Problem With SRT Subs

rotwood

Hi, I just got 3 parts of a very abused, maybe the most abused according to someone over here, SRT system, 2 mains and one sub cabinet without amp and back board. Almost everyone suggest me give up the idea to restore them, but I still hate to let it go without a try. Excuse me for my stubborn. I saw the picture of your sub cabinet without the back board and wonder if you could help me to find out how the two drivers connected. I saw a cable/speaker wire connecting both drivers in the picture and the positive connector of the bottom drive is connected to the speaker wire. Is the other end of that speaker wire connected to the negative connector of the top driver? If this is correct, I guess the amp will connect to the positive connector of the top driver and the negative connector of the bottom driver. Right now, I connect both driver individually to an old Sansui receiver and they shake my living room when I turn the volume up. Thanks for any advice!

Gatecrasher wrote: »

Well I just took one apart. It had some white insulation stuffed in it.



I guess the next thing to do is to remove the drivers?

Any ideas how best to accomplish that? It looks like they are riveted to the wood or something.

Phatattack

Hardware rattled loose.

Gatecrasher

rotwood wrote: »

I saw a cable/speaker wire connecting both drivers in the picture and the positive connector of the bottom drive is connected to the speaker wire. Is the other end of that speaker wire connected to the negative connector of the top driver? If this is correct, I guess the amp will connect to the positive connector of the top driver and the negative connector of the bottom driver. Right now, I connect both driver individually to an old Sansui receiver and they shake my living room when I turn the volume up. Thanks for any advice!

You are correct. The wire runs from the positive terminal on the bottom driver to the negative on the top driver and then the amp connects to the remaining positive and negative terminals. In other words, the speakers are wired in series.

Phatattack wrote: »

Hardware rattled loose.

Huh?

SRT_13

Hello to all, wanted to thank all the members for sharing their own SRT experience and love for them, especially many thanks goes to the Gatecrasher, Kenneth Swauger and Kim Jasper for their inside, time and great customer service.

As you can see i am a newest member to this forum and writing here because i just acquired a complete SRT system which includes both satellites, 2 subs with SRT SDA surround sound speakers, 2 controllers, remote.
This system is awesome but not perfect with few minor flaws. I am very dedicated and will try to fix it the right way and not cutting corners.
One of the flaws is one of the subs woofers - MW1082 spider is completely detached from the basket.

another issue is one of the amplifiers boards, where four capacitors sits have some damage (rust or leakage of some kind under the caps) not sure if this will affect overall performance of the sub.

Another issue is more cosmetic related the top part of one of the subs got some water damage and needs to be refurbished. (Meaning re sanded and repainted open for any suggestions, who can do this job since i would like it done right and look like brand new again)

Read all these threads and learned quite a bit from your experiences, and realized that to fix my woofers they will need to be shipped to Baltimore and wanted to get more details on their proper boxing since i will be shipping all four woofers at the same time and wanted to ensure that they wont get damage during the shipping.

Another thing I wanted to get some more info regarding the led lights on the back of the sub. I noticed that one of the led lights in auto mode is green and never turns red when signal is present, like it should be in full on mode.
Hope Ken or Kim can share some light here.

Lastly i would like to get more info on the amps their wiring diagram and manuals and white papers.
Want to get my hands on any literature involving Polk Audio Signature Reference Theater Speaker System 1995-2000.

Thank you so much in advance and sorry for the lengthy post.

[Deleted User]

Hello,
Welcome to Polk's forum. SRT owners are justifiably proud of their speakers and enjoy them a great deal. They grew, literally, out of Matt Polk wanting a killer home theater system for himself.
I would suggest double boxing the woofers with separate boxes for each woofer and then one double walled box for all of them. They are irreplaceable if damaged.
The capacitors usually have a brownish colored material around the area where the caps meet the circuit board. This really doesn't indicate anything's wrong with them, look at the top of the cap for any swelling or humming from woofers.
Most of the time the auto on/off function results in the LED going from green to amber if there's no incoming signal for several minutes. You indicate it is green when a signal is present, this is correct.
For amp schematics and any available literature Polk CS would be the source. I'm sure other CP members will have information on wood restoration.
Enjoy, Ken

SRT_13

Thank you so much for a fast response to my inquiry.
Thank you for the packing tips and for ensuring that brown discoloration on the caps is nothing to worry about.
I am including this close up picture to show you what i was talking about.



Can you elaborate a bit or guide me better on where to find the literature related to SRT system. I was looking on web for weeks for it. I really want to find more in depth information on entire system.

Hope to hear from the cabinet relaminating experts too.

Thank you again.

[Deleted User]

Hello,
Those are probably the amplifier's power supply filtering caps and appear to have a voltage rating of 80 volts. The only effective way to test them would be to remove them from the circuit and connect them to a capacitor analyzer, checking for correct value and shorts. Or, simply replace them, in all likelihood improving the sound over the original.
I would imagine Polk's customer service guys would be able to send you a copy of the owner's manual and a schematic of both the bass amp and the controller (less sure of the controller's). You can reach them either via telephone at: 1-800-377-7655 or email to polkcs@polkaudio.com. The owner's manual was written by Paul DiComo (aka "Polk Paul") and is one of the best audio product manuals ever written.
Cheers, Ken

chefkungfu

SRT_13 wrote: »

Thank you so much for a fast response to my inquiry.
Thank you for the packing tips and for ensuring that brown discoloration on the caps is nothing to worry about.
I am including this close up picture to show you what i was talking about.



Can you elaborate a bit or guide me better on where to find the literature related to SRT system. I was looking on web for weeks for it. I really want to find more in depth information on entire system.

Hope to hear from the cabinet relaminating experts too.

Thank you again.

Hey SRT_13, how's your project turning out? I've sent you a PM regarding some suggestions on repairs depending how far along is the damage. (awhile back).
Let us know when you get a chance!

SRT_13

Chefkungfu,

Thank you for your inquiry, I made a great deal of progress with these speakers. I replaced both subwoofers amps and power plates with a new ones and now just waiting on a dust caps and woofer repair. Other than that everything is coming along pretty nicely. Not to mention how much I've learned about the system and all the different configurations and settings.

Gatecrasher

SRT_13 wrote: »

Chefkungfu,

Thank you for your inquiry, I made a great deal of progress with these speakers. I replaced both subwoofers amps and power plates with a new ones and now just waiting on a dust caps and woofer repair. Other than that everything is coming along pretty nicely. Not to mention how much I've learned about the system and all the different configurations and settings.

Did they tell you to wait until after December for the spider repair?

I have another pair that I want to send in too but they said they are waiting on parts and won't have them until after December. My 2nd pair aren't nearly as bad as the 1st pair were but when I crank it to extreme levels I can hear a slight rattle out of the pair that haven't been repaired yet so I want to get them fixed by Freeman E. Stills while I can.

jsdeprey

Hey all, I have had my SRT system for a long time now and I think I am having the same issue with 1 of my subwoofers where I hear a rattle sometimes on some frequencies etc.
I am not sure what to do, I am in Charlotte NC and there my be some local speaker repair people that could fix the Spiders, hopefully cheap.
I really hate to ship stuff and also have my system down for a long time. I would hope I could just get a local speaker repair place to fix ok? or would it be best to talk to Polk?
Also would replacing the speakers with something newer be worth it. I have not opened up my Subs yet at all.
Many thanks to Gatecrasher for the photos, man makes me feel a lot better about opening them up.

jsdeprey

Well that is why I am asking, I have no clue of the technical expertise required to glue a spider back on the speaker.

Gatecrasher

I just contacted Kim Jasper a few weeks ago about getting another pair of SRT sub driver spiders repaired and he tells me to get back to him in February because they are out of the dust caps and can't repair any until they get more in. I have a pair that are just starting to make some noise and want to get them fixed like Polk did for me with my 1st pair last year.

It takes some work to package everything up nice and costs like $50 each way to ship them but it was worth it for me. It also gave me the opportunity to clean the cabinets up real nice inside and out with everything removed. I also re-capped my amps while they were out.

I had them back in a couple weeks after sending them.

chefkungfu

I had a couple of my drivers repaired by Freeman E. Stills last year! All 4 of my SRT's sound incredible!! I use them everyday and no issues at all! Clear sounds at all volume levels, including the bass!

chefkungfu

I'm considering selling some of my speakers (RT's), I'll post in the FS section soon.