dropped SDA CRS-

motorshine

Hi All,
Newbie here- Hope someone can advise me. I was moving my system to the man-cave last night and I dropped my Left channel speaker. It died of course. Didn't care so much about the cabinet ding (it actually held up quite well) but here is what I know:

After dejectedly sitting on the floor of my nearly completed man-cave and rapidly drinking several, I got online and read alot about the the magnets shifting and this was obviously the case when I opened it up. I twisted them back into place as best I could and the right driver and tweeter both still produce sound, as does the left driver when I switch the leads from the first crossover to it (the one with the speaker posts). Couldn't test the left tweeter because the leads are soldered (no spades). I'm tempted to conclude that I killed the second (top) crossover, the one that goes to the Left side.

Also, I haven't used the interconnect cable with these for 10 years- I always thought they sounded better without it. I mght still have it somewhere but finding it would probably take longer than building a whole new pair of speakers!

I realize that I'll probably have to replace the drivers as they will sound horrible if I ever get the speaker functioning correctly, but can anyone tell me how I should proceed?

quite sadly yours,
Sal

Dennis Gardner

Those other drivers don't work unless the IC cable is used.

motorshine

Is there any chance the crossover is bad too?

motorshine

I think the tweeters are still good. Is it certain that the drivers are bad- sorry, I don't really understand the forces at work here. I just know that no sound comes out of left-side driver unless I switch the leads from the right-side crossover.

TennMan

motorshine wrote: »

I think the tweeters are still good. Is it certain that the drivers are bad- sorry, I don't really understand the forces at work here. I just know that no sound comes out of left-side driver unless I switch the leads from the right-side crossover.

As Dennis said, That driver will not work unless the IC cable is used. I doubt you have a crossover problem. I'm not a CRS expert by any means but I think the mid-woofer drivers are different from left to right as well so be sure to get the correct part number for a replacement.

evhudsons

Welcome to Club Polk. Your story here is almost exactly what happened to me. I dropped a speaker and separated the driver too.

Bad news: You broke a driver and it can not be fixed which will cost a few bucks
good uh, I mean great news: You can get a replacement driver for a decent price from Polk Audio, mention that you are a club polk member and you will get a discount. Get new tweeters while you are at it, they are much better than stock and you will fall in love with your speakers again.
There may be reasons why your sda didn't appeal to your ears, but it may be that something else was going on. Even to untrained ears it is obvious that sda is better when fed from a decent source. speaker alignment has to be almost perfect for the best experience.

The night I dropped my speaker I tried to put the driver together and when it wouldn't really work right, I also downed a few dejected beers. I then googled Polk Audio, got on the forum for info and curiousity, and found out that not only could I still get parts I could do amazing upgrades not possible just a few years ago. And...you have here the help of mad scientist type geniusus that share the love of audio and especially the sda line of speakers. These guys know their stuff, so do feel offended or rebuffed if you get sharp answers, the answers are meant to help you get going as cheaply and with as much results as possible. These guys have been doing this a long time and know what is best.

Dropping that speaker will probably be one of the best things you ever did besides buying them in the first place. At least it was for me. So right now you might have a crs-, but very soon you will have those crs+'s singing fantastic, and you will remember when you bought them why you did. I hope you have an extensive music collection. If not, start, because you will want to listen to everything all over again.

Pull the driver out and write down the numbers. Some years were different. Mine are 6510 and 6511, but some are 6503. Get the right matching pair, it makes a huge difference. And the newer tweeters are going to be the biggest impact on upgrading your sound. But keep your old tweeters as some people need them or like them still. Most including myself got the new tweeters and never looked back. Your tweeters are sl2000. if you call polk they will tell you that they will send the sl2000 tweeter as a replacement, but it really is the rdo194 tweeter. Your crs might also be eligible for a "tl4.1" upgrade in which you use a rdo198 tweeter, but you have to do a crossover upgrade. If you want to simply jump in and do everything at once, upgrade to tl4.1, but if you are like I was and on limited funds for the moment, get the rdo194's and run with them as a happy camper until one day you may want to continue the upgrade process.

Here's a bit of advice on the new drivers though, and learned from personal experience even though I already read the advice. The newer ones have to have some of the rubber cut out around the screw holes. I knew that, and half assed cut around them. What happens is that as you screw them in, just a little bit of rubber catches the screw and twists the rubber away from the rest of the driver, and you are screwed. So cut out carefully, fully around the screw hole and don't leave any overlapping rubber in the hole.

Again, welcome to the Club Polk Forum, and enjoy your newfound speakers!

Dennis Gardner

motorshine wrote: »

I think the tweeters are still good. Is it certain that the drivers are bad- sorry, I don't really understand the forces at work here. I just know that no sound comes out of left-side driver unless I switch the leads from the right-side crossover.

Maybe I was too short with my answer. The SDA lineup is designed so that only one side of the drivers work, unless the interconnect cable is connected between speakers. This is by design, as those drivers get their signal from the interconnect cable from the opposite speakers. Once the IC cable is used, all drivers should work. I doubt if the crossovers were hurt in the fall unless they were jarred loose, and parts/connections were pulled loose.

motorshine

Dennis Gardner wrote: »

Maybe I was too short with my answer. The SDA lineup is designed so that only one side of the drivers work, unless the interconnect cable is connected between speakers. This is by design, as those drivers get their signal from the interconnect cable from the opposite speakers. Once the IC cable is used, all drivers should work. I doubt if the crossovers were hurt in the fall unless they were jarred loose, and parts/connections were pulled loose.

Wow, thanks everyone for the great advice. I guess I came to the right place. I'm beginning to think maybe there was another issue before I dropped it because I really thought they sounded better without the IC cable- in fact if i remember correctly, they sounded noticeably worse with it connected. I haven't seen it in years so I don't know if I even still have it. I got the speakers at a garage sale 10 years ago for $50, so the good news for me is that I'm not out alot of green.

As far as getting new drivers, can I buy them through this website, or do I go through another source?

Thanks again, you guy rock!

Dennis Gardner

Call Polk Customer Service for replacement drivers 1-800-377-POLK (7655) or email polkcs@polkaudio.com

Dennis Gardner

If they really sounded worse with the IC connected, you may have something wrong with the wiring inside. As you noticed, there is a lot going on inside one of these speakers. The crossover network is one of the most complicated designs ever put into a mass produced speaker line.

On another note, you make certain that the left and right speaker are put on the proper side. The speaker marked left should be on the left channel from your seating position. Reversing these can play with the sound stage produced using the interconnect as placement is critical for the SDA cancellation signals to work best.

motorshine

Thanks Dennis- I finally understand about the IC cable- I took the unused driver out of the good speaker (the one I didn't drop) and put it into the dropped speaker and everything works as it did before without the IC being used except that the left speaker (the one i dropped) is much darker sounding. The highs are there and there's plenty of bass but when I sweep the balance from side to side there is a lot more clarity on the right side. I switched the working driver from the right to the left and it made no difference, and I switched the leads from the speakers to make sure it wasn't the amp. So now I'm thinking that either I damaged the cross-over on the left speaker when i dropped it OR that this is normal because I'm not using the IC cable. At any rate, my ears must not be that good because I've been listening to half of each of these speakers for 10 years and never realized it!

So my question now is can these speakers be modified to use both drivers on each side without the IC cable?

Joe08867

If you are willing to modify them why not just fix them?

Seems silly to reinvent the wheel.

pitdogg2

motorshine wrote: »

So my question now is can these speakers be modified to use both drivers on each side without the IC cable?

Defeats the whole purpose of the SDA.... why would you want to do that? The drop very well could of pulled the XO off the cup. If it were me I'd upgrade the whole XO you'll thank yourself or who ever does it for you....It's a major change for the better.

motorshine

i'm really just trying to find out if i have a crossover problem or an IC problem, and as i've lost the cable i'm looking for a way to get these speakers working again and sounding good without having to spend an arm and a leg.

TennMan

If you have the cable known as the blade/blade type, you can get one from Polk Audio for $40. Not really an arm and a leg. The Pin/Blade is no longer available but someone could make one quite easily. There is only one terminal, the pin, that completes the circuit for SDA. You can also get a replacement driver from Polk if needed. I just got a set of CRS+ and I love them. If you haven't been using the IC cable you don't know what you are missing!

motorshine

I'm pretty sure it's the blade/blade type. But can anyone tell me if not using the cable is causing the difference in clarity between the left and right sides? I'm concerned I might have another or a different problem altogether that WILL cost me an arm and leg on top of a $40 cable that doesn't solve the problem.

TennMan

No, without the cable they should play like a normal, non SDA speaker. They will sound similar to the old monitor 10 Polks. If you hear something odd when you switch from the left to the right speaker you have a problem one of the drivers or the crossover.

motorshine

TennMan wrote: »

No, without the cable they should play like a normal, non SDA speaker. They will sound similar to the old monitor 10 Polks. If you hear something odd when you switch from the left to the right speaker you have a problem one of the drivers or the crossover.

Thanks! Does anyone know what the upgrade costs?

motorshine

sorry- i'm referring to the xo upgrade mentioned by pittdog in post #16
is this the same as the tl4.1 upgrade with the new tweeters as well?

F1nut

You need to open the cabinets and have a look around. To me it sounds like you lost the tweeter in the one speaker. You'd be surprised how much of what you hear comes from the tweeter.

One other thing, get a damn SDA cable.

TennMan

I would do some testing to see what the problem is before upgrading anything. Before you can fix something you have to know what is wrong.

If you have CRS+ with one tweeter like I do, perform the tests indicated in the photo below. All you need is a ohms meter. The numbers in Red are the readings I got when I did the test and mine are working fine. The results of the test will give you an indication of what is going on with your speakers. Post the results of your tests here.

If you have a different model of CRS you can find the appropriate tests in the SDA Troubleshooting Guide.