some raw material reason. Also At 440 MLa cartridge. I figure with a bit forward cartridge, and a bit sweeter tweeter, this may be a good combo. Wish me luck!
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