Tweaking the TDL RTL3

[Reid Malenfant]

Chris, you are getting to be as bad as MartinT

[Stratmangler]

Build a pair of these



along with these



You could ask my mate Colin (aka Toppsy) to do the job for you if your woodworkng skills aren't up to much

PS - this is what I'm running myself, and I luv 'em.

[zanash]

back to your original question ..

tweeters too bright ..increase the resistance on the cross overs in steps till you tame them ..

as to the damping suggestions ...these are transmition lines ..the last thing you want to do is obstruct the sound wave as it passes along the folded column ..so unless the design is inadequate and the baffles are poor ..no damping should be required. If you damp the column the sound wave in the middle of the column will egrees at a different time to that at the edge ..cause all manner of unwanted sonic attributes ....
this not my opinion ..these ideas are laided out in a number of different books on the design of speakers ..and transmission lines inparticular .

[DSJR]

having listened to these speakers for quite a while now and given them time to burn in there continues to be a persistent problem. the tweeter still remains too bright. this is especially noticeable on the s and t's as well as the cymbals. how can I reduce this slightly without changing the overall sound of these speakers.

any ideas will be appreciated

OK, try putting in a half-ohm 5W resistor instead of the wire link and then try 0.75, 1.0 etc. up to around 1.5R in small increments. You could start with cheapo ceramic type resistors as fitted, and once you're happy with the value (I think 1.5 ohms will be far too much, but see how YOU feel).

Once you've padded the tweeter down to a comfortable level (the Supersound 5.6uF cap will actually INCREASE the tweeter output slightly due to lower resistance), you could then get a precision "boutique" 5W resistor to put in there.

One other thing, the 27R resistor could be chaged to one value higher 33R?. This will lift the mid a touch more and subjectively, you may hear this as slightly less treble, rather than an increase in midrange output - our/my ears are so easily fooled this way and that's why I don't trust 'em overmuch these days

[Rare Bird]

I love 'Supersounds' my fav polyprops




Dave (Bostod) i think an high quality resistor like the Mills 'MRA12' nay inductive Wire Wounds would be an idea, my fav power resistor They do a massive range, 27R being available..

[bostod]

Thanks for all the advice guys. I am currently trying a monacor 1ohm resistor and it reduces the treble a little to much.
has anyone got any mills or other good resistors at 0.5 or 0.75 for sale. i wouldn't mind trying a 25 and 33 ohm resistor too for the mid.
if no one has any, can you direct me to a suitable place. Ebay doesn't have the ones i want

[Ali Tait]

Here ya go-

http://www.hificollective.co.uk/components/mills.html

A very good place to do business with, service is excellent.

[bostod]

took out the Monacor 27 ohm resistor and replaced this with a mills 30 ohm resistor for the midrange.took out the Monacor 1ohm resistor and replaced the wire for the tweeter.
this has increased the mid slightly and the harshness has been subdued somewhat. thanks for all the advice guys.I am going to leave these alone now and enjoy them. I think you can go on forever trying to tweak things. Very pleased with the results

[bostod]

back to your original question ..

as to the damping suggestions ...these are transmition lines ..the last thing you want to do is obstruct the sound wave as it passes along the folded column ..so unless the design is inadequate and the baffles are poor ..no damping should be required. If you damp the column the sound wave in the middle of the column will egrees at a different time to that at the edge ..cause all manner of unwanted sonic attributes ....
.

these are not true transmission lines Zanash. I think the studio versions were but these don't have the true transmission line interior.

[Reid Malenfant]

these are not true transmission lines Zanash. I think the studio versions were but these don't have the true transmission line interior.

No, they aren't... The clue is in the name 'RTL', reflex transmission line. As you point out the older "Studio" stuff were indeed the real Mc-Coy with huge enclosures compared to the RTLs & much deeper & cleaner bass reproduction as a consequence.