Plate amp repairs for vintage speakers
neils
Posts: 26
(mod, up to you if you want to make this a sticky or not)
Hey guys,
Thought I would share some valuable information with you, if you are stuck with a faulty plate amp (for sub drivers) on one of your vintage speakers. In my case, I had a plate amp go on me on my RT3000p. My heart sank cause I knew I would not be able to find another replacement plate amp (I was wrong). Being in Canada, my options were limited, call the Polk rep, who then referred me to an electronics repair company in Ontario. After looking over my plate amp (was making a loud buzzing sound), they concluded that the amp was not repairable (it is see below), but surprisingly, they had rebuilt plate amps lying in inventory, and cheap too. So a day later, I had a rebuilt unit sitting at my house, working perfectly. If you are in Canada, you can contact Walter Moser, or contact me as well, to put you in touch with that repair company.
As for the rest, after looking around on the net, I found the Holy Grail of repair companies, who bring vintage plate amps back to life. Their eBay handle is "electronetix", and they currently have a few auctions up for plate amp repairs. The way it works, you buy the auction on eBay, which covers parts and man-hours to repair your plate amp. Their prices are extremely reasonable. They ensured me that, minus the power supply, all other parts are repairable with over-the-shelf parts, which I believe.
If you cannot find the auctions, you can contact me, but here are some search examples:
Polk RTi100, RT1000i or RT1000p Powered Subwoofer Amplifier Plate Repair Service
Polk RT3000p Powered Subwoofer Amplifier Plate Repair Service
So if your plate amp blows, don't sweat it...
Neil
Hey guys,
Thought I would share some valuable information with you, if you are stuck with a faulty plate amp (for sub drivers) on one of your vintage speakers. In my case, I had a plate amp go on me on my RT3000p. My heart sank cause I knew I would not be able to find another replacement plate amp (I was wrong). Being in Canada, my options were limited, call the Polk rep, who then referred me to an electronics repair company in Ontario. After looking over my plate amp (was making a loud buzzing sound), they concluded that the amp was not repairable (it is see below), but surprisingly, they had rebuilt plate amps lying in inventory, and cheap too. So a day later, I had a rebuilt unit sitting at my house, working perfectly. If you are in Canada, you can contact Walter Moser, or contact me as well, to put you in touch with that repair company.
As for the rest, after looking around on the net, I found the Holy Grail of repair companies, who bring vintage plate amps back to life. Their eBay handle is "electronetix", and they currently have a few auctions up for plate amp repairs. The way it works, you buy the auction on eBay, which covers parts and man-hours to repair your plate amp. Their prices are extremely reasonable. They ensured me that, minus the power supply, all other parts are repairable with over-the-shelf parts, which I believe.
If you cannot find the auctions, you can contact me, but here are some search examples:
Polk RTi100, RT1000i or RT1000p Powered Subwoofer Amplifier Plate Repair Service
Polk RT3000p Powered Subwoofer Amplifier Plate Repair Service
So if your plate amp blows, don't sweat it...
Neil
Post edited by neils on
Comments
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I was just telling a guy on here about that very company online that I have used for various RT plate amps and they give a 1 yr warranty too!...great and fast and reasonable! I believe they are based out of ChicagoPolk audio RT3000p's
Velodyne CHT15's x2 subwoofers! one for each tower
RT2000i's as surrounds
CS1000p
FX500i's
Looking for RT2000i's or RT3000p's...PM me...or click on profile and respond to my WTB ads...thanks!!! -
Hi, I have a pair of RTi 100 tower speakers in great shape, both have built-in subwoofer amplifier system. One of the tower speaker is generating humming noise when it is switched to "Auto" that kicks in the subwoofer function. (Both the towers are hooked up to the AC outlet). Also, when I move the volume knob for increasing the sound, the humming noise also increases. I called Polk Audio and they provided me with Canadian Ontario Technician's contact but most of the times it is difficult to communicate him and get info from him as he is travelling most of the times, plus I do not know if he provides with a warranty after repair of the amplifier circuit plate and do they replace the plate or repair it. The postal charge is about $21for sending this plate to Ontario from Newfoundland and one of the local technicians told me its all digital switching plate so has to be replaced as they are difficult to repair.
Now any one of you knows about this or have any experience, I do not want to junk them as they are absolutely wonderful speaker set.
Thank you in advance. -
Buzzing from an RT series plate amp is almost always the power caps going bad. You can either order the replacement parts from Polk Customer Service and do the repair yourself or take it to a repair shop to have done. Unless the amp has been severely damaged by a power spike, it is likely not beyond repair.____________________________________________________________
polkaudio Fully Modded SDA SRS 1.2TLs + Dreadnaught, LSiM706c, 4 X Polk Surrounds + 4 X ATMOS, SVS PB13 Ultra X 2, Pass Labs X1, Marantz 7704, Bob Carver Crimson Beauty 350 Tube Mono Blocks, Carver Sunfire Signature Cinema Grande 400x5, ADCOM GFA 7807, Panasonic UB420, Moon 380D DAC, EPSON Pro Cinema 6050 -
i have two plate amps that burnt not completely burnt but overheated till discolored r 32 just need colors for replacement knowledge
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RT1000i i believe
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Here's the thread with all the vintage schematics and wire diagrams.
http://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/38755/polk-audio-speaker-wiring-schematics-more-all-models-except-sda
Not sure of the differences between the RT1000P & the RT1000i in terms of the amps.
RT1000p Wire Diagram
https://us.v-cdn.net/5021930/uploads/attachments/4/6/7/2/8/18718.pdf
RT1000p Amplifier Schematic
https://us.v-cdn.net/5021930/uploads/attachments/4/6/7/2/8/18862.pdf
RT1000p Crossover Schematic
https://us.v-cdn.net/5021930/uploads/attachments/4/6/7/2/8/18719.pdf2.2 Office Setup | LG 29UB55 21:9 UltraWide | HP Probook 630 G8 | Dell Latitude | Cabasse Stream Amp 100 | Boston Acoustics VS 240 | AUDIORAX Desk Stands | Mirage Omni S8 sub1 | Mirage Omni S8 Sub2 -
Buzzing from an RT series plate amp is almost always the power caps going bad. You can either order the replacement parts from Polk Customer Service and do the repair yourself or take it to a repair shop to have done. Unless the amp has been severely damaged by a power spike, it is likely not beyond repair.
Thanks "dpowell"... You gave me the key to the problem and confidence to tackle the problem. I took apart my RT1000P amp and noticed the Paper caps leaking and loose. The amp has 4700uF 25V capacitors. I was not able to find that same one locally, but I was able to find 4700uF 35V and installed them. From both speakers I found 3 out of the 4 capacitors (4700uF 25V) leaking and loose. I went ahead and purchased and replaced all four of the capacitors. I can report that my subs are no longer humming and sound amazing. Cost for the capacitors for me was $1.50 each. Since I purchased the speakers used and with the humming sounds, I never experienced them or their amazing bass. I disconnected my Velodyne sub and now have both the subs connected for bass. Using a Yamaha RX-V773WA.
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Interesting!
Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them. -
@fez34 glad that worked for you and welcome to club Polk!____________________________________________________________
polkaudio Fully Modded SDA SRS 1.2TLs + Dreadnaught, LSiM706c, 4 X Polk Surrounds + 4 X ATMOS, SVS PB13 Ultra X 2, Pass Labs X1, Marantz 7704, Bob Carver Crimson Beauty 350 Tube Mono Blocks, Carver Sunfire Signature Cinema Grande 400x5, ADCOM GFA 7807, Panasonic UB420, Moon 380D DAC, EPSON Pro Cinema 6050 -
bigcskinner wrote: »i have two plate amps that burnt not completely burnt but overheated till discolored r 32 just need colors for replacement knowledge
On my plate amps r33 is burnt.
Schematics showing R33 as 220/0.5W ???
Anyone knows how to read it? -
Looks ugly -
220 ohm, 1/2 watt.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
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Be aware that replacing the resistor is no guarantee it'll fix the amp.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
Be aware that replacing the resistor is no guarantee it'll fix the amp.
I agree, but it worth to try -
Here I am in 2022 looking to fix my plate amp and here’s my info, great!
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Here I am in September 2022. I am already the happy owner of Polk Signature S60, S10 and s35 speakers. I recently acquired a set of RT1000i towers for free. One had a bad tweeter, the other no sound from the sub. A replacement tweeter is on it way to me. I took apart the plate amp and guess what. It's the same capacitor problem. I just ordered new caps and hoping to bring these towers back to their glory. Thank You, Thank you for this great info!!!
