Need help finding voice coils for older Polk speakers

I have some older Polk Audio speakers that are really nice.
They're a pair of RTA-11TL's and they have a neat feature called "Stereo Dimensional Array", basically if you place them 6 feet apart, it gives a three-dimensional illusion to the sound. Anyway, the problem is the voice coils have worn out, as I've lost the tweeter on the left speaker and have almost no midrange or bass on the right. If anybody could lead me to a place where I could order parts, I'd be greatly appreciative.
Thanks!

 

Polk is pretty good about having stuff or where to go find it at.

 

First thing I would do is call Polk. They have always been helpful and friendly to me in the past. I have not had to contact them in quite a while but it is where I would start.

 

The RTA-11TL's do not have or do what you wrote, they are not SDA's. You need to figure out which model you actually have before going any further.

 

These?

 

Call Polk. Replace the drivers.
Call Madisound. Replace the drivers.

 

Those are them.

You're right, I confused SDAs with RTA's. They are "Real Time Array" speakers.

 

Ok, if you have the RTA 11TL with the SL3000 tweeter, the replacement tweeter is the RD0198-1. If you have the RTA 11 with the SL2000, the replacement tweeter is the RD0194-1. The drivers will have the MWxxxx model stamped on the back. Polk stocks most of them.

I seriously doubt the driver voice coils are worn out. The common failure is magnet shift due to the glue letting go. Best option at this point is to replace the drivers. CALL Polk to order rather than email.

 

I got new Polk tweeters on Ebay. They have woofers, too.

I have the RTA 11T.

1. Rebuild the crossovers. Expect to pay $100 for top of the line components. Worth it.
2. Tack a piece of wool blanket with a cirle in middle to the front of the box. Keeps the highs from bouncing off the baffle.
3. Remo the thermistor. I just twisted the legs together and solder it.

I love these speakers. Especially since I got them at the thrift store for $20.

 

Congrats on finding the RTA-11T's
About the wool blanket, where is the circle? for the driver magnets?

BTW conventional cabinet treatment is to apply material to three sides and back (four sides is ok too) We never place absorptive material on the baffle. (never) However the baffle can be treated with anti-resonant material glued directly to it and the sides too. The acoustic material is more effectively applied to three sides and back.

 

The tweeters/drivers are cheaper from Polk.

If you use the newer RDxxxx replacement tweeters one should have no need for bezel treatments.

 

Alright, I believe I have everything figured out now.
Thanks everybody!

 

Beauties

 

Keep us updated.

 

It goes from the top of one woofer to the bottom of the other, and extends side to side to the edges of the baffle. I started that with double stick tape, but that didn't work, so I used the staple gun, which did. What I used to make the hole was an adapter from a wire recorder and a razor blade.

I didn't coat these cabinets, but I coated my other speakers with mobile home roofing cement from Lowe's. That works under turntable platters, too, makes them "ring" less. One thing you've GOT to do is bypass that thermistor, and just be careful with the watts.

 

That much damping is not a good idea. Placing a 4"x4" piece of Blackhole 5 behind each mid-driver is all that is needed on those RTA speakers. You absolutely do not want any of the stock poly fill or any other material below the mid-drivers as it will kill the bass.

When doing away with the polyswitch (thermistor) you need to account for its resistance, which will be about 0.5 ohms. Best to use a 10 or 12 watt Mills resistor of said value.

 

My Polks don't come in until 80 Hz. The subs take over from there. Thanks though!

 

I'll take you are running them with an AVR crossed over at the aforementioned 80Hz. The thing is, that is not sharp cut off, your speakers are still producing sound below that. Besides, too much damping material and/or in the wrong places has an adverse effect on the sound in general. Basically, it sucks the life out of the speaker.

 

Producing sound and producing useful sound is 2 different things. 80 is a safe guess when you don't have a meter or auto setup.

 

None the less, it still contributes to the presentation.

Too many think that their speakers do not produce any sound below the selected crossover point. I was simply pointing out that they do.

 

Pics of this handy work would be nice.

 

Yes, I know it's crude, but I look at the speakers with my ears, and that makes them quite attractive. They sit on top of the subs, tweets exactly at ear level. But since the sub vibrates them quite a bit, I'm going to set them on subwoofer isolation feet.

 

JBStephens, do yourself a huge favor. Replace those gawd awful SL2000 tweeters with the RD0194-1 from Polk.

 

I don't have an "AVR", the preamp has two outputs, one goes to the subs, the other to the EQ which rolls off starting at 120 Hz, it's not a brickwall, just a gentle slope, and they integrate perfectly. The tweeters aren't "gawd awful", I just have a tiny dip at 8 kHz and a bump a 16 kHz. I know it's not -much- of a system compared to some, but I'm extremely pleased with it. And when you're working with things like Soundscribers and wire recordings and aluminum discs, you don't need a WHOLE lot of high end anyway.

 

@utzdman55

If you're wanting replacement SL2000 tweeters for free, I am about to replace a good pair from my Polk SDA CRS+ with the RDO194.

PM if you want to arrange something - postage cost is all you'll pay.