Sda crs

leftwinger57

Being again not all versed w/ Polk products as a brand some of their other series did have fuses placed at the terminal cups on the outside.These poly switches I believe are a product of the SDA line but not sure and are internal w/ the x-over.From what I had heard some people just by -pass this swicth ,why not sure again but anything that could prevent a speaker from exploding I would use.Now again whether it's your avr, which you say still powers up or the speakers were in that bad of shape internally speaking you will have to get a set of the cheapest 8 ohm speakers lying around and try your avr again if not already destroyed.It might just be like Jesse said you overdrove it w/ the wrong set of speakers and it couldn't handle the load.Again as precautionary measure if you know how to test for a short or open on your speaker wire runs do that also.You want to see an open(not connected to anything and seperate the leads) and even better if you have a resistor w/ a known value then put it between the far ends and measure that w/ a digital meter you or your dad might have around.Now I just noticed that you do have exposed fuses and they appear ok.For the most part the filament will burn right in the middle but not always and the same technic applies you should see a closed circuit if the fuse is good.Let us know what you find out ,this will be a process of elimination and should not take all that long to figure out. Good luck to ya......Lew

leftwinger57

Tony, just noticed your reply, Why just the tweeters? that sounds so contrary to most speaker companies mantras.Protect your speakers at all costs as w/ the foremention in line fuses some brands use and the cup fuses that Polk uses.Thanks for the heads up on the poly switches ,still doesn't make sense to protect just one part of a speaker system then to be easiy defeated because it might degrade the sound to some people.

WLDock

Sound like another classic case of too little power driven into clipping (Square wave) for too long and heating the voice coils(The coils don't move as much as they should to cool themselves)...then poof! Sounds like the beginning of school fun? Where are you at? I went to MSU myself (Holmes & Akers Hall, Cedar & Spartan Village, I played Snare in the Marching Band)..and I know State knows how to party. Its all good and fun until the speakers blow, LOL! Thats all it was, you guys were having a really good time and no one was paying attention to the distortion.

Bigger speakers, more power, and a set of ears is all you need to rock the Spartan house! Ifthe replacements blow, then go bigger and more powerful. The Biggest, Baddest, and Loudest system, on campus if the Danley Sound Labs system in Spartan Stadium! Rocks the House with just One side playing!

http://www.danleysoundlabs.com/portfolio/arenas-gyms-stadiums/michigan-state-university/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWtADec3abc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g__VOl-1nC8

nspindel

Happens to the best of us:

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?121883-I-just-fried-one-of-my-1C-s.-Like-literally-smoke.-See-pic...&highlight=smoke

Good luck shopping for a more powerful amp, and fixing your SDA's!

isarealboy772

leftwinger57 wrote: »

Now again whether it's your avr, which you say still powers up or the speakers were in that bad of shape internally speaking you will have to get a set of the cheapest 8 ohm speakers lying around and try your avr again if not already destroyed.It might just be like Jesse said you overdrove it w/ the wrong set of speakers and it couldn't handle the load.Again as precautionary measure if you know how to test for a short or open on your speaker wire runs do that also.You want to see an open(not connected to anything and seperate the leads) and even better if you have a resistor w/ a known value then put it between the far ends and measure that w/ a digital meter you or your dad might have around.Now I just noticed that you do have exposed fuses and they appear ok.For the most part the filament will burn right in the middle but not always and the same technic applies you should see a closed circuit if the fuse is good.Let us know what you find out ,this will be a process of elimination and should not take all that long to figure out. Good luck to ya......Lew

I don't know how to test for short or open, but I'm sure I can figure it out with a how to on the internet. I won't get to testing this out until this weekend most likely (busy week) but I'll be sure to post back here once I come to a conclusion.

WLDock wrote: »

Sound like another classic case of too little power driven into clipping (Square wave) for too long and heating the voice coils(The coils don't move as much as they should to cool themselves)...then poof! Sounds like the beginning of school fun? Where are you at? I went to MSU myself (Holmes & Akers Hall, Cedar & Spartan Village, I played Snare in the Marching Band)..and I know State knows how to party. Its all good and fun until the speakers blow, LOL! Thats all it was, you guys were having a really good time and no one was paying attention to the distortion.

Hell yeah! At MSU right now! I lived in Akers freshman year now I'm in Americana which is over next to Cedar Village (most people seem to have no clue where Americana is just from the name). Had to break in the new apartment! And I'm with you that the new stadium sound system is insane. If only I had those in my room....

isarealboy772

nspindel wrote: »

Happens to the best of us:

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?121883-I-just-fried-one-of-my-1C-s.-Like-literally-smoke.-See-pic...&highlight=smoke

Good luck shopping for a more powerful amp, and fixing your SDA's!

Bummer this happened to you also! At least I'm not the only one.... Different circumstances, but that thread you made may help me a bit too. I really hope I can get them fixed!

nspindel

isarealboy772 wrote: »

Bummer this happened to you also! At least I'm not the only one.... Different circumstances, but that thread you made may help me a bit too. I really hope I can get them fixed!

Definitely fixable, and you're likely to learn a thing or two in the process.

leftwinger57

Good for you, at least your in school.While there if you can just pop into an electronics lab and ask some questions about an open or closed curcuit and let them show you a meter, resistor and it's function.I know it's the beginning of a term and all it's nutty but it's a free way to learn.ALSO IT'S NOT THE END OF THE WORLD.Forget about it for a while till ready to really dive into the project.

isarealboy772

leftwinger57 wrote: »

Good for you, at least your in school.While there if you can just pop into an electronics lab and ask some questions about an open or closed curcuit and let them show you a meter, resistor and it's function.I know it's the beginning of a term and all it's nutty but it's a free way to learn.ALSO IT'S NOT THE END OF THE WORLD.Forget about it for a while till ready to really dive into the project.

This is a great idea. Sometime this semester I'll get in touch with a professor or stop into a lab. At least someone is keeping me in check... I've been freaking out about this since it happened... and it seems like it's going to be quite a project.

classic carl

PM sent

Nightfall

-20? I push my RX-v667 to -20 from time to time and it's powering 4 speakers?

tonyb

leftwinger57 wrote: »

Tony, just noticed your reply, Why just the tweeters? that sounds so contrary to most speaker companies mantras.Protect your speakers at all costs as w/ the foremention in line fuses some brands use and the cup fuses that Polk uses.Thanks for the heads up on the poly switches ,still doesn't make sense to protect just one part of a speaker system then to be easiy defeated because it might degrade the sound to some people.

Because tweets and crossovers are usually the first to go. Very rare you see a bass woofer fail from being over driven. Not saying it isn't possible, just that most the time the tweets and crossover give up the ghost first. Sure fuses help a lot too but again, it's not a guarantee of safety. When people see fuses, they think whats the worst that can happen if I overdrive these speakers, replace a fuse ? That's the worst mindset imho.

It's not "some people" that think the sound is degraded, most all do only they don't realize it until after they are removed. Point of all this LW is that no speaker is immune to abuse, don't fool yourself into thinking otherwise. Know your limitations and adhere to them.

leftwinger57

A greatful thanks, before you replied I called Polk C/S and asked them since I have orignally $1200 speakers was this poly switch the only form of protection.They /he said after conferencing w/ others said yes and did not advise to ever switch it off. He knew of no way to aply an inline fuse and leave well enough alone.I told him the story of Isrealboy(no name mentioned ) and immediately said that's sounds like speaker abuse to him.Yes,a college age guy just having a party and hooking up wrong speaker for his avr......Oh yea, I learned my lesson a long time ago ,thankfully my avr came back to life and didn't harm anything in my system at that time and I'm certainly not overdriving any other sets I have w/ what ever power source I use...Lew

tonyb

You put an inline resistor in it's place not a fuse.

LW, we have a nice big forum here, dig up some threads on that topic or ask some others about poly switches. I'm sure some still have them installed while others have removed them. The best speaker protection is YOU.

F1nut

Poly switches are nasty.

tonyb

F1nut wrote: »

Poly switches are nasty.

There ya go LW, from the President himself.

Like I said, the safest device to protect your speakers is an educated user.

leftwinger57

Tony, I just happened to have a pdf of my long gone Bose 601s.Here it expains why one should use an inline fuse ,not a resistor and they even offer a set of fuses or explain how to get your own.Now we might be talking apples and oranges here w/ 2 different brands but the fact remains that Polk also used/uses fuses for a reason .yes I agree it's not the be all and end of protection but something is better than nothing when dealing w/ a potentially very expensive proposition like buying original speakers that go for $1200 or even those Bose that went at least $600 and change back in the day and around the same time frame early to mid 80s.Might have to move pix around not to good w/ machine and posting pics as we all know.
Jesse, your little 3 word answers do nothing for me. Be like Mhardy and explain or expand a little further......

WLDock

tonyb wrote: »

Like I said, the safest device to protect your speakers is an educated user.

Yep! use your ears! and the reason the tweets did not go first....is because no one asked what he had the bass knob set to??? Trust me, it was BOOSTED...they were rockin' out! Seen this scenario a million times. Most times I'm the one with the frown on my face wanting to go turn things down because of the nasty distortion.

...but nothing beats college party fun, nothin'! The Spartans party the hardest. Go State!

tonyb

I hear ya bro on the fuses, and can't argue the intended purpose either. Poly switches are another story and more related to the signal path.

Anyway, your right......learn how to listen, what to listen for, or be ready to break out the wallet.

nspindel

leftwinger57 wrote: »

A greatful thanks, before you replied I called Polk C/S and asked them since I have orignally $1200 speakers was this poly switch the only form of protection.They /he said after conferencing w/ others said yes and did not advise to ever switch it off. He knew of no way to aply an inline fuse and leave well enough alone.I told him the story of Isrealboy(no name mentioned ) and immediately said that's sounds like speaker abuse to him.Yes,a college age guy just having a party and hooking up wrong speaker for his avr......Oh yea, I learned my lesson a long time ago ,thankfully my avr came back to life and didn't harm anything in my system at that time and I'm certainly not overdriving any other sets I have w/ what ever power source I use...Lew

There is no way that Polk support would ever officially recommend removal of the polyswitch. It is there for a specific, valid purpose, and it does the job of protecting the tweeter from clipped signals well. However, it does so with two major drawbacks - first, it degrades the signal. The highs unquestionably sound better without it. Second, the part itself degrades over time. It degrades with both time and usage. So even if you don't intend to remove them, you should at least get a new pair from Polk (they're free) and swap them out. However, you'll achieve a better level of sound quality without them. BUT... You'd better make sure that you run an amp with gobs of power so that you'd never run the risk of the amp clipping. Your speakers will know the amp is clipping much sooner than your ears will.

westmassguy

Am I missing something here? They're CRS. The OP said there were fuses (Plural) on the back, so no Polyswitches.
A 3 amp, Fast Blow, inline fuse might not be a bad idea in this situation, after repairs are done. Rat Shack sells the little kits, or you can order them online. The fuse should be located on the + Positive wire for each speaker, and can be located either at the Amp, or at the speaker, whichever is most easily accessible.
It would not surprise me if the Bass was turned up, AND the Loudness Control engaged. I was young once too.

westmassguy

Another thing, was the Inter-connect cable installed? If it wasn't, then only half the woofers and tweeters were operational, which might explain the need to crank the Bass control.

isarealboy772

westmassguy wrote: »

Am I missing something here?
It would not surprise me if the Bass was turned up, AND the Loudness Control engaged. I was young once too.

Initially I didn't have the bass turned up too loud, maybe +4 if I remember correctly. After they blew I noticed someone moved it to +8, so I should probably be headhunting for whoever turned it up... loudness control was not on though. I should've put some sort of lock on the controls on the receiver, didn't think of that initially.

westmassguy wrote: »

Another thing, was the Inter-connect cable installed? If it wasn't, then only half the woofers and tweeters were operational, which might explain the need to crank the Bass control.

Inter-connect cable was installed. I would never go without that! Main thing that makes these speakers special.

westmassguy

isarealboy772 wrote: »

Initially I didn't have the bass turned up too loud, maybe +4 if I remember correctly. After they blew I noticed someone moved it to +8, so I should probably be headhunting for whoever turned it up... loudness control was not on though. I should've put some sort of lock on the controls on the receiver, didn't think of that initially.

Inter-connect cable was installed. I would never go without that! Main thing that makes these speakers special.

You might want to consider a simple pre-amp/power amp setup, with minimal controls on the pre.

tonyb

westmassguy wrote: »

Am I missing something here? They're CRS. The OP said there were fuses (Plural) on the back, so no Polyswitches.
.

We were talking in general about speaker protection, we all know the OP had fuses.

Judging by the OP's responses, these speakers took a beating. Stored in a basement, a damp basement yet. Length of time stored. Underpowered.....bass control cranked. Yeah, I'd say you need to rehab them completely but keep in mind the cost for 2 speakers, and what newer gear will cost too to properly power these speakers. Just replacing the one woofer that caught on fire, isn't going to cut it. I'd estimate at least 1000 bucks just for the speaks to do it right. Then the amp, pre amp or receiver......your looking at some serious coin. Sleep on this a few nights before committing yourself.

isarealboy772

I'll at least be getting a suitable amp or receiver eventually, speakers I've been sleeping on though. I don't really have time to deal with them anyway currently. Maybe some good stuff will pop up on craigslist.

leftwinger57

Westmassguy, Tony is correct I was talking in general terms of speaker protection the kind I either grew up w/ or have more recently heard of.This is why I posted the Bose spec sheet page on fusing those particular 601 speakers which I owned .Nspindel set the record straight on what is and why these poly switches are not the best for sound and how Polk would never allow or admit to bypassing them.Now as for me I do have gobs of power enough to drive all 3 sets of speakers I have not counting the Klipsch smalls for H/T at the same time which of course I do not do.I did not list my sig because by now most peeps here know what I have but for those who don't know here knock yourselves out.I think we played this thread out to it's fullest and will be up to Isrealboy to replace what he needs to when he can.

isarealboy772

leftwinger57 wrote: »

I think we played this thread out to it's fullest and will be up to Isrealboy to replace what he needs to when he can.

Sure did. You guys helped more than I could've imagined. Thank you so much.

westmassguy

leftwinger57 wrote: »

Westmassguy, Tony is correct I was talking in general terms of speaker protection the kind I either grew up w/ or have more recently heard of.This is why I posted the Bose spec sheet page on fusing those particular 601 speakers which I owned .Nspindel set the record straight on what is and why these poly switches are not the best for sound and how Polk would never allow or admit to bypassing them.Now as for me I do have gobs of power enough to drive all 3 sets of speakers I have not counting the Klipsch smalls for H/T at the same time which of course I do not do.I did not list my sig because by now most peeps here know what I have but for those who don't know here knock yourselves out.I think we played this thread out to it's fullest and will be up to Isrealboy to replace what he needs to when he can.

No ruffled feathers here. The thread went off on a little tangent, like many do. Just didn't want isarealboy772 to have the impression he had fuses and Polyswitches. As much as we dislike in-line fuses, in this application it's not a bad idea for future parties. I was lucky, when I was that age, I had a 70s HH Scott Tube Amp Running original 901s. Both were pretty indestructible.

leftwinger57

Agreed , thank you ,nothing personal ever meant and again all input is important and those in the know should stay on topic and dudes like me who are also new to a product what to absorb as much as possible so off tanget sometimes we will go .I must say this was a very long but civil thread and most of us got it through to Isreaboy,1. It has happened to alot of us in varying ways,2. It's not the end of the world .3.It's only stuff and in his case old stuff that can be repalced more than repaired 4. learn what loads to apply to what receiver/avr or amplifier and speaker set he gets........I command thee to put this thread to bed..........lol lol lol