Bad Amp RT2000i

scooter80

The green light no longer comes on and the two subs are not driving. The mid and tweeter still operate properly. I pulled the amp plate and the fuse is still good. I don't know what else to look at.
They are 6 or 7+ years old so out of warranty. The other one still works great so I want to fix this one. Anyone have any ideas?

scooter80

Nobody has any ideas? Polk wants $340 for a new amp. They said I could send it in for evaluation and possible repair or replacement though. Maybe I'll go that route.

beardog03

try that first..

may be an easy fix...

ya never know..

scooter80

Yeah... One can only hope.

miner

I had the same problem twice on my RT20p. Polk repaired at no charge even after out of warranty. Apparantly the internals of the amp experienced some problems from internal vibrations caused by bass. Ken Swauger can help you out at CS.

scooter80

miner wrote:

I had the same problem twice on my RT20p. Polk repaired at no charge even after out of warranty. Apparantly the internals of the amp experienced some problems from internal vibrations caused by bass. Ken Swauger can help you out at CS.

Cool, that sounds encouraging. I won't be able to do it until the beginning of April, but I'll update y'all when all is said and done.

miner

Polk will probably have you send it to their service center in San Diego I believe. Mine took about 4 weeks to get back.

elsid88

scooter...let me know how your experience goes. I seem to have a similar issue with my RT1000i speaker and no responses. Maybe they don't like us i series owners

Waiting for Ken to chime in.

Did you have no power (ie green light not on) or did you also have some humming sound?

Good luck...

Tom

scooter80

elsid88 wrote:

scooter...let me know how your experience goes. I seem to have a similar issue with my RT1000i speaker and no responses. Maybe they don't like us i series owners

Waiting for Ken to chime in.

Did you have no power (ie green light not on) or did you also have some humming sound?

Good luck...

Tom

Yeah, I was hoping Ken would have a little more insight than the email response I got from Polk CS. Here is what I wrote them:

I have a pair of RT2000i\'s that have served me well for over the 5 year
warranty period, but now it appears one\'s powered section has failed.
I
pulled the plate and checked the fuse but it was still good. I still
get
sound from the upper un-amped drivers but none from the powered subs and
the green status LED on the front does not light anymore. Any idea what
generally fails first. The transformer? The amp? Do you still have
replacements for either or both? What do you recommend? Mine are
probably
7 yrs old or so now and have the plate with only 110-120v on it, not the
switchable input like I guess the newer ones had. Thanks for any help.


Here is what they wrote back:

Good-morning,
You should probably send the Amp back to our Factory Service Center for
Evaluation and if necessary Repair or Replacement.
Please include a Day-time Phone and have them contact you with their
finding.
Please ship to:: Polk Audio - 2550 Britannia Blvd.Suite A - San
Diego,CA.92154-7408.

To Replace the Amp (RF2040-1)would be $340.00 each + S&H. You can order
parts with a Credit Card (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and
Discover) or Money Orders.
Please contact us at the address listed below. Most States require that
you pay Sales Taxes.

We also have on our web-site ( www.polkaudio.com/forums ) where you can
sign on as a Club Polk Member and receive a discount price on Parts and
also get 2nd Day shipping at no charge (In the USA).
You can either send that amount to: Polk Audio - 5601 Metro Dr. -
Baltimore, MD.21215 or quote it to us over the phone at 1-800-377-7655.
You can not order the Parts on Line.


Thank You,

As for my symptoms. No, I never had any humming. Just one day the green light didn't come on. I get no sound/movement in the subs, but the upper half seems to be unaffected and works fine. Checked the fuse inside (the obvious troubleshoot) but it checks okay.

I am re-doing my HT setup in early April and that is when I will decide wether to repair my 2000i's or go with an unpowered set of fronts. I will definitely give results here should I go the repair route.

jtgranby

Scooter

I sent you a PM.

JT

jtgranby

elsid88 wrote:

scooter...let me know how your experience goes. I seem to have a similar issue with my RT1000i speaker and no responses. Maybe they don't like us i series owners

Waiting for Ken to chime in.

Did you have no power (ie green light not on) or did you also have some humming sound?

Good luck...

Tom

Tom

You have a PM also.

JT

[Deleted User]

Hello,
While each person's situation can certainly be different, in general terms if you hear bass distortion from a self-powered speaker that is most often caused by a damaged woofer. In other words if your speaker contains a built-in bass amplifier and you are hearing distorted bass information this probably means the woofer has become damaged. One way to check this would be to remove the woofer(s) and try powering them directly from your receiver at a moderate volume. If the woofer sounds fine, when powered directly, then the problem is with the bass amplifier.
If you hear a loud humming sound with nothing connected to the bass amplifier's inputs then the problem is most likely the amplifier. If you find that the LED, on the amplifier, is not illuminated that could be caused by the AC fuse being out. This can be caused by temporary power outages. Call us at 1-800-377-7655 for instructions on how to check your speaker's fuse. If you don't believe there has been any power outages and, when you check it, the AC fuse is heavily blackened, internally, this is an indication that something serious has happened to the amplifier and there's no need to try another fuse. It will just blow again.
as I said these are generalizations and your situation could be different. Always feel free to contact me at 1-800-377-7655 extension 891 or email at kswauger@polkaudio.com.
Regards, Ken

scooter80

Well, since Ken replied so quickly after I PM'd him, I just removed, packed up and will give the amp to UPS tomorrow when they come by the house.

I'll let yall know what happens.

Thanks to Ken for the quick reply and interest in the problem!

As a side note, can I hook up as is without the amp. In otherwords, is the crossover up by the tweeter so I don't blow it out or was it contained in the plate amp?

[Deleted User]

Hello,
The crossover is in the upper part of the cabinet, behind the mid range driver. You should be able to find the two wires that lead up to this section and make your receiver connection wires there.
Regards, Ken

scooter80

Kenneth Swauger wrote:

Hello,
The crossover is in the upper part of the cabinet, behind the mid range driver. You should be able to find the two wires that lead up to this section and make your receiver connection wires there.
Regards, Ken

OK that's what I was thinking/hoping. Now I don't have to be without!

miner

I had to do that with my RT20p once - sent in one amp for repair and just used tweeter and mid/bass . The other RT20p added enough bass to satisfy until amp returned.

scooter80

Kenneth has resolved my issue and I am extremely happy with the way it was taken care of. I'll be smiling with my 2000's pumping again tomorrow!!

I could not be any happier with the Customer Service Ken offered, and ultimately, with the end result!

scooter80

UPDATE:

I got the amp as promised today and threw it in as soon as I did. Problem is, it appears whenever the amp went south it took the two 8's with it. They are rattling at the slightest hit of bass signal and don't give any out until the dial hits 3 o'clock or so. I swapped one of them into my good 2000 and it does the same so it seems the drivers went south too.

Just got off the horn with Ken and ordered up two new drivers. Hopefully this will keep the 2000's going for another couple of years till I can pay off the rest of the new theater room!

danger boy

very cool scooter80. Polk customer service is top notch.

I liken it to a used car.. eventually, it's going to need some repairs... so while your two 8" woofers may be toast, look at it as replacing the tires on your car.. they'll give you plenty of milage again once replaced.

beardog03

Ken is a great guy to work with, and Polk`s CS is top notch..

all the more reason to go with Polk...

I have a pair of RT2000i`s myself....They`re here to stay

You will be diggin those speaks for a long time to come...!

If you ever decide to go 2ch with them, I suggest a Jolida 1301 integrated, and a Jolida-100 CDP....a match made in heavan !!!

Trust me...

scooter80

Yup, couldn't be happier with how this all turned out, really. Great CS and I still love my Polks. They've been on loan to my father for about 2 yrs now, so since I'm getting them back and putting them to use in my media room, I figured I'd give them the tune-up they've needed for those 2 years.

The PSW650 has made up for the bass loss in the 2000's but now I can turn it down a bit with the 2000's firing on all cylinders again.

Can't wait till the new drivers get here and I can set up my media room in full!

miner

My RT20p speakers (predecessor to RT2000i) have had to have the 8" woofers replaced and 1 mid bass driver (purchased in 1996). The voice coils fried for some reason. I still have these - to hand down to my son. They are sitting idle now. Replaced with B&W N804. Unfortunately my amp will only drive 1 pair of speakers.

scooter80

Ahhhh. Got the new drivers today and installed them 15 minutes after Fedex left!

I can't believe how much I missed the 2000's just by themselves (since being on loan to pappy). And now that they are on all cylinders, I can't believe I went so long without them.

Now to get them in the dedicated HT room and top it off with the icing that is the Sharp 92 series 46" LCD that will soon be on its way!

........Drooooooling in anticipation.