SDA Polyswitches Are Nasty

Bubinga99

Since the polyswitch is the first thing in line with the + terminal of the tweeters (on the 2.3TL anyway), if you already replaced it with a jumper and don't want to open it up again, you could experiment withdifferent values under 1 ohm by just putting the resistor externally across the + terminals (but being sure your main feed wire is on the lower one and you take out the existing jumper).

Reminds me of the different "sound color" settings for my old M&K Satellite II's, by adding different resistor values across different terminals externally.

motorstereo

Those polyswitches might be "nasty" but the little buggers do in fact work. Recently while swapping out some cables I accidently knocked off my tt's ground wire and didn't notice it. Mucho high frequency got sent out and fried up 2 pair of my unprotected tweeters on my other speakers. This happened quickly and at a very low listening volume Those "nasty" polyswitches did their job and saved me $250 in replacement tweeters for my 2.3s. This is the only time that I've tripped my breakers and the highs seem more than adequate with no apparent loss. Just a thought for some that like me prefer the added protection over a possible sonic benefit.

zarrdoss

I just put new ones from Polk in my 2.3tl's and 2.3's and they sounded much better, if I ever trip them I will remove and maybe try the .5 ohm 12 watt resistor that F1nut recommended, great info though!

Conradicles

F1nut wrote: »

I agree that the poly's should go. After removal I noticed an increased energy in the highs that at first sounded good, but as time went on I realized this made the highs too bright for my ears. I then replaced the jumper with a .5 ohm, 12 watt resistor. Ah, much better.

Thanks F1nut, I took your advice and put in a Mills 12 watt 0.5 ohm resistor today. Sweetness!:cool:

F1nut

Very good, enjoy!

PolkMaster1

What does a Polyswitch do ? Why would some remove the polyswitch vs. jumpering it ? Does it sound better jumpering it or removing it, replacing it with a wire ?
Based on Bens recommendation, if it is too high, how about replacing polyswitches with resistors ?

Thanks for the advice !

george daniel

Think of it as a resettable fuse to protect your tweeters,,seems the more they "trip", the easier it is to trip them.Unless you are the original owner,you really don't know how many times it's tripped.I have tried replacing them(free from Polk if you ask nicely),, jumpered,, and now they have a .5 ohm resistor in place,out of all the choices,I prefer the "resistor",However,, if you cannot use self control with the volume,then by all means,replace it.In all my years, I've only blown one tweeter,and that one had a polyswitch in it. Good luck.:)

motorstereo

Remove a protection device and replace it with a resistor. Just think about that proposal. I think much to highly of my multiple tweeters to do such a thing.

Face

Yes, you're removing a possibly detrimental link from the chain.

How many hi-fi speakers come with poly switches nowadays?

Do you hear about people blowing tweeters on a regular basis?

As long as you're using a good amp and don't listen at concert levels, removing them shouldn't be an issue.

motorstereo

I guess you didn't read my earlier post in this thread. There are things other than concert levels that can fry up all those tweeters. I've had several different types speakers over the years that came with tweeter protection circuits albeit not a polk polyswitch. I do wish I'd had the polys on my klh 12's and hpm 100's tweeter cirucits though when I did have the tt ground wire issue. I had the option to remove my polys at the time I did the recap but I'm soooo glad I decided to have new polyswitches installed and saved myself the cost of 6 tweeters. It's a free country though if someone else wants to play russian roullette with their tweeters. I just can't see the justification in replacing a working safety device with a resistor of equal value.

heiney9

Most people are comfortable removing the poly's and some aren't. Of all the Polks I've owned in 25 years I've never tripped a poly. I remove them because especially as they get older they degrade the final signal.

Russian Roulette is a bit of over reaction. If you have poor amplification and little common sense as to when the limit is reached and just want added comfort leave 'em in, but do realize they are degrading the signal. And 99% of the time if one is responsible enough to listen at acceptable levels within the gear they own it's not an issue.

I did sell Polks in the mid/lat 80's, early 90's and we used to stock atleat 3 doz sl2000's at all times because lots of younger kids would blow them up with their 40wpc JVC receivers.

H9

tonyb

Heiney makes a good point,as they get older, they will degrade the signal. Most blow up tweeters from distortion, caused by mostly under powered receivers being pushed to their max. This alone, is the basis for many discussions here on LSI's with what receiver.
Know what you are buying, and what you need to power them properly with. I hated the polyswitches. You wake up one day and your speakers sound like crap and your asking yourself, wtf ? Replace them, or even better ,remove them in favor of the resistors as others have mentioned. Clint Eastwood said it all..."A mans got to know his limitations." That applies to audio as well.

Conradicles

When I removed mine it sounded like a veil was lifted and I heard things in music that were previously hidden. Mine must have been in bad shape.

motorstereo

Make sure those ground connections do not get knocked off your tt's, don't drive those amps too hard, make sure your amp has relay protection and doesn't go dc and baring unforseen accidents with the volume knob all will be well. No doubt at all that the switches do develop problems if you keep working them. I haven't tripped mine since my tt wire got knocked off when the polys did in face save all my tweeters. The highs are crispy clear and they image better than any speaker I've ever heard. Thanks but no thanks I'll play it safe and keep my polyswitches right where they are.

PolkMaster1

Damn, I am going to remove them polys and get me some Mills Resistors!!! Will a 0.5 Ohm 12 Watt Resistor work as a replacement for all Polk Poly switches, or does it matter from Polk speaker to Polk speaker? I will get my hands on some diagrams to be sure but want to know what people think here based on their experiences.

Does anyone know if a speaker sounds the same if there was no polyswitch vs. a polyswitch that was replaced with a resistor?

Some additional info about my speaker usage: I have never tripped up my speakers or my power amps, except for the very few times when I need to move the speaker and rearrange the heavy speaker wire - the wire tips would sometimes touch each other, so I would have to tighten the fitting around the speaker or amp side to prevent that from happening. I use dedicated power amps for the speakers and I play at no more than movie theatre levels.

Thanks much everyone!

heiney9

motorstereo wrote: »

Make sure those ground connections do not get knocked off your tt's, don't drive those amps too hard, make sure your amp has relay protection and doesn't go dc and baring unforseen accidents with the volume knob all will be well. No doubt at all that the switches do develop problems if you keep working them. I haven't tripped mine since my tt wire got knocked off when the polys did in face save all my tweeters. The highs are crispy clear and they image better than any speaker I've ever heard. Thanks but no thanks I'll play it safe and keep my polyswitches right where they are.

Relay protection and DC have nothing to do with the poly switches. I haven't owned an amp in 25 years with relay protection (another unnecessary piece of junk in the signal path) and not one time have I had an issue. As I explained before the poly switch will not stop/prevent/minimize DC.

H9

george daniel

motorstereo wrote: »

Remove a protection device and replace it with a resistor. Just think about that proposal. I think much to highly of my multiple tweeters to do such a thing.

I did just that,, years ago,, and nothing bad has happened. I also pee in the shower.:p

F1nut

I also pee in the shower.

My mother told me it would fall off if I kept doing that.




























Oh wait, that was something else.

motorstereo

heiney9 wrote: »

Relay protection and DC have nothing to do with the poly switches. I haven't owned an amp in 25 years with relay protection (another unnecessary piece of junk in the signal path) and not one time have I had an issue. As I explained before the poly switch will not stop/prevent/minimize DC.

H9

Apparently you've never had an amp go dc on you for no particular reason. I do hope you don't experience that. I have and it's not pretty. Hence no adcom gear in my house ever again. The switch might not stop a direct dc short I dunno and I'm not about to find out firsthand. Thankfully I didn't have any decent speakers hooked up to my unprotected amp when it went belly up. The polys will in fact though stop a variety of other nasty mishaps. If you play around in this hobby long enough crap will happen when you least expect it to. Carry on and best of luck to you with your resistors and protection less amps.

heiney9

motorstereo wrote: »

Apparently you've never had an amp go dc on you for no particular reason. I do hope you don't experience that. I have and it's not pretty. Hence no adcom gear in my house ever again. The switch might not stop a direct dc short I dunno and I'm not about to find out firsthand. Thankfully I didn't have any decent speakers hooked up to my unprotected amp when it went belly up. The polys will in fact though stop a variety of other nasty mishaps. If you play around in this hobby long enough crap will happen when you least expect it to. Carry on and best of luck to you with your resistors and protection less amps.

You get peace of mind with the poly's in..........no biggie. When an amp has catastrophic failure no amount of fuses or poly's in a speakers tweeter circuit is going to do anything. It's unfortunate one instance has totally turned to off the Adcom. I've sold 'em (when new) owned 'em, known a multitude of friends/family who've owned them and not a single issue. Adcom's are pretty rock solid, so it's too bad you'll never have one again.

Also you might note the better the amp and design the less need for all kinds of protection/muting/current limiting, etc.

Not trying to convince you and not trying to say YOU should get rid of your poly's, just presenting the other side and debunking some of the myths about what the poly's do. They are a simple device and aren't as sophisticated as you seem to think.

Happy listening

H9

F1nut

They are a simple device and aren't as sophisticated as you seem to think.

He also thinks his pro amp is the cat's meow while having his SDA's wedged between the floor joist and another speaker. 'Nuff said.

george daniel

In all seriousness,, to my ears,,my SDA's sound better with a resistor in place of the poly,,and better than when just jumped as well,, yes,, either way,I'm without protection,, and it just feels better to me. :cool:

motorstereo

Don't you have to go pee in the shower f1? I'm still waiting for you to pee on my amps. Comeon now it's been several months since you offered.
Heiney; Yes I'm well aware of the fact that a polyswitch is indeed quite a simple device. Simple enough indeed to save me the cost of replacing 6 tweeters due to a ground wire issue. Glad to hear you had such good luck with Adcom products. I've met a few folk like myself who weren't so lucky with them. Hey **** does happen no doubt. As far as amps are concerned right now I rotate a qsc 500 watt pro amp and an updated carver tfm 45 so there isn't any issues with running into clipping. I'm not trying to convince anyone to do anything either. I'm just stating the facts as they are; the polys did in fact save me from buying 6 tweeters. For me the possiblilty of maybe a percieved sonic benefit do not justify eliminating those tweeter saving polys. Carry on

hearingimpared

motorstereo wrote: »

Don't you have to go pee in the shower f1? I'm still waiting for you to pee on my amps. Comeon now it's been several months since you offered.
Heiney; Yes I'm well aware of the fact that a polyswitch is indeed quite a simple device. Simple enough indeed to save me the cost of replacing 6 tweeters due to a ground wire issue. Glad to hear you had such good luck with Adcom products. I've met a few folk like myself who weren't so lucky with them. Hey **** does happen no doubt. As far as amps are concerned right now I rotate a qsc 500 watt pro amp and an updated carver tfm 45 so there isn't any issues with running into clipping. I'm not trying to convince anyone to do anything either. I'm just stating the facts as they are; the polys did in fact save me from buying 6 tweeters. For me the possiblilty of maybe a percieved sonic benefit do not justify eliminating those tweeter saving polys. Carry on

With proper amplification and I do mean quality amplification there is no need for the polyswitch which does inhibit good sound quality. I have my 1.2 TLs with jumpers in place of the polyswitch and have a TriVista 300 powering them I never have any worries. As a matter of fact I had two Adcom 565 mono blocks in before the TriVista and still had no worries. Just good sound.

NJPOLKER

I still have the polyswitches in my x-overs. Kick me in the nuts.

DarqueKnight

The SDA SRS 3.1TL does not use a polyswitch in its crossovers.;)

backsigns

I had an annoying buzzing in my tweeters in my SDA 2's. Removed the poly's and no more buzzing.

george daniel

he,he,, you know,,polyswitches are kinda like condoms,,,I'll leave it at that.;)

heiney9

DarqueKnight wrote: »

The SDA SRS 3.1TL does not use a polyswitch in its crossovers.;)

Blashphemy!!!!! A Polk speaker not properly protected..............


Oh My Lord.................what will happen to the poor 3.1TL? :eek:

H9

thsmith

I removed mine and went with the .5 ohm 12 watt mills and prefer the sound. My polys would trip fairly easy. I will take me chances for the sound improvement.

Living on the bleeding edge:eek: