Polk tri-laminate tweeters suck!!! (1 Viewer)

[Joe Tilley]

I just got to say I have all polk speakers & their tweeters suck in these things...I dont know if is more a crossover thing or just the tweeter but they are VERY VERY tinny and shrill sounding at high volume and start to distorte wile the woffers will take a hell of a lot more before they even start to sound even close to distorting.
Yes I know that sounds stuped cause the woffers are certenly gonna handel more power, but I would think that they would be more balanced out.I went from all Mission speakers with the silk dome tweeter and I wish my polks had these tweeters insted, they were much smother sounding and would keep up with the woffers quite well without a hint of being shrill they sounded much more natural and clean.
Anyway I guess what Im getting at is there anything I can do to clean these things up without blowing a wad on them,like modifying the crossover or something like that?
What I have is all RT55I's for my front mains,front surrounds,& rear surrounds,& a CS400I for front center.
I have tryed everything with my eq and crossover on my recever and I just cant get these things to sound good to me Ive never had this problem with any other speakers and it too late to return them or anything like that so Im pretty much stuck.:frowning: Also if it helps out Im useing the Sony STR-DA5ES recever all speakers are set to small at 160hz treble is set at 1.6khz @+4,mid is at 2.2khz @+2,& bass is at 222hz @+6.
I dont now it may be something Im doing I still havent quite got my recever figured out completley but Im just not likein the way these thangs sound.
Thanks for any help...

 

[John Royster]

Maybe try turning your treble down a bit closer to no boost? Those tweets are a little sizzley (love my 12 year old RT11TLs though)

I can understand the different sound going from silk to metal. Any chance you are overdriving your amplifier?

 

[Joe Tilley]

Jhon, honstely I wouldent think I was overdriving them but I dont know. the Mission speakers I had before were of far less quality than my Polks and even my recever at the time,I had a Sony STR-DE945 and I think it sounded better by far at higher vol than my current system.Like I said before I may be doing something wrong, but Im going somewhat by the way my old system was set up and I just cant get it to sound good to me. I gotta say though it dose sound really nice at modest volume its only when you turn it up,but still what Im going to is not very loud 45 on my recever when I could get down to around 20 to 25 on my old set up and it was just awsom very clean and balanced sound with no hint of distortion,wile my Polks on the other hand sound like the tweeter is gonna fry its self.

 

[ColinM]

Don't EQ.

If anything, drop the treble 2db.

Why did you swap out the Mission's if you hate these things so much?

Set the crossover lower, too.

- CM

 

[ColinM]

And try a better Rec.

I had a DE Sony and man, what a piece. (No offense).

Almost anything would be better. Try HK.

 

[John Royster]

Could speaker impedence have anything to do with the amp section of the receiver? I'm not sure of your model of polks but some are 4, 6, 8 ohms. With a lower load maybe the amp is just giving out.

Maybe try just stereo and see if it is still shrill.

Also you are trying to drive 7 speakers right? Did you have 7 missions as well? More I think about it, try stereo or disable the rears. I'm thinkin the amp can't quite cut it.

Hope this helps you narrow it down. Those speakers should sound great.

 

[Gifford L]

I really enjoyed the highs of those speakers with a nice warmer sounding HK receiver. The silver colored tweeters are not metal but a rubberlike substance.

 

[Thomas_A]

well...most either love metal domes or hate them. I have had both and like both myself. I have Polks all the way around and a Yammie amp! wich is supposed to be bright too. I love the sound!. I dont experience anything of what you describe... I listen to jazz,blues,metal and R&B (wife)...

I have 2000i's/55is' on fronts, 400i center and 800's for surround.

How long have you had them.. have you given them time to break in? I have my treble/bass at 0 and have them set to direct basicaly.

sounds to me you may be overdriving the amp on your reciever and that is what your hearing--btw.. those are 8ohm nominal speakers

good luck..and sorry to hear you dont like them. I know the newer line of rt speakers is going to have the silks.. if you got them at CC..you can always upgrade here within a year..

Thomas a.

 

[Joe Tilley]

Ok to try and answer everyone,first the speakers are 4ohm Ive checked them with my own meter,yes there are two speakers wired two the rear in sieres at 8ohm and Ive tryed just one on the rear with no differance,the reason Im useing two is that it cost the same to buy two RT55I's as it did to buy one CS400I and I was also thinking about getting another amp to make it 7.1 later down the road. On to the recever thing first off why is everybody such asses about Sony the problem is not with the recever I myself have alaways had Sony products and loved them.The recever is not clipping or running short on power by any means.I have unhooked my tweeters and ran just my woofers before to get a better idea of where my limits were with the recever and speakers without worring about frying a tweeter and I could get all the way down to 18 on the recever before any hint of distortion.Like I said before the tweeter is what Im haveing trouble with NOT my recever,and as far as setting my treble to a lower setting If I do it sounds really muffeled at lower volumes.It may seam like Im going in two different directions here but like Ive said in my first post the tweeters sound very shrill and tinny at a high volume they sound fine at a listening level for movies ,but for music at a higher vol thats where Im haveing the problem with them and I know everybody is probley thinking Im overdriveing them but what Im going to is not at all very loud.
O ya as far as my hearing goes I could hear a flee fart at 50 yards and tell you if his frends chuckeld afterwards

 

[Joe Tilley]

One other thing I forgot to mention is I have tryed them in stereo with no soundfields or eq and they sound like crap. I have tryed every thing I can think of and just cannot get them to sound right to me.

Please keep in mind I love the way the speakers themself sound it the tinny tweeters,I have tryed a pair of silk dome tweets along with my Polks and it sounded awsom but this was a pair that I have no way of fitting into my speakers in any way because of the bezel on the front of the Polks,and I dont wont to have a seperate tweeter laying around somewhere on each speaker if I could find one that would fit in the bezel I would change them but I havent found anything that will fit.

 

[Gifford L]

The Polks are not 4 ohm speakers. You can't measure impedence with an ohmmeter. You will get the DC resistance but impedence changes with fequency and a nominal 8 ohm rating can be 4 ohms or 12 ohms depending on the frequency but the average of an 8 ohm nominal speaker is 8 ohms.

I don't think people are trying to dog Sony but what you describe sounded like the receiver is running out of gas. The other thing is maybe you just don't like the Polk/Sony combination. I think the Polk Onkyo combination sounds harsh as well.

 

[Joe Tilley]

Ok forget it I dont think anybody has even come close to getting my question (IS THEIR ANYWAY I CAN MAKE THE POLKS SOUND LESS HARSH AT HIGHER VOL) without chainging my settings all the time or trying to blame it on my recever.
Like Ive said several times I like the way they sound at low volumes ,but they get really shrill at higher volumes NOT THE RECEVER RUNNING OUT OF POWER, CLIPPING, OR WHATEVER YOU GUYS CAN THINK UP.
Thanks for the piss pore your recever sucks get something else comments and all the other crap lots of help.

 

[John Royster]

Sorry joe. It really does sound like you're receiver isn't cutting it given you love the sound at reasonable volumes. Harsh=clipping=running out of power.

That's why I wanted you to flaten all the EQ. If you boost you're treble then the amp will start clipping the waveform at high frequecies first because they are the loudest/boosted.

Those tweeters are capable of handling very good amounts of power.

One last try - At what SPL or relative "loudness" do they start to sound bad? Conversation level? Shouting level? Too damn loud level?

There used to be a Polk employee hanging around this board, surprised he hasn't offered some advice.

Good luck. I'm really trying to help here, but can't for the life of me figure out how a tweeter could sound so bad. Here's my ideas so far...

1) too much treble boost or loudness

2) amplifier clipping/distorting

3) speaker miscabling or very low load on amp somewhere

4) just plain don't like the sound

5) damaged speakers (maybe causing number 3 or 2?)

 

[Joe Tilley]

Sorry for comin off kinda shity last time, as far as how loud Im playing at you can carry a conversation in the same room and hear what your saying. I know this is a sad way to judge volume,I do need to go and get an spl meter but the wife has cut off my spending for awile cause Ive blown 4500.00 in the last three months,and she's about to kill me if I ask for five bucks for anything.

A couple of people have asked me why I bought the Polks in the first place if I dont like the way they sound,but I did like the way they sounded when I first heard them in the store and yes they were running off a Sony but it was the STR-DA3ES I have the model up STR-DA5ES.And as far as returning them I bought my recever two months after my speakers so that was no longer an option.As far as my old system went I sold it over a year ago to update and I really liked the way my Mission's sounded but I wonted to have everything matched as close as possable and they were no matched very well I cant rember what the model # were but I had towers in the front each with three 5 1/4"woffers and a 1" silk dome tweeter than I had a newer series book shelf for my surrounds with a single 4"woofer and 1" silk tweet and my center was two 4" with a 1" tweeter.

Thats one big reason I chose the set up I now have I wonted it all matched and where I live theres not much to chose from cause we dont have very many decent audio stores nearby.

One last thing I guess this post has kinda went back and forth but it all comes down to one thing (I do not like the way these tweeters sound)and thats what Im trying to get around is finding something to replace them with that will fit into the bezel on them or mabey some way to modify the crossover or something to take away from the tinny sound they have, I dont under stand if there is just that much of a differance from a silk dome to these or if its just me but I cant get used to the way they sound.

 

[Thomas_A]

There is one Possible solution comming in the near future. The new RTi line of Polks... are using a 1" silk dome tweeter... wich uses the same bezel..and should be a direct replacement for the alum. tweeters. I dont know if the xovers are realy that much different or not..but there is an option.

I dont think you like metal tweeters and that is more of an issue than the tweetes not being good.

Good luck..thomas a.

 

[Tyson]

Try taping a small piece of silk over the tweeter. You will lose a little detail by doing this, but it will tame the harshness. Make sure the silk is a bit larger than the tweeter itself, and tape it to the area surrounding the tweeter, not the tweeter itself. Good luck!