SL3000's

bluecomet

Well guys I landed my second set of SRS 1.2tl's from a fellow member the other day and have a question on SL3000 tweeters. I know that most of us greatly prefer the RDO 194 instead of the SL2000 tweets because at high volume levels they tend to be harsh. I have listened to the SL3000's and have not had that experience. Did Polk do something different to these tweets that corrected the problem or will they degrade like the SL2000's and have to be replaced with RDO 198's. Thanks.

hearingimpared

They won't degrade in our lifetime however the 198s sound so much better on my 1.2TLs.

heiney9

Sl3000's are a tri-laminate material. They are better than the sl2000 hands down, but I think the RD0's are even better yet. Atleast you can live with the Sl3000's for awhile until you can raise the cash to buy all RD0's..............or just leave 'em if you like them.

H9

bluecomet

Thanks for the info. I had a feeling they were different.

ben62670

The SL3000's degrade slower than the 2000's. All plastics degrade over time.

F1nut

Actually, what degrades is the ULV magnetic fluid. As it ages it's original water viscosity turns to sludge. At that point, it's not doing it's job and the tweeter will fail from heat issues.

Bubinga99

I just want to add, in my opinion anyway, the SL3000 was and is a pretty spectacular tweeter. Putting the SDA effect aside for a moment as a "bonus," the sound of the SL3000, compared to the tweeters in many other speakers I auditioned at the time of buying my original pair of 2.3TL's (around 1990-ish), was the icing on the cake in my choosing the 2.3TL.

I have 2 pairs of TL's, one with the RD0198, one with the SL3000. I like them both, and there are certain types of music where I give the SL3000 the edge, and others where I give the RD0198 the edge. On balance I prefer the RD0198 but it wouldn't ruin my day to have a pair of TL's that remained SL3000's.

To sort of trivialize the differences (to my ears anyway), I prefer the SL3000 for more "dense" music (e.g. where you have multiple instruments and vocals simultaneously) and the RD0198 for less dense music (e.g. 1 or 2 instruments and vocals (esp female vocals)) and/or more subtle passages like a drumstick tap on a cymbal. The realism (I guess that would be the best way to describe it) has a slight edge in favor of the '198 in those cases.

But there are others here that consider the differences as night and day. I just don't perceive that degree of difference to my ears, but then again, I spent too many hours in my younger years listening at insanely loud levels. My eardrums probably look like beef jerkey ;o)

BIZILL

to put it plainly, i'm in no rush to replace mine.

hearingimpared

BIZILL wrote: »

to put it plainly, i'm in no rush to replace mine.

That being said, don't get your ears on a pair of speakers that have been upgraded to the RD0198s.:D:p