Polk RT3000p Amp Failure now three times in 5yrs
polkrt3000p
Posts: 126
I had my amps replaced in January 2010 and again October 2012, they get a buzzing or humming sound. This is so frustrating why they amp fails this often, I should not have to worry about it. The first amps lasted 10yrs, now they are getting 3 or less years. I had them repair and replaced for new in the past. The speakers are driven by Adcom 565s and ran through a Sunfire Grand Preamp, I have the caps replaced on my Adcoms only once in 20 yrs of owning the Adcoms and still work fine, why do these keep Polk Sub Amps keep going out. Now one of the 2 are working and would guess they other will go out within a couple of months as it has happen that way in the past. I have all Polk throughout the house including the SDA SRS 1.2TLs and and dual Centers CS400s with all Adcom amps running them so I am a proud Polk owner, just frustrated. I know these amps are tuned for the cabinets but maybe I should bypass the sub amp and run a passive xo and as the Adcoms have plenty of juice to run them. I did that to the Polt RT100s and they are ran on my upstairs rig with my reference Pioneer amp and preamp, C72 preamp and M90 Pioneer amp and sound fine. Or bite the bullet and pay to have them fixed for the 3rd time.
Comments
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Run em passive. They are just going to keep failing. Must be part of the reason why "powered towers" are mostly a thing of the past, at least under a certain price range.Living Room 2.2: Usher BE-718 "tiny dancers"; Dual DIY Dayton audio RSS210HF-4 Subs with Dayton SPA-250 amps; Arcam SA30; Musical Fidelity A308; Sony UBP-x1000es
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Hello,
I'm sorry there's been such a problem. Let me refer this to Polk's CS manager for consideration.
Regards, Ken -
Polk's CS manager is confident he can help rectify the problem. Send him an email to Kim.Jasper@soundunited.com and he'll get you squared away.
Regards, Ken -
Please keep us updated on how Polk Customer Service helps you out. This has the potential to be a wonderful outcome for all concerned.polkrt3000p wrote: »...Or bite the bullet and pay to have them fixed for the 3rd time.
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Thanks Kenneth Swauger, for the quick response and the others who have chimed in. This is why Polk still is the best. I will comment when things get taken care of.
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Kim is one of the last greats ....awesome Ken!
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I sent off an email to Kim and hope all goes well!
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I have 4 RT3000p plate amps that are all inop sitting in my basement that have all had various repairs done over the years, just to end up inop again. Good luck with your repairs. I'm probably going to end up externally amping my 3ks. It's the only logical thing left to do. I'm dreading the day that my SRT plate amps decide to die.Too many good quotes to list..waiting for some fresh ammo.
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Villian, how long did they last between fixes and were the issues mainly caps that seems to be common. I love these speakers and hate to alter the amp and change the sound but this drives me crazy when something on my main rig is down. 3 years seems too short of life to fail, I would assume 7 to 10 years before I would expect a failure, like I said before my Adcom amps are 20 yrs old and some I had repaired and some not, but once I repair them I'm planning on another 10 or so years.
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The amps are back in house, thanks to the Polk Service and this Polk Forum.. Thanks for all those who put their two cents in. Thanks.
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I must admit its been a bit of a pain even for a DIY electronics tech like myself. When I acquired mine, one amp was missing and the other had a faulty auto turn on. I found some used amps from a member here and had to work on those. I ended up blowing a set of caps in the process as one amp was beyond repair. So after getting them up and running for a couple of years now that I decided to sell them. As Murphy's Law would have it, they are failing again! One hums like crazy and the other cuts out on heavy peaks.
This time around I found some large can versions like the originals. The bad ones are the smaller Panasonic brand.
Up early to get them repaired as they might be sold later today.
About twelve caps later......The one thing I noticed is that all four caps this time around had bulged tops. IMO, I think these units are sensitive to line voltage. Power outages, storms are a bad thing. Be sure to keep these unplugged and or plugged into a line protector conditioner. Might not be a bad idea to go with a higher voltage, temperature cap.
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polkrt3000p wrote: »Villian, how long did they last between fixes and were the issues mainly caps that seems to be common. I love these speakers and hate to alter the amp and change the sound but this drives me crazy when something on my main rig is down. 3 years seems too short of life to fail, I would assume 7 to 10 years before I would expect a failure, like I said before my Adcom amps are 20 yrs old and some I had repaired and some not, but once I repair them I'm planning on another 10 or so years.
It all varies. I had some last a couple years, some a few days. No idea what the deal is. I also had 2 that I bought used (That the seller swears were working when shipped) and while one of the two works perfectly, the other clicked on, played for 20 minutes, then started buzzing to the point that no playback can be experienced. Just a buzz that sounds like a blown woofer when reproduced by the speakers. The issues have occurred in two homes separated by almost 1500 miles..so your guess is as good as mine as to what causes it. I'm going to replace them all with the highest voltage and temp caps I can find this time and see how they fare. They've always been on power strips, but not conditioners. My voltage doesn't usually fluctuate...120v steady. Though in one location I do have a lot of line noise.
Too many good quotes to list..waiting for some fresh ammo. -
If you repair them correctly with good components they will last a long time.
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If you want to have these amps repaired and not have to worry about them for years you need to look at more than simply replacing the capacitors. As a matter of fact, that usually isn't what is wrong with them unless they are obviously bad with severely bulged tops and liquid oozing out of them.
I have mine professionally-repaired here in Chicago by Dave (the guy who advertises on eBay). $150 flat-rate and they are good to go for years. There are several design issues with the Polk amps that are easily addressed by Dave who knows what he's doing. Connections break loose from vibration, connectors go bad. Ground faults, etc. Plus other issues that are unique between the three designs.
His $150 flat-rate does not include replacing capacitors. They are extra but a lot of the time are not required unless they are obviously going bad.
I just got one of mine back today that had gone out and it had several issues. None were related to the capacitors. It was worth the $150.
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Here was the main issue with my RT3000p amp. The JRC4558 amplifier chips were bad. All four were replaced.
Capacitors tend to either work or not work. There usually isn't a big deterioration in sound as they age. They either work or they don't. Once they go bad, they just short out or quit working altogether. If your amp works OK now, replacing the capacitors with new ones isn't likely to accomplish anything other than extending their life some. The speakers will not sound any better after installing the new ones (except maybe in your imagination). The same goes for so-called "audiophile" capacitors that cost several times more than the originals.
Just like anything else, there are a lot of "wives tales" in audio equipment. Usually it's an attempt to justify things that costs a lot more and are supposed to make a noticeable improvement in sound (even if in theory it doesn't make a whole lot of sense).
There's the fallacy that new speaker cables start to sound better after they are "broken-in". Like the copper electrons needs to be properly aligned to get the best sound or something. That's laughable.
Another ridiculous one is the bi-wire pipe-dream. The only way bi-wiring will make an improvement is if the wire you were using before was insufficient in the first place.
You can manipulate data to make just about anything seem better if the experiment you are using as justification is BS. I like the one about how only "younger" people's ears can hear some of these so-called "enhancements". Right.... a have a bridge for sale in Brooklyn for those people. While it's true that you can hear frequencies when you are young that you tend to lose the ability to hear as you age, I think what it really is, is the younger you are the more vivid of an imagination and the ability to convince yourself of things that you want to be true become. What's next? Super-expensive cables that claim they are so great that only women and dogs can hear the difference?
Sort of like in Cheech & Chong's Up In Smoke when the band buys the bag of fake weed off "Curtis" and everyone is trying to convince themselves that they are stoned out of their minds. Tommy Chong knew it was bogus though. He told them they "must get high on lawn clippings because this ain't weed!"
lol -
Like many other sub amps....some last longer than others and the power supply and output devices are generally what fail. Of course any component or junction can go bad....this is not unique to these amps. However, many HAVE had caps go bad. All of the caps that I have replaced were bulged. The most recent one amp had a bad hum and the other would cut out on peaks. Replacing the caps resolved both issues. One of the other issues I had was a bad resistor.2.2 Office Setup | LG 29UB55 21:9 UltraWide | HP Probook 630 G8 | Dell Latitude | Cabasse Stream Amp 100 | Boston Acoustics VS 240 | AUDIORAX Desk Stands | Mirage Omni S8 sub1 | Mirage Omni S8 Sub2
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Some of the biggest issues with the RT3000p amps are mechanical in nature such as having solder joints and other connections coming loose or cracking from vibration. That's why the factory glued everything to the boards but they didn't get everything as robust as they could have.
That picture you have posted looks like the 3rd generation amp that has a provision for an additional capacitor. -
I suggest getting a Voltage regulator on them once you get them repaired. I good quality Surge Protector with Voltage regulation is key to making them last longer.
Power is the killer of all things electronics followed by heat.Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
I suggest getting a Voltage regulator on them once you get them repaired. I good quality Surge Protector with Voltage regulation is key to making them last longer.
Power is the killer of all things electronics followed by heat.
That is the key I think. Not just for the subwoofer amps but also for the rest of your system. It's good advice. -
I had replaced (not free to me) the amp in my RT20ps 3 times over 4 yrs. I have handed them down to my son - they are his problem now. This model caused me to leave the Polk lineup. Bought in 1997 and replaced in 2002 with B&W N804.[
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I had replaced (not free to me) the amp in my RT20ps 3 times over 4 yrs. I have handed them down to my son - they are his problem now. This model caused me to leave the Polk lineup. Bought in 1997 and replaced in 2002 with B&W N804.
It shouldn't have caused you to leave Polk, but to drop powered towers. This is why I'll never own any.
Not me. They are the only Polks I will ever own. I've had over four complete RT5000 systems over the years. I bought my 1st RT5000 system brand-new in 2002 and just sold it last week. Never had even one problem with it. They worked as good as the day I broke the seals on the boxes. They were well-cared for unlike a lot of these beaters you see for sale that look like they were stored outside and used for a workbench or something.
Having them repaired professionally isn't that expensive if they do go bad. I have a side business where I repair circuit boards for pinball machines plus I'm a Ham Radio operator and I still prefer to have mine looked at by a pro rather than try to band-aid them myself. Then the repairs will last another 20 years or so depending on how much abuse they are exposed to.
Now I have two SRT systems and love it. They are the only other Polks I'd rather have than the RT5000 speakers. -
You are for sure enthusiastic about the RT5000's.
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Capacitors tend to either work or not work. There usually isn't a big deterioration in sound as they age. They either work or they don't. Once they go bad, they just short out or quit working altogether.
Ummmm....wrong. Electrolytic caps tend to drift out of tolerance as they age, which will cause a deterioration in the sound quality. I just had a piece in here with one of the 10,000uF caps measuring just over 7500uF, way out of tolerance and the other at 7900uF, still out of tolerance and it sounded like it. Replaced with high quality Mundorf M-lytic caps resulting in a much improved sound quality that will only get better after 300 hours.
As for the rest of your naive musings.....indeed, they are laughable.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
Gatecrasher wrote: »Capacitors tend to either work or not work. There usually isn't a big deterioration in sound as they age. They either work or they don't. Once they go bad, they just short out or quit working altogether. If your amp works OK now, replacing the capacitors with new ones isn't likely to accomplish anything other than extending their life some. The speakers will not sound any better after installing the new ones (except maybe in your imagination). The same goes for so-called "audiophile" capacitors that cost several times more than the originals.
Just like anything else, there are a lot of "wives tales" in audio equipment. Usually it's an attempt to justify things that costs a lot more and are supposed to make a noticeable improvement in sound (even if in theory it doesn't make a whole lot of sense).
There's the fallacy that new speaker cables start to sound better after they are "broken-in". Like the copper electrons needs to be properly aligned to get the best sound or something. That's laughable.
Oh boy. xcapri round 2?afterburnt wrote: »They didn't speak a word of English, they were from South Carolina.
Village Idiot of Club Polk -
You are for sure enthusiastic about the RT5000's.
Yeah I've always liked them. They sound fantastic and I haven't had any problems that weren't easily remedied with them. If I didn't have my SRT system I wouldn't have sold all my RT5000 stuff.
I think the key to keeping these speakers working great was already mentioned and that is to use good line protection. Like all electronics, power surges are lethal.
When you buy used ones that have failed, it is always best to looked them over totally and not just assume replacing capacitors is going to be the fix every time.
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Friends,
It appears that Gatecrasher is trying to pick a fight about a couple of the favorite topics for such folks -- cables and break-in time.
It's time not to take the bait and just move on to useful discussions.
Just my humble opinion.Family Room, Innuos Statement streamer (Roon Core) with Morrow Audio USB cable to McIntosh MC 2700 pre with DC2 Digital Audio Module; AQ Sky XLRs to CAT 600.2 dualmono amp, Morrow Elite Speaker Cables to NOLA Baby Grand Reference Gold 3 speakers. Power source for all components: Silver Circle Audio Pure Power One with dedicated 20 amp circuit to main panel.
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You forum bullies are free to proceed if you want. I apologize for responding to F1nut's personal attack with one from myself but couldn't resist. I never was one to back down from a fight. I'm usually better than that.
I wouldn't mind hearing an intelligent response though. But since it seems you and the rest of the goons on here are incapable of that I'll just refrain from responding to the BS unless it is constructive. You and your "buddies" on here should try to do the same. If you can't make an intelligent response, why bother? -
Caps do make a big difference and they do tend to show their weakness before they fail by exhibiting a deterioration in sonics. They also take time to burn in. I know a certain physicist that will 100% back that up in a very common-man language...Gatecrasher wrote: »Capacitors tend to either work or not work. There usually isn't a big deterioration in sound as they age. They either work or they don't. Once they go bad, they just short out or quit working altogether.
Ummmm....wrong. Electrolytic caps tend to drift out of tolerance as they age, which will cause a deterioration in the sound quality. I just had a piece in here with one of the 10,000uF caps measuring just over 7500uF, way out of tolerance and the other at 7900uF, still out of tolerance and it sounded like it. Replaced with high quality Mundorf M-lytic caps resulting in a much improved sound quality that will only get better after 300 hours.
As for the rest of your naive musings.....indeed, they are laughable.
Your the only one I've seen on this forum that the "World is laughing at" with all your extremist right-wing conspiracy theories. Go back to your Faux News political BS there Limpbaugh.
lol
Oh yeah, make sure you get those speaker wires broken-in properly.
There was nothing said by Jesse to cause your attack on him. All he did was post his beliefs. So what if they are not yours. Calling names and trashing someone else's beliefs tends to mean you have nothing else to bring to the table but vitriol, and that sir, has never won an argument here.
Try listening to Glenn Beck on your morning drive... too much NPR and MSNBC in the morning can rot the brain.The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD
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Gatecrasher wrote: »You forum bullies are free to proceed if you want. I apologize for responding to F1nut's personal attack with one from myself but couldn't resist. I never was one to back down from a fight. I'm usually better than that.
I wouldn't mind hearing an intelligent response though. But since it seems you and the rest of the goons on here are incapable of that I'll just refrain from responding to the BS unless it is constructive. You and your "buddies" on here should try to do the same. If you can't make an intelligent response, why bother?
An intelligent response to a moronic statement?
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Three 20 amp circuits. -
Gatecrasher wrote: »You forum bullies are free to proceed if you want. I apologize for responding to F1nut's personal attack with one from myself but couldn't resist. I never was one to back down from a fight. I'm usually better than that.
I wouldn't mind hearing an intelligent response though. But since it seems you and the rest of the goons on here are incapable of that I'll just refrain from responding to the BS unless it is constructive. You and your "buddies" on here should try to do the same. If you can't make an intelligent response, why bother?
An intelligent response to a moronic statement?
If you can't respond intelligently with any thing other than a personal attack, you've already lost the argument.
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