Polk RT600i set up

Stevieh22

Hi, I'm sure this product is quite outdated and therefore I understand if your unable to help me but I picked up a pair of used Rt600i's and they sound very dark and muffled almost as if I had a towel covering the speakers, this isn't just typical muddiness. However it doesn't sound like anything is physically wrong within the speaker, nothing sounds blown, and there isn't any noticeable damage with the exception of one tweeter that has a small dent in it. Both speakers sound exactly the same. I believe the source of my problem could be my receiver. It's a Yamaha CR 420 natural sound with only 22watts of power, is this too weak for these speakers? Secondly I have pretty cheap speaker wire, what gauge would be suggested for these speakers? Thank you for your time.

Stephen Hatch

msg

Hey Stephen, welcome.

The RTxxi series was good, and pretty well liked here among those still running them. I'm using a pair of RT25i bookshelf speakers in a system with a sub, and I really enjoy them.

At a lower volume, if you put your ear to the tweeter, are they working?

That Yamaha should have these speakers sounding pretty decent. Sounds to me like you may not be getting sound out of the tweeters. If this is the case, it could be the tweeter or something burned out in the crossover.

Regarding power, usually if not getting enough power to speakers, they'll sound really crisp, but lacking in the low and mid ranges.

As for speaker cable, at this stage, it wouldn't cause the kind of malfunction you're describing, but go 16awg minimum, down to 12awg. You can go with some more refined stuff, but if this is just for really casual listening, you'd be fine with something like Mediabridge/Monoprice.

If you want to spend a little more once you get situated, you can step up to Furez, Mogami, and Audioquest bulk cable. I find these to be nice quality and pleasing. There's some higher end stuff, too, that can offer some refinements in audio, but they are significantly more expensive.

Stevieh22

Thanks for the quick response. So using your advice I just put a funnel up to the tweeters and confirmed that no sound is coming out of either one. Not sure why I didn't think to check this beforehand. Are you aware of any way to fix this or is it a lost cause? The rest of the speaker works fine.

msg

Okay, well, shoot. I wouldn't necessarily call it a lost cause at this point, but the next steps will depend on how handy you are, and how much work/money you want to put into getting them working.

First off, do you have the option to return them?

Next, you'll probably be looking at replacing one or both tweeters, and/or repairing or replacing the crossover board(s) if you can't figure out what's gone bad.

Repairing the crossover will involve some soldering most likely. I've seen some of the guys talk about what happens with this sort of damage, and they talk about a burnt resistor. It may be easy to identify visually.

I'm not sure how best to go about testing the tweeters, but I'm not sure it's advisable to connect a full range audio signal to them, because this would include bass frequencies. It might be okay for a very short duration just to see if they're operable, or there may be a better way @pitdogg2 - Ivan, what do you think?

Check out this listing for a tweeter over on Ebay. Is this the one you have? (post a photo here if you like. There were two tweeters in those speakers, but I think the i series used the tri-laminate design which is what makes these speakers sound so pleasing and smooth vs the silk dome of the RTixx series. Note the difference - RTixx vs RTxxi ) You could pull yours out for a part number to verify.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/POLK-DYNAMIC-BALANCE-1-TWEETER-SL6510-FROM-POLK-RT25i/153373637572

I think the crossover board for these may be attached to the speaker terminal plate on the back, but I'm not sure.

And, it may also be worth sending a message to Polk Support to see if they have anything, not sure?

Stevieh22

I'm decently handy and only payed 40$ for the speakers so I think i'll go for the fix if I can do it and still keep the overall cost at a bargain. And yes that is the same tweeter. I'll take some things apart and see if I can identify the issue, also I prbly will try to test the tweeters in the safest method I can find, I agree there may be some risk involved if bass frequencies are included. Once I do this I'll get back to you, hopefully by tomorrow. Once again I appreciate the advice, its really helped.

msg

Hey Steve, sounds good. I pinged Ivan in an earlier post as I remember seeing him chiming in on other similar posts and in determining damaged components on a crossover. Yeah man, for $40, definitely worth trying to figure out and save.

Never know, you might get lucky and find it to be something obvious.

Shoot us some closeups of the crossovers if you don't find anything obvious, like mysteriously disconnected tweeter cables

tonyp063

Shoot us some closeups of the crossovers if you don't find anything obvious, like mysteriously disconnected tweeter cables

^^^^
This.

Pictures can sometimes speak a thousand words.

Stevieh22

Hey guys so the good news is both tweeters work. However I'm not at the house where the speakers are but my father is and he can't seem to identify any obvious damage. Looking at this picture, which is the exact crossover for the Rt600i, where should we be looking for damage? For instance if its a burnt resistor where do I look? And where would I find a replacement?
....Im having trouble attaching images so you can view the picture at the ebay link below.



https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/POLK-AUDIO-RT-600i-CROSSOVER-REF-POLK-RE0609-1-/263429629612

F1nut

It's the white block on the bottom.

Stevieh22

Hey guys, here I am 4 months later readdressing this issue with the tweeter. I pushed the speakers aside until today and I took some pictures of the crossover because I'm having trouble noticing any damage. I'm hoping someone on here will see something that I'm overlooking. For a quick recap the tweeter works when the crossover is bypassed. I was told in the past that it's likely the high frequency resistor is fried.

F1nut

See my answer to your same question at AK.

mrloren

Do those speakers have dual binding post. if so is the jumper on them?

F1nut

Single set of posts.