cautionary tale here

leftwinger57

I thought maybe my 2Bs finally went south w/ the x-overs still to be done. While turning cds which I find the cleanest sound out of all my sources I started to hear noises that I never heard before. Not music mind you but really offending noises. When I got these home originally the x-over standoffs were broken on both sets. The x-overs were effectively flying in air. When I did most of my mechanical mods I thought I resecured them w/ small ty-raps and a foam sheet in between the coil. I luckily opened just for the hell of it the whole right side and sure enough 2 big glaring problems. In my haste this cross-over was not secured and then what I think caused all this out of phase sound was the green wire was off the 6511 mid. All secured and back buttoned up and now they sound like before or as they should.
Now, I know I have harped on doing the x-overs but sending them out at this time is not financially possible. Is there a real time moment that one knows the x-overs are really toast?

amb426amb1

I have never had a XO just completely give out. That being said my growing speaker collection only dates back to early seventies and up... what I have noticed is the marked improvement in sound when upgrading XO parts with new higher quality repacements with far better tolerances than were available back then.

westmassguy

Lew, I can send you some Polk standoffs, so this doesn't keep happening.

Schurkey

leftwinger57 wrote: »

I have harped on doing the x-overs but sending them out at this time is not financially possible. Is there a real time moment that one knows the x-overs are really toast?

They're toast.

Can you solder?

Easy Runnin

Sounds like its time to bite the bullet. I'm sure you could do it yourself. I did my 7s. It wasn't really difficult, just take your time. There is plenty of advice here to get you through.

BKphoto

do what i did...find some old stereo equipment that no one wants and tear it apart...use it to practice desoldering then solder it all back together...once you get your technique down its not really hard...but patience is key...don't just wing it, have a plan...

george daniel

Get the parts,, pull em out,,I'm sure that someone here will get it done.

zane77

Send Trey a message , he will get it done if you don't feel comfortable doing it.

leftwinger57

Thanks I've hasseled Trey to no end. I just don't have the cash right now and that's the only factor limiting me doing this. Yes I've picked up odds and ends like lps and the Nikko but nothing that come close to the cost of sending them out which is my first choice. I can solder well actually from my alarm installing days and have both gas and electric guns. Following Gimpods site (and what a freakin site) is the best road map anyone could want for a diyer. Again I need things tested and since I know nothing of tolerances or values I have to send them out. There is something to be said of having the satisfaction of doing it youself but this I'll leave to Trey. Btw does anyone have Trey's shipping address in N.C. somewhere?

BKphoto

Tolerances or value's...?

not sure what you mean...

just replace value for value

amb426amb1

If your cash strapped for now just enjoy your polks. Sounds like you have diagnosed the problem and they sound good to you again. I have sets of **** speakers that you probably wouldn't even make your dog listen to.

TennMan

leftwinger57 wrote: »

Thanks I've hasseled Trey to no end. I just don't have the cash right now and that's the only factor limiting me doing this. Yes I've picked up odds and ends like lps and the Nikko but nothing that come close to the cost of sending them out which is my first choice. I can solder well actually from my alarm installing days and have both gas and electric guns. Following Gimpods site (and what a freakin site) is the best road map anyone could want for a diyer. Again I need things tested and since I know nothing of tolerances or values I have to send them out. There is something to be said of having the satisfaction of doing it youself but this I'll leave to Trey. Btw does anyone have Trey's shipping address in N.C. somewhere?

There is someone here on the forum that can do an excellent job on your crossovers at a reasonable price. He did mine and I was very happy with his work. Professional and fast service. See my signature line.

drumminman

Lew, you can solder so you can do this. Very simple - get the parts list off the schematics for your speaker, order caps and resistors of the same value (you can leave the inductors alone for now to save money, though replacing them with higher quality ones makes for an audible improvement), and do one circuit board at a time. You don't need to use Gimpod's boards if you're short of cash, just used the originals.

By doing one board at a time you can use the other for reference. Remove/replace one component at a time. Easy, peasy.

I'm sure WMG and VR3 do quality work, but if you're trying to save $, DIY is the way to go.

leftwinger57

Again guys thanks. The noise is back and couldn't take it any more so I pulled the x-overs just a few minutes ago. Believe it or not I had a box w/ both Trey's address and mine all ready to go for months. They are packed just need some cash and off they go. Then we'll see what you all are talking about. It's a shame they are my favorite set but that's why I have 3 others to bounce from.

OldSchoolPolk

New member here and I've really enjoyed reading the posts. I had Monitor 7s back in high school (long gone now) and just found a pair in a GW for $15. Took'm home and they sounded bad due to frozen mids. No surprise there. Pulled the 6502s and found they were dated 1990.

Two weeks later I'm at the dump and found a pair of RTA 12s! At the dump?!?! Didn't know what they were at first but recognized the Polk format from adds growing up. One had a hole in the tweeter and I almost thought "why bother." But why not try'm out.

Asked the guy and he said "sure, take'm home" hooked them up and they sounded bad for three seconds, then not so bad. Minute later they sounded almost good. Then they sounded better than my PSB B2s and my JBL LSR 308s. I honestly could not believe it! Started doing web searches and am guessing they are 12Bs w Peerless tweeters (both have holes)

Each have a frozen mid and I tried to pull one. Removed screws and tried to pull it off but could not and did not want to damage anything. So I've been listening to them for a week now and still can't believe how good they sound (with two seized mids!!).

I've read on this site about getting replacement mids from polk but when I called earlier for the M7s they said they did not stock them anymore. Tweeters seem fine and the dust/gunk on the c/o came off w a dry brush and can of air.

So now for the question. Do I get a replacement mids from PE or Madisound or ??? After that do I do the c/o upgrades everyone is talking about? Seriously, these things sound great, but they shouldn't, right? Also, who is Trey in NC who does c/o? I did a search but got no returns

Thanks for all the info over the last weeks and any replies to this post.

Nightfall

You'll get more responses if you create your own threads for your questions. Call Polk, I'm sure they have something they'd feel comfortable swapping those seized MW6600X's with. If you want to risk it used and shipped, here you go - http://www.ebay.com/itm/LOT-OF-THREE-Polk-MW-6600X-6-5-inch-woofers-for-RTA-SDA-Monitor-series-/281316030059?pt=US_Speaker_Parts_Components&hash=item417fbdf66b