POLK SR124 failing!!! 3 times in as many months :S

[MacLeod]

Told ya so! ;)

Cant beat Polk customer service - period!

[Greg Peters]

Received my 2 new subs today the insulation does look different. Thanks to POLK AUDIO for correcting the problem and taking care of me. Thanks to kim great to deal with I challenge any company to beat POLK AUDIO customer service top notch again THANKS.:):)

It would be great if you could snap a couple of pics (in macro mode) of the "newer, improved" insulation for those given "the fear" from this thread :D.




I pulled my SR124 DVC out of the car and it's enclosure to have a look-see based on the contents of this thread. I was relieved to find no sign of cracked insulation, or damage of any kind at the terminal block. I had some issues (and still do unfortunately) after installing my SR sub, but I'm confident they relate to my amplifier and not the Polk driver- I connected my previous sub and the problem remains.

My SR124 has seen medium duty- not driven too hard, but has had it's useable limits tested...mostly because I don't like blowing stuff up and then having to spend money replacing things. I've attached pics of my example after 8 months of "normal" usage in a sealed enclosure with less than the maximum continuous power it's rated for.



I'd be interested in finding out if my SR is an early version or one made after the problem was identified, so any light you could shed on that would be appreciated.

[moreyb22]

I had the same problem so I contacted polk directly and they told my 1.00 cu.ft. box(per chamber) I had my subs in was to small. Apparently when playing at high levels the lack of airspace creates such a strain that the wires connected to the voice coils will burn up or seperate which is what happened to me.

[Bruizer]

I had the same problem so I contacted polk directly and they told my 1.00 cu.ft. box(per chamber) I had my subs in was to small. Apparently when playing at high levels the lack of airspace creates such a strain that the wires connected to the voice coils will burn up or seperate which is what happened to me.

I'm about to make a new box for my 2 SRs. Currently I've got 1.02 after displacement per sub, but I'm gonna build one thats 1.22 after displacement per sub.

[lucienph]

greg2350 and lucienph,
Call us at 800-377-7655 and we can help with your SR124 subwoofer problems.

Thanks,
Kim

Hi Kim,

Thanks for the good care and service. I spoke with Steve Reed from Polk Europe and he came with a solution for me in the Netherlands. ASN Technologies in Enschede gave me a repair under full warranty. (exchange)

Today I get my hole new Polk SR124 woofer!! Thanks for that.. There is one last question..
I don't see any differences (wires, tinsellead). I was wondering about the serial number.. Can you see if my serial is one from a new production? I love this sub and I hope this is not a old version like the one I had before.

Thank you for the service!

Best regards,
Lucien

[greg2350]

Well the new subs lasted a little over a month broken lead wire AGAIN I dont know what to do at this point do I keep returning them every few months or go with another brand. :(

[lucienph]

Received my 2 new subs today the insulation does look different. Thanks to POLK AUDIO for correcting the problem and taking care of me. Thanks to kim great to deal with I challenge any company to beat POLK AUDIO customer service top notch again THANKS.:):)

Hello the insulation of my new sub looks the same.. I hope the best

[Sherardp]

Well the new subs lasted a little over a month broken lead wire AGAIN I dont know what to do at this point do I keep returning them every few months or go with another brand. :(

I had this same problem with Kicker L7s, turned out I was causing over excursion in them. Went through 3 of them as well, pushing one in a single ported enclosure. I was driving one off a Fosgate T1000D, and sure enough within a matter of weeks the sub would give up. I cant even recommend a fix, I do agree it just sucks though. I had this setup in a Lexus IS300 before I sold it.

[BradimusMaximus]

I had this same problem with Kicker L7s, turned out I was causing over excursion in them. Went through 3 of them as well, pushing one in a single ported enclosure. I was driving one off a Fosgate T1000D, and sure enough within a matter of weeks the sub would give up. I cant even recommend a fix, I do agree it just sucks though. I had this setup in a Lexus IS300 before I sold it.

Well I think the majority of us are running sealed boxes. I haven't read about anyone using any extreme amount of power so over excursion seems unlikely. I have fixed a 15 inch L7 for the same individual twice because he was breaking the leads the same way you were. He was aware of what he was doing and just thought it was fun...maybe it was stolen?

[greg2350]

Over excursion would cause the leads to break but I dont think that is whats happening in my case. I have them in a sealed enclosure 1.25 cubic ft of space and im running them with a single 500.1 which would be 310 watts to each sub. I have the gain set at about 12:00 oclock I set them with a scope no clipping. I have put way more watts to a lesser quility sub and have never broken the lead wires I dont know whats going on here.

[black magic]

I gotta say, I'm really sorry for your situation. Thats really weird b/c both of my sr subs are also powered by a c500 each and I've had them for about 9 months without any problems.

Is this the first sub you put in your current car? Or have you used another sub with that same amp?

[greg2350]

Yes black magic these are the first subs I have had in my current ride. I bought the 2 SR124 svc and the c500.1 and c400.2 at the same time. I have had many brands in the past and pounded on them for years and have never had this problem this is what concerns me these are the first high end subs I have purchased and have nothing but problems well same problem. The 2 I have now that just broke today polk sent me a month ago stating the problem has been fixed well it wasnt. I think everything is good on my end gains are set right box is sealed I just dont understand it. Im sure polk will honor there warranty and send me some more but that would be my third set 6 subs. I dont want to be changing them out every few months and im sure polk doesnt want to be sending me new ones every few months. Any ideas on what could be causing this? I see from this thread im not the only one having this problem and im sure there are more who arent part of club polk.

[Bruizer]

How about the break in period? Doesn't the manual say something like 40-60hours. Could it possibly be that this sub actually needs the period instead of just putting them in and blasting away? Not saying any of you did that, but for the first month or so I didn't crank mine up and then slowly started to push them further and have had them in since halfway through December with no problem. Just my luck however now that I said that they will break, but I have been running the pair of mine in undersized specs at 1.02 per sub after displacement per sub with a Kicker SX1250.1 wired in at 1ohm. About to put them in a 1.18 per sub after displacement sealed box (I know it still isn't 1.2 but its better than 1.02).

Edit: Now that I think about it though, I don't know if a break in period would really affect the leads.

[greg2350]

Spoke to kim at customer service it looks like the last ones they sent me were part of the batch that were bad. If any of you are experiencing the same problem give kim a call and have him check the serial numbers. They are sending me 2 new ones and assured me the problem has been fixed so im not going crazy. Awesome customer service thanks to kim and polk audio. :D

[black magic]

Good luck this time! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

[MacLeod]

Kim's the man!

[greg2350]

Yes he is great guy to deal with I vote for polk to give him a raise.:D

[Polk_Wolf]

Wait just a minute! Everyone has been telling me to buy a SR124 sub and that its a great sub, and don't get me wrong I love Polk Audio speakers thats all I use, but I don't want a sub that I have to be very careful with so I don't break it. I'm VERY new to all of this stuff and so most likely I'll mess something up, wires or something, and I'll break it. Now I'm having second thoughts about it.

[greg2350]

It is a great sub just a little glitch but all is good now buy 1 with confidence.:)

[Polk_Wolf]

It is a great sub just a little glitch but all is good now buy 1 with confidence.:)

Is there anything special I have to do to it so I can make sure I don't break it? I'm going to have someone make me a custom box for it, sense I don't have the first idea how all that works lol. Any special way to wire a SR124 DVC to a 2-ch amp?

[Greg Peters]

Is there anything special I have to do to it so I can make sure I don't break it? I'm going to have someone make me a custom box for it, sense I don't have the first idea how all that works lol. Any special way to wire a SR124 DVC to a 2-ch amp?

If the 2-channel is only stable to 4 ohms when bridged, get yourself the SVC (4 ohm) model.

[Polk_Wolf]

If the 2-channel is only stable to 4 ohms when bridged, get yourself the SVC (4 ohm) model.

I think it is only 4ohms now that I think about it.

[lucienph]

Over excursion would cause the leads to break but I dont think that is whats happening in my case. I have them in a sealed enclosure 1.25 cubic ft of space and im running them with a single 500.1 which would be 310 watts to each sub. I have the gain set at about 12:00 oclock I set them with a scope no clipping. I have put way more watts to a lesser quility sub and have never broken the lead wires I dont know whats going on here.

A small amp can't handle de sub the way you like.. Pumping up the volume means the sinus change in bad way.. Then you will damage the sub also..

[dirthog]

Add me to the list.

[joshp]

Maybe its just me, but I would like to think that Polk would make a sub where the tinsel leads will meet or exceed the mechanical excursion of the driver...
-Cody

I think it's time for them to go over to woven tinsel leads. This freaks me out because I just ordered a pair of the mm series subs and I have totally turned away from JBL due to experiencing the same problem; the tinsel leads were failing. I went from JBL to online sub producers and the "no name" online subs were durable.

[greg2350]

Man that sucks to see this thread rear its ugly head again. I wasnt going to post in this thread again but couldnt hep it when I looked at dirthogs pictures, looks just like my previous 4 pair of SR subs. Yep I said I have managed to break the lead wire on 8 SR subs. I just installed my 5th pair that polk has sent me hope these hold up but doesnt look promising, I get about three months out of them before they break. I have checked everything possible box is to polks excact specs, amp gain set properly used my dads scope, I have checked everything. What sucks the most is I love the way these subs sound but after 5 pairs at this point I will take reliability over SQ. I have had many of systems in the past and have never broken a sub something else would always go before the subs would or get stolen. I had some RF the punch series that I pounded on a daily basis for four years and never a problem. I ended up selling them to a freind who pounded them for another three years before he sold them. I think when my 5th pair go out im going to try a different brand hate to do it im a diehard polk fan. Can anyone recommend a sub that is similar in SQ?

[MacLeod]

I dont get it - Ive been running my SR124 for a year now with over 800 watts RMS and its purring right along.

Had a Momo 10 for a couple years before that and it was working just fine when I retired it.

[black magic]

I've also never had a problem with my two sr subs which I've had for over a year and a half.

[greg2350]

I dont know what else it could be macleod & black magic ive gone over my install and settings many times. I have full faith in polk products. I knew you guys have been running your SR's for a while with no problems, it has to be something else its hard to believe Ive had 8 fail all same problem. I have some jl w3 im going to put in and see what happens if the leads break then it must be my install if they dont then it would have to mean its a problem whith the SR's, thats the only thing I can think to try Im hoping its my install that be fixed :)

[only126db]

Told ya so! ;)

Cant beat Polk customer service - period!

It seems their C.S. is still good, years ago I had an issue where my Polk DB cones and coils seperated, If I remember correctly Polk paid shipping both ways and sent me two new subs.

This was back before Directed entered the scene though.