Thinking of buying RTA 11T [Archive]

aud10n3wb13

02-14-2008, 03:55 AM

I should have posted it here. I didn't know there was a vintage subforum. Anyways, here is what I posted earlier.

Hi everyone,

I'm new here and it's my first post too. :) I was at a speaker store last Saturday . The store had a Polk Audio RTA 11T on sale for $299(out the door price). So I asked the guy if I can listen to it. He placed a cd and I was blown away by the sound quality. However, I found out though that it was more than 15 years old. I looked at the drivers, cabinets and they still look fine. However, I learned this morning during my research that the 2 lower drivers are not really drivers. They are passive radiators. It's also my first time today to hear about passive radiators. So, I'm thinking that I maybe paying for it too much for it.

So folks, I need your guidance if I should buy these floor standers especially I'm on tight budget. The sound was really amazing.

Will this be really good for my home theater? Can I crank it up without hurting my ears? Will it still be lively, smooth, sweet and not harsh?

Can you also please tell me some negatives about this type of speakers so that I can prepare myself when using it for home theater and music?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. :)

Thanks.

danger boy

02-14-2008, 05:31 AM

what kind of music do you listen to? $299 isn't to far out there.. but maybe he'll come down in price some.. they are old speakers you know ;).

they are fine speakers.. if they use the SL2000 tweeter. with is more commonly known as a silver coil dome tweeter.. it may sound harsh once cranked up..

and yes.. the bottom speakers are passive radiators.. they provide the bass in vintage Polk Audio speakers.

if they are minty condition.. go for it.. but if you like to listen to music with tons of bass, then they might not be for you.. they prob wouldn't be a good speaker for hip hop or rap.

george daniel

02-14-2008, 06:58 AM

if you like them with your music,,se if you can talk them/him/her down to 200-225 for the pair,,which would be a good deal considering their shape,good luck.

mlastarza

02-14-2008, 08:40 AM

I've had mine for 17 years and love them. I have not found them lacking in bass output. There was a pair in our local craigslists that looked to be in good condition that were listed for $175.

aud10n3wb13

02-14-2008, 10:49 AM

I have a sub which will take care of the bass. I use the sub in movies. I like songs like Alisson Kraus, Jewel, U2, rock and some alternative but not hip hop :).

I tried haggling the price and he doesn't want to go below $275.

Should I ask him if the tweeter is SL2000? So will this be a good speaker for a home theater? Or should I just go with RTi8? However, I heard that RTi8 are bright speakers.

Thanks guys.

jawhog

02-14-2008, 11:12 AM

You can search other posts for these for more info and various comments. You'll see that I and others have commented on them in the past. $299 is too much for these IMHO. I loved them and hey have excellent bass response. Properly amped, you almost don't need a sub, these have a -3db response under 30hz if I remember correctly. Another factor is that if your sub is quite good, then these might be way overkill depending on where you intend to put the crossover point. For $300 there are a lot of used bookshelves (newer and more attractive) to pick from that might hold their value better down the line. As much as I loved them age and style factors is starting to factor in for these. For $200 or less, they're quite good and difficult to beat.

aud10n3wb13

02-14-2008, 12:08 PM

Yes, I've got a decent sub composed of 2 18" drivers. My crossover setting on my yamaha is set at 80hz right now. It's doing well with my bookshelf too. It's just that when I crank up the volume, my bookshelf is hurting my ears. So I was under the impression that going with a floor stander type, I'll be able to experience that even at loud volumes, it's still going to be sweet to the ears, enveloping, as if I'm right inside the concert hall when I close my eyes.

jawhog

02-14-2008, 12:20 PM

Well the floorstanders have more drivers, so they're going to move more air and be able to get louder and stay cleaner a lot longer than the bookshelves. I don't know how loud you're going, but be sure that it's not your receiver that's the problem or the limiting factor. Most can't go beyond comfortable listening levels without deteriorating sonic quality pretty fast, plus, you run the risk of damaging any speakers large or small by turning a receiver up too high. If you really like loud clean sound, you're going to need an amp in addition to larger speakers. Not to further cloud the issue, but the RTA11t's are very efficient, so they will help you get the most bang for your amplifier buck.

mlastarza

02-14-2008, 12:56 PM

aud10n3wb13

02-14-2008, 12:58 PM

What I'll do today is borrow few speakers from them including RTA 11t so I can audition them at home. As for the receiver, I connected by other bookshelf speaker and it was fine. So looks like it's the other bookshelf that is not capable. For the volume, when I'm watching movies, my yamaha is between -14db to -12db from reference level. So that's about 93db.

danger boy

02-14-2008, 12:59 PM

if you're really curious about them.. buy them.. use them for a while in your home with your gear. and then decide to keep em or resell them. that's what I do with gear a lot of the times.. get him down to $260 - $275 though..

aud10n3wb13

02-14-2008, 01:01 PM

With regards to your question about the rti-8. While I don't have rti-8's, I did purchase rti-12's this past fall and a/b tested them with the RTA-11t's in my home. Now granted my ears have been exposed (conditioned?) to the sounds of the RTA-11t's for 17 years, but I found I much preferred the RTA-11's to the rti-12's. As always, individual preferences vary.

That's really great to hear! :D

I tried every way yesterday to haggle the price but he wouldn't bring it down. :( But I don't want to lose this RTA 11t. Oh, the $299 is actually the out the door price. But yeah, I wish I can get it at <$250.

danger boy

02-14-2008, 01:01 PM

you might also want more power for them.. and your Yamaha may not do the job with them.. what was he powering them with in the store?

aud10n3wb13

02-14-2008, 01:03 PM

you might also want more power for them.. and your Yamaha may not do the job with them.. what was he powering them with in the store?

Also a yamaha receiver, no amp. But the volume wasn't really loud.

aud10n3wb13

02-14-2008, 01:04 PM

My yamaha rxv1400 on the manual claims it can do 110watts per channel. But yeah, I should look for an amp in the future.

aud10n3wb13

02-14-2008, 01:07 PM

And am I correct that I should set my receiver as SMALL for the RTA 11? And LFE just to subwoofer and not front+sub?

danger boy

02-14-2008, 01:14 PM

And am I correct that I should set my receiver as SMALL for the RTA 11? And LFE just to subwoofer and not front+sub?

you have to play around with that.. there is not right way or wrong way.. expirement with all settings .. whichever one sounds best.. go with that. one.

i often times switch from small to large on my fronts.. large sounds better for music to me.. while small seems better for home theater movies. :D

cfrizz

02-14-2008, 01:36 PM

Don't worry about the tweeter right now. I have had my RTA-8T's for 18 yrs with the original tweeter & I like it just fine.

Welcome to Club Polk!

lakesailor

02-14-2008, 01:37 PM

I know a few people have said that $ 300 is too much, however I don't think you can find a nicer sounding set of speakers anywhere for $ 300.

Many people gush over the SL2000 tweeters. I have tried both an am far happier with the SL 1000 that comes with the RTA 11T.

Keep in mind the RTA 11TL came with the SL 2000's as standard. I have met people who own speakers marked as being RTA 11T's that were actually TL' models so that might be worth looking into. You can tell the difference by looking at the tweeter.

My vote is to buy them and enjoy.

aud10n3wb13

02-14-2008, 03:35 PM

Just left the store and I brought home the 11ts and Paradigm mini monitors. I tried the rt11s again before I left the place and sound was really phenomenal. I'll find out once I get home.

John in MA

02-14-2008, 04:39 PM

The RTA-11T came with SL2000s, the 11TLs came with the SL3000s. I wasn't a huge fan of the harshness the SL2000 brings to the table. If I still used mine regularly I would replace them with 194 silk domes.

I like them, but from what I've seen of used ones being sold $300 is as high as you can get and still occasionally find a buyer. Smaller SDA models go for less.

aud10n3wb13

02-14-2008, 10:14 PM

Sorry guys, it took me so long. I had to bring my son to the doctor. Anyways, it was just few minutes ago that I was able to test the 11Ts. Listened to some music from Boz Scaggs, and it was good. Watched some movies like the bomb chases plane in the movie "The Incredibles". FRONT was set to LARGE and LFE set to BOTH(SWFR+FRONT). The 11Ts was making some clonking noise on heavy LFE. Is this normal? I set to SMALL and replayed the same scene, the sound was still there. I set LFE out to just SWFR and the clonk or plonk sound went away. However, when FRONT was set to LARGE and LFE set to BOTH while I was listening to some music, it was really good.

So what is wrong? So looks like LARGE is good for music and SMALL good for HT?

My volume was at -13db from Dolby Reference Level. My Yamaha master volume is 0 when spl radio shack's needle is at 85db. But I didn't do 0 volume. :)

ben62670

02-14-2008, 10:46 PM

The clunking was probably the PR bottoming out. You got it right with movies small, and music large.

aud10n3wb13

02-14-2008, 10:50 PM

The clunking was probably the PR bottoming out. You got it right with movies small, and music large.

WHEW :D I thought something was wrong with her. :)

I'll do more test. I like her warm sound actually.

aud10n3wb13

02-15-2008, 02:10 AM

I did more test and I really like the sound. I A/B'd the 11Ts and Paradigm Mini Monitor. The Minis sounded as if the person talking had a cloth covering his mouth. My Paradigm Atoms even sounds better than the Minis. However, the sound from 11T were somewhere in between warm and natural. I really like it. And I have a strong feeling that once I finish my theater and treat the room, the 11Ts would totally rock.

Oh, that other speaker on the stand is Panasonic 6ohm speaker. I took it from my wife's component radio. :D It actually does sound good. The Atoms was previously my mains and now it's acting as my surround speakers.

I took some pictures of them. The 11T had few dings but not major. The grills were near perfect but had some dust. The cabinets were intact. The foot and its plastic veneer was coming off though. It's not major since it's not part of the cabinet. I'm really lucky because the previous owner really took care of it pretty well. By the way, sorry about the mess on my future home theater room. :D

http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/9572/rta11leftxg2.jpg

http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/8288/rta11rightcj0.jpg

http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/7599/rta11tandparadigmmonitoxs4.jpg

aud10n3wb13

02-15-2008, 06:35 PM

Quick question guys. I'm driving the 11Ts with my Yamaha RXV1400(110watts/channel). They really really sound good!!! My wife finally agreed with the sound quality when she went down the basement. We listened to a live concert from Sandi Patti and she just wowed.

Anyways, will I gain better audio if I power them with another amp? I mean, the output from my Yamaha receiver will be sent to the amp, then the 11Ts will be hooked up to this amp. If so, I saw another thread last night who mentioned about a cheap amp but does so well. I think it was Sonic being sold at Amazon. Are those really good?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

ben62670

02-15-2008, 06:44 PM

No. you should look at Adcom, or parasound.
This would be an excellent choice for you
http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63955
Search the for sale thread here. Polkies take pretty good care of Poilkies.
Or check craigslist.com to find something local. Does your Yami have PreOuts?

Face

02-15-2008, 06:49 PM

The T-Sonic wouldn't work well with those speakers are high volume levels. IMO, I wouldn't use one for anything nut nearfield listen with small speakers. You need a high current amp. Check out www.audiogon.com and look around.

Face

02-15-2008, 06:54 PM

Ben, you beat me. :)

I believe the unit does have pre outs.
http://www.yamaha.com/yec/products/productdetail.html?CNTID=200213&CTID=5000300&ATRID=1010&DETYP=ATTRIBUTE

aud10n3wb13

02-15-2008, 08:48 PM

aud10n3wb13

02-15-2008, 09:43 PM

LOL, I answered to the wrong thread. hahaha. So yes Ben, my yamaha have preouts for fronts, surround and surround back. :) So is the the one where I connect the amp? What benefit do I get when I drive the mains with an external amp(like adcom) rather than driving them with my Yamaha?

aud10n3wb13

02-16-2008, 12:43 AM

By the way guys, does the sound in 11T match Paradigm Monitor 7 floor stander or are the 11Ts sound better? I don't want to borrow another speaker for testing because I might accidentally drop it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

aud10n3wb13

02-16-2008, 11:49 AM

The clunking was probably the PR bottoming out. You got it right with movies small, and music large.

Just would like to know that PR bottoming out is nothing to worry about as compared to an active driver bottoming out. Am I correct?

Here is the settings I found to be really good

music:
FRONTS->LARGE
SUB OUT->FRONT+SWFR(BOTH)

movies:
FRONTS->SMALL
SUB OUT->SWFR

In music, I found out that when sub is just set to SWFR, I was missing a lot of thump maybe in the higher 50hz when there are drums being played. Hopefully I am right with the term thump. Or maybe it's called punch. With SUB set to BOTH, I can quite feel the punch in the concrete floor at 13ft from them. BUT when it's just set to SWFR, there is bass but not as punchy as the former I mentioned. Honestly, I'm really amazed. I will make a decision today. So I guess, I don't need to borrow another floor stander since I am really happy with the 11Ts.

F1nut

02-16-2008, 01:18 PM

PR's don't bottom out, the drivers can. Turn it down or get a better amp.

aud10n3wb13

02-16-2008, 01:27 PM

PR's don't bottom out, the drivers can. Turn it down or get a better amp.

Oh, Ben told me that my PR could be bottoming out. So looks like my Yamaha RXV1400 which is 110w/channel is not capable enough to drive 'em. If I get extra money, I'm leaning towards the adcom. Or maybe, I can take out the bridge mode from my QSC 2402 amp, and assign 1 channel to both of them. But don't know if I will be missing some power from my sub if I just give it 1200watts as compared to the 2400w bridgemode.

F1nut

02-16-2008, 01:33 PM

The PR is a passive device, it's driven by sound waves from the active mid-drivers. The mid-drivers will bottom out long before the PR.

danger boy

02-16-2008, 02:47 PM

i agree. it's the 6.5" drivers that are bottoming out or distorting...

aud10n3wb13

02-16-2008, 02:54 PM

Great. I will just stick with this setup then. My Yamaha's crossover is at 80hz. I think I should try 100hz, 120hz.

music:
FRONTS->LARGE
SUB OUT->FRONT+SWFR(BOTH)

movies:
FRONTS->SMALL
SUB OUT->SWFR

Face

02-16-2008, 03:02 PM

A high current amp will control your woofers better.

aud10n3wb13

02-16-2008, 03:15 PM

Since I'm just beginning to learn audio, someone told me on avs that my sub has to be on a dedicated 15amp or 20amp line. Should I put another 15amp dedicated for the future amp for these floor standers?

I wasn't aware that continuous enough power will help with driving speakers. Right now, the amp for the sub shares the line from other components. :(

danger boy

02-16-2008, 03:17 PM

you can, but it's not needed unless your breaker keeps tripping..

F1nut

02-16-2008, 07:26 PM

If you're filtering out below 80Hz and the mid-drivers are bottoming out, you are playing it way too loud, really need a better amp or both.

ben62670

02-17-2008, 06:11 PM

A popping noise is the speaker over excursion. A knocking sound (kinda like wood) is the PR's over excursion. Durning long bass on the same frequency around the Fs of the PR can cause a PR to bottom out. I've done it via movies, and sine wave testing. I have never done it during music.

ben62670

02-17-2008, 06:12 PM

A high current amp will control your woofers better.

Very true.

aud10n3wb13

02-17-2008, 06:42 PM

Can I use my QSC amp just for kicks? It's 1200w/channel :) Can I just connect the PreOut from my yamaha to my QSC amp? I want to compare how Diana Krall will sound.

And am I correct that my Yamaha's volume should not really be loud at all but I will control the loudness on my QSC amp(gain knob)?

MillerLiteScott

02-17-2008, 06:54 PM

Settle Down Francis. You CAN hook them up to your QSC. If you do, do not turn it up to loud because you will then be looking at damaged speakers. Pro amps are meant for a different application.

aud10n3wb13

02-17-2008, 08:42 PM

Settle Down Francis. You CAN hook them up to your QSC. If you do, do not turn it up to loud because you will then be looking at damaged speakers. Pro amps are meant for a different application.

Ok. I tried it via the PreOuts from my Yamaha. What I noticed was that the sound is weaker. I had to increase the volume in Yamaha from -14db to -10db while the gain on the QSC is at 28 to match the speaker that was not hooked up to the QSC. The volume wasn't really loud at all as compared when it was directly hooked up to the yamaha. I tried A/Bing then zeroing the gain knob on QSC. However, I really don't notice any difference in the sound.

RayChuang

02-20-2008, 12:01 AM

I just plugged back in a pair of Polk RTA-11t's my brother gave me and they sound really good, mostly because you don't need that much power to get decent sound quality. :)

Now, I'm thinking about putting a stone slab about 5/8" to 3/4" think under the speakers to see if I can reduce the "booming" I'm getting from these speakers (I think the stone slab will stop the transmission of bass of the speaker to the floor).

Face

02-20-2008, 12:11 AM

The slab may help.

Are they close to the wall at all?

aud10n3wb13

02-22-2008, 02:24 AM

Here is an update folks! I am now the new and PROUD owner of the RTA 11T that I borrowed from store last time. Next thing I'll do is purchase RDO194 but need to save money first. :p

Man, I listen to it everyday. :D hehehe. I also bought Diana Krall Live in Paris, OMG, the sound was phenomenal.

aud10n3wb13

02-22-2008, 03:29 PM

Quick question folks. How does triangle or cymbals sound in RDO194?

Thanks.

candyliquor35m

02-22-2008, 04:35 PM

F1nut

02-22-2008, 05:01 PM

Quick question folks. How does triangle or cymbals sound in RDO194?

Thanks.

Better than they do on the SL2000's.

Yeah, add a cap that cuts out all frequencies above 12kHz is great advice. :rolleyes:

candyliquor35m

02-22-2008, 05:14 PM

Feel free to send him a free demo rd0194 so he can compare all 3 options.

1. sl2000
2. sl2000wc
3. rd0194

F1nut

02-22-2008, 07:19 PM

Your sl2000wc is not an option, it's a disaster.

Face

02-22-2008, 07:22 PM

Feel free to send him a free demo rd0194 so he can compare all 3 options.

1. sl2000
2. sl2000wc
3. rd0194
Give it up already.

candyliquor35m

02-22-2008, 07:24 PM

I'd love to hear your opinion after you've tried it.

xpecoach

02-22-2008, 08:09 PM

I bought my Polk RTA 11T's new in 1990. I've gone through 4 different pairs of speakers since 1990 and sold them all except the RTA 11's. I'm using a Rotel 1090 power amp. which is really overkill for the very efficient 11's, and a Classe' Audio 5 pre-amp. and Arcam CD 23 player. I love the music that the Polks put out. The $750. that I paid for the 11's in 1990 is still the best bang for the buck.

Marty913

02-22-2008, 08:55 PM

aud10n3wb13

02-23-2008, 05:44 AM

Are your tweeters sounding bright or harsh? If not then you don't need the rd0194's. If they are and you're low on cash, I'll send you a free cap to try on one of them so you can do a side by side comparison.

Yes, there are times that it irritate my ears. I listened to Sandi Patti again today and there was a part where her voice was so high. I couldn't stand it.

Better than they do on the SL2000's.

Thanks. I'm hoping that the sound can be close to the smoothness of Krell when I heard it on one of the HT rooms at ABT Electronics.

I'll keep you guys posted in a month since I had so many expense lately. :)