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Thread: Tweaking the TDL RTL3

  1. #21
    Join Date: Jun 2010

    Location: Denny, Scotland, UK

    Posts: 2,226
    I'm john.

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    Bought a pair of these monsters today...need to wire em up..and fire on some music but not just now as 'm too busy..Hope the effers work ok ..they came from cash convertors..
    John.

  2. #22
    Join Date: May 2008

    Location: A Strangely Isolated Place in Suffolk with Far Away Trains Passing By...

    Posts: 14,535
    I'm David.

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    John, were these the originals with bubble finish vinyl-wrap and full depth grilles (i.e. not the SE's)? If so, I think this thread has my recommendations for a flatter response, improved clarity and friendly amplifier loading in the midrange..
    Tear down these walls; Cut the ties that held me
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  3. #23
    Join Date: Jun 2010

    Location: Denny, Scotland, UK

    Posts: 2,226
    I'm john.

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    Hooked them up on Friday night and although they sound ok..are a bit muddy at low volume. When you turn up the volume they are much better..nice treble and very good deep bass. I cant play em too loud most of the time so might use them when the neighbours are out and my wife. I bought as a package . Also included was a lovely Pioneer reciever and a sub woofer. £209 the lot..thought I did not bad. The reciever hasn't been tried out yet and it may be some time before it is...the reciever is a Pioneer VSX-1041i..about 8 years old and is in pristine condition..
    John.

  4. #24
    Join Date: May 2008

    Location: A Strangely Isolated Place in Suffolk with Far Away Trains Passing By...

    Posts: 14,535
    I'm David.

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    I think Pioneer's later receivers were very good as I recall...

    John, seriously mate, if you have the original RTL3's, I promise you that if you change the resistor across the bass inductor for a higher value such as 30 or 33 ohms, the muddy bass at low volumes will seem to disappear, the sound will spring to life with no added colouration and the amp will thank you for having got an easier load given to it. this all started when a chap with an Audiolab 800C and P had the power amp running very hot and the 8000P thermal trip kept blowing after a good metal-session. Doing the mod increased apparent volume, the amp barely ran warm thereafter and he became a very happy bunny. It's a doddle to do if you can solder.
    Tear down these walls; Cut the ties that held me
    Crying out at the top of my voice; Tell me now if you can hear me

  5. #25
    Join Date: Oct 2012

    Location: The Black Country

    Posts: 6,089
    I'm Alan.

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    Fit the resistor as in the TDL 2 but try a 1 ohm.

    Cheers, Alan
    I love Hendrix for so many reasons. He was so much more than just a blues guitarist - he played damn well any kind of guitar he wanted. In fact I'm not sure if he even played the guitar - he played music. - Stevie Ray Vaughan

  6. #26
    Join Date: Jul 2016

    Location: MidWales

    Posts: 3
    I'm Geoff.

    Default New tweeters

    Hi

    I've purchased a pair of RTL3s "tweeters not working" to fix for fun and then listen to while I play around with the crossovers on my old DMS isobariks.
    Only one tweeter is blown but both crossovers have seen better days, clearly overdriven with blackened PCB under the resistors (10 ohms, not 15) and bursting capacitors. The original TDL tweeters are Vifa D20TD-05-06; cheap, cheerful, and obsolete. They're also an uncommon 94mm diameter and 6 ohm. The bass/midrange speakers are too close together to fit a 100mm tweeter without modification to the tweeter as well as routing the cabinet but I have found that SEAS do 94mm tweeters and have ordered a couple of 19TFF1 H0737 units. As these are 8 ohms, same resonant frequency, but 1db less sensitive, I may have to fiddle with the crossover. As I've got one good TDL tweeter I'll take some measurements of original (with crossover caps replaced!) versus SEAS with both the 10 ohm and with 27 ohm resistors, as well as comment on how they sound to me.
    Anyone else playing with a pair of these? They seem to be popping up on ebay all the time.

    If these tweeters are a success I may replace the Vifas in a pair of RTL2s I have - might just drop in with the tweeter series resistor removed

    Geoff

  7. #27
    Join Date: Feb 2010

    Location: Bridgend, Wales

    Posts: 171
    I'm James.

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    Back in the day I had a pair of the MkII RTL3's and simply replaced the tweeters with some Audax units from Maplins with no other mods. This lifted the performance quite significantly and saved them from the free ads. Ended up keeping them for about 8 years
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  8. #28
    Join Date: Jul 2016

    Location: MidWales

    Posts: 3
    I'm Geoff.

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    Job done. The 27 ohm resistor modification just caused the bass/mid-range units to tail off well before the tweeter took over causing a big dip in the response. The SEAS tweeter is much smoother and extended compared to the TDL Vifa with a marginal drop in db. However, the general frequency response was pretty messy - time to experiment with the crossover. Upping the value of the original 10 ohm resistor was out so I connected the bass/mid-range units in series and took it from there. I came up with the values shown below which up the DC resistance significantly - I haven't taken any impedance measurements and probably won't get around to it - so the speakers are now far more amp friendly. The 0,25mH choke is the original and the 3.3 mH is a Visaton 3698 (from CPC). All the components fit onto the original crossover pcbs. I reckon that the speakers are now as good as they'll get without cabinet modification; they may have extended bass but if you want to play AC/DC you really need something more solid but for music that won't upset the neighbours they're more than adequate.

    Crossover - RTL3 with SEAS.jpgIMG_0556.jpgIMG_0557.jpg

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