Repair, Not Replace

I’m a big proponent of fixing stuff rather than replacing it.  The “new” home I moved to has a built in audio system in a lot of rooms and on the front and back porches and even a speaker way out in the woods on a deck.

The speakers on the back porch are all fouled up and only produce sound from the tweeter.  The outdoor speakers are all Polk Audio Atrium55’s which are discontinued.

Polk Audio Atrium 55

So, as luck would have it, so are the replacement speakers ( Part Number RD0756-1).  Can’t find them anywhere.

The successor to these speakers seems to be the Atrium 5’s which cost $250 at Amazon, Best Buy, eBay……….everywhere.

So let’s see how I deal with this………

First of all, they really are shot.  Nominal reading across the speaker terminals should be around 6 to 7 ohms for a set of 8 ohm speakers.  Mine are 25 MEGAOHMS.  Open voice coil.  Shot.  Blown.  Kaboom.

Yeah, That’s Bad.

I did check if they had a Lifetime Warranty and alas, they do not.  Drat.  2 year warranty only.

So about all a fella can do is either pony up $250 for new speakers or search out a 3rd party replacement speaker.  The best in that business is Dayton Audio with their DC130-AS-8 ohm drivers.  Yeah, they aren’t Polk Audio drivers but this in wall system isn’t what I’d call an audiophile system anyway.  I listen to talk radio all day anyway.   Verdict = Good Enough!

They are actually in short supply as well.  Wonder why?  I did manage to track down a pair and ordered a 3rd as well because I have another speaker in the woods that probably is going down the same road as this other pair.  Total cost = about $90.

Whenever you can, FIX IT yourself.   I didn’t save a TON of money but I did save some money.

 

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