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My Woofer Sounds Like a Tweeter

I just pulled out a pair of mid-80's vintage Polk Audio bookshelf speakers from the spare bedroom and I wired them into a second system.

One of the speakers only produces the high frequencies from it. I opened the inside of the speaker enclosure and checked if any wires were loose or broken, but everything looked OK.

The tweeter seems to be operating normally, but the woofer is only radiating high frequencies.

These are not very costly speakers.
What is the problem and is it a worthwhile fix?

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danmyers
135 posts
 
Theo is right - disconnect the speaker terminals from the speaker wire. Then just touch the speaker cable directly to the woofer (at low volume and don't let the speaker wire tips touch each other). Can't get any simpler than that: no jumpers required.

Theo - your turn :)
theo's avatar
theo
2,690 posts
 
I am all in, my brain hurts...
jax2
3,031 posts
 
I am all in, my brain hurts...

Uh oh; D.P. Gumby's stereo advice hotline...smoke and explosions are sure to follow.
danmyers
135 posts
 
Nah, just:

1) put on some music at a low volume & turn off the amp
2) disconnect the main speaker wire from the main speaker terminals
3) make sure the speaker wire tips don't touch!
4) turn on the amp (repeat step 3)
5) touch the speaker wire ends directly to woofer terminals inside the speaker (repeat step 3)
6) listen: bass or no bass (repeat step 3)
7) turn off the amp (repeat step 3)

See mom - no smoke!
jax2
3,031 posts
 
3) make sure the speaker wire tips don't touch!
4) turn on the amp (repeat step 3)
5) touch the speaker wire ends directly to woofer terminals inside the speaker (repeat step 3)

Just an addendum to Dan's advice...

If you have a tube amp you may want to touch the speakers to the woofer terminals before you turn the amp on. It's not the best thing for a tube amp to be receiving a signal from your source with no load on the speaker wires.
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