RTE1000P line level inputs not working correctly

Mazeroth

I just purchased these Polk speakers off ebay which are a really good deal:

http://cgi.ebay.com/POLK-AUDIO-RT1000P-HOME-THEATER-TOWER-SPEAKERS_W0QQitemZ140261430331QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item140261430331&_trkparms=39%3A1|66%3A2|65%3A10|240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

These sold for $1000/pair when I worked at Circuit City and since I was looking for some bedroom speakers to build but could get these much cheaper and probably outperform them (for the price) I figured why not. Long story short, owner was very friendly and the speakers were in very good condition. It's 2.5 hours away but we were on a trip so I snagged them while we were up visiting, didn't have time to try them out due to my wife having to get to work, and off we went. I just now had a chance to play them and their amps aren't working properly. With the speaker jumper in place to get the signal from the speaker line, the sub doesn't play. After further investigation (taking the amp out and playing around with wires) I've figured out the following:

The speaker input goes from the banana plug to the amp. Then there are two sets of wires out from the amp. One is a pair of 16 gaugish wire that runs to the sub providing power (up to 70w). The other has a plug on the end going into two wires. These wires go into the sub area as well (both go through a hole of MDF into the sub chamber but I can't see what they plug into). With the connector plugged into the amp the subwoofer is playing FULL RANGE audio. When I unplug it the sub plays nothing. If I disconnect the red (+) jumper the sub still plays full range audio, but if I disconnect the black (-) jumper the sub barely at all plays, but it does. Good times.

If I bypass the speaker level inputs and just use RCA inputs it works flawlessly. That would be fine and dandy but I'm using a small T-Amp for the bedroom and I don't have that option. Plus, I purchased these thinking they were fully functional, which they're not.

I think I've tested just about everything I could. Any ideas how to fix these or are they toast?

Thanks.

Jed Leland

Hello,
Welcome to the Forum, a great place to learn about audio. I have a little experience with those speakers so I'll share what I know. When you pull the bass amplifier out and look inside the upper set of speaker level binding posts are connected to the 1" tweeter and 6.5" external mid range driver. The lower set of binding posts connect as the speaker level inputs for the 50 Watt bass amplifier and power the internal 6.5" woofer. The other way of providing an input signal, to the bass amplifier, is with the RCA line level inputs. Since you say the internal woofer works with the line level connection but doesn't work with a speaker level we have to figure out why. You mentioned the bind post jumper (singular), are both the positive and the negative binding post jumpers in place? Try making your speaker level input connections to the lower set of binding posts. This will feed the incoming signal directly to the speaker level inputs for the bass amplifier.
Cheers, Jed

Mazeroth

Yes, all the connections look great. After removing the jumpers I touch just one jumper at a time to the speaker binding post and with the negative jumper the amp quickly makes a "burp" sound with the sub and then nothing. Doing the same with the positive does nothing. I can quickly touch the black jumper to the speaker binding post and the sub will play quickly every time I do it and then nothing. We're talking like 0.01 seconds of sound out of the sub and then nothing.

Jed Leland

Hello,
I would imagine there is some kind of dropping circuitry to convert the incoming speaker level signal to a low enough level for the line level input, of the amplifier. This is what has become defective, no longer proving the line level inputs.
It might be best to remove and send the bass amplifier to Polk for service. it shouldn't be too expensive. most people find Polk to be reasonably priced.
Jed

danger boy

nice deal on the speakers.. contact the seller and see what he says about the problem. other than that.. call Ken at customer service and see what he says.
good luck..