Speaker tune ups...

organ

I don't know if it's just me or if this has happened to some of you as well.... This is my second pair of "high end" speakers that were messed up but somehow got past quality control.

First pair was the LSi9. I purchased mine not too long after they were first released. It felt like something was wrong with the sound but I couldn't quite figure it out. Upon closer inspection, the speakers were not wired correctly internally. The mids/bass was coming out of the bottom woofer instead of the top. Easy fix but this should not have happened. I know I wasn't the only one with this issue with the LSi9. I read the same thing from several other people on this forum.

On to the second pair.... A used pair of Mirage M-3si. I took them to my dealer to get the x-over freshened up and get new internal wiring installed. The speakers are from early to mid 90's. They told me about the surprise that was waiting for them when they checked out the x-over boards. One of them had the wrong value caps and was missing a few as well. Wrong resistors, etc. How the hell did this happen on $3k speakers?
Also, the stock caps are all crap. I'm not surprised about this because back in the 90's, caps weren't taken as serously. Most assume that they're all must sound the same because they measure the same. So I'm not mad about that.
They installed Solen caps and replaced some other crappy parts. I got some heavy duty brass feet/spikes and these guys are rockin real hard now.

Do I just have bad luck or did this sort of things happened to some of you as well?

madmax

organ wrote: »

Do I just have bad luck or did this sort of things happened to some of you as well?

You are the only one.

Did you check the polks for an odd smell?

madmax

AudioGenics

for high end gear...
it is rare but errors do occur.

The vendor and dealer representing the high end product line (as I would expect)
provide immediate service and loaners or replacements depending on the nature of the issue.

High End should be that extra special service and attention.

I would be polite

organ

Madmax,
lol All my Polks smell great. In fact, I think Polk speakers smell the best. I love the way new Polks make your room have that fresh wood smell.

JVC,
I understand the special attention but it is an inconvenience for the buyer. As of now, I'll just say they belong in the "**** happens" category. And I am being polite about this. I was cool about it on my original post. Just bringing up an issue. It wasn't a rant.

AudioGenics

ooooh....... i did not mean to direct the polite comment at your post.

(I make my wife talk for me !)

and I agree.
just a pain when it does happen.

agfrost

organ wrote: »

Do I just have bad luck or did this sort of things happened to some of you as well?

Organ, I just opened up my Polk RTA 11TL's this month to do a crossover rebuild, and discovered that one of the speakers has a RTA 8TL crossover, which is similar but not identical. Has a different value inductor and capacitor.

So, if you were feeling lonely, I'll join you!


Jay

michaeljhsda2

My first story goes back to 1986 when I bought my SDA 2’s brand new from Sound Central. I opened up one of the boxes when I got home and lo and behold the speaker cabinet was severely damaged. I took it back to the dealer and he accused me of dropping it when I took it out of the box. After a few tense words with the salesman he gave me another speaker. Interestingly it doesn’t have a serial number on it and I should have questioned that as well but I didn’t think it was that big of a deal. Years later I wanted to join CP and a serial number was required but luckily I had the serial number from the other speaker.

My second story goes back to 1979 when I bought a pair of Altec’s from CMC stereo. The tweeter kept blowing on one of the speakers so I kept taking it back (about 5 times in 5 years). After the warranty ran out it blew again so I took it to a high end repair shop and just figured I’d bite the bullet and pay the price. I wasn’t home 30 minutes when the phone rang and the repair guy told me he found out why it kept blowing tweeters. Turns out Altec missed a solder joint before it left the manufacturing plant. Price of repair… 10 bucks. If the tech at CMC stereo would have just looked at the REASON for the tweeter blowing, and believe me I asked them to, I could have avoided all of the hassle, not to mention having to wait 2 weeks to get it back each time.