Destroyed RTi4 woofers Mayday.

SubSonic Polker

hello my fellow polkers. I have come to tell you of my terrible situation... this afternoon i was playing a 10hz sine signal to my Rti4's at 40% gain and a min later, i smelled burning sound and no more mid and bass. to my doom, i had realized what had occurred.

my history with this pair...
-Second owner
-Gift(Used)
-Great condition, when given
-woofer driver said Manufactured on "Nov 05, 2003"
-Had for like 4 months?

I used as "wide range" speakers in stereo configuration playing to a well 35hz with large amounts of bass enhancement devices. due to the lack of a subwoofer.

Now the woofers are friend and dried. the left one is really messed up, it seems to have a grip on the pole piece and only moves if forced. And the right speaker is still alive atleast, but only when pushed. during the movements, assisted by me, does it seem to receive a signal.

So far im guessing my options are to buy new woofers. or have them replaced with drivers from Polk Audio. im aware the kind of abuse voids any warranty or such things. but as the second owner, i dont expect it anyway. just to make sure. with great sentimental value, i would not toss this pair away. the beautiful tweeters are still fully functional without harm.

The drivers i want to use as replacements are the "Dayton DC130AS-8 5-1/4" CLASSIC SHIELDED WOOFER"
from Parts Express



are there any suggestions anyone can give me? im in a desperate situation.. without another stereo pair, im suffering with just using to tweeters. and some crappy radioshack headphones, but its better than nothing.

dkg999

Ummm, have you thought about calling Polk customer service and ordering a new pair of woofers? Seems to work for lots of us when we accidently screw up. They are nice people and won't judge you for your laboratory experiment that went amuck.

Welcome to Club Polk.

SubSonic Polker

im sure the price of the replacement woofers from Polk Audio would be much more expensive than something off of Parts Express and i dont have the money... would the Dayton Audio 5 1/4 inch be a bad idea? Or what about the Tang Band 5 1/4 incher?

dkg999

What's the value of having a set of speakers that sound like they should? Go original replacements or go home.

disneyjoe7

SubSonic Polker wrote:

hello my fellow polkers. I have come to tell you of my terrible situation... this afternoon i was playing a 10hz sine signal to my Rti4's at 40% gain and a min later, i smelled burning sound and no more mid and bass. to my doom, i had realized what had occurred.

I don't think that is a good idea on any speaker. A quick way to kill them. :rolleyes:

wallstreet

The speaker has no usable bass below 60hz. So let's run a 10hz tone to see exactly what? Where you expecting to hear something?

Libertyc

Where you expecting to hear something?

He sure smelled something.

beardog03

plugging them into the wall socket won`t make them a "powered" subwoofer either...:eek: :rolleyes:

F1nut

beardog03 wrote:

plugging them into the wall socket won`t make them a "powered" subwoofer either...:eek: :rolleyes:

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

He's here all week folks!

SubSonic Polker

Thank you all for all your valued help! Im Glad the Parts Express forum is my main audio forum because i have never seen so much rudeness 1) to a new member and 2) to one who is seeking help! Good bye! and God Bless! I hope you have a wonderful Holiday!

Libertyc

Happy Holidays.

janmike

Happy Holidays as well. I think you need to broaden your shoulders as that wasn't what I would consider real harsh. Stay away from the business world.

amulford

You deliberately fry your speakers and then want us to tell you to buy non OEM replacements? And you're PO'd because we poke fun? OK...

IF you want them to perform as designed, you need to get the replacement drivers from Polk. The crossovers were design for that driver, other drivers may not have the same operational parameters.

Since you got them for free, why are complaining about paying for YOUR experiment.

And Beardog is right, BTW. Just in case you wondered...

SubSonic Polker

This was not an experiment and this was not intentional.
seems when you're 39 money isnt such a problem... i'll be directly under bill gates in 22 years.

Polk65

Pass some head & shoulders along with the fruitcake. Anyone seen my mistletoe?

disneyjoe7

Happy Holidays...

Perhaps we should have realized your Screen name first, SubSonic Polker. Hmmm 10hz Yes SubSonic sound feeding a Polk Speaker. I Got it.

wallstreet

Welcome to the jungle, err, I mean forum!

McLoki

I am sure the problem was your amp. If you want to get some good 10hz tones out of an RTi4 - you are going to need at least 400wpc.

With enough power, you should be able to hook your tweeter to the binding posts and bypass the crossover. I am pretty sure it will play full range and they just put the crossover in there for people who don't have enough power to get sound out of playing a 10hz tone through a tweeter. You don't even need to waste the money replacing those woofers.

Michael (audio equivalent of get a bigger hammer)

disneyjoe7

McLoki wrote:

I am sure the problem was your amp. If you want to get some good 10hz tones out of an RTi4 - you are going to need at least 400wpc.

With enough power, you should be able to hook your tweeter to the binding posts and bypass the crossover. I am pretty sure it will play full range and they just put the crossover in there for people who don't have enough power to get sound out of playing a 10hz tone through a tweeter. You don't even need to waste the money replacing those woofers.

Michael (audio equivalent of get a bigger hammer)

Ways too see FLAME BALLS from your speakers from McLoki :cool:

disneyjoe7

McLoki wrote:

I am sure the problem was your amp. If you want to get some good 10hz tones out of an RTi4 - you are going to need at least 400wpc.

With enough power, you should be able to hook your tweeter to the binding posts and bypass the crossover. I am pretty sure it will play full range and they just put the crossover in there for people who don't have enough power to get sound out of playing a 10hz tone through a tweeter. You don't even need to waste the money replacing those woofers.

Michael (audio equivalent of get a bigger hammer)

Ways to get FLAME BALLS from your speakers from McLoki :cool:

McLoki

disneyjoe7 wrote:

Ways to get FLAME BALLS from your speakers from McLoki :cool:

It would be an audio and visual treat.

Be sure and invite as many of your friends over as possible for the demonstration. Just remember two important things reguardless of what happens....

1. Start the demo with "hey everybody, watch this"

2. End the demo with "TA DAAAAAA!!!"

You will be a legend my friend.

Michael

disneyjoe7

How true thanks for the laugh.

KentVaughn

For those of you who have never had the pleasure of seeing a speaker get torn up...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7_uvjoLzGM

That woofer was crap before I got ahold of it, but for the love of god, with RTi4's? Next time you try pumping a tone that you CAN'T EVEN HEAR out of a 5.25" woofer, just light it on fire first and get it over with.

amulford

SubSonic Polker wrote:

i'll be directly under bill gates in 22 years.

OK...

disneyjoe7

It was so nice too Dream when we where Young and knew it all.

SubSonic Polker

That was sarcasm, im only 17 and dont have a job and my parents arent rich like Amulford here. sorry for being poor and having polks. and 39 as in amulfords age. your welcome.

F1nut

Ummm....first you say,

this afternoon i was playing a 10hz sine signal to my Rti4's at 40% gain

Then this,

I used as "wide range" speakers in stereo configuration playing to a well 35hz with large amounts of bass enhancement devices.

And then you expect us to buy this,

This was not an experiment and this was not intentional.

Of course it was, so don't get upset when people poke fun at you.

Unless the Dayton drivers are drop in replacements your speakers will not sound as they did before you blew them up. Check with Polk, maybe the OEM drivers aren't as expensive as you think.

SubSonic Polker

"I used as "wide range" speakers in stereo configuration playing to a well 35hz with large amounts of bass enhancement devices."
-as in, I always use it like this. when pushed these babies can do ALOT of bass. i make sure theres no distortion, mechanically or from the signal. Im a bass freak and these puppies can push. im sure you all know that a pair of speakers will sound different in each and every different setting, and with mine, you wouldnt expect the amount these can give. it was too beautiful... i just wanted more...

"This was not an experiment and this was not intentional."
-if u persist to call it an experiment, but why would i intentionally destroy my speakers?(i think this one would go in a circle.)

"Of course it was, so don't get upset when people poke fun at you. "
-and yes i am upset. and its justified. its weird you group of mature adults would like to make fun of people... why? because of arrogance. like i dont know that 10 hz sinewave will destroy 5.25 60? watt woofers. It was an accident and you are just restating the obvious. (this not directed at F1nut)

i still gotta check with polk. im gonna be busy the next two weeks...

Thank you.

ben62670

Young guy getting into a pair of Polk's, and he gets hammered for doing something pretty stupid (like I think everyone has done(or maybe its just him and I that have blown a speaker or two)...
nice nice nice...
I really hope that what i have seen here isn't replicated with your kids.
way to kick a kids dick in the dirt...
nice welcome...
how do you feel...
don't even reply to me
encourage and assist the youth, you might need someone younger than you when you are feeble and in diapers shaking to hard to take your Viagra!


Hey Sub- They bash a lot of other people too. There is some good advice up there if you read through the insults. Do yourself a favor and get the stock woofers. Some might have big heads, but switching to another driver is a bad idea. I just got into this hobby pretty heavily recently. I have tried drivers not designed for their application, and it almost never sounds right.

I looked at the price list and i did not see any prices for that model. Just call them and tell them your a clubpolk member. You are probable looking at around $80 shipped to fix them. Get a sub Kid :-)

F1nut

Hey Ben, STFU.

ben62670

nice