The first, badly cased RTL3's can be transformed in my experience by replacing the bass-mid coil bypass resistor (across the load) with a higher resistance (5 ohm to 33 or so I remember). This has the effect of increasing the sucked-out midrange into something flatter and gives an easier load to the amp as well... The replacement RTL3 SE had better cabinets, but I'm not sure about the sonics - the RTL 2SE was ruined as they were balanced the same as AE109's.

At the time, I knew the drive unit designer well and he worked alongside John Wright when these were conceived - JW finalised the balance/voicing of the finished speakers. We sold some RTL3's to an Audiolab owner and the amp kept overheating and shutting down. The amp was replaced and the replacement was identical, hence the recommendation for the resistor change which cured the problem completely and in our opinion, made the speaker sound better too.

Sorry pre, I never knew the TL-3's. I'm hoping that TDL learned from the 'SE' models that preceded them. We sold a smaller two way with woven CF style cone and selling for £600 or so. They were smooth and ok, but nothing special.