R50 (Cherry) d.o.a. from frys.com

[mdelaney]

I recently bought a pair of R50's on a super hot deal from Fry's online store, Outpost.com. Hooked them up to my ageing Pioneer receiver, and while one worked, the other would only play some scratchy sound from the tweeter and nothing from the woofers. To test the speakers, I moved them to another old Pioneer receiver with the same results.

Under ordinary circumstances it would be no problem to call Fry's for a replacement. Unfortunately this was a closeout deal and they have no more of this model. I really don't want to pack this thing up and send it in for repair as the original box and packing materials are in the recycle system by now. I suspect the problem is in the crossover circuit board.

My question is #1. Does this sound like it could be the problem? and #2. Is this board easy to replace? Any help would be appreciated!

[RuSsMaN]

Remove the drivers and test each hooked up directly to the receiver.
When testing the tweeter, use VERY low output, or swap it into the known good R50 and test it there.

AFAIK, Fry's is an authorized reseller, and Polk will handle any replacements / repairs that need to be made.

Cheers,
Russ

[schwarcw]

Contact Ken at Polk Customer Service. He will work with you to get these up and running. Polk service is great!

[mdelaney]

Thanks for both suggestions. I will try to isolate the problem by testing each speaker individually. Once done I will contact Polk tech support and report back here the outcome. You guys are great!

[mdelaney]

Well, I pulled each speaker out and tested them individually. Sure enough, one of the drivers was bad. I called Polk tech support and was told to send it in and they would send a replacement. I received the replacement today, and everything works. The only snag was FedEx Ground's terrible service in this area. The whole process took two weeks. Polk shipped the driver on Jan. 11. I received it today, Jan. 17. San Diego to Sonoma, California, shouldn't take a week!

The R50's sound great. I went to Circuit City and bought a CS2 center speaker today to complete my Polk setup. Next, a 37 inch LCD from Viewsonic, and I am set!