RD0194-1 Tweeter

altecman

As I have to wait for a delivery of RD0194-1 tweeters by the Polk authorized Australian supplier, I have a couple of questions to ask.

1. What is the DC resistance of the RD0194-1 as the SL2000 measured 7.1 ohms.

2. I know this last question will cause some grief amongst the die-hards but it is a valid question to ask. Has anyone used another tweeter in leu of the 194, I know you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover but looking at this tweeter I get the feeling of a product being built to a budget. This is not to say it isn't a good tweeter but the whole tweeter as an assembly typifies cheapness eg plastic face plate, small motor assembly and no ferrofluid.
Would a better quality tweeter eg Vifa, Scan make sense as an alternative. I know some might say that you should only use Polk parts as to not create a Frankenpolk but if the goal in the end is to improve, as the original concept was financially governed, why not. I suppose it's no different than by putting a better stereo in your car to replace the factory fitted one.

heiney9

altecman wrote: »

As I have to wait for a delivery of RD0194-1 tweeters by the Polk authorized Australian supplier, I have a couple of questions to ask.

1. What is the DC resistance of the RD0194-1 as the SL2000 measured 7.1 ohms.

2. I know this last question will cause some grief amongst the die-hards but it is a valid question to ask. Has anyone used another tweeter in leu of the 194, I know you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover but looking at this tweeter I get the feeling of a product being built to a budget. This is not to say it isn't a good tweeter but the whole tweeter as an assembly typifies cheapness eg plastic face plate, small motor assembly and no ferrofluid.
Would a better quality tweeter eg Vifa, Scan make sense as an alternative. I know some might say that you should only use Polk parts as to not create a Frankenpolk but if the goal in the end is to improve, as the original concept was financially governed, why not. I suppose it's no different than by putting a better stereo in your car to replace the factory fitted one.

Do you have a physical RD0 in your possession or are you still waiting? They are perhaps aren't as heavy as the original sl2000, since plastics are used much more today than they were 20 years ago. Have you listened to the RD0 after break in yet? Let your ears judge, they are a damn fine tweeter and are so much better in every way than the sl2000. Not all tweets need ferro fluid.

There are several threads discussing using other brands of tweeters like Ben62630 and his Morels (used in his own custom speakers) or Jakelm using some parts express RD0 look alike. There has been some discussion about the resistance of the RD0 as well. Get your search on.

If you haven't even received your RD0's or listened to them extensively you're kind of jumping the gun with the questions your asking. Some of the diehard speaker guru's have experimented and the RD0 seems to be the final choice.

H9

heiney9

Plus, Polk spent a great deal of time engineering the RD0 replacements for the sl2000; sl2500 and sl3000. It's not an "off the shelf" tweeter. It is manufactured by another company but Polk engineers were involved in every step including some vigorous R & D. That's good enough for me.

H9

daifanshi

altecman wrote: »

As I have to wait for a delivery of RD0194-1 tweeters by the Polk authorized Australian supplier, I have a couple of questions to ask.

1. What is the DC resistance of the RD0194-1 as the SL2000 measured 7.1 ohms.

2. I know this last question will cause some grief amongst the die-hards but it is a valid question to ask. Has anyone used another tweeter in leu of the 194, I know you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover but looking at this tweeter I get the feeling of a product being built to a budget. This is not to say it isn't a good tweeter but the whole tweeter as an assembly typifies cheapness eg plastic face plate, small motor assembly and no ferrofluid.
Would a better quality tweeter eg Vifa, Scan make sense as an alternative. I know some might say that you should only use Polk parts as to not create a Frankenpolk but if the goal in the end is to improve, as the original concept was financially governed, why not. I suppose it's no different than by putting a better stereo in your car to replace the factory fitted one.

There are several excellent tweeters available under $50 dollars in the DIY market that will match or exceed the measureable performance of most tweeters designed in the earlier part of this century and before. Vifa/Scan speak tweeters in recent years has seen a drop in their bang-for-the-buck ratio. But their 9500, 9700 tweeters are still excellent performers.

On my short list of tweeters would be the Dayton RS28 and the Seas 27TDFC. The Dayton is built for Parts Express by Usher which makes very good tweeters themselves. Both tweeters have everything a good tweeter needs, good sensitivity, low linear and non-linear distortion, flat F.R., and a low resonant frequency. The Seas is a good bargain at $40 at Madisound.

If you have the energy and the right tools, you should be able to integrate these tweeters into any design.

As soon as I rebuild my microphone, I'm going to run some distortion and frequency response tests on the Polk SL3000 and SL2000 (somebody has kindly given me the opportunity to borrow one of these) to see how they perform. I'll compare them to other tweeters I have in my collection, some of the same vintage and others like the circa 2001 Scan Speak types. It should be interesting to see how good (or bad) the Polk tweeters are and set a starting point for future mods.

good luck.

heiney9

daifanshi wrote: »

As soon as I rebuild my microphone, I'm going to run some distortion and frequency response tests on the Polk SL3000 and SL2000 (somebody has kindly given me the opportunity to borrow one of these) to see how they perform. I'll compare them to other tweeters I have in my collection, some of the same vintage and others like the circa 2001 Scan Speak types. It should be interesting to see how good (or bad) the Polk tweeters are and set a starting point for future mods.

good luck.

It's been done for the sl3000 and Polk even made it available. It's reprinted in the SDA Compendium but if you talk to Ken Swauger at Polk HQ he might give you a copy of the plots. Doesn't hurt to ask, most things like this are proprietary and you probably won't get any specification info on either the sl2000 or the newer RD0's.

H9

altecman

Heiney9, thanks for your imput. All I wanted is for someone to use a multimeter and measure the DC resistance of the RD0194-1. I might even have to use the 198 (DC resistance ?) yet as I am removing one of the tweeters from the 1A's. I will probably use the 2B and 3.1TL schematics for xover modification, to allow for the 3dB drop after removing one of the tweeters (2.7 in lieu of 3.5 ohm)

tonemeister08

i'm in the process of retro-fitting my 2.3's with the rdo's. i measured 6.0-6.1 ohms for the sl-2000's and 6.5 -6.6 ohms for several samples of the rdo's (fluke 88 multi just back from calibration) measurements of this low of an ohm reading can be tricky. the sl-2000's had silver wire in the coils which is a slightly better conductor than copper ,which i assume is what is used in the rdo...hope this helps tony

PolkClyde

Well I like the sl-2000 I love my speakers being on the bright side if the bass is right,you know what I mean. Sure I don't want that so called digital harshness. Have you guys heard the infinity Tweeters KAPPA EMIT. I love the being there sound(life like)**** to my ears sound of the Emit.... I also love my Polk 1.2's after all these years They still sound great and I only have replace one tweeter and one mid-bass driver.

altecman

tonemeister08 wrote: »

the sl-2000's had silver wire in the coils which is a slightly better conductor than copper ,which i assume is what is used in the rdo...hope this helps tony

The SL2000 I pulled apart had a copper wire voice coil not silver wire as most people would like to believe. I think Silver Coil Dome as moulded onto the face plate could mean anything and as such was just an marketing ploy.

altecman

Are the outside dimensions of the RDO194 the same as the SL2000.

heiney9

altecman wrote: »

Are the outside dimensions of the RDO194 the same as the SL2000.

Yes. It's an exact fit for any sl2000 equipt Polk speaker. Save the original paper gasket as ther new tweeters don't come with them.

seanhd

sorry to ask but I am new how do I order the RDO194's from this site? or do I have to find a dealer near me?

seanhd

also does anyone have a single sl2000 for sale as I also like the bright sound.

Deadof_knight

seen one on ebay earlier ....15.00 bucks with minutes to go !

nspindel

seanhd wrote: »

also does anyone have a single sl2000 for sale as I also like the bright sound.

They usually come up in pairs around here, for obvious reasons, the odd exception being someone blows one SL2000, and repairs by buying a pair of 194's and then has one to sell. They're usually cheap enough, though, that if you need to splurge and buy two just to get one it won't break the bank. I just pulled four SL2000's out of the SDA-1C's I just bought, sold them for $45 total.

nspindel

seanhd wrote: »

sorry to ask but I am new how do I order the RDO194's from this site? or do I have to find a dealer near me?

Just call Polk Customer Service and order it. They retail for $60 a piece, but tell them you're a Club Polk member and you'll get 20% off, so $48, plus shipping/tax.

candyliquor35m

seanhd wrote: »

also does anyone have a single sl2000 for sale as I also like the bright sound.

just keep asking. There are plenty of these floating around on here.