moxie50

Thanks for the tip, I'll call them. Sw10 is not on their specific price list, but Rw10 is.

Sorry to say I rarely come on the forum, but did today because of frustration with one of my OLD subwoofers. I have two sw10s running off of the "preamp out" section of my amp, one for each channel to supplement my set of Quartets (yes some of us have Chorus and Forte's little brother.) One of the subs I bought new (works fine) the other, bought used, performed OK when I got it, although it seemed a little down on volume production compared to "mine". THEN THE SAME THING THAT THE OP DESCRIBED started to happen. Exactactly. Six to ??? minutes in, nasty crackly. I've been around stereo stuff and guitar amps most of my life, and just assumed I had a "blown speaker", oddly, because I had never had one be "blown". After telling myself the music was just to bassy, and needed to be turned down, I just couldn't listen anymore. Each time I thought it had gone away, but faithfully, after warmup, there was that nasty crackling again. I took the driver out and packed it up to a guy I think I read about on this form, Nevisonics. He emailed me saying that there was absolutely nothing wrong with it!! What a bummer, I wasted $$$ on his time and shipping both ways!! I find I started listening to my system less and less (partly as I was getting more back into playing live music and practicing time soaked up what had been listening time). I started looking on Ebay, saw several units, and even an amp, but shipping made them cost prohibitive, and, who could say if that unit might not have the same issue. Pooooh, I love my twin, stereo, highly musical subs, both sonically and cosmetically. Then a guy was selling one without the amp, saying it would be perfect for driving with some other amp. DUUUUUuuuuuuuHHHHhhhhh--Gees, I have two older integrated amps sitting around, hooked everything up today, It has a GrE so I can zero all frequencies except the last two levels or so. I'll test it out tomorrow when wife is out of the house. But, like the OP, I came on here wondering--does no one rebuild them?? I would think this issue would have surfaced many times and the cause found, and someone like the Mr. Crites I read about here with a fix---- send it in , bing, get the amp back. Nothing in that way of advice seemed to be offered the OP. Someone must know. Anyway, I don't have the drawings, and wouldn't know what to do if I did. I can't solder for #@%$#@. Guitars, saxes, cars, I know it all, but not my stereo stuff. But here's a thought for the OP and others, if this is happening to an SW12 AND an SW10, it must be because of something they have in COMMON!! No?

So happy with the sound of my SW10 (had new since '94) I bought a used one a few years back, and proved to myself that my desire to even up the loudness on each side (used only for two channel music) with dual subs was not silly, but magical. However, it seems that I was very much not alone when the used sub developed a nasty rattle with anything even near medium volume, and, it wasn't all that consistent. I am a big do-it-yourselfer, but other than taking stuff apart and gazing at the guts (unless its machinery) is about all I'm good for. AND, having been around stereo stuff and guitars and amps most of my life, I just assumed I knew what a "blown" speaker would sound like, so I took it out. Called Klipsch Tech Support (man-- were they great!) They no longer supported that model and had no drivers left, but he recommended contacting Paul at Nevisonics (502-969-0140). I boxed it up and shipped it to, I think, Louisville (?), and waited, then got an unexpected call that the speaker was just FINE. Switched out the driver from my good unit and, bang-- there was that nasty rattle. Paul shipped the driver back. I think a year has gone by with me barely listening to my system because I was so despondent, and now having suddenly retired, cash flow (And me being a cheap old Pollack) kept me wondering, do I just #*&^%$ get a new one? Will the match to my beloved Quartets (the seldom mentioned and unappreciated little brother of Chorus and Forte) be as good, won't visually match all the others and the furniture..........AAAuuurrrgggg. Called Klipsch again (still great) they don't work on that amp anymore, but recommended Sybesma's Electronics (800-456-4265, Holland MI). Flat fee quoted by the girl was $120, I didn't talk to a tech about other costs if.. whatever. What, $20-25ish shipping each way?? AAAuuurrrg? ' Well, might as well pull the amp out of the box and look at it, would at least have to do that much whomever I took it to. Maybe something obvious, even to a mechanic, would be found? Well, heard two thing click into the plastic box which surrounds the amp--WOW-pieces!! One I think was coincidental, who knows? A small half cylinder shaped brass thingy, searched the whole unit, nothing matched, could only surmise it to be half of a broke split pronged input plug that perhaps the former owner inadvertently shoved into the innards with the next RCA pin he inserted. The other was a NUT!!! It had vibrated off a small bolt that went trough the power supply to secure it to the chassis. Perhaps more importantly--it also secured a bracket that secured one side of a large circuit board--that was probably flapping and vibrating at untold gyrations as that long excursion 10" driver was doing its thing!!! Tightened it and checked all others, cleaned the pots, and---you guessed it--performed perfectly on the most rigorous bass solo I own: America's (no shit-- America!) "Woman Tonight". I just can't believe it, and, yes, its only two days later, but each day, let it warm up, then run that song at 95 db.....YYYEEEEAAAAAYYYYYYYYY. There is an SW10II for sale on Ebay right now because of popping and crackling--he says "characteristic of these". Am I one of the few that still use these? (prob--yes--you old Pollack)! IT IS SO MUCH BETTER FIXED AND BELTING OUT BASS THAN GOING INTO THE DUMPSTER!! (I formerly, infrequently, posted as "moxie")

My 2 cents: I have had an SW10 since new in '94 and loved it as a companion to my Quartets (the unappreciated little brother of the Chorus-Forte trio). So much so I bought a used one for the other side, perfect for music listening, at least for me. Looked for a long time (? 4 years ago?) they ran $100-150 if working OK, but some seem to develop a mysterious nasty rattle. My used one did. Yesterday I think I fixed it, time will tell. Look for my fix post elsewhere, you very well may need it in the future. Couldn't find one in Oak Oil as my others are (I did re-rub those with a reddish stain to come very close to my teak furniture). It was that crappy black. I used two applications of stain stripper, then blended stains I had in the garage, came DAMN close to my other speakers. If you paid so little...WTF?