RTA 12B and 12C Speakers

rmaiers

I just picked up a nice pair of RTA 12C speakers. I hooked them up to a Sony receiver and they sound great. I bought some RTA 12B speakers with a Hafler DH-500 power amp a while ago and am wondering if I ever want to get crazy could I run both sets of speakers off the Hafler if I connect the lefts and rights in series?

zingo

That would be a bad idea. Speakers are not meant to be played side by side like that and it would throw off the sound. Plus, either of those are moderately demanding speakers, and I'm not sure if your amp would like them wired together.

Whichever pair of speakers you decide to use for your mains, use them Hafler amp with them. They will have more power than with the receiver and will sound cleaner and clearer. I'm glad you like the RTA12s as they are cool speakers.

rmaiers

Thanks for the advice. It is going to be hard to decide which pair to run with the Hafler.

jon s

try running the speakers reversed... left speaker on right channel and vice versa... see if it sounds better...

ohskigod

get a nice preamp, maybe a tube pre

take that Hafler and run either the b's or c's.......the b's should have the peerless tweeter of which I am a big fan, but see which one you like better.

running them in a series (doubling the ohms) would be fine on the hafler from a safety standpoint, but believe me when I tell you it isnt worth the effort. I got lots of experience backing me up on that.

running them parralel would probably be disatrous for the amp (I believe they are 4 ohm speaks, parralel would make it a 2 ohm load = not good, and the "it isnt worth the effort soundwise" point I made previosly still holds.


Like I said, the Hafler, a decent pre, the rta12's and a decent source = a damn respectable system most people would envy.

OnlyPolk

rmaiers wrote: »

I just picked up a nice pair of RTA 12C speakers. I hooked them up to a Sony receiver and they sound great. I bought some RTA 12B speakers

Can someone here tell me the difference between the B and the C series. I am getting ready to go check one out for sale. I've read through a lot of posts in the archives and it seems like the C series is the most preferred? Thanks

rmaiers

The biggest difference between the two are the tweeter. Thw 12Bs use a peerless tweeter and the 12C uses a SL2000 I believe. I have seen different opinions on which sound best. Some like the 12Bs because of the Peerless tweeter but others perfer the sound of the 12Cs. I haven't done a side by side comparison yet. I'm running the 12Bs with a powerful Hafler DH500 power amp (255 W/chan in 8 ohms) with a Hafler DH-110 preamp. The 12Cs are hooked up to a Sony STR-G3 receiver. With these hookups, the 12Bs sound best to me but it isn't a fair comparison because of the differences in amps.

jon s

some of the early 12Bs also have the tweeters mounted vertically and are fused. The 12Cs use the dreaded polycaps to protect the tweeters.

BottomFeeder

The RTA12C is definitely the preferred model, perhaps because it's the last version made. Either way, you can't go wrong.

rmaiers

I did note the tweeters on the 12Cs are not fused. How do the dreaded polycaps work?

candyliquor35m

If you like them both then go for 2 separate rigs if you can swing it.

jon s

the polycaps open when excessive current goes thru... unfortunately, the current required to trip them decreases as they age.

rmaiers

Do the polycaps reset or do you have to replace them if they open?

jon s

they reset, but they trip earlier when they age... most users bypass them completely as they supposedly affect the sound. unless you abuse the speakers, it is unlikely you would blow the tweeters anyway.

rmaiers

Thanks for the information. I have blown the fuses several times on my 12Bs and no doubt will get a little carried away playing the 12Cs, particularly if I hook them up to my Hafler.