So what happened here?

arun1963

I think I may have blown one of my mids. Driving to work this morning, things just didn't sound right. The centre image had shifted from around the rear view mirror to slap bang in front of me. I tried to play a bit with the tweet angles, EQ, TA, but no luck. Got to work and forgot all about it.

Driving back, same thing. Halfway back, I pulled over and played each mid individually and discovered that the far mid was hardly audible at a normal volume of 40/63. The near mid was fine. When I played only the far mid and turned the volume up a bit, there was some crackling.

My gains have always been under 10 o'clock and I normally don't push the volume past 52/63. I ran my momos at the same gain setting and volumes w/o any issues.

At this point I'd rather hear that it could be an amp channel or a problem from the hu. Speakers are about 6 months old. I'll try swapping the speakers on the L/R amp channels tmrw, but any first thoughts?

catch22atplay

Cables are always my first thought. Swap rca channels first. No tools required. That will test rca and amp. If the same speaker still is faulty i'd check speaker terminals at the speaker. I hope it's just a loose speaker terminal.

Installer4life

MIght check the crossover on the components if you have one. Ihave seen quite a few crossovers break. I had a defective SR crossover right out of the box. Bad solder joint.

MacLeod

If all drivers but one are playing fine then chance are something is wrong with that driver. Assuming the speaker wires are still all good Id swap out the mid for the other one and if that one plays fine then you know that one is shot.

arun1963

MacLeod wrote: »

If all drivers but one are playing fine then chance are something is wrong with that driver. Assuming the speaker wires are still all good Id swap out the mid for the other one and if that one plays fine then you know that one is shot.

Tks Mac. I'll swap the mids and confirm if its the mid that is out. If the mids are fine, then its down to either the speaker wire, L ch issues at the HU or front L ch at the amp.

Yeah its only the far driver. The other four incl the sub are fine. The far mid is playing about 10-15 db lower than the near mid. If I play only the far mid and turn the volume up, there is crackling and the volume goes up a bit then falls back again.

DSkip wrote: »

Never had that issue, but I do know you have the knowledge to troubleshoot

I have a friend who is a fairly reputed pediatrician here. If his kids come down with anything beyond the normal cough, cold, fever, he always takes a second opinion. I used to rib him about it . Now I won't.

I guess once it comes down to your kids, you should always question your abilities, cause you want to be 100% sure. That way when you're handling someone elses kid and you're only 99% sure, you'll take a second opinon. Which he also does from time to time.

So yeah my OP is me questioning my ability at troubleshooting, which isn't that great. Even if it was, I'd still ask, cause its my kid. . Somethings only make sense once you're a parent.

Installer4life wrote: »

MIght check the crossover on the components if you have one. Ihave seen quite a few crossovers break. I had a defective SR crossover right out of the box. Bad solder joint.

I wish it were the xover. I'm running active.

Tks guys. Will let you know how it turns out. One quick question, spoke to the dealer who claims the Polk warranty is not for replacement of driver but for repair true/false?..........asking CS the same question. Not sure of the 'repairing' abilities here and have no clue if it would change the sound.

catch22atplay

If the speaker ends up being broke i know typically you send it in for repair at an authorized repair center. If it can't be repaired it gets replaced. Reading their policy shows they do the same. I don't know what is covered in non usa/canada countries. If you're in India maybe there's a different warranty there. Sometimes it's by different companies.

Kumars Automobiles & Agencies in India are an authorized distributor. Maybe Polk will request you go thru them. Or maybe they'll have you send to the nearest service place. It's hard to say. Call Polk and find out. I'm sure there's a way to do it.

I personally do a lot of warranty work. This is typically the products we sell to costumers. So i'm officially authorized to do warranty work on most of the stuff we sell. The manufacturer makes me buy the replacement parts. I then fix the broken item. Once i do this i send the old part to the manufacturer and i get money back for the part i had to buy plus their estimate of how long it should have taken to fix it. Sometimes it takes up to 10 days to get a new part. Sometimes it's even worse than that as they won't have any in stock in the US or Canada or Mexico and i have to wait til they get it in from China or wherever by boat, 30 days+. And sometimes it's just cheaper to replace the whole thing then fix it. I hate warranty work. The estimate of time to repair something isn't fair as i have to travel to where the item is as it can't be shipped to me. This could be in another state or country or an US island. Ya i travel quite a bit.

In the meantime you know the customer is pretty damned annoyed at the delay. Just be aware that whatever you may need to do that it may take some time. Seeing it from my perspective should help in alleviating some concerns.

arun1963

Mac's solution was the simplest and quickest. It took the installer 5 min to swap the mids and yeah the far mid was the problem.

Closer inspection of the driver revealed, normal extension and resistance, no scraping sound and a clean surround. The lead wires are well soldered to the connection lugs and at the vc tags. Not the clearest pic though.

Anyone have an idea what it could be? I'm still contemplating my options. Replacement seems out so its down to repair. Question is by whom. Do I send it to Kumars? I know the owner there, but the repair will be outsourced with no guarantees. Or do I find someone reputable here and get it checked and repaired with greater peace of mind. The warranty would then be shot, but it doesn't seem to be of much help anyways.

All this is happening at a time when I'm stretched on the home and work front. Didn't mean to sermonise you there, Skip.

I really miss the one hour at night. Keeps the mind calm.

catch22atplay

Nice vases. Clean table to. You must be married. That speaker looks like a piece of art as well.

Did you call Polk to see what's available? You mentioned testing extension and resistance. By resistance i'd guess you mean physical resistance. You need to check electrical resistance. More than likely it's the voice coil.

If you're trying to maintain the warranty go thru whoever is covering the warranty. Let them decide to replace the whole thing or get it repaired. If they need to outsource the repair work ask them who's doing the work and check on them if you can. Ask for parts shipping receipts as well to verify parts ordered. If you aren't confident about their ability and wish to void the warranty go to a reputable speaker repair guy. Last may be a bit expensive. Getting the replacement part may take a long time either direction you go. And ensure any replacement part is a Polk part. I know india has some expert craftsmen. But i wouldn't want anything but a real Polk part. The repair itself is fairly easy though. Any competent speaker repair guy can do it. Replacement parts is your biggest worry.

arun1963

With all the info in, the only option is repair. It's most probably the vc that needs replacement. The dealer doesn't carry spare sr vc's. There are none available. So after being fixed, the two mids would have different coils. Even if the 'Re' was matched, the other thiele parameters would be different and the sound from the two mids may not match.

Maybe I'm over thinking this, even when dialed in, if one hears the L/R mid seperately the two mids sound different. They sound correct 'together', but they sound somewhat different, individually. So it may just be an issue of some additional tuning.

Thoughts anyone?

The mind is finally begining to accept that the sr sound is probably gone for good. For now, I'm going to drop in the momo mids and atleast have somewhat proper sound. I'm going to send the sr mid to the dealer and see what comes out.

Meanwhile, I'm going to scrounge around to identify a pair of mid bass drivers from Madisound / Parts Express etc that I can bring in for around $ 500. Speakers + shipping + duty. Will post some initial selections. Lets see.

MacLeod

You sure its not one of the amp channels? Did you try swapping the RCA's and then swapping the speaker wires? I doubt its the amp but you never know.

arun1963

No, I didn't go beyond swapping the mids. Cause I figured, same channel, same rca played one mid fine, but not the other. Hence, it must be the mid. I'll know when I drop in the momo mids tmrw.

I'm still kinda pissed and a bit hurt right now. The more I think about it, the surer I get, that it boils down to one of two things. Either, I'm really stupid or I'm just the unluckiest sod in the world. Picked the lemons from among the fun car to drive and the best speaker to listen to. :cool:

arun1963

You just knocked one out of the park. I know I'm not stupid to have blown them, but yeah, you have a point there.

arun1963

Dropped in the momo mids over the weekend. Also got a new sub box made. The old one was about 0.7 cuft while this one's a 1 cuft with some filling. This really worked out good. The sub is more efficient and plays louder, better impact and the low end is better defined.

The sr tweets make the momo mids sound better than the normal momo sound. But they're nowhere close to the sr mids. The sr's mids have great detailing. 60-100hz has much greater impact with the sr's. The difference in driver size would also give better impact here. Redoing the sub box helped here a bit.

The sr mid plays up to 5khz and beyond without a problem. The momos kinda struggle past 4khz. The difference in the class of the drivers is both audible and visible. The sr tweets are far to refined for the momo mids. But yeah for now its good to have 50-2khz in stereo. Was tired of trying to tune with this range in mono mode.

MacLeod

This makes me just sad knowing that the SRs are gone. Those SR6500 mids are among the best mids ever made.

arun1963

What is the term used to describe someone who fans the embers?....... Yeah, I know you're sympathizing. How many sets of the sr mids do you have stashed away?

Any other mid that you heard which came close to the sr? Apart from the MM that is.

MacLeod

The MB Quart QSD mid is pretty close. The tweeter makes it a hard set to work with cause if not worked right, that thing could put an eye out.

arun1963

What's with your fascination for eclectic, natural sounding, highly detailed, well balanced but extinct transducers.

Topper

Hi Arun - do you know the distributor well? talk to them. Polk is extremely helpful in these instances and will go out of their way to help the distributor get the customer (you) a replacement part. (They usually DHL the replacement speaker straight to them so talk to them about this).

(they may not have anymore full SR6500 systems available but am sure they'd still have a few spare parts replacement speakers with them in the States ready for sending out to the distributor on a moment's notice).

arun1963

hey topper,

yeah, I know the dealer well enough for him to have promised replacement at time of purchase. Of course now, its a different story. The dealer by the way still has the sr-6500 in stock, just not for warranty replacement.

Yes, Polk CS is supposed to be legendary, however in my case forget about them talking to the distributor here, they refuse to even reply to my mails. I can live with the fact that I flushed $700 down the toilet, I have no issue with the fact that I'm going to spend another $5-600 to get a new pair of matching mids. Heck I would accept the sr 5250 or even the mm 6501 as replacement mids. I'd still buy new mids, but at least I'd be happy that Polk offered me something by the way of replacement. But I cannot accept this piss poor attitude.

I really don't see myself ever buying another Polk product and I certainly would not recommend Polk either on this forum or any other. I have issues buying into a Brand that doesn't value customer loyalty, no matter how good the product quality.

Topper

DSkip wrote: »

I thought you were running 5250??? Is there any way you can contact them via phone and not get the international charges?

I use skype when i talk to them. Super clear and dirt-cheap

arun1963

DSkip wrote: »

I thought you were running 5250??? Is there any way you can contact them via phone and not get the international charges?


I must've missed something if you're shifting away from Polk...

Nope, was running the sr 6500. Will call polk today, lets see.

Not walking away from here. Just venting a bit. I'll find out if Polk CS is better on the phone than on email. But yes if they refuse to replace the drivers flat out, then I'm done buying and recommending Polk.

It's tough swallowing the fact that I spent a ton of cash on Polk equipment, 2 amps, 4 pairs of speakers, 2 subs and pushed the equipment hard on all the forums; only to get a kick in the nuts when I needed help........still venting :rolleyes:

Topper

yo Arun did you get my PM?

arun1963

yes I did and thanks. Called CP and maybe you're right there's no one there top take a call right now. Have left details and should hear something next week.

Also an opportune time to thank you'll for your advise and support, even when I went a bit neurotic.

Topper

arun1963 wrote: »

Called CP and maybe you're right there's no one there top take a call right now.

yea theyr all at the Capital Audio Fest. You can check it out here:

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=95110

arun1963

Kumars (the local Polk distributors), shipped my replacement sr-6500 mid today.
I should get it in by tomorrow or Saturday at the very latest. I'm visiting the installer on Sunday. Only bummer is, I have to be at work for the first half on Sunday. Ah, shouldn't be cribbing about piffling issues.

A heartfelt thanks to Naveen at Kumars, the good folks at Polk management and Kyle, who was my first contact point at CP . Patience and perseverance beats venting, I can vouch for that .

Of course without a stand up company (even though in the heat of the moment it may not have seemed that way) patience and perseverance would not get you anywhere. Thank you.

To the Guys here at CA:

1. Mac - For your support and grace, 'Bro'>'Pro', always was always will be. Yes, I was stupid on the other issue.

2. DSkip - BTW folks do you know that we have a new father on board? http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=103743
Yeah, stepped up to the plate as a customer i/o just a consumer. You have a wise head on young shoulders. You're a bit like Mac. Stand up folks and great fathers.

3. Catch22at play, TTT and everyone else. Thanks guys. I'm sure your good wishes helped.

So why am I ranting? There are three types of speakers. The crappy ones, ones that sound meh, in a stock install but can sound phenomenal with a bit of install work and or tuning and the third are those that sound great in stock drop in mode and phenomenal with just a bit of tweaking via dsp. The SR's, Morels, DLS are in the third category. Scans and maybe the HAT's fall in the second, of course there's a pecking order in each category;).

You all know how good the SR's sound, but with a bit of extra dsp via a processor or a processor like hu and the right placement, these babies can really shine. A lot of the guys I know who are around my age, do stuff like yoga, chanting, tai chi etc to keep the mind calm and hopefully make better decisions. I'd just rather listen to Eagles on the SR's. Same or better results.

I'm humbled by the fact that I will very shortly get to enjoy music again.

catch22atplay

Right one dude. I'm glad you finally got the support you needed.

And no i don't know how the SR's sound. I've still yet to hear one ever and my install is delayed until i get done working on this little island i'm on. But having used Polk speakers for so many years i know the SR's will be fantastic.

arun1963

DSkip wrote: »

I'm glad everything worked out. I was wondering how everything was going. You really haven't talked about it in a while.

No point in venting. I guess I was busy trying to do something about it.

catch22atplay wrote: »

Right one dude. I'm glad you finally got the support you needed.

And no i don't know how the SR's sound. I've still yet to hear one ever and my install is delayed until i get done working on this little island i'm on. But having used Polk speakers for so many years i know the SR's will be fantastic.

Tks. Ok, so you're on a secluded island, lots of booze, some pretty babes, sun, sand.......and you're complaining?

catch22atplay

secluded island, check
lots of booze, check
some pretty babes, women in camouflage fatigues isn't very sexy
sun, rarely and very cold and windy, wear my winter jacket always
sand, check

I'd prefer installing my system. I get so jealous when i see so many people getting theirs done. Installing new Polk subs or components. Knowing they're starting to really get into the car audio thing. Then tweaking em to improve the sound even more. But while i may get jealous i'm extremely happy for everyone at the same time knowing they're enjoying themselves.