RTA-12B Crossover Recap
Hooby
Posts: 8
Hello,
Just completed my first speaker modification, a full recap of my RTA-12B's. I decided to go with ERSE Pulse X metallized polypropylene caps after reading some favorable reviews on them, and I didn't have an unlimited budget. Total cost was just over $100 with shipping, only took me one night of installing them because I was so excited to get them in. So far, I've only got about 15 hours of power ran through them so I know I have more burn time to go but I can already tell a clarity difference and a stronger, tighter low end sound. I hope it continues to get better, which I'm sure it will.
I've been debating doing other mods, I've read many people dampening the inside of the cabinets, and using dynamat on the driver baskets. I've also heard that getting rid of the fuse will also help with extra clarity in the tweeters. We'll see what happens down the line but for now, I'm very pleased with the sound of these newly capped 12B's! Here's a few pictures of them. Hopefully that link works, if not I guess just copy paste it. Thanks!
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/zu70rydipa1180f/6N4fxWg3qz
Just completed my first speaker modification, a full recap of my RTA-12B's. I decided to go with ERSE Pulse X metallized polypropylene caps after reading some favorable reviews on them, and I didn't have an unlimited budget. Total cost was just over $100 with shipping, only took me one night of installing them because I was so excited to get them in. So far, I've only got about 15 hours of power ran through them so I know I have more burn time to go but I can already tell a clarity difference and a stronger, tighter low end sound. I hope it continues to get better, which I'm sure it will.
I've been debating doing other mods, I've read many people dampening the inside of the cabinets, and using dynamat on the driver baskets. I've also heard that getting rid of the fuse will also help with extra clarity in the tweeters. We'll see what happens down the line but for now, I'm very pleased with the sound of these newly capped 12B's! Here's a few pictures of them. Hopefully that link works, if not I guess just copy paste it. Thanks!
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/zu70rydipa1180f/6N4fxWg3qz
Post edited by Hooby on
Comments
2 CH-Rogue Audio Zeus w/Factory Special Extreme Mods,Joule-Electra 300ME Platinum Preamp,OPPO-105 w/Modwright Tube Mod, Auralic Aries Extreme Server,Polk 2.3TL,3.1TL's,Dreadnaught,RTA-15TL's,1C's All Fully Modded,2xRTA-12c's Partially Modded,Benchmark DAC2 HGC,Synology NAS,VPI Scout w/Dynavector DV-20XH and Rogue Audio Ares Phono Preamp,Sony PCM-R500 DAT,HHB-850 Pro CDR,Tascam CC-222SLMKII Cassette/CDR,MIT S3.3 Shotgun Cables,Shunyata Hyra-8,Shunyata and Triode Labs Power Cords
These are all pretty easy to do and make a noticeable improvement in sound quality. Not too expensive either.
B&O 4002 W/MC20EN Cartridge
Hegeman 1 Speakers
M&K VX-80 sub
Cambridge Audio CXC Transport
Wyred 4 Sound DAC1
Heed Questar Phono Preamp
PrimaLuna Prologue Four Amp
Aric Audio Tube Preamp
H/T
Samsung Plasma
Outlaw 950 pre/pro
Tannoy Saturn 8's
Hsu sub
Emotiva UPA-500 5-channel amp
Denon DCD-1520 CD player
Garage
Jennings Research Square
Custom tube preamp
Crown XLS-1000
Denon DCD-1500II
Modded MSB Link DAC
(4) Polk Monitor 10B's w/SoniCaps, Mills, and RDO-194 tweets (R/L F/R)
(2) Polk Monitor 4's w/peerless tweets (Top Middle)
Polk CS300 center channel
Analog: B&O TX2 Turntable, Nakamichi Cassette Deck 1
Digital: Pioneer CLD-99 Elite LD, Panasonic DMP-UB900 UHD Blu-Ray
LG 65EF9500 4K OLED
http://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/38755/polk-audio-speaker-wiring-schematics-more-all-models-except-sda#latest
- There are additional caps in the low frequency crossover at the input terminals. Has anybody upgraded these? Is it necessary? After removing the LF crossover, there is no slack on the wires to get the circuit board clear of the box.
- I have the schematic, but it doesn't note the voltage per cap. I can't read the specs on the original caps. Anybody know the voltage?
Thanks.