Polk repairs

[traphouse]

I have a vintage pair of floorstanding Polks. Anyone know of a qualified repair shop in Ohio that could replace a blown speaker? I have built my home theater around these fronts and really do not want to start over.

[N. Abstentia]

Have you contacted Polk? They sell replacement drivers.

[kexodusc]

I have a vintage pair of floorstanding Polks. Anyone know of a qualified repair shop in Ohio that could replace a blown speaker? I have built my home theater around these fronts and really do not want to start over.

Parts Express in Dayton probably could, or could put you in contact with someone.
Driver swaps are easy - try finding the driver (likely a Vifa for Polk)

[traphouse]

I suppose I could do either one of these, but I have zero talents or skills with electrical stuff, no soldering skills, and frustrate easily. Well worth my peace of mind to pay for good quality repair service. Polk was no help when I contacted them. Their response follows:



You can visit our web-site at www.polkaudio.com and check on the Dealer Locator to see who is in your area by Zip-code.
Also if you know which Part is defective you can order you can order with a Visa, MasterCard, Certified Check or Money Order. Please contact us at the address listed below. Most States require that you pay Sales Taxes.

We also have on our web-site ( www.clubpolk.polkaudio.com) where you can sign on as a Club Polk Member to receive a discount price on Parts and also get 2nd Day shipping at no charge (In USA) Look for the part you need and either send that amount to: Polk Audio - 5601 Metro Dr. - Baltimore, MD.21215 or quote it to us over the phone at 1-800-377-7655.
You can not order the Parts on Line.



Thank You ,


Helen Yarbor
Customer Service / Parts
PolkAudio
5601 Metro Dr.
Baltimore, MD.21215
1-800-377-7655 / Fax 410-764-5470

[2chAlex]

Was contact made by phone? That in IMO gets the best results. With the model number that should be a simple matter. As for the repair a couple of screws and the driver (woofer, tweeter?) will come out and the wires should just pull off, do the reverse with new and the repair is done. Good luck

[likeitloud]

Also there's always vintage polk drivers (among others) on ebay. Either way, hanging
on to vintage speakers is very cool. Later

[N. Abstentia]

Yeah just tell them the model and they will sell you the drivers. And like Alex said, all you need is a screwdriver. What model Polks are they, anyway?

[traphouse]

They're RT20P with the powered subwoofer in the bottom. They're super efficient and were a hell of a speaker in the day. I still like them for music and equally as well as fronts in my HT system. I have the complementary Polk center, rears, and sub that match with these fronts.

[2chAlex]

Curious what driver went out and the problem that lead to the conclusion that a speaker is blown. Don't think it's likely that the wire(s) came off the speaker but might not hurt to check before you order a replacement.

[traphouse]

See my post above - I'm not that knowledgeable when it comes to these matters. The speaker makes a crackling kind of sound and it is very noticeable on certain music whether stereo or HT. I assumed it to be one of the drivers had gone bad. Would there be a visible sign, such as a hole, tear or rip in the speaker cone? It could be a loose wire, as the speakers were relocated some 2000 miles when I moved our household, but I thought if it were a loose wire or similar that there would be no sound or the sound would be intermittent - normal and then cut out. This appears to be a muffled crackly sound. If the repair is as simple as removing the grill cover, removing the front screws holding the driver in place and reconnecting the wires onto posts, I think I might even tackle that job. It appears these drivers are not that expensive, perhaps less than $100 each, although I have not called Polk to find out exactly what I need and their price. Its a shame that unless you live in a super metro area like NY, LA, San Fran, perhaps Chicago, etc that there don't seem to be any dealers or repairers of high quality. Just the Circuit City's and Best Buys of the world - and I've experienced their expertise first hand already, so I'll pass.

[Blue Meanie]

I suppose I could do either one of these, but I have zero talents or skills with electrical stuff, no soldering skills, and frustrate easily. Well worth my peace of mind to pay for good quality repair service. Polk was no help when I contacted them. Their response follows:



You can visit our web-site at www.polkaudio.com (http://www.polkaudio.com) and check on the Dealer Locator to see who is in your area by Zip-code.
Also if you know which Part is defective you can order you can order with a Visa, MasterCard, Certified Check or Money Order. Please contact us at the address listed below. Most States require that you pay Sales Taxes.

We also have on our web-site ( www.clubpolk.polkaudio.com (http://www.clubpolk.polkaudio.com)) where you can sign on as a Club Polk Member to receive a discount price on Parts and also get 2nd Day shipping at no charge (In USA) Look for the part you need and either send that amount to: Polk Audio - 5601 Metro Dr. - Baltimore, MD.21215 or quote it to us over the phone at 1-800-377-7655.
You can not order the Parts on Line.



Thank You ,


Helen Yarbor
Customer Service / Parts
PolkAudio
5601 Metro Dr.
Baltimore, MD.21215
1-800-377-7655 / Fax 410-764-5470

Wow. You found that response to be "no help at all"? I guess you do frustrate easily. Polk is not in the business of speaker repair. They sell speaker systems and replacement parts for them.

I understand that you have no electrical or soldering skill, but I think that you're underestimating yourself. The way to learn new things is to ask for advice regarding them, and then jumping in and trying.to get a job done. When I was younger, I thought I was all thumbs. But by trying learn new skills by doing my own work, I learned how to do about 90% of my own car repairs (never tried to rebuild a transmisson, and only rebuilt 1 engine), and 100% of my own home repairs so far. And all without any formal training. If you decide to try and fix the speaker yourself, you may find that you really enjoy it, and the bonus is a good feeling of accomplishment.

That being said, there is certainly no shame in paying someone to do the repair for you. I paid my local shop $150 to fix my favorite cassette deck, because I KNEW I wasn't up to the task. Anyway,I would think that any local TV/stereo repair shop should be able to acquire the parts and do the repair for you.

Sorry if I sounded a bit harsh, but you sound like an intelligent guy, and I think you are selling short your possible capabilities in this instance. Good luck with the repair, whichever route you ultimately decide to take!:cornut:

Jeff

[N. Abstentia]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Polk-RT20P-Powered-Sub-Tower-Speakers-Black-Finish_W0QQitemZ140015876739QQihZ004QQcategoryZ715 71QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Those are very easy to work on. Four screws and you're done. In fact I even have some of those drivers if it's the upper ones you're talking about, and it sounds like it is. If I remember right, Polks price was $60 each plus shipping. Do you need two of them or just one?

[traphouse]

Actually, I put in Peter Frampton's 1995 DVD from Detroit today, cranked of course, and it's actually the right speaker second subwoofer from the bottom. The configuration is a 1" dome tweeter, 6.5" mid, then (2) 8" subs at the bottom. The second one from the bottom rattles/crackles. Guess I'll try calling Polk tomorrow to see if they have any. Anyone know if these go in pairs, i.e. would it be wise to buy a spare now in case another goes bad? I've used these for probably at least 10 - 12 years

[N. Abstentia]

It's always wise to buy a spare. Also consider that by the time another one goes bad Polk might not have replacements any more!

[traphouse]

Well, today I got some really nice help from Polk and was able to purchase the woofer that I needed, plus a spare. Tax and shipping brought the total to about $200. They also had the mid and tweeter also available had I needed those. Hats off to Polk.

And a big thank you to all who offered encouragement to me to try the repair on myself. It really does seem to be as simple as removing the 4 screws and unplugging the old while replacing with the new. Maybe even I can't screw this one up!!! Yippppeeeee!! Thanks folks. I'll post my results after the replacements arrive.

[2chAlex]

Good to hear that you got the parts you need and soon will be back to audio bliss. Look forward to your update.

[traphouse]

Woofers arrived in Friday's mail, I had only ordered them on Monday. Nice service.

Tonite I made the switch - and how freakin' easy was that!! What a drama queen I was - remove cover, take out 4 phillips head screws, unplug old speaker, plug in new speaker, replace 4 screws - but leave covers off (see next paragraph for explanation).

Trial was with Pulse DVD, Pink Floyd, cranked of course, and my - wasn't it a tasty offering! For a bunch of 60-somethings Gilmour and the bunch still know how to rock. IMHO - disc 2 Dark Side of the Moon - all time great.

Anyways, there's the follow-up report. Thanks for all the encouragement, and yes, any lurkers out there - you too don't have to settle for cracked woofers and inferior sound. When I could do it, anyone could do it.

Good night.

[2chAlex]

Alright, way to go. That daily rock fix is what gets ya thru the day