RDO-194's and no x/o mods?

nooshinjohn

I called Polk today and they are sending me new polyswitches for my 1c's. I asked them about other changes and upgrades. He suggested doing the RDO upgrade and said that I would not need to do an x/o update to make them shine. I know that upgrading the crossovers is all the rage here these days and was wondering if doing the new tweets is advisable without doing the crossovers just yet....

george daniel

If the speakers are performing well, there is no reason that I can think of. Change out the tweeters as there is nothing that prevents you from doing so. In other words--it's ok.

NJPOLKER

I think you should enjoy the new tweeters for awhile then do the x-overs. It will be like having new speakers with each upgrade. The existing caps are kind of old at this point. New caps will be a huge improvement. Like George said it is ok and you are on the right track.
Drew

thsmith

I changed the tweeters on my 1Cs to 194s without mods to XO. I do not think the 194s were a big upgrade for my 1Cs as the 198s were for my Monitor 12s.

I am thinking of replacing the Polyswitches as others people here have said the polys can affect treble. Possibly why I do not think the 194s were much of an improvement.

ben62670

Although I am not a huge fan of the SL2000 I would still do the XO upgrade first. I have heard some SL2000's that sounded pretty good, but the material used in the dome ages more like milk than wine. The tweeters are definitely a worth while upgrade. It will not hurt to do one before the other. As mentioned either replace the Poly switches, or bypass them if you have some self control.
Take care.
Ben

heiney9

Have to disagree with Ben just based on my own experience. The RD0's first then X-over upgrade. I did the X-over upgrade first and the sl2000's were completely unlistenable.

BTW, you really should do the X-overs; it will bring out a whole new side to the speaker, especially if you Sonics Caps or equivalent. Doing it in stages is certainly fine.............but you'll be very happy with the RD0's and even happier once you re-do the x-overs

BAD ASP

heiney9 wrote: »

Have to disagree with Ben just based on my own experience. The RD0's first then X-over upgrade. I did the X-over upgrade first and the sl2000's were completely unlistenable.

BTW, you really should do the X-overs; it will bring out a whole new side to the speaker, especially if you Sonics Caps or equivalent. Doing it in stages is certainly fine.............but you'll be very happy with the RD0's and even happier once you re-do the x-overs

I listened to the 1.2's for about a year before the tweeters. Then I listened to the tweeters only for about 6months and really enjoyed the upgrade. Then reading all around here and decided to have the Xovers done. Ben and I came to an agreement and he did a very professional job and turned them around in a hurry. If I ever had a doubt about this upgrade it is long gone.

I then had Ben do the Xovers in my 3.1's and left the tweeters alone. They improved dramatically. I am not sure if I want to swap out those tweeters for the RDO 198's.

If you have the $$$ the upgrades that have been talked about here are, IMO, well worth it, I still can't adequately describe the improvement in sound.

ben62670

heiney9 wrote: »

Have to disagree with Ben just based on my own experience. The RD0's first then X-over upgrade. I did the X-over upgrade first and the sl2000's were completely unlistenable.

BTW, you really should do the X-overs; it will bring out a whole new side to the speaker, especially if you Sonics Caps or equivalent. Doing it in stages is certainly fine.............but you'll be very happy with the RD0's and even happier once you re-do the x-overs

I not very good at making myself clear sometimes:( I have had about 12 SL2000's. 10 of them sounded from bad to worse. 2 of them sounded good. I think its more of an environmental thing. When they were new they sounded pretty good IMHO, but like I said they don't age well, and the SQ drops significantly. I certainly don't recommend keeping the SL2000's. If they aren't bad yet they will be, and they RDO's sound better period.
Ben

dbnh

I have 1Cs. First I used Walker SST on all the internal and external connections, then I upgraded to the RDOs a few years back, then added Jim Goulding's diffraction surrounds, then Ben did my crossovers around Thanksgiving past, then I did the Mortite tweek.

Each of the changes were well worth it, and I like the unintentional sequencing. Ben's XO upgrade seemed to make the biggest difference; the diffraction surrounds work wicked well, too. Heck, each change made things better. Best of luck with your decision making.

george daniel

Over the years I've swapped a few e-mails with Mr Goulding,, after you applied his "tweak",,how would you describe the difference? I'm just curious, it seems that his tweak,and others like it have been suggested/talked about for sometime now. IIRC,one of the manufacturers mentioned something about putting felt around the tweeters.

dbnh

george daniel wrote: »

Over the years I've swapped a few e-mails with Mr Goulding,, after you applied his "tweak",,how would you describe the difference? I'm just curious, it seems that his tweak,and others like it have been suggested/talked about for sometime now. IIRC,one of the manufacturers mentioned something about putting felt around the tweeters.

More realistic presentation, better and more detail, increased soundstage width / depth, better positioning of vocals and instruments, more analog sounding than digital (for those vinyl lovers out there, this should make sense - less fatigue on the ears!). Jim custom cut the felts (two per speaker, one for each tweeter) to handle the paired SDA 1-C tweets; if someone orders, make sure you have the dimensions correct, and let your measurements allow for the speaker grill to fit just past the top of the felt.

I initially posted these forum comments: http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63261&highlight=felt. The StereoMojo review pretty much said what I wanted to add; the SM review also has photos, test results, etc.

I had the felts fall off a few times, and I could hear that something was not right when they were off - for me it's a tweek I miss when it's not there. Re: Jim's velco fastening - I found a way to fasten the felts that is working much better for me, go here to read about that fix. FYI - Jim presents as a nice guy, avid about his product, and willing to go the extra mile to help out. Got to like vendors like that (no affiliation). He's pretty up front that his application can't be applied to all tweeters; the SM review also discusses that facet.

bsoko2

Ordered six RD 194's for my SDA SRS 2.3 today as my second step in upgrading. My first step was having Ben build me a A1 Dreadnaught interconnect. That opened up the sound stage quite nicely. In a few months after saving some green, the crossovers will get upgraded.

Love my SDA's, Bill

Conradicles

ben62670 wrote: »

I think its more of an environmental thing. When they were new they sounded pretty good IMHO, but like I said they don't age well, and the SQ drops significantly.

No kidding. With my newest set of SDA's, the SL2000 actually do not sound too bad. The SL2000 from my old Monitor 10B's hurt my ears and did not sound good to me.

The RD0194 in my SDA-2B Standard Version in the 2 channel rig sound great IMHO.
I know XO upgrades are in the future for me based on the expert opinions from the guys here.