THank You F1nut

ultrasoudproductions

Polk RT400 Woofer problem.

I want to take this opportunity to thank F1nut publicly.

In the few months that I have ventured into researching Polk speakers, I have luckily come across this forum. I have made some purchases with primarily concentrating in the RTxxx and the RTxxxi line. I have a set of RT400 Towers that I have lovingly called my Ugly ducklings due to its cosmetics issues, with the grill being held with tape due to two broken clips, one of the tweeters having some cuts in it and it just isn't as nice as its siblings. It probably suffered from the red headed stepchild syndrome. LOL Anyways, the RT400s initially worked fine when I first hooked them up, but today they began to make a woofer noise when I tried them out at higher volumes. I came into the forum and did a search as I often do and came across an older post with the same issue where F1nut suggested remove the woofer and turn it 180 degrees. I was very skeptical that this would do anything as I attempted the task but I did not have a small enough screwdriver to do it. Then it hit me to turn the speaker upside down and to my surprise the speaker works fine. Hope to do the repair when I get the proper tool.

So thanks once again F1nut,
Jorge

F1nut

Ummm....well....ummmm glad it worked for you.

Tony M

Picture please of the whole layout.
I would believe I and others would like to see what it looks like .

ultrasoudproductions

Tony M wrote: »

Picture please of the whole layout.
I would believe I and others would like to see what it looks like .

This is what I have got so far. A work in progress.
Sets of RT1000i, RTi70, RT800, RT600, RT400, FX500i, Monitor10, a PSW505, a CS400i and a CSi40. To the right is my miscellaneous pile that include Polk sets of M1satellite, R10 Bookshelf, Monitor 60 II, 2 PSW10, a CS1, a CS101, and some non Polk. I will be selling be trying to sell this pile to hopefully get some nice cables and continue future additions.

ultrasoudproductions

DSkip wrote: »

That dude is a hack. Always asking how I'm doing and being courteous. To heck with him.

A little confused with this comment DSkip. Who is it directed at?

Viking64

ultrasoudproductions wrote: »

A little conused with this comment DSkip. Who is it directed at?

Judging by the description, I am going guess Francis Scott Key, the professor on "Gilligan's Island", or Joey Buttafuoco.

I can spot the CS400i in there, but that's it.

ultrasoudproductions

Viking64 wrote: »

ultrasoudproductions wrote: »

DSkip wrote: »

A little conused with this comment DSkip. Who is it directed at?

Judging by the description, I am going guess Francis Scott Key, the professor on "Gilligan's Island", or Joey Buttafuoco.

I can spot the CS400i in there, but that's it.

Is this some sort of test? Would you like a picture of the speakers without the grill on or maybe the individual serial tags Viking64?

Viking64

No. All I'm saying is that is the only speaker there that I recognize.

ultrasoudproductions

Viking64 wrote: »

No. All I'm saying is that is the only speaker there that I recognize.

Ahhhhh OK. Well sarting from the left to right you have RT1000i, RTi70, RT800, RT600 and on top of it upside down the RT400, and the Monitor10 in the middle with CSi40 on top of them floowed by the CS400i and the FX500i. The PSW505 is the picture by itself.

ultrasoudproductions

DSkip wrote: »

ultrasoudproductions wrote: »

DSkip wrote: »

That dude is a hack. Always asking how I'm doing and being courteous. To heck with him.

A little confused with this comment DSkip. Who is it directed at?

At Jesse. He's a good dude regardless of his reputation with some.

Sarcasm doesn't translate well on a forum.

Thank you for clarifying DSkip.

tonyb

I'm confused, which is pretty easy these days.....you bought vintage speakers in hopes of re-selling them to buy nicer cables ?

Why not skip the whole buying speakers part and use that money for the cables ? Less time wasted, you don't have to spend gas money driving around picking up speakers or selling them. Given their vintage, unless they are close to cherry condition, they aren't worth very much. Just sayin'....

Buy what ya want, life is too short to beat around the bush.

Mike Reeter

Damn Dude, You are Flush with Old Polk's aren't you? The RTi70's were me first pair, have owned several since then, but not this many!

There is a reason Jesse is the President of Club Polk!

xschop

I never liked china cabinets either....hehe

Have you listed to the inverted double stack in 4 channel?

ultrasoudproductions

tonyb wrote: »

I'm confused, which is pretty easy these days.....you bought vintage speakers in hopes of re-selling them to buy nicer cables ?

Why not skip the whole buying speakers part and use that money for the cables ? Less time wasted, you don't have to spend gas money driving around picking up speakers or selling them. Given their vintage, unless they are close to cherry condition, they aren't worth very much. Just sayin'....

Buy what ya want, life is too short to beat around the bush.

My apologies for not being clear. I have made some Polk purchases. I have focused primarily on the RT line and a set of monitor 10s for my collection. I will be selling most of what is my miscellaneous pile, the group of speakers to the right that consists of M1satellite, R10 Bookshelf, Monitor 60 II, 2 PSW10, a CS1, a CS101, and some non Polk speakers to hopefully get some nice cables and continue future Polk additions.

ultrasoudproductions

xschop wrote: »

I never liked china cabinets either....hehe

Have you listed to the inverted double stack in 4 channel?

Yes, that room is a mess. LOL Hope to do some renovations in the future. What is the "the inverted double stack in 4 channel"???

[Deleted User]

Whenever a person has multiple speakers in the same room the speakers that are not connected to an amplifier or receiver should have their speaker terminals shorted out. The reason for this is that each of those other speakers is going to absorb bass information that won't be heard. All you need to do is get a few pairs of alligator clip leads and connect the positive and negative terminals on each speaker together. This will short out the woofers preventing them from moving in response to the air pressure changes produced by the connected speakers playing.

mhardy6647

KennethSwauger wrote: »

Whenever a person has multiple speakers in the same room the speakers that are not connected to an amplifier or receiver should have their speaker terminals shorted out. The reason for this is that each of those other speakers is going to absorb bass information that won't be heard. All you need to do is get a few pairs of alligator clip leads and connect the positive and negative terminals on each speaker together. This will short out the woofers preventing them from moving in response to the air pressure changes produced by the connected speakers playing.

I've always wondered about the magnitude of that effect -- Ken, can you comment? I mean, the cones' 'sympathetic' vibration will generate some back EMF, which will -- I dunno -- have some effect, and obviously some energy in the room will be dissipated in moving those 'adventitious' cones... but does it have an audible and/or measurable effect?

I might have more of an issue with that than I thought up in my lair, you know?

FestYboy

In that same thought process, wouldn't the passives in a 2 channel do the same thing in response to the opposing speaker's output? And also, if you have another inactive pair with passives in the same room, what would be the best way to dampen them?

[Deleted User]

It's always hard to know how much something will effect the sound heard in a room and I suppose it would depend upon the characteristics of the other speakers. In this case since they all appear to be Polks they are going to have a similar overall bass resonance characteristic. One test would be to listen with the other speakers "free" and then short them out. I first was made aware of this when the Linn company required anyone selling their speakers to not have any other speakers in the same room during a demo. They said it significantly reduced the bass response and added coloration from the other speakers. To back this up they had us pick another pair of speakers and place them in the same room as the Linns, we listened and then carted the other speakers out and re-listened. There was definitely an audible difference, no question.
There were also speaker selector boxes that would short out the speakers not being played which were supposed to make the comparison more fair. If you think about it the other speakers are acting the same way as room treatments behave, resonating chambers that convert bass sounds into heat energy.

ultrasoudproductions

KennethSwauger wrote: »

Whenever a person has multiple speakers in the same room the speakers that are not connected to an amplifier or receiver should have their speaker terminals shorted out. The reason for this is that each of those other speakers is going to absorb bass information that won't be heard. All you need to do is get a few pairs of alligator clip leads and connect the positive and negative terminals on each speaker together. This will short out the woofers preventing them from moving in response to the air pressure changes produced by the connected speakers playing.

Yes, I have noticed the vibration in the woofers while other speakers are playing and wondered if there was any effect. I dont' know much about speakers but it made me think about how radiators work. I just put some speaker wire from the positive to the negative terminal and it worked. I have a large task at hand then. Unless I hear otherwise.

xschop

The way you have them upside down and on top the other set is like an old school Advent double stack.

TNTsTunes

KennethSwauger wrote: »

Whenever a person has multiple speakers in the same room the speakers that are not connected to an amplifier or receiver should have their speaker terminals shorted out. The reason for this is that each of those other speakers is going to absorb bass information that won't be heard. All you need to do is get a few pairs of alligator clip leads and connect the positive and negative terminals on each speaker together. This will short out the woofers preventing them from moving in response to the air pressure changes produced by the connected speakers playing.

So how well does this work is the speakers have passive radiators? I usually just place extra speakers face to face. I'll have to give wiring them together a try.

ultrasoudproductions

xschop wrote: »

The way you have them upside down and on top the other set is like an old school Advent double stack.

Sorry not to be versed in that topic xschop, but thank you for your clarification. So I did a little research to become familiar with the terms "The Double Advent System", Double or "Stacked" Large New Advent Speaker System. Interesting is that I have had a set of four older Advent A4s that have been serving me as stands since I have noticed that these Polk towers sound better to my ears when the tweeters are at ear level. I stacked the Advents like I saw in the pictures but I can't hear any difference in sound. LOL I think I have some of the tweeters and woofers still somewhere in the basement. I recall those tweeters being very ugly with the wiring mesh around them.

Tony M

Thanks for posting the pictures.
The upside down speakers sure makes for a tall speaker pair but I know you only did it until you flip the woofer itself.

It's better to have an RT addiction compared to some other very bad choices.

I still have a POLK AUDIO speaker addition after 15+ years. My wife doesn't mind as long as it doesn't come into our dining and living rooms. BUT...she has asked many times..." Don't you have enough ? ".

And I reply..." I haven't had this model yet. "

Then she shakes her head in bewilderment.

Tony M

I forgot to say...NICE collection.

And what Ken said, other speakers in the room do absorb sound waves.

ultrasoudproductions

Tony M wrote: »

Thanks for posting the pictures.
The upside down speakers sure makes for a tall speaker pair but I know you only did it until you flip the woofer itself.

It's better to have an RT addiction compared to some other very bad choices.

I still have a POLK AUDIO speaker addition after 15+ years. My wife doesn't mind as long as it doesn't come into our dining and living rooms. BUT...she has asked many times..." Don't you have enough ? ".

And I reply..." I haven't had this model yet. "

Then she shakes her head in bewilderment.

Your welcome Tony M. Hope to get the RT400 taken care of ASAP. You have a keeper for a wife, god bless your union. I have been divorced for over 10 years after a 20 year marriage and its been hard to find a compatible partner, but I have hope, faith and patience that she will come around.

Tony M wrote: »

I forgot to say...NICE collection.

And what Ken said, other speakers in the room do absorb sound waves.

Thanks, Yes I have gotten to connecting the terminals on some already and it has eliminated most of the woofer movement

machone

I decided to remove the pair of SDA1A's and the pair of Advent's from the cave and now I need to rethink and retune the room. Yes, the acoustics changed and in my case I think not for the better. A little too live I think. Never thought about the extra speakers affecting the sound. I was always going to move them out of rhe room but after reading Ken's post I decided to move them now and see what happened. So I will probably build some more panels and keep tuning.

teekay0007

Tony M wrote: »

And I reply..." I haven't had this model yet. "

Weinstein?...'Zat chu?.....

Tony M

^^^Hey now...

I never had to stoop to his levels to aquire the end goal.

Schurkey

...which then makes us all wonder about "home theater" with multiple pairs of speakers.

Even if they're powered, those cones are still reacting to the pressure pulses of the other speakers. I bet a person could connect an oscilloscope to the driver(s), and sort-out the drive signal the speakers are expected to reproduce, AND still see the ambient noise those drivers are picking up like a microphone diaphragm.

A guy could go crazy in this hobby. Which is probably why so many of us are crazy.

warren

If I had to do it all over again, I’d be an electrical engineer.. I’m so confused..