Polk RTIA9 upper tweeters stopped
03SONIC
Posts: 46
Here is what I have
Sherbourn PT7030
Emotiva XPA 1 running the RTIA9s (2 xpa 1's)
Last nite I was listening to music at a decent volume when I noticed my right side RTIA9 the 3 upper tweeters stopped playing. Left side is good, speaker wires look secure to posts. Any idea where to start and what may have happen? did I cook the tweaters?
Sherbourn PT7030
Emotiva XPA 1 running the RTIA9s (2 xpa 1's)
Last nite I was listening to music at a decent volume when I noticed my right side RTIA9 the 3 upper tweeters stopped playing. Left side is good, speaker wires look secure to posts. Any idea where to start and what may have happen? did I cook the tweaters?
Comments
-
The rtia9 has only one tweeter. If you mean the 2 upper (smaller woofers) and the one tweeter, makes sense.
Check the jumper cables on the binding posts and connection on back of speaker as a first step, on the speaker having issues. -
Checked it...I think the crossover may have cooked I pulled it out as far as I could and see some slight burn marks. Where can I find one of these and is this common?
-
From the description sounds like you over drive them puppies. Time to pull XO show us pictures betting you fried several parts on the board. Bright amps paired with bright speakers can equal scramble eggs. Are the speakers still under warranty? If so Polk may take care of it.
-
From the description sounds like you over drive them puppies. Time to pull XO show us pictures betting you fried several parts on the board. Bright amps paired with bright speakers can equal scramble eggs. Are the speakers still under warranty? If so Polk may take care of it.
If you look close I think you will see what I mean. It smells a little burnt also, not sure if they are under warranty. Do you know where I can get a crossover?
-
Could you possibly pull it out further and take a pic straight onwards, and not from the side?
-
Could you possibly pull it out further and take a pic straight onwards, and not from the side?
That is as far as i can get it out without taking all the speakers out and dis connecting them. I tried:( -
You're going to have to disconnect the internal wires regardless, so might as well do it now. You've likely cooked a resistor, maybe more.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 -
You're going to have to disconnect the internal wires regardless, so might as well do it now. You've likely cooked a resistor, maybe more.
Where can i get a new one. I cannot seem to find any information on line. Just the trey upgrade on crossovers but it looks like hes disappeared from doing these. Is this something common? -
You can repair your current crossover as long as the board traces are not damaged. If you can't do it any audio repair shop can. Otherwise, call Polk to order a new crossover.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 -
You can repair your current crossover as long as the board traces are not damaged. If you can't do it any audio repair shop can. Otherwise, call Polk to order a new crossover.
Is there any upgrade so this doesn't happen again? -
Yes put higher wattage mills resistor in on both. First you will need to disassemble as F1nut said. Then figure out just what you cooked.
-
I will call Polk in the am and go from there.
-
The reason you cooked something is your amp sent a clipped signal. If what I suspect is just a resistor didn't go it would have been and still could be the tweeter as well. Therefore, using a higher wattage resistor would likely save it from cooking, but the tweeter would definitely get the short end of the stick.
The real solution is to not turn it up as loud. You may also consider replacing your amps with something that has a smoother top end.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 -
The reason you cooked something is your amp sent a clipped signal. If what I suspect is just a resistor didn't go it would have been and still could be the tweeter as well. Therefore, using a higher wattage resistor would likely save it from cooking, but the tweeter would definitely get the short end of the stick.
The real solution is to not turn it up as loud. You may also consider replacing your amps with something that has a smoother top end.
What is a clipped signal? How does one go about upgrading a resistor, sorry to sound like a dummy.
-
A clipped signal is when your amp is overdriven and sends a signal with too much distortion. On an oscilloscope the wave form is clipped off at the top, hence the term. It only takes a second or so for damage to occur. You may not even notice it, but when the sound becomes strained/shrill is a good indication that you need to turn it down. That said, with inherently bright speakers and amps it might be harder to detect.
Changing a resistor requires soldering tools, which judging by your question you don't have. If you want to learn there are videos online to help. Regardless of whether you do the work or have a shop do it I strongly suggest you do not increase the resistor wattage unless you learn the limits of your amps otherwise you will cook many a tweeter.
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 -
Good advice above.
Remember, adding an amp to speakers doesn't mean you can play as loud as you like, that's not what they are there for anyway. Call Polk. or have a qualified tech fix it. Good luck to you, hopefully it won't be as painful as you think.HT SYSTEM-
Sony 850c 4k
Pioneer elite vhx 21
Sony 4k BRP
SVS SB-2000
Polk Sig. 20's
Polk FX500 surrounds
Cables-
Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable
Kitchen
Sonos zp90
Grant Fidelity tube dac
B&k 1420
lsi 9's -
Well I took it apart. I cooked the tweeter and 1 mid range and the crossover. Called Polk great customer service new parts on the way. Wonder if I should upgrade to Trey's crossover?
-
How did you determine that?
Upgrading the crossovers, while an excellent idea, is not going to prevent damaging them in the future. I already explained why it happened and how to prevent it, but it is again.The real solution is to not turn it up as loud. You may also consider replacing your amps with something that has a smoother top end.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 -
How did you determine that?
Upgrading the crossovers, while an excellent idea, is not going to prevent damaging them in the future. I already explained why it happened and how to prevent it, but it is again.The real solution is to not turn it up as loud. You may also consider replacing your amps with something that has a smoother top end.
I tested all the speakers these two are dead and the crossover if you look close is burnt and smells fried. I like it loud..should i upgrade anything? -
Ok, I'll take it you put a meter on the tweeter and driver, which showed open?
I'm sure the crossover could be repaired by replacing that resistor and maybe a cap, but since you already ordered a new one....
Yeah, get rid of those amps, but more importantly you need to learn where the limit of your volume level is. Generally speaking, approaching halfway is the limit and even that can get dicey very quickly.
A rule of thumb, it takes double the power to obtain a 3dB increase in volume. For example as a base line with your speakers it takes 1 watt to obtain an SPL of 90dB at one meter. Let's move up to extremely loud levels. It takes 264 watts to obtain 112dB, 528 to obtain 115dB and 1056 to obtain 118dB. Keep in mind that at dB levels above the upper 90's your hearing will start to suffer and you very well could be deaf years later.
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 -
If you like it that loud, then buy PA speakers that are built for a sustained loud level..If you don't change anything, you'll just keep blowing these. Unless you like spending money to fix them .HT SYSTEM-
Sony 850c 4k
Pioneer elite vhx 21
Sony 4k BRP
SVS SB-2000
Polk Sig. 20's
Polk FX500 surrounds
Cables-
Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable
Kitchen
Sonos zp90
Grant Fidelity tube dac
B&k 1420
lsi 9's -
Buy some klipsch speakers, crank it and let your ears bleed. You will love it.2 channel:
Bryston 4B3, Bryston BDA3, Cary SLP05, Shanling CDT1000SE with parts conneXion level 2 mods, Nottingham analogue ace space 294, soundsmith Carmen MKii, Zu DL103 MKii, Ortofon MC 20 MKii, Dynavector XX2 MKii, Rogue Audio Ares, Core power technologies balanced power conditioner, Akiko Corelli power conditioner with Akiko Audio HQ power cable, Nordost heimdall 2, Frey 2, interconnects, speaker and power cables, Focal Electra 1028 BE 2, Auralic Aries Femto, Black diamond racing cones, ingress audio level 1 roller blocks, JL Audio E110 with Auralic subdude, Primacoustics room treatments.
Theater:
Focal Aria 926,905,CC900, SVS PB ultra x2. Pioneer Elite SC85, Oppo BDP93, Panamax M5400PM, Minix neox6, Nordost Blue heaven LS power cables. -
He's got 600 wpc and wants to use 598 of them lol
-
-
Ok, I'll take it you put a meter on the tweeter and driver, which showed open?
I'm sure the crossover could be repaired by replacing that resistor and maybe a cap, but since you already ordered a new one....
Yeah, get rid of those amps, but more importantly you need to learn where the limit of your volume level is. Generally speaking, approaching halfway is the limit and even that can get dicey very quickly.
A rule of thumb, it takes double the power to obtain a 3dB increase in volume. For example as a base line with your speakers it takes 1 watt to obtain an SPL of 90dB at one meter. Let's move up to extremely loud levels. It takes 264 watts to obtain 112dB, 528 to obtain 115dB and 1056 to obtain 118dB. Keep in mind that at dB levels above the upper 90's your hearing will start to suffer and you very well could be deaf years later.
Well i definitely need some insight setting up the dbs and crossovers and keeping it to a minimum volume level. I have everything set at 80mhz and the sub at 60mhz. I need a spl meter to dial in the dbs because that is where i get lost. The amps are brand new and i prefer to keep them. I was thinking about Treys upgrade on the crossovers. -
Trey's upgrade to the crossovers while very good don't come cheap either. You may realize more if you spent that coin in upgrading your source components or cabling.HT SYSTEM-
Sony 850c 4k
Pioneer elite vhx 21
Sony 4k BRP
SVS SB-2000
Polk Sig. 20's
Polk FX500 surrounds
Cables-
Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable
Kitchen
Sonos zp90
Grant Fidelity tube dac
B&k 1420
lsi 9's -
The XPA-1 's are also rated at 1000 watts at 4 ohms. When you turn up the dial, your over driving the speakers and/or sending clipped signals. If you don't learn about power, how much is needed and within the capabilities of the gear you have, you will continuously be fixing speakers. Polk may help you out this time, but down the road those costs are coming out of your pocket.
If your receiver has the capabilities, set a volume limitation on it to avoid over driving them. Everything has it's limits, and you just found yours the hard way.
Normally when you listen at higher volumes, when the music starts sounds piercing, congested, back off the volume dial.HT SYSTEM-
Sony 850c 4k
Pioneer elite vhx 21
Sony 4k BRP
SVS SB-2000
Polk Sig. 20's
Polk FX500 surrounds
Cables-
Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable
Kitchen
Sonos zp90
Grant Fidelity tube dac
B&k 1420
lsi 9's
