TELL ME what to do to salvage these Polk 5JRs

zedzue

Okay, I just bought these 5JRs on eBay. Got them home, hooked them up to my new (used) NAD 716AV receiver, and one of the speakers only plays out of the tweeter.

Forgive me for being a bit out of touch: I'm getting back into higher end audio after spending the last 20 years being on the leading edge in computer multimedia and technology. It was time to start rebuilding the audio system that I knew and loved, and yes, start a new vinyl collection after losing mine in a divorce over 10 years ago.

Anyway, can anyone help me identify exactly which version of the 5JRs these are? I wanted the PRs, but there seems to be a lot of misinformation about the different versions, PR vs. No PR, and the tweeters.












If I have to replace the components of the one speaker that only seems to be playing the tweeter, should I go all out and replace both tweeters and both woofers? The speakers themselves seem to be in great shape (no tears, etc., other than a dented cone on the woofer of the speaker that's not working.)

Looking to you experts to help me!

Mystery

Those are 5jr+.
Bottom driver is a PR. Middle ones are the active drivers.
Press cone of the non working middle driver. If it's stiff, magnet is frozen.
If it moves freely in/out, it may be good and you have to test it by taking the driver out of the cabinet or switch into the other cabinet.
If the woofer works in another cabinet, it's something with crossover or wires.

Tweeter is SL2000. No need to replace them if they are working.

F1nut

Tweeter is SL2000. No need to replace them if they are working.

Those are horrible tweeters, change them to the RD0194-1 available from Polk. Drop in replacement.

After you figure out the mid-driver issue, the crossovers should be upgraded as those caps are way past their due date.

westmassguy

You bought them on eBay, so the seller should be responsible for the defective woofer. If it was an "as is" sale, then you're on your own, and you'll need to buy a replacement MW6502 woofer. You can order a replacement from Polk customer service for $48.00 with free shipping (make sure you tell them you're a Club Polk Member), or buy used on eBay, there are plenty of them listed. If you plan to replace the God-awful SL2000 Tweeters, do yourself a favor, and do the crossovers at the same time. The JR+ is easily upgraded to "TL" status. There's a single Capacitor and resistor in the Hi-Pass that needs to be replaced, Polyswitch removed and jumped, and you can then use the RDO-198-1 Tweeters, which are better than the RDO-194-1s, and light years ahead of the SL2000s.

[Deleted User]

I would get them up to snuff as is and play them for a while.
(maybe a month) If you love them (and I'd love to have a nice pair)
and have the scratch give polk a call and as F1nut suggests and
make sure you tell them you are a Polk club member. Good luck!

F1nut wrote: »

Tweeter is SL2000. No need to replace them if they are working.

Those are horrible tweeters, change them to the RD0194-1 available from Polk. Drop in replacement.

After you figure out the mid-driver issue, the crossovers should be upgraded as those caps are way past their due date.

Mystery

F1nut wrote: »

Those are horrible tweeters, change them to the RD0194-1 available from Polk. Drop in replacement.

westmassguy wrote: »

If you plan to replace the God-awful SL2000 Tweeters,

Don't you think Polk should recall these and replace for free?
Sounds like a lemon.

zedzue

Guys, I'm so glad I joined this forum and posted here. Thank you for steering me in the right direction.

Mystery, I pressed the cone of the driver, and indeed, it's very stiff – almost unmovable (when compared to the driver of the working speaker, which moves in and out snugly, but easily). Does this mean that the magnet is, in fact, frozen, and therefore I need to replace the driver?

I have another question now that I've taken the crossover out and am looking inside. Forgive me if this sounds really stupid, and if I'm using the incorrect terminology, but I'll ask anyway and risk the inevitable shaming :-/ !

I want to make sure I know what I'm doing if I need to replace the driver. It looks like these cabinets and drivers have been opened before, but the driver is stamped with the manufacture date of 1989. In my "old" universe, the black wire was always the negative terminal, and red always marked the + terminal. If you look closely at the picture, the driver has a red dot; I assume this indicates the + terminal. But, the black wire is connected to it. Is this connected correctly? That would make the white wire be the ground. So, should the black wire coming from the crossover be connected to the "red" terminal on the driver?

F1nut

The voicecoil is locked, probably caused by magnet shift. You will need to buy a replacement driver. In Polk speakers of that vintage black or blue is positive, white or green is negative. Think house wiring.

Msabot1

Truly.....but wires don't know what color they are...trace it back and make sure polarity is correct...that is what is important...never could figure why Polk came out with the SL 2K tweet....way too bright...

boston1450

While your replacing driver put some glue LocTite around the magnet to keep this from happening again. One small drop/sudden hit will cause this. Here is a interesting thread that may give you ideas on cleaning & other tips below. If when you open Vintage on top of page-there are tons of info there. Browse around / search & get your read on. Interesting stuff too. Welcome to Club Polk. This thread below may have nothing to do with your model BUT cleaning & speaker driver maintance is the same pretty much. There are folks here that can walk you through anything
http://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/comment/2056340#Comment_2056340

zedzue

Thanks again, guys. Now, I'm going to replace the driver. Since I'm doing the driver, I'll probably take most people's advice and replace the tweeters, too.

F1nut, you're saying to replace each tweeter with the RD0194-1s, correct?
Regarding the crossovers: You've also suggested upgrading the crossovers.
Umassguy suggested modifying the crossovers (something I can't do myself) and replacing the tweeters with the RDO-198-1s. Can I just replace the crossovers with a different model and then get the RDO-198-1s? I agree: the existing tweeters, while functioning, are WAY too bright even for me, who really likes the high end.

At the very least, I'll replace the driver and the tweeters, but if I'm going to do everything, I may as well get the best I can get, right? I'm perfectly willing to spend another $150 to upgrade these speakers.

F1nut

F1nut, you're saying to replace each tweeter with the RD0194-1s, correct?

Yes.

Regarding the crossovers: You've also suggested upgrading the crossovers.

Correct, replace the caps with high quality film/foil such as Sonicap and replace the resistors with Mills.

Westmassguy suggested modifying the crossovers (something I can't do myself) and replacing the tweeters with the RDO-198-1s.

That is another path you could go down. The RD0198-1 is even better than the RD0194-1. David (Westmassguy) can do the work for you.

Can I just replace the crossovers with a different model and then get the RDO-198-1s?

No.

Faustin

Pm westmassguy and he will get you taken care of.

zedzue

Thank you, everyone who helped out with this. I'm replacing the driver, and then I'll probably upgrade the crossover and go with the RD0198-1 tweeters at that time.

voltz

Congrats on the speakers! you can fix them up and really make them special! lots of great help you will always find here as these Folks will show ya how to do it right and get the most out of your Vintage Polk's.