I removed my polyswitches...

zingo
zingo Posts: 11,258
edited October 2009 in DIY, Mods & Tweaks
...and now I can listen to my music at a normal volume!
Ever since I have had my SDA 2A, if I played them too loud (which wasn't very loud), the left tweeter would cut out. I final got frustrated at a listening party tonight and just eliminated the polyswitch. Not only do the speakers sound great, but they dont cut out! I was putting some heafty power to them tonight and they are fine without the polyswitch (a 600wpc Carver amp). I really am suprised how much power SDAs can take. I was driving them with a 200wpc Audiometric amp, but the power of the Carver really makes them come alive.

One odd thing though. The polyswitch on the left speaker was blue, and on the right speaker it was yellow. My guess is that someone replaced one at one point but the other worked fine enough to leave it.

Moral of the story is: If you are having an issue with your polyswitches, just get rid of them.
Jake
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  • Ricardo
    Ricardo Posts: 10,636
    edited December 2007
    zingo wrote: »
    Moral of the story is: If you are having an issue with your polyswitches, just get rid of them.

    You forgot the part that says "And be careful with the volume or you'll blow your tweeters" ;)
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  • avguytx
    avguytx Posts: 1,628
    edited December 2007
    What 600wpc Carver amp? Are you talking @ a 4-ohm load or 8-ohm? I know Sunfire has had a couple of 600wpc amps but the only Carvers made now are those Phoenix Gold versions. I think with those amps, I'd want my polyswitches!
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  • zingo
    zingo Posts: 11,258
    edited December 2007
    It's the PM1201. It's a pro amp: 300wpc @ 8 ohms, 600wpc @ 4 ohms, 1200wpc bridged. I know that a lot of people don't like the sound of pros, but it sounded great to me. Lots of power to wake-up the speakers, yet still very detailed. It may have been lacking some warmth, but I plan to solve that with a tube pre.

    The only issue is it has fans. They are not too loud, but present. Have any ideas? Quieter fans? Can they just be disconnected?
    Jake
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  • nms
    nms Posts: 671
    edited December 2007
    The only issue is it has fans. They are not too loud, but present. Have any ideas? Quieter fans? Can they just be disconnected?

    Just take 'em out like you did with the polyswitches. :D:D Like the polyswitches, they're just degrading your sound quality. :rolleyes:
    My system

    "The world is an ever evolving clusterf*ck." --treitz3
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  • Ricardo
    Ricardo Posts: 10,636
    edited December 2007
    Nothing wrong with removing polyswitches, really; to blow a tweeter you either need a very crappy amp, or raise the volume to a level that will blow your ears first, so you really don't need the tweeters anyway ;)

    The last SDA's produced (3.1TL's) came out without polyswitches
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  • Ricardo
    Ricardo Posts: 10,636
    edited December 2007
    Double post
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  • Ricardo
    Ricardo Posts: 10,636
    edited December 2007
    Lasareath wrote: »
    Ricardo, you do mean we don't need the polyswitches?

    I took mine out when I redid my crossovers.

    you do need to watch how you drive your speakers without them, I blew 1 or 2 tweeters on my left 1.2tl a few months ago when I turned my pre up to 4.5, Yes I know, that's too high, I usually don't go beyond 3.5

    At least now I know where my limit is.

    Sal

    I mean you don't need the polyswitches if you have a decent amp that won't distort easily, and you don't raise the volume to 4.5, or too high :)

    Lot's of speakers don't have any tweeter protection. You do need to use some common sense.
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  • MillerLiteScott
    MillerLiteScott Posts: 2,561
    edited December 2007
    Poly Switches are for Rookies.
    I like speakers that are bigger than a small refrigerator but smaller than a big refrigerator:D
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  • nms
    nms Posts: 671
    edited December 2007
    MillerLiteScott wrote: »
    Poly Switches are for Rookies.

    Guess that means I need to keep mine!
    My system

    "The world is an ever evolving clusterf*ck." --treitz3
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  • zingo
    zingo Posts: 11,258
    edited December 2007
    nms wrote: »
    Just take 'em out like you did with the polyswitches. :D

    Hmmm... removing the fans. I have two thoughts.
    One: the amp was built with fans for a reason and removing them would be electronic suicide.
    Two: It's built to be very powerful, thus creating lots of heat and requiring fans. Since I am barely moving the VU meters, I am not creating the heat assumed in the amps design. Disconnecting the fans and making sure that the amp has adequite heat sinks.
    Jake
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  • nms
    nms Posts: 671
    edited December 2007
    zingo wrote: »
    Hmmm... removing the fans. I have two thoughts.
    One: the amp was built with fans for a reason and removing them would be electronic suicide.
    Two: It's built to be very powerful, thus creating lots of heat and requiring fans. Since I am barely moving the VU meters, I am not creating the heat assumed in the amps design. Disconnecting the fans and making sure that the amp has adequite heat sinks.

    It was a joke. The fans are in there for a reason, I do not recommend removing them if you value your electronics. (Unless of course you have a temperature probe and can make sure it doesn't overheat)
    My system

    "The world is an ever evolving clusterf*ck." --treitz3
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  • zingo
    zingo Posts: 11,258
    edited December 2007
    I'm going to look into it...
    Jake
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  • zingo
    zingo Posts: 11,258
    edited December 2007
    Oh, you guys are so good to me.
    That's a great idea Lasareath.
    Jake
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  • shadowofnight
    shadowofnight Posts: 2,735
    edited December 2007
    In the 3 sets of SDA speakers I picked up in the last few months ( 2 sets of SRS's and a pair of 2.3's ) ...the 2 pair I kept have zero issues....when doing the crossovers on them I noticed the polyswitches were yellow.

    On the pair of SRS's I let my friend take he said the tweeters were cutting out after extended listening at extreme volumes. He has CLEAN huge amplification so I knew it was not an issue. I contacted Kenneth from Polk and he sent me enough new yellow polyswitches for all 3 pair. Just last night replaced my friends polyswitches ( Which were BLUE by the way ) and all cutting out issues were eliminated.

    Thanks Kenneth for the free polyswitches....just wondering if the blue poly's were somehow inferior.....or just degraded with time more so then the yellow one's ???
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  • zingo
    zingo Posts: 11,258
    edited December 2007
    My guess is that the blue polys were just degraded from 20 years of "switching". If you put that in perspective, those little things are pretty amazing.
    Jake
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,647
    edited December 2007
    just wondering if the blue poly's were somehow inferior.....or just degraded with time more so then the yellow one's ???
    They are all the same, just a different maker. They all will degrade with time and use, best to remove them.
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  • shadowofnight
    shadowofnight Posts: 2,735
    edited December 2007
    F1nut wrote: »
    They are all the same, just a different maker. They all will degrade with time and use, best to remove them.

    Thats probably the best thing to do...even though my yellow ones were functioning fine, they are as old as dirt :)

    Since I use really powerful amps ( Carver silver 7t pair for the 2.3's with the AI-1 IC and RF2000 with the SRS's ) that are nowhere near clipping even at outrageous volume levels I will just yank em out and jumper the contact points.
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  • Dennis Gardner
    Dennis Gardner Posts: 4,861
    edited December 2007
    Yeah.....who needs breakers, fuses, poly switches, relays, etc.??????

    They are all just pains in the ****.........thats what tin foil was invented for wasn't it?:rolleyes:
    HT Optoma HD25 LV on 80" DIY Screen, Anthem MRX 300 Receiver, Pioneer Elite BDP 51FD Polk CS350LS, Polk SDA1C, Polk FX300, Polk RT55, Dual EBS Adire Shiva 320watt tuned to 17hz, ICs-DIY Twisted Prs, Speaker-Raymond Cable

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  • shadowofnight
    shadowofnight Posts: 2,735
    edited December 2007
    Dennis Gardner wrote: »
    Yeah.....who needs breakers, fuses, poly switches, relays, etc.??????

    They are all just pains in the ****.........thats what tin foil was invented for wasn't it?:rolleyes:

    In this case bus wire and solder :)
    The first rule of Fight Club is you don't talk about Fight Club
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  • zingo
    zingo Posts: 11,258
    edited December 2007
    Lasareath wrote: »
    Maybe you can just install a Thermal Switch, when the need arises the fans will go on.

    After doing some thinking, I am going to add a thermal switch to the fans in the Carver. Over Christmas, I will be opening that badboy up, cleaning it out (including the connections), and adding a termal switch to keep the fans at bay. I'll post guts pics when I get them and write on the results of the cleaning/upgrade.
    Jake
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  • jmackenzie3
    jmackenzie3 Posts: 7
    edited June 2008
    OK so here's a real high quality noob question:

    What do these polyswitches look like? I have a pair of Monitor7Cs from 1987/88,, and my right tweeter is dead. Is there a chance that this polyswitch could be the culprit?

    If the experts here recommend ripping them out, I will follow the herd obediently. All I need to know is what they look like...
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  • billbillw
    billbillw Posts: 6,815
    edited June 2008
    jmackenzie3 wrote: »
    OK so here's a real high quality noob question:

    What do these polyswitches look like? I have a pair of Monitor7Cs from 1987/88,, and my right tweeter is dead. Is there a chance that this polyswitch could be the culprit?

    If the experts here recommend ripping them out, I will follow the herd obediently. All I need to know is what they look like...

    FYI: If your speaker has a glass fuse on the back, you do not have polyswitches. If no fuses, then I would test your tweeter by removing it from the cabinet, and CAREFULLY connecting the tweeter directly to the speaker wires and try playing at VERY LOW levels to see if any sound comes out. If nothing, then the tweeter is bad fried. If you hear sound, then the polyswitch or something else is bad in the crossover. Schematics are available here
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  • Conradicles
    Conradicles Posts: 6,092
    edited September 2009
    Help me out folks...is the polyswitch the one in the S1 location?
    (I'm almost sure it is, but I just wanted to verify)
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  • Face
    Face Posts: 14,340
    edited September 2009
    Yes, send it back to Mexico.
    "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
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  • Conradicles
    Conradicles Posts: 6,092
    edited September 2009
    Cool. Thanks! Caps are next thing going back to Mexico!
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  • kcoc321
    kcoc321 Posts: 1,788
    edited September 2009
    zingo wrote: »
    After doing some thinking, I am going to add a thermal switch to the fans in the Carver. Over Christmas, I will be opening that badboy up, cleaning it out (including the connections), and adding a termal switch to keep the fans at bay. I'll post guts pics when I get them and write on the results of the cleaning/upgrade.
    Zingo, when you have access to them, you might also try a computer store for a replacement sized fan, if you have not thought of it already.
    I know from when I have rebuilt my computers, there are alot of super quite fans, some with a thermal controller included. I like the Enermax or Zalman.
    Run VERY quite at low temps.
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  • D.Invax
    D.Invax Posts: 7
    edited October 2009
    They could have just stuck a couple .22 caliber long rifle shells in there like the urban legend.

    Seriously though, does that mean that the rest of us should put some big 30 amp fuses in there to make sure they dont blow?
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  • ShinAce
    ShinAce Posts: 1,194
    edited October 2009
    Resistor is a good idea since polyswitches aren't exactly 0.0 ohms. By replacing with a resistor, the rest of the crossover should perform to its max. This assumes the resistance of the polyswitch was accounted for by Polk when designing the crossover network.

    Different models of polyswitch have different resistances. My personal guess would be to use 0.2(up to a max of 0.5) ohms for the resistor. However, there's nothing really wrong with bypass.
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  • thsmith
    thsmith Posts: 6,082
    edited October 2009
    I removed my polyswitch and went with a .5ohm 12 watt Mills resistor and could not be happier.
    Speakers: SDA-1C (most all the goodies)
    Preamp: Joule Electra LA-150 MKII SE
    Amp: Wright WPA 50-50 EAT KT88s
    Analog: Marantz TT-15S1 MBS Glider SL| Wright WPP100C Amperex BB 6er5 and 7316 & WPM-100 SUT
    Digital: Mac mini 2.3GHz dual-core i5 8g RAM 1.5 TB HDD Music Server Amarra (memory play) - USB - W4S DAC 2
    Cables: Mits S3 IC and Spk cables| PS Audio PCs
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  • thsmith
    thsmith Posts: 6,082
    edited October 2009
    Doing dynamat this weekend. Probably will do post and SDA cable this winter as well. Hopefully I will have my tube amp to sit next to and stay warm.
    Speakers: SDA-1C (most all the goodies)
    Preamp: Joule Electra LA-150 MKII SE
    Amp: Wright WPA 50-50 EAT KT88s
    Analog: Marantz TT-15S1 MBS Glider SL| Wright WPP100C Amperex BB 6er5 and 7316 & WPM-100 SUT
    Digital: Mac mini 2.3GHz dual-core i5 8g RAM 1.5 TB HDD Music Server Amarra (memory play) - USB - W4S DAC 2
    Cables: Mits S3 IC and Spk cables| PS Audio PCs
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