Blown Tweeters

MATTKNIGHT3

Hi guys. Last night I was watching a movie and blew the tweeters im my front channel rt35i speakers. Instead of replacing the whole assembly, I would like to replace just the tweeters. I live in the middle of nowhere Idaho and dont have access to a repair facility. I can do the work myself, but dont know where to get the replcement parts. Nor do I know how much they will cost... Anyone have any insight?? Thanks, help is much appreciated.

Matt Knight

VR3

Call Ken at Polk CS.

pjdami

Welcome to the Polk Forum Matt.

You can call Ken as Trey has suggested, but he's a pretty busy guy.

You can email him at his convenience:

KSwauger@polkaudio.com

Ken usually responds in a day or two. If your RT35i is under warranty you just ship it to Polk with a copy of your receipt and they ship you a new tweeter in a week or so.

Paul

VR3

May I ask how you managed to blow the tweets? I have been using the RT35i for almost 2 years now. From the loudest of volumes to the softest. All kinds of music and movies. Not yet have they blown or distorted for that matter. What are you running them with?

Loud & Clear

May I ask how you managed to blow the tweets? I have been using the RT35i for almost 2 years now. From the loudest of volumes to the softest. All kinds of music and movies. Not yet have they blown or distorted for that matter. What are you running them with?

Good question about blowing tweets, woofers, etc. I've got all kinds of Polks, and I've never blown anything on them.

Like you, and any real man, I've run them hot at times (although I certainly try to be respetful of them) but I've never had any problem damaging my equipment. Perhaps I should just feel fortunate and not ruin my string of luck.

MATTKNIGHT3

In reply to blowing the tweeters on my rt 55is... Okay, it wasnt a mooive that toasted the tweets in my speakers. At the risk of sounding like a delinquent... I was throwing a party and as the guests drank more (the host as well!) the music got louder. I heard fuzz coming from the speakers, I took the covers off and noticed the tweeters smoking. They were actually bubbling around the surrounds of the tweeter. I had never seen that before. I have had excellent results from all of my polk equipment, I cant blame this on anyone but myself. To answer your question about my equipment- I use an onkyo 6.1 receiver. Unfortunately I am not at home right now and cant supply you with a model #. I am really happy with Onlyo, but wish I could afford some ROTEL eqiupment. I am employed by the Air Force and they just dont pay me enough to afford what I want. Guess thats what you get when you work for the Gov. Hey, can anyone give me an estimate as far as price goes for my replacement tweeters? Thanks for the help guys.
Matt Knight-

VR3

Mind if I give you my insight --- Turn --- It --- Down --- Nah just pullin your chain

burdette

"... as the guests drank more (the host as well!) the music got louder. I heard fuzz coming from the speakers, I took the covers off and noticed the tweeters smoking. They were actually bubbling around the surrounds of the tweeter. I had never seen that before. "


Nor have I. Smoke and bubbles, huh? You sure you guys were only drinking? Perhaps a little something to induce halucinations?

I believe you.. am just surprised that you didn't hear and do something about the obvious distress before the drivers got to the point of *melting*.

If you use your system at that sort of volume consistently, you may want to consider investing in some inexpensive screamers, like Cerwin-Vega. Replacing Polk tweeters, especially two at a time, will certainly prove more expensive than a pair of ear-bleeders.

A good general rule of thumb is that if any part of your audio system is smoking, melting, or on fire, you're probably using it in a manner unintended by the manufacturer and are likely causing permanent damage.

rskarvan

I've smoked a tweeter or two in my time.
What I notice is the putrid odor coming from the speaker.

Always the result of a mid-fi receiver clipping.
You can't hear the distortion. You just see the smoke.

I've solved the problem though. S-e-p-e-r-a-t-e-s.

burdette

There is no reason that a 'mid-level' receiver is going to blow tweeters unless the receiver is being pushed beyond its intended usage spectrum. I've been a mid-level receiver owner my entire audio life.. in fact right now I'd label my HT receiver on the low-level... and I can push to painful - undistorted - volumes, and have NEVER blown a tweeter, ever. I've been through probably 12 pair of speakers in my life.. more if you add in those of girlfriends, family, etc, and never ever ever.. never.. have I blown a driver.

You can blow a tweeter just as easily with separates if you push those components beyond their usable operating parameters.

The reason for a blown driver is almost always the human operater. One must acknowledge and respect the *limitations* of power amps, whether the amp is a 25watt cheapy buried in a shelf system or a 1000 watt high end paper weight.

rskarvan

I've blown two sets of tweets with a Yamaha 70wpc receiver playing a cd. Each time, the volume was about 60% up (at the 1:00 am level).

First time was a set of SDA2b's.
Second time was a set of SDA3.1TL's.

Both times, Polk replaced the tweets under warranty.

I no longer drive the speakers hard with the Yamaha receiver.
I keep it under mid-night.

pjdami

I no longer drive the speakers hard with the Yamaha receiver.

12:00 is generally a good rule of thumb to use for max volume on a receiver. Some receivers can do 1:00 o'clock position but one has to listen for distortion and turn it back down.

I have come across a few lesser powered receivers that start to distort at 11:00 o'clock. It varies ... but 12 o'clock is usually safe.

Paul

goedken1

Listen to pjdami. Just because the knob goes all the way to 5:00 doesn't mean you can play it that loud. If you find yourself regularly listening above 10:00 or 11:00, I would say you need a better amp.

Tour2ma

Low Power ====> Clipping ====> Fried Tweeters

Damn hard to "overdrive" a tweeter. There just is not that much power demanded for high frequency reproduction, even at ear-bleeding levels.