I'm starting to get pretty ticked off!

mhartman29

I sent in the sub from one of my RT3000s for service about 2 months ago since it was buzzing. I pulled it apart per Polk's recommendation, sent it in for service and it was returned promptly. Up until that point everything was fine.

Since then NOTHING has gone properly and I still have not been able to hook my speaker system back up. Essentially, the wire that connects the subs to the speakers themselves became frayed, so I needed to play a game of cat and mouse to get the proper wires sent to me. This process took weeks considering they were 1) sent to the wrong address and I was not notified and 2) I was sent only the lower portion of the wire that I needed. To their credit Polk did sent it 2nd day to try to get it to my promptly, but it shouldn't take this long to fix.

Now after speaking with customer/tech support it sounds like it should be easy to reattach the wire. Of course not. There is a big circular tube directly in front of the speakers themselves so there is NO WAY I can reinsert the wires. I call technical support and all the techs have gone home. I guess they go home "early" on Fridays.

WTF! I've been waiting to get these speakers fixed for 2 months now. I have some brand new Emotiva gear I've been dying to test out and I can't. Now I have to wait for ANOTHER weekend until tech support shows back up.

I've held my tongue long enough. This is BS.

Can anyone on this forum help me? I know where everything is supposed to go, but I can't get to it. Can I detach the speakers from the front so I can plug the wires into the speakers? I'm afraid of damaging the speakers, but I don't think there is any other way.

PolkThug

Sounds like Polk CS is trying to help you. Its not a Rubik's cube, start unscrewing stuff. It will take a little time, but you can do it!

treitz3

1st thing. Calm down, "things" happen. Second thing, I have PM'd you my phone # and I will happy to lead you thru what you need to do to get up and running.

ben62670

Polk CS is top notch. They speak English, and actually answer the phone. They also need to sleep. Have a little patience. You could go out, and buy nearly any other mass produced speaker and get little, or no tech support. Polk will take good care of you.

Ben

BaggedLancer

treitz3 wrote: »

1st thing. Calm down, "things" happen. Second thing, I have PM'd you my phone # and I will happy to lead you thru what you need to do to get up and running.

Could I have your phone number too? I just need someone to talk to.......:o

Kex

You're just a bit unlucky, hartman. So many manufacturers couldn't give a **** about their older product lines, but Polk actually provide real live human support and spare parts when they can (not to mention this forum, where they also participate actively and often). I think that is an achievement in itself these days.

The unfortunate thing is that your Emotiva combo is already there, and the clock on your "free" trial is ticking, which is probably why you are getting somewhat anxious.

Kex

BaggedLancer wrote: »

Could I have your phone number too? I just need someone to talk to.......:o

Very cute ...

BaggedLancer

Kex wrote: »

Very cute ...

Thanks, I know I am.

mhartman29

Kex, you are exactly right. In fact, my "trial" period with Emotiva has already expired, and I haven't been able to test 'em out yet! Remember how anxious you were around Christmas to try yours out? Imagine my pain.

Many thanks to treitz3 for offering to speak with me over the phone. After speaking briefly with him (my g/f was pulling me out the door to go to a party, so we couldn't talk long) I went ahead and removed the drivers from the cabinet. So, I can now hook the wires up.

From looking at the wiring schematic it seems the red wire should go on the positive terminal and the green on the negative on the top driver; while the green wire should go on the positive terminal and the black on the negative on the bottom driver. The problem is there isn't any + or - indication on the terminals. This is probably a dumb question, but there is a bit of red paint below one of the terminals on each driver. Does that indicate the + terminal?

beardog03

yes, I believe you are correct

Red = positive
black = negative

mhartman29

Any second opinions? If we're wrong, what will happen?:eek:

miner

Yes, the red dot is for +. I have some RT20Ps that have the same geometry - 2 8" owered subs. red wire to pos sub 1, green wire neg sub 1 to pos sub 2; hook final green wire from crossover to neg sub 2.

Polk CS is top notch IMHO.

Face

It's Polk's fault you can't figure out how to fix your speakers?

I guess I should blame GM since I don't know how to fix a GM trans, even after they sold me parts.

rskarvan

I do have to agree... Polk does a piss-poor job in labeling the internal connections of a speaker (and the wires) as either positive or negative.

shawn474

It's not that hard to get the schematics. I wouldn't call it piss-poor at all. Just look at the schematics diagram.

jakelm

I called Polk CS, to help me cook a spaghetti and meat balls. After 3 grooling hours on the phone, we finaly got it cooked. But they never told me to use ground chuck instead of regular ground beaf. I'm never calling or relying on them again. Polk CS can stick it....

mhartman29

LOL @ some of these responses. I was trying to avoid going into the painful details about this whole ordeal, but considering some of the responses maybe I should have!

In any event, thanks for the help. Hopefully my subs don't blow up, but I'm sure if they do Face will blame it on me and my ignorance...

VR3

How on earth is it piss poor to label drivers with red paint?

What else do you need... it spelled out?

POSITIVE, NEGATIVE -- thats almost saying +/- isnt enough...

Jesus

Thats in response to Ron

rskarvan

Vr3MxStyler2k3 wrote: »

How on earth is it piss poor to label drivers with red paint?

What else do you need... it spelled out?

POSITIVE, NEGATIVE -- thats almost saying +/- isnt enough...

Jesus

Thats in response to Ron

When I pulled drivers out of my CRS+... the only marking internally were small tab/big tab... and, black and white wire.

That's piss poor marking. I'd have no problem with a red-dot... it just wasn't there.

mhartman29

I got it hooked up! Thanks for the help (and ridicule) guys.

Face

mhartman29 wrote: »

I got it hooked up! Thanks for the help (and ridicule) guys.

Glad to hear it. Let's now hear your impression on the whole setup.

rskarvan

Keiko wrote: »

I'm not a technical wizard but isn't BLACK generally a ground or common wire? (-)
Armed with that knowledge, what's the issue about marking???
Simple mechanics, if you pay attention to how the thing is assembled and comes apart.
Regardless, I've installed/replaced a few speakers in my day and never ran across one that wasn't labled (+ -) in some way or another. You don't need a degree in Rocket Science or need to be a brain Surgeon for something like this.

I agree with you... black is generally a ground wire (negative). Unfortunately, the wizards at Polk audio decided to use black for the positive terminal of their drivers on some SDA Models. If you don't believe me, check out this Polk Schematic attached.

So, your average rocket scientist or brain surgeon would probably screw this up. Since, Polk Audio chose to use an entirely unconventional wiring scheme. Then, they further complicated matters by not labeling the terminals with either a simple "+" or a red dot.

Jed Leland

Hello,
Actually Polk, in their earlier models, adopted the standard house wiring color code. Black is the positive (sometimes called "hot") white is the neutral (also, sometimes called "cold") and green is the ground (I like the term, "earth"). So, in most of the older speakers the internal black wires make the positive connection and the while wire is the ground return. In the case of a speaker that has two bass drivers connected in series, such as the RT3000p, the upper driver's positive terminal is connected the the bass amplifier's red wire. The upper driver's negative terminal has a green wire connected to the lower driver's positive terminal. The lower driver's negative terminal is connected to the amplifier's black wire.
Jed

treitz3

Glad to hear you are up and running mhartman29, enjoy. One of these days I'd like to get my ears on a set of these bad boys.

jakelm

Keiko wrote: »

Interesting, any audio company that would adopt this color code standard in their production of speakers. Black being positive is backwards from any electrical standard that I've known.

Any electrical standard??? As a part time electrician, black has always been "Hot". But I could be wireing everything backwards.;)

We just take for granted , in the 12v world, as black being ground. But in any other application, black is hot.

jakelm

Polk NEVER intended for users to repair and/or replace drivers in their speakers. Thus the labeling. In other words, we, the customers, were never ment to get in the guts of our equipment.

reeltrouble1

some members are just never happy and need something to complain about.


Glad to hear your up now.

RT1

mhartman29

reeltrouble1 wrote: »

some members are just never happy and need something to complain about.


Glad to hear your up now.

RT1

Are you referring to me?

rskarvan

mhartman29 wrote: »

Are you referring to me?

I believe he was referring to me. Some people just can't seem to let things go.

brijenjas

Face wrote: »

Glad to hear it. Let's now hear your impression on the whole setup.

+1
How does this setup sound?

mhartman29

I'm holding off until I can do a full write up, but the short answer is it sounds GREAT! It will be hard (impossible) to do an apples to apples comparison to my old system, since the speakers are the only component that hasn't changed. But, I'm very pleased. In fact, I'm amazed with how much sound and detail are coming out of them.

I'm glad I didn't give up on them. Lugging those things around for years and never really being happy with them (my fault for not powering them properly), there have been times I wanted to sell and down size my system.