PSW 505 connection problem

amartin

My PSW 505 has a problem with the right terminal speaker input connection at the back. I have an older Yamaha A 700 amplifier I'm connecting to, it's ancient but with great sound and huge heat sinks that I don't see on any newer modern day integrated amps. Naturally it doesn't have any sub pre-out jacks so I'm connecting everything at line level (speakers from amp to input L/R speakers on sub and out from sub to large floor-standing NS-A642 Yamaha speakers. Everything sounds good until I hook up the speaker wire to the right input terminal of the sub. When I do, the bass sound and output on the sub goes down by 3/4 and I have to turn the volume and crossover knobs way up to hear anything. When I disconnect the right terminal, the bass sound is amazing, the sound is full and powerful, and I have to turn the volume down to about 1/4 to control it, but of course I only get sound from the large left front speaker. Its had this problem since I bought it about two years ago but its been getting worse lately. Before this, I would just fiddle with the right terminal connection for a few hours until it would finally "catch" and I would hear the bass pumping out of the subwoofer and sound coming out of the both the right and left floor-standing speakers. And its always just this right terminal post connection that gives me problems. I recently tried connecting everything at the back of the subwoofer with banana plugs but the sound was literally half as loud as when connected with just the bare speaker wire. Any help or suggestions for this? I wanted to call Polk Audio customer service but heard they put you on hold for hours and since I work all day I can't do this.

[Deleted User]

Hello,
Welcome to Polk's forum.
"Everything sounds good until I hook up the speaker wire to the right input terminal of the sub. When I do, the bass sound and output on the sub goes down by 3/4 and I have to turn the volume and crossover knobs way up to hear anything. When I disconnect the right terminal, the bass sound is amazing, the sound is full and powerful, and I have to turn the volume down to about 1/4..."
I'm going to assume you are referring to the speaker wire that goes from the amp to the sub (since you say "input terminal"). If so, I believe one of the sets of speaker wires, either the right or the left is opposite in polarity from the other. Reverse the polarity on one of the wires, say the right, and connect it to the sub. See if the bass response remains.
Regards, Ken