SRS's are dropping out

[danger boy]

i'm having a problem with something that might be related to the SRS's.

In low passages of music the SRS's appear to drop out the music... it's like if there is a weak connection some where. like a weak or bad speaker cable connection.

I've swapped out the speaker cables, the IC's, two different pre amps and just about everything else. This just begain a couple days ago.. things were cool for several months. These dropouts affect the bass output coming from the SRS's.

Is it possible that the problems are with the aging crossovers?

after 20+ years the componenets in the crossovers might be finally failing?

any other thoughts?

[trubluluc]

Al-

Is this happening with both speakers, at the same time?


-Luc

[danger boy]

I notice it more in the left speaker, but sometimes it will happen to the right one too. i did some more listening late last night.. and after i had the gear turned off for a few hours.. once turned back on. it didn't do that anymore. till things warmed up again. so now i'm thinking it more of an amp or some other piece of gear problem.

[ND13]

Nevermind, I thought I had a brainfart, but it just ended up being a real fart, instead :D :o :p

[fredv]

I notice it more in the left speaker, but sometimes it will happen to the right one too. i did some more listening late last night.. and after i had the gear turned off for a few hours.. once turned back on. it didn't do that anymore. till things warmed up again. so now i'm thinking it more of an amp or some other piece of gear problem.

If it is more noticeable in the left channel, you can try swapping the left and the right speaker cables. If the symptom swapps, i.e. more glitch from the right than the left, then you can pretty much confirm the culprit is not the speakers, good or bad .....

[sda2mike]

Nevermind, I thought I had a brainfart, but it just ended up being a real fart, instead :D :o :p

have a taco bell dinner and you'll be up to 2k soon! :D

[PolkFreak]

Danger Boy, I just bought a Vintage 1973 RA-810 Rotel solid state amp and was having the same problem and figured it out. My left speaker was doing the same thing and I could wiggle the left speaker cable and the speaker would fade in and out. I then noticed that I could make the right speaker go in and out with the wiggle of the left speaker cable and vice versa because of the, "common ground" between the speakers. When there is a loose connection somewhere in the system it throws the whole thing off. I then noticed that the RCAs on the amp were loose because while having the amp on the tv input which is the input that I had turned on I pulled some cables off on another input that was turned off and the RCAs were loose and my left speaker started to cut out. The only inputs that were tight and barely used were the tape monitor inputs. So I hooked my SACD/DVD player up to the tape monitor and I don't have the problem anymore and since the connection isn't loose anymore the SDA effect is much stronger. The way I had it hooked up before made me wonder why I wasn't hearing the SDA effect as much as I used to in my music. And since the SDA cable makes a, "common ground" between the speakers you can pull off one of the neg wires from the amp and both speakers will still be going. I did that by mistake and just thought I'd mention it and forgot to eariler. Good Luck, Polk Freak

[danger boy]

Danger Boy, I just bought a Vintage 1973 RA-810 Rotel solid state amp and was having the same problem and figured it out. My left speaker was doing the same thing and I could wiggle the left speaker cable and the speaker would fade in and out. I then noticed that I could make the right speaker go in and out with the wiggle of the left speaker cable and vice versa because of the, "common ground" between the speakers. When there is a loose connection somewhere in the system it throws the whole thing off. I then noticed that the RCAs on the amp were loose because while having the amp on the tv input which is the input that I had turned on I pulled some cables off on another input that was turned off and the RCAs were loose and my left speaker started to cut out. The only inputs that were tight and barely used were the tape monitor inputs. So I hooked my SACD/DVD player up to the tape monitor and I don't have the problem anymore and since the connection isn't loose anymore the SDA effect is much stronger. The way I had it hooked up before made me wonder why I wasn't hearing the SDA effect as much as I used to in my music. And since the SDA cable makes a, "common ground" between the speakers you can pull off one of the neg wires from the amp and both speakers will still be going. I did that by mistake and just thought I'd mention it and forgot to eariler. Good Luck, Polk Freak

PF, that sounds exactly like my problem. It's intermitent so it was throwing me off. but yeah, it does affect the SDA sound mostly when it does cut out.

thanks a bunch, al

[PolkFreak]

Your welcome DangerBoy! I just wish I would have come on the forum earlier
and saw your problem so I could help. When I fixed my problem I knew it would be a good topic to talk about here. I'll have to say the amount of SDA sound I was getting before was close to zero even when I had wiggled the speaker cables just right. So having the loose connection effects the SDA sound even when you think your speakers are full on and you wiggled your speaker cables to what you thought was perfection. :D Another red flag for me would be the fact that I hooked up another pair of non SDA polks and the soundstage sounded kind of the same as the SDAs. Cheers, PolkFreak

[danger boy]

after more exploring.. i've come to the conclusion that the right RCA input on the amp is bad. it was sounding like Polkfreak described.. a loose speaker connection wire.. or even a bad RCA cable. but it's not.

The RCA input must be old or have a loose internal fitting or something. After i seat the IC's all the way onto the amp.. after about 30 minutes of listening. the left then right channels begin to drop out.

I half way removed the IC from the right channel only. and everything was fine after that. No drop outs after listening for about 2 1/2 hours. I guess i'll have to get the amp inputs replaced. Should be minimal costs I would think.

[PolkFreak]

Danger Boy, Loose RCA inputs on the amp itself was exactly what I was talking about and NOT loose RCA wires. I was talking about having the problem of the speakers cutting out when I was pulling the cables off the RCA inputs and noticing that the RCA INPUTS WERE LOOSE ON THE AMP ITSELF. If you read my post again carefully you will notice that I was talking about the RCA inputs being loose ON THE AMP ITSELF. You will then notice I put the cables on the tape monitor inputs that were tight and unused and the problem went away. So, what you just discovered was what I was talking about all along. And yes we had the same problem. Cheers, PolkFreak

[danger boy]

Danger Boy, Loose RCA inputs on the amp itself was exactly what I was talking about and NOT loose RCA wires. I was talking about having the problem of the speakers cutting out when I was pulling the cables off the RCA inputs and noticing that the RCA INPUTS WERE LOOSE ON THE AMP ITSELF. If you read my post again carefully you will notice that I was talking about the RCA inputs being loose ON THE AMP ITSELF. You will then notice I put the cables on the tape monitor inputs that were tight and unused and the problem went away. So, what you just discovered was what I was talking about all along. And yes we had the same problem. Cheers, PolkFreak

PF, let me make sure i understand you correctly. it was the AMP RCA inputs that were loose on your set up? Sounds like the same problem with mine. Loose amp inputs. Well mine aren't loose. They are tight.. but i think might be warn out from use and age... because the IC's i use don't make good contact with someting. and it's causing it to drop out.

So i think it needs the RCA inputs replaced.

[PolkFreak]

DB, I was just wondering what amp you are using and what year? On my old RA-810 the RCA inputs are individualy calmped on. It seems as though I would need a special tool to hold on to the RCA while tighting the metal that holds the RCA input on to the amp. I've seen some newer Rotels and the RCAs seem to be attached to the same white plastic unit. So you think your RCA inputs aren't making good contact with the ICs that you are using? Does it look like they are falling apart? Kinda takes a long time to type a message when you watch TV at the same time I'll have to turn it off next time. PolkFreak