Mylar caps in RTA 11T

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Jockos
Jockos Posts: 310
edited August 2007 in DIY, Mods & Tweaks
Are the yellow mylar caps in the RTA 11T electrolytic caps?
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  • Jockos
    Jockos Posts: 310
    edited May 2007
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    After doing some research I believe the yellow mylar caps are film and foil. Anyone know the life expectency of these? I'm thinking of redoing the x-overs in my 11T's but putting in the solens looks daunting because of space restrictions. George D. has some good pics of the X-over's on heiny's x-over thread.
    Thanks Jockos
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  • Disc Jockey
    Disc Jockey Posts: 1,013
    edited May 2007
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    While the Solens are significantly bigger than the stock caps, they are not really that hard to fit on the board. Dry fit them first and a little hot glue to hold them in place.

    It's well worth the effort, a noticeable improvement.
    "The secret of happiness is freedom. The secret of freedom is courage." Thucydides
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  • george daniel
    george daniel Posts: 12,096
    edited May 2007
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    I should finish with mine in the next few days,I'll post a pic,,it's not really that difficult, I'm waiting on a resistor,the caps are in place,as mentioned above,dry fit first and you should not have a problem,,I went with solens because of the cost (doing upgrades on three pairs of speaks) have fun :)
    JC approves....he told me so. (F-1 nut)
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  • Disc Jockey
    Disc Jockey Posts: 1,013
    edited May 2007
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    Another thing you might want to do, just for fun and to hear the results of your efforts, is do one speak at a time. Then hook it up and compare to your unmodded speak. Let us know what you think.
    "The secret of happiness is freedom. The secret of freedom is courage." Thucydides
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  • engtaz
    engtaz Posts: 7,655
    edited May 2007
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    george daniel wrote: »
    I should finish with mine in the next few days,I'll post a pic,,it's not really that difficult, I'm waiting on a resistor,the caps are in place,as mentioned above,dry fit first and you should not have a problem,,I went with solens because of the cost (doing upgrades on three pairs of speaks) have fun :)
    And pics of the audio collections pretty please. Thread should be "george's place " LOL HTrookie's will be done before you know it.
    engtaz

    I love how music can brighten up a bad day.
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  • Jockos
    Jockos Posts: 310
    edited May 2007
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    George, what value did you use for the 2.7uf resistor? I noticed that parts express does not carry a mills 2.7 12 watt. I was thinking of using the dayton ones though you have to modify(lengthen) the lead if you're going to mount them vertical. Maybe I'll just leave the originals in as I think resistors have a pretty long life span, the ones I took out of the 5's measured fine.

    Jockos
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,915
    edited May 2007
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    It's not about life span, it's about quality. Replace all the caps and resistors otherwise there's no point.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • george daniel
    george daniel Posts: 12,096
    edited May 2007
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    Jockos wrote: »
    George, what value did you use for the 2.7uf resistor? I noticed that parts express does not carry a mills 2.7 12 watt. I was thinking of using the dayton ones though you have to modify(lengthen) the lead if you're going to mount them vertical. Maybe I'll just leave the originals in as I think resistors have a pretty long life span, the ones I took out of the 5's measured fine.

    Jockos

    I replaced the resistors with mills, and the caps were solen,,,partsconnexion ,,, they have the resistors that you want/need.
    JC approves....he told me so. (F-1 nut)
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  • Jockos
    Jockos Posts: 310
    edited May 2007
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    Just a few questions:
    1.When ordering mills resistors from the parts connexion is a 2.7uf resistor listed as 2R7 MRA 5?
    2.Are the 2 6510 drivers wired in series?
    3. When soldering the components are you using heatsinks?
    Thanks Jockos
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  • george daniel
    george daniel Posts: 12,096
    edited May 2007
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    Jockos wrote: »
    Just a few questions:
    1.When ordering mills resistors from the parts connexion is a 2.7uf resistor listed as 2R7 MRA 5?
    2.Are the 2 6510 drivers wired in series?
    3. When soldering the components are you using heatsinks?
    Thanks Jockos

    1--yep
    2-wiring/rewiring is simple enough(for me it has to be simple)
    3- i just use a gem clip on the component to dissapate heat,, if I use anything.
    JC approves....he told me so. (F-1 nut)
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,097
    edited May 2007
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    Jockos wrote: »
    Just a few questions:
    1.When ordering mills resistors from the parts connexion is a 2.7uf resistor listed as 2R7 MRA 5?
    2.Are the 2 6510 drivers wired in series?
    3. When soldering the components are you using heatsinks?
    Thanks Jockos

    1. yes
    2. n/a for my 5b's
    3. no heat dissipation is nec for the caps or resistors. Just be careful and take your time.

    One note I learned the hard way. I replaced the wiring from the pcb to the drivers and had to cut the female sliding clips off the ends of the original wiring and couldn't reattach them at the time. I hard soldered the wire to the tweets and the driver. On the tweeters it's extremely delicate and when I unsoldered the sl2000 to replace it with the RD0 I eff'd up the sl2000. I subsequently sold the sl2000 and had tor refund the money due to the tweet not functioning. I used shrink fit tubing to reattach the female slider clips before replacing the RD0's.

    The moral...........don't hard solder the wires to the terminals on the tweeters. Iw as very careful and still eff'd it up.

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • Jockos
    Jockos Posts: 310
    edited May 2007
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    Thanks to all. I'm debating on just replacing the electrolytics with the same or going with the solens. I will definitely replace the mylar with solen. There is conjecture that if you change electrolytics with film you change the sound. Most say it sounds brighter. I'm very happy with my 5B change out. Will think about it..........................
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,097
    edited May 2007
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    Jockos wrote: »
    Thanks to all. I'm debating on just replacing the electrolytics with the same or going with the solens. I will definitely replace the mylar with solen. There is conjecture that if you change electrolytics with film you change the sound. Most say it sounds brighter. I'm very happy with my 5B change out. Will think about it..........................

    Electrolytics in the signal path are less than ideal. Dump the electrolytics and get the Solen's. Otherwise, and this is my opinion, don't waste your time and effort. The RD0's are right up there as well if you really want to transform the speakers into something special.
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • george daniel
    george daniel Posts: 12,096
    edited May 2007
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    Like Jesse said,, if you are going "in",then replace the caps and resistors, the 11t's will require some forethought,as the caps are larger,I used the mills mra 12 watt resistors,and partsconnexion had everything that I needed--good luck.
    JC approves....he told me so. (F-1 nut)
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  • Jockos
    Jockos Posts: 310
    edited May 2007
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    Thanks for the advice, I do have the RDO's already, nice tweeter. George did you finish your 11t's, please post pics.

    Jockos
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  • george daniel
    george daniel Posts: 12,096
    edited May 2007
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    tonight hopefully,,hooked em up last nite,,sweet,a worthwhile project,indeed.:cool:
    JC approves....he told me so. (F-1 nut)
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  • Jockos
    Jockos Posts: 310
    edited May 2007
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    Hey George pics please!
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  • MillerLiteScott
    MillerLiteScott Posts: 2,561
    edited May 2007
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    Here is a picture of mine.
    I like speakers that are bigger than a small refrigerator but smaller than a big refrigerator:D
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  • george daniel
    george daniel Posts: 12,096
    edited May 2007
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    MillerLiteScott wrote: »
    Here is a picture of mine.

    I think the he means the crossovers,,, I'll get em up tonight when I get home,maybe,hopefully.
    JC approves....he told me so. (F-1 nut)
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  • MillerLiteScott
    MillerLiteScott Posts: 2,561
    edited May 2007
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    I'm just a proud Papa.:D

    And they do have the RDO's
    I like speakers that are bigger than a small refrigerator but smaller than a big refrigerator:D
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  • Jockos
    Jockos Posts: 310
    edited May 2007
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    Thanks george. millerlite nice looking 11's, I always preferred the black ash. I have the vinyl walnut looks more cheap.
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  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited May 2007
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    MillerLiteScott wrote: »
    Here is a picture of mine.

    ahhh those look so much better with the RD0 tweeter over the SL2000 IMHO ;) and prob sound a heck of a lot better too. :D
    PolkFest 2012, who's going>?
    Vancouver, Canada Sept 30th, 2012 - Madonna concert :cheesygrin:
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  • george daniel
    george daniel Posts: 12,096
    edited May 2007
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    Here they are, I must say that this was certainly not the easiest crossover to upgrade due to space limitations,specifically cap size. Not the most eye appealing job either. Binding post are vampire BP-Hex, Tweeters (not shown) are the RDO replacements, but they do sound very good.
    JC approves....he told me so. (F-1 nut)
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  • Jockos
    Jockos Posts: 310
    edited May 2007
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    Nice, what kind of wire did you use to lengthen the cap leads? Is that shrink tubing? Thanks for the pics,nowI know what I'm up against. Has the sound changed much?

    Jockos
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  • MillerLiteScott
    MillerLiteScott Posts: 2,561
    edited May 2007
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    danger boy wrote: »
    ahhh those look so much better with the RD0 tweeter over the SL2000 IMHO ;) and prob sound a heck of a lot better too. :D


    Not to mention just a cool looking speaker and driver layout. They are also very good with vocal sound stage. Not as good as SDA's but none the less good.
    I like speakers that are bigger than a small refrigerator but smaller than a big refrigerator:D
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  • george daniel
    george daniel Posts: 12,096
    edited May 2007
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    Jockos wrote: »
    Nice, what kind of wire did you use to lengthen the cap leads? Is that shrink tubing? Thanks for the pics,nowI know what I'm up against. Has the sound changed much?

    Jockos

    I had some cap leads that I used for extensions,yep that's shrink tubing before its shrunk. Haven't had much time to listen to them yet. I'll post some impressions as soon as I do. :)
    JC approves....he told me so. (F-1 nut)
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,097
    edited May 2007
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    Looks like I got lucky when I did my 5b's. It seems the later Monitors had all the parts mounted vertically while my earlier 5b's had the parts mounted horizontally. Defineatly made it easier and looked a bit more appealing. I'm still amazed at how these things sound. :D:D . Listening to Norah Jones on them right now..........so sweet and smooth!!!

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • george daniel
    george daniel Posts: 12,096
    edited May 2007
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    pic's on my mon 5's. The 11t's had a mylar cap mounted horzontally,while the other 2 caps were vertical
    JC approves....he told me so. (F-1 nut)
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,097
    edited May 2007
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    george daniel wrote: »
    pic's on my mon 5's. The 11t's had a mylar cap mounter horzontally,while the other 2 caps were vertical

    Those are 5A's with the peerless, correct? When Jockos or one of the others did their later 5b's (with poly switches) I believe all the components were vertical. Who knows though, Polk was always changing things on the fly so there probably isn't one difinitive answer. Just look at all the differences in the SDA lines and models :p:p
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited May 2007
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    why are today's caps so much bigger than they used to be?
    PolkFest 2012, who's going>?
    Vancouver, Canada Sept 30th, 2012 - Madonna concert :cheesygrin:
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