Buzz/rattle coming from lower portion of RTi10's.

HelpPlease

Bought a pair of RTi10's second hand for a ridiculously low price. I love them but I have discovered on certain low frequencies at certain volumes a buzz coming from either the bottom woofer or the power port tubes. The problem exists on both speakers & gently applying pressure with my hand to the bottom woofer or power port mount alleviates the issue temporarily before it slowly returns. Even just repositioning the cabinet slightly can make it go away for a bit... For most music it's inaudible, rock or jazz, I hear nothing, but more bass heavy content brings it out.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

F1nut

Tighten the screws on the drivers. If that doesn't work it's likely that the power port tube inside is loose.

HelpPlease

I tried tightening all screws on the speakers & it didn't help. One or two kind of feel they'd just keep turning if I applied enough pressure. Possibly stripped.

It really does sound like it's the port tubes buzzing though, the woofer itself sounds fine. Any idea how to fix it? The screws for the power port tube feel pretty firm.

F1nut

Those screws leave a lot to be desired. Anyway, the port tubes are split inside. The front one you access by removing the 4 screws, then you'll be able to pull it out, but only part way. On the rear one you'll have to remove the power port assembly, but IIRC that one only comes out part way as well. Regardless, you should be able to see what's going on inside. Another way to look and feel around inside is to remove the binding post plate. The crossover is attached to it, but it should pull out far enough to look around and reach a hand in there to feel if the tubes are loose.

Edit: Another possible issue would be chassis wires touching the drivers and yet another is that the drivers have been overdriven causing spider failure, which may only be evident with heavy bass.

tonyb

F1nut wrote: »

....another is that the drivers have been overdriven causing spider failure, which may only be evident with heavy bass.

That's my guess.

HelpPlease

Thanks for the replies. I'm now convinced it's not the woofers on one of the towers. Putting my ear next to the cabinet & in front of the woofer vs the port, it's definitely coming from the port. When I push downward on the inside of the front port tube with my hand, I can control the amount of buzz depending on how much pressure I apply. I unscrewed it & was able to look at a portion of the lower inside of the cabinet with a flashlight. Didn't see anything loose or misaligned, just some stringy glue hanging down between where the two port tubes meet.

The other speaker, I really have no idea what's going on. It sounds more like the woofer itself, possibly it isn't tight enough because a screw or two being stripped? When I press in on the mount with my fingers, I can make the buzz disappear entirely.

Aside from swapping a couple tweeters, I really have no experience troubleshooting speakers or working on them. I guess I'm gonna have to take these in somewhere to be fixed? Does Polk sell replacement woofers for RTi10's in case they're needed & any idea what they cost?

F1nut

It could be that the port tube needs to be reglued to the plastic flange.

Sounds like the other needs the stripped screw holes repaired.

HelpPlease

Is the flange the part on the opposite end of the tube that blocks me from pulling it out all the way? How do I go about fixing that as it's hard to get to & what happens if it were pulled off entirely?

The front part of the tube that connects to the screwed in mount seems to be fine.

F1nut

Both ends have a flange. Since the front ones seems ok, then you need to check the back one and also check the rear power port tube. Remove either the binding post plate or the bottom driver to gain better access. You're just going to have to poke around in there until you find the issue.

msg

from what you're saying about the things you can do to minimize the buzz, it sounds like one of simpler possibilities that F1's suggested.

if you know how a screwdriver works and know how to be generally careful working with a screwdriver and screws, you might not need to take these anywhere for repair. general tip whenever using a screwdriver near speakers - always keep your fingers at the pointy end, bracing/guiding the tip to minimize/prevent slipping, and use a nice sharp screwdriver, not one that's been used as a hole punch or multi-tool.

for stripped/stripping screws there are any number of fixes, from simple diy, to drilling and replacement with inserts. @nbrowser just went through a repair on a set of vintage speakers so maybe he can pop in here to link his thread or quickly detail an easy fix for weak threads. iirc, he used wood putty or filler, and then just the original screws.

keep at it; you'll probably get it figured out, and then you'll feel immensely satisfied at doing it yourself. just take your time and don't force anything.

gurot1

I dont know how it would work for speakers, but in the past when I have to remount a wall mount using the same screw holes, I took a toothpick, put it in the screwhole, broke it off the end so it doesnt protrude out and then put screw back in.

HelpPlease

I think toothpicks would just fall out the other side into the cabinet, wouldn't they? The screw holes & wood aren't very deep.

gurot1

That makes sense, I didnt think about the depth of the wood...it has always been wood studs I was working with.

F1nut

You can drill out the stripped hole(s) using a clamped on backing board so you won't get tear out. Then, cut a hardwood dowel to the thickness of the flange and glue it in the hole using wood glue. Do not use Gorilla glue. Wait 24 hours, then drill a pilot hole.

gurot1

Sounds like words of experience.

HelpPlease

I tried removing the crossover/terminals from one of the towers & it didn't seem to want to pull out, like there was no slack in the wiring. Felt like I would have to pull on it hard to get it out so I didn't bother since I don't wanna mess anything up any worse.

I gave up & took it to a tech: He fixed the screw holes & the woofers seem to be on firmly now, but alas, rattling inside remains on both speakers, ugh. It's coming from between the bottom woofer & the crossover. I feel like a tech will assume it were fixed because all you really have to do is apply some pressure to the cabinet, hell even just repositioning it a bit & the problem goes away... but it slowly comes back. How could both speakers have an identical problem?

I don't know what to do at this point. Polk hasn't responded to my email & I really don't feel like carting two 60lbs speakers across the city in the middle of the summer heat again just for it to 'maybe' get resolved.

F1nut

Polk isn't going to be able to help you with that issue. Someone needs to get inside those speakers and take a look around.

rooftop59

HelpPlease wrote: »

I tried removing the crossover/terminals from one of the towers & it didn't seem to want to pull out, like there was no slack in the wiring. Felt like I would have to pull on it hard to get it out so I didn't bother since I don't wanna mess anything up any worse.

I gave up & took it to a tech: He fixed the screw holes & the woofers seem to be on firmly now, but alas, rattling inside remains on both speakers, ugh. It's coming from between the bottom woofer & the crossover. I feel like a tech will assume it were fixed because all you really have to do is apply some pressure to the cabinet, hell even just repositioning it a bit & the problem goes away... but it slowly comes back. How could both speakers have an identical problem?

I don't know what to do at this point. Polk hasn't responded to my email & I really don't feel like carting two 60lbs speakers across the city in the middle of the summer heat again just for it to 'maybe' get resolved.

The terminal is probably just stuck with the gasket rubber stuff, when it gets hot it can melt a bit acting almost like glue. Take a putty knife and carefully work all the way around, then it should pop off. Then you can easily disconnect the wires from the crossover allowing you an opening to "look around" inside.

F1nut

I could be wrong, but if the RTi crossovers are like the RTiA's the wires are soldered to the board. You have to disconnect them at the driver end.

Headmanbrewing

I've been dealing with the same problem, a buzz that temporarily goes away when you lightly press on the woofer cone. I removed the woofer again, thinking that I would hook up the wires while the woofer was out of the cabinet and play at low power to look for anything obvious. I pressed up on the underside of the cone and the spider started to pull away from the metal frame. I'm going try to re-glue the spider and I will let you know if I have any success.

HelpPlease

Interesting, let me know.

I'm gonna take mine back to the tech & get him to do a very thorough look around this time. I hope I don't get charged twice. Could it possibly be the cabinet itself? Bad bracing? All I have to do is squeeze on the sides of the cabinets a bit, basically hugging it, & the buzz completely goes away, even on the most offensively rattling of music, but if I let go, it slowly returns.

If it were the cabinet, any idea what kind of fix that would require?

@rooftop59, I was able to get the terminal detached from the cabinet, but only by a very small amount because I believe the wires were preventing me from pulling further. Not far enough for me to see inside. When I look through the front bottom port though, I can see a lot of strands of glue hanging down.

Headmanbrewing

The re-glue of the spiders seems to have worked. The buzz is gone, as far as I can tell. Now, do they sound the same as when they were brand new? I have no idea, my memory isn't good enough to remember back almost 20 years. But touching the cones doesn't have anywhere near the same effect as it did previously. Hope this helps.

HelpPlease

Thanks for the response.

I've got the offending bottom woofer pulled from the cabinet & have a couple of noobie questions before I poke around inside. I'm looking around the woofer with a flashlight & I don't see anything visibly wrong with it, although I have 0% experience doing this so I don't really know what I'm looking for.

Is it ok to play music through the speaker with one of the woofers removed (wires also removed) so I can try isolating the noise (assuming it's inside) while I have a loop of music that causes rattle playing?

The wires going from the crossover to the bottom woofer seem to have a lot of slack as though they might lean on the bass ports or against the side of the cabinet when the woofer is hooked up. Would taping it to the cab be a good or stupid idea?

Also, some of the interior corners of the cabinet seem to be lacking glue in spots. Should I add some wood glue & if so do I need to have something squeeze the cabinet together & how long would it take to cure? Thanks.

Edit: There's a looot of stringy glue inside the cabinet. Should this be removed?

F1nut

Is it ok to play music through the speaker with one of the woofers removed (wires also removed) so I can try isolating the noise (assuming it's inside) while I have a loop of music that causes rattle playing?

Sure, just be sure to tape off the Faston connectors, so they don't short out.

The wires going from the crossover to the bottom woofer seem to have a lot of slack as though they might lean on the bass ports or against the side of the cabinet when the woofer is hooked up. Would taping it to the cab be a good or stupid idea?

There would be no harm in doing that.

Also, some of the interior corners of the cabinet seem to be lacking glue in spots. Should I add some wood glue & if so do I need to have something squeeze the cabinet together & how long would it take to cure? Thanks.

Use Loctite Power Grab available at Home Depot or Lowe's. No need to clamp. Do not use wood glue, wrong purpose.

Edit: There's a looot of stringy glue inside the cabinet. Should this be removed?

Hard to say without actually seeing what you're talking about.

HelpPlease

I took them to an authorized Polk repair center. He said the screw holes were the only problem & used epoxy to fix them. No more rattle & can finally go back to enjoying music rather than obsessively running over to the cabinets to listen for noise every five minutes.

Thanks for the help & for tolerating my profuse anxious meltdown