Help R50s

hydrostream

Hi my R50s sound like crap lately.
I think the tweeters are blown
what should i do?
About a year old from FRYS
jerry

McLoki

Call polk customer service and order a new pair. You get a slight discount and free shipping for being a Club Polk member so be sure and mention that as well.

Good luck and once you get the new tweeters, turn the volume down a little...

Michael

Kex

You can check the tweeters using an old kitchen roll tube to isolate the sound from the drivers. Carefully position one end of the tube around the tweeter and the other end at your ear.

hydrostream

Turn the volume down?
Do you think thats why they blew?
I used a set of R300s before the 50s
and never had a problem and i still
crank them in the basement.
jerry

Kex

If the tweeters are blown (please check them), then usually it means your AVR was unable to produce the output being demanded of it, creating a "clipped" signal and distorted sound: the usual cause for blown tweeters.

hydrostream

I hooked them back up and nothing coming
from the tweeters.
jerry

Kex

hydrostream wrote: »

I hooked them back up and nothing coming
from the tweeters.
jerry

That does sound like blown tweeters, since those speakers do not have dual binding posts AFIK (four per speaker instead of two, in which case a loose connector between the top and bottom binding posts could also cause the same thing). Call c/s and find out what the price of replacements will be. Determine what the maximum range of your receiver's volume knob is and stay well away from the highest setting. This self-imposed top limit will vary, depending on the scale of the receiver and on how you adjusted your system initially.

You would probably know yourself if you have played them loud enough to have blown the tweeters and I would not expect this type of misuse would not be covered under warranty. What type of receiver were you using and how high do you think you played them?

hydrostream

I have a onkyo HT-r540.
I started with a set of R300s then i got the
R50s.
I think that from the start the 300s sounded
better.
Maybe my AVR but i would think it should
power the speakers just fine.(110 watts per channel)
I'm sure thats over rated.
I just removed a tweeter from the 300 to try
in the 50 and it works.
Checking to see if it was a bad connection
or crossover.
jerry

hydrostream

I did a little searching for polk tweeters and
it looks like it would be cheaper to buy
2 new complete speakers.
jerry

Jed Leland

Hello Jerry,
Those speakers have a five year warranty, all you have to do is remove the tweeter and send it to the address they give in the warranty section of the owner's manual. I think you need to include a copy of your sales receipt. Polk will send you a replacement at no charge.
Jed

hydrostream

Thanks will look into it.
jerry

Jed Leland

No problem, Jerry, Polk will keep you flying!

MLZ

Maybe the least expensive solution - in Indianapolis FRY's had R50's for $99 / pair :)

halo

How the heck do people manage to blow tweeters on the R series?

I just listened to / watched the "nine inch nails - Live - Beside You In Time" DVD @ over 100db w/ my HT.

R15's as mains and surrounds. CSi25 Center Channel. SVS 20-39 PCi sub. HK 340 AVR driving everything except the SVS.

Sounded Great - like being at the concert.

The HK got really hot but I didn't blow any tweeters.

Jed Leland

Howdy,
Most speaker problems are more related to what's driving the speakers rather than the speakers themselves. Receivers have no dynamic headroom and poor ability to deal with real world speaker loads. Also, a great deal of popular music contains so much built-in distortion that it masks any problems the receiver might be having.
JL

danger boy

I think when someone says... " I wasn't playing them that loud", is a dead give away.. really, anything electrical over driven beyond what it's build to handle will at some point die. esp given the cheap amp's in most receivers.

some of my friends hear the distortion when they play their music loud, but just think that their receiver is fine.. that it's a problem with THE speakers and not their cheap $99 receiver.

I've never blown a tweeter from distortion... and I crank it now and then. My ears would bleed before a tweeter would get fried.

hydrostream

I called and they are going to ship 2 new tweeters
out.
Go polk
thanks jerry