How can I find a matching driver replacement?

newrival

I need to find a replacemen for the MW8500, which appears to only have been used in the RT3000p bass units and nowhere else. It is also apparently very difficult to find these drivers in the wild.I'm going to just hold tight and wait for some to come along, but in the meantime id like to figure out what drivers i could potentially use in their stead. Theres no driver stats for tese anywhere, and polk has no record of them either. So my question is, how do I start narrowing down the field? How do I know what impedence to use, sensitvity, power handling, etc. If someone could give me somewhere to start, i think i could claw my way to at least the experimentation stage.

Thank for an and all assistance!

Audioquest

Without any specs all you could do is take a static resistance reading from a good one, which isn't very accurate at all and see how many ohms it is, then get 2 (or 4) of something close but it will most likely will be be quite difference in performance. May not be much else you can do though. All I could see on line is that they are rated at 300 watts. Odd Polk wouldn't know what they were, especially seeing as they were a high end unit for them.

AudioGenics

did you contact Polk Audio Customer Service
and check if factory replacement are available ?


Customer Service & Tech Support:
polkcs@polkaudio.com
1-800-377-POLK (7655)
9AM-5:30PM EST Mon-Fri
(410) 764-5470 FAX
International +1-410-358-3600

ben62670

Call Polk. Don't email them.

newrival

thanks, guys.

I'll put in a call this morning.

newrival

so heres the info I got from CS on the drivers:

They are 4 ohm, 8", run in parallel, and cost $119/ea when they used to be in stock as replacement (however, dicontinued now)
.
..
....

great.
well I knew all of that except for the price and the 4ohm bit, so thats at least helpful.
The other helpful piece of information is that the amplifier in the subs is 300w RMS and 600w dynamic.

It looks as though I'm going to be purchasing 4 new subwoofers. I may buy 3 different sets of 2 so that i can put them in one cabinet and then directly compare them to the originals in the other. So hereare my intitial thoughts on the test drivers:
*JL Audio 8w3v3 (the 8w7's are about the best 8's on earth but are also 3ohm and ~$400/ea) ~$120
*Dayton Reference HF 8" ~$120
*CSS Trio8 ~$80

I'll then purchase the matching set for the other speaker.

What do you guys think?
Comments/suggestions for drivers?

maybe i should repost this in the subwoofer section?

AudioGenics

If you want to maintain your speakers as close to original as possible
( given that factory replacements are not available)
Then
I would suggest to have the broken drivers repaired ( reconed )
or if you are capable DIY.

I am sure it would cost less and be fun

newrival

hmmmm... I guess I didn't realize you could do that.
That would definitely save me a bunch of money
I have no idea how to go about getting this done. And really, I guess I'm only assuming the VC is blown due to the metallic rattling noise.

I'll look into this issue further. thanks!

Face

I don't know how good of a job they do, but it's a start: http://www.parts-express.com/speakerrepaircenter/index.cfm

Audioquest

AudioGenics wrote: »

If you want to maintain your speakers as close to original as possible
( given that factory replacements are not available)
Then
I would suggest to have the broken drivers repaired ( reconed )
or if you are capable DIY.

Absolutely and good call! Can't hurt to call and get a rough estimate or at least see if it can be done

newrival

thanks for the link.
I called them and They told me they'd fix it by replacing the driver :rolleyes: oh well i left a message wih the service guys to see if they could do a custom VC repair/replacement, and how much.

Thanks again!