psw12 powered sub

noelravin

My psw12 subwoofer makes a load humming sound and you can see the speaker getting pushed out towards the front the moment it is plugged in to the power socket. The same thing happens whether the LFE/Audio cables are connected or not. Its a loud noise so the SUB cannot be used. Some advice would be great!

so_ein_pech

this seems to be common theme among polk powered subs. it sounds like the same problem that i had with some rt1000i towers with active subs. check out this thread and many others if you do a search.

I would guess that your problem is in the power supply section of the amp. if you want to fix it yourself, you can probably get the schematics if you email CS. from there you can check the voltages and see if everything is in order. or you can send the amp in and pay them to fix it or replace it.

it seems polk must be getting their components from some pretty sketchy sources. or they are enjoying the tidy aftermarket profit opportunity of repairing our amplifiers 5-10 years after they sell them. there's no reason a properly designed solid state amp shouldn't last at least 30 years. or maybe im being too hard on polk. i imagine people try to get too much bass from not enough watts and end up straining the amplifiers, leading to their early death. i know i kept my psw202 (with its meager 50W output) cranked to near distortion levels almost all the time. i would actually choose my listening volume by turning it up until it just started to distort audibly, and then turning the volume knob down a millimeter or two.

yeah i know. it's way more than you asked for. but maybe its time to ditch the psw12 and upgrade to a real earth shaker.

dorokusai

When did you become so knowledgeable of the actual sales volumes of Polk amplifiers? EVERY manufacturer has a failure rate, even your beloved SVS and I know Tom, Ed, Erik and the gang up there.

It happens, sometimes moreso than others but it's entirely normal for an amplifier to fail when in the tens of thousands. Guess where the best place to comes is when that happens? Yep, Club Polk.

[Deleted User]

Hello Noelravin,
Welcome to Club Polk, I'm sorry you're having a problem with your sub. It sounds as though there's a problem with the bass amplifier. No problem I'm sure Polk can help. You can give them a call at 1-800-377-7655 or send an email to polkcs@polkaudio.com and I'm sure they be of help.
Regards, Ken
webnanny

so_ein_pech

dorokusai wrote: »

When did you become so knowledgeable of the actual sales volumes of Polk amplifiers? EVERY manufacturer has a failure rate, even your beloved SVS and I know Tom, Ed, Erik and the gang up there.

It happens, sometimes moreso than others but it's entirely normal for an amplifier to fail when in the tens of thousands. Guess where the best place to comes is when that happens? Yep, Club Polk.

I'm wouldn't consider myself knowledgeable about failure rates or sales volumes. It was just idle speculation really. Almost every time I poke around on this forum it seems there's someone complaining about a very similar problem. Not to mention the fact that the powered woofers in my rt1000i's amps failed independently of one another with the same problem. I would also speculate that the people that post on club polk represent a just a fraction of the people who experience problems.

On a technical note I would like like to point out what I perceive as a design flaw in the power supply in my rt1000i amp. I realize that it may not be emblematic for the design of all Polk electronics and that my knowledge of amplifier design is very incomplete. But hear me out. I suspect that the big filter caps in after the bridge rectifier were the parts that failed first. The stock values are 2x4700uf 25V caps. The operating voltage of the amplifier is +/-25V. In a class A amp, it seems like this is cutting it awfully close. Maybe 35V caps would not have failed. What do you think?

As for my "beloved SVS". I wish I could afford an SVS! I only linked to that sub because with an 800W amp there is plenty of power to spare.

dorokusai

so_ein_pech wrote: »

I'm wouldn't consider myself knowledgeable about failure rates or sales volumes. It was just idle speculation really. Almost every time I poke around on this forum it seems there's someone complaining about a very similar problem. Not to mention the fact that the powered woofers in my rt1000i's amps failed independently of one another with the same problem. I would also speculate that the people that post on club polk represent a just a fraction of the people who experience problems.

On a technical note I would like like to point out what I perceive as a design flaw in the power supply in my rt1000i amp. I realize that it may not be emblematic for the design of all Polk electronics and that my knowledge of amplifier design is very incomplete. But hear me out. I suspect that the big filter caps in after the bridge rectifier were the parts that failed first. The stock values are 2x4700uf 25V caps. The operating voltage of the amplifier is +/-25V. In a class A amp, it seems like this is cutting it awfully close. Maybe 35V caps would not have failed. What do you think?

As for my "beloved SVS". I wish I could afford an SVS! I only linked to that sub because with an 800W amp there is plenty of power to spare.

Understood. When ppl have issues, they usually(SHOULD) go directly to the manufacturer. Can you find the same issue discussed here? I hope so since that's why we exist. Half of the owners dont even take the time to come here in the first place.

Polk needs this feedback, good or bad and the only difference between somewhere else is the willingness of the membership to come forward and most importantly, the Polk owner to join, login and say HEY! I'm angry....or I have a problem! You won't find a better CS support system than here.

I've owned dozens of Polk subwoofers and a handful of SVS. Aside from a couple minor issues, they've both been as described and fault free. Nobody's perfect and Polk sells 10x the amount that SVS does. Does that make one better than the other? Nah, but they both hit, target and sell to entirely different folks. That's cool and what keeps this hobby, or venture fresh and competitive.

Beta

I am an original owner of a pair of RT2000i and a PSW450. Used extensively for about 10 years and I have never once had an issue with any of the amps in these units. I also have a microPRO 2000. The amp in this sub works perfect as well.

cnh

WELCOME TO CLUB POLK!! WITH CUSTOMER SERVICE SECOND TO NONE!!

My experience is also the same. I've never had any sub fail to date and that includes Polks, B.A.s, and even a cheapo Ratshack 8" I've had for years in my bedroom--hey, it does the job, it's a small room?

Fingers crossed, of course!

cnh