Problem with RC3 please help

[bdmiller]

I purchased a used RC3 Center Speaker on ebay. When I hooked it up to my reciever, I expected to be blown away. I was not. It did not sound much better than the cheap yamaha center speaker it replaced. It sounds very bright but not rich and deep. And though there is not a hiss or buzz, the S's in the vocals are over pronounced. Shattering glass and bullet fire sounds wonderful, but not much else.

I have a Radio Shack sound meter that I use to balance the sound levels of all the channels with a pink noise test. When the signal is on the RC3 the volume starts low and slowly gets louder.

This is my first klipsch speaker, and I think something is wrong. Does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks,

Bryan Miller

Kenwood 500W Dolby Digital/DTS reciever

Pioneer 150W Front speakers

Yamaha 100W rear speakers

Cerwin Vega 12' 200W Powered Sub

Klipsch RC3 center

[whadyasay]

Since it's used, you might be looking at a repair. I don't know if you can return it. Possibly a problem on the crossover circuit,like a bad capacitor or something. Or things could have been shaken loose during shipping, which does happen. Brand new Klipsch's tend to be a bit too bright until they've been broken in, but that volume rise thing is a real head-scratcher. If you can return it, I would. Otherwise, you could probably contact Klipsch for an authorized repair center in your area.

[bdmiller]

OK, I have done some experimenting. I removed the brackets and hooked up my speaker wire only to the bottom set of posts (I think the woofers) and the sounded just like it did with the brackets on. So, I hooked up the wires to just the top posts (I assume the horn) and got very little sound. I had to crank the volume way up to hear.

I am assuming this is not normal. Does this sound like a problem with the horn, horn driver, crossover...? Does anyuone have any advise? I am not opposed to opening up the speaker. What should I look for?

[whadyasay]

As I mentioned in the HT forum, the top posts are only for the tweeter, and since it only handles very high frequencies, you won't perceive quite as much output when playing a full-range signal through it by itself. A good test is to play some music with drums, specificically cymbals/hi-hat hits, or just dialogue (preferably not too deep a voice like Darth Vader's) through only your main/fronts and listen, then plug the wires from one of your mains into the RC-3 (use the joining brackets) and listen to see if it's as clear. I don't know what your main speakers are, but Klipsch's, with their horn tweeter, usually sound a bit brighter and more detailed/forward than many other comparably priced speakers. If the RC-3 suddenly sounds more muffled or farty when you switch the wires, then there's a good chance that the RC-3 is damaged internally...either the crossover circuit or the tweeter itself, as most Klipsch Center chanels have a reputation for clarity. It might be a simple fix, but then spending more on repairs than the actual cost of the speaker is a hard pill to swallow.

[WMcD]

The RC-3 is supposed to go down to 62 Hertz so it should sound like a full range speaker when working properly. On the other hand, you might be expecting too much.

To do further testing you'll have to get a multimeter to measure the voice coil resistance of the three drivers. They are cheap at RS and you only need the most simple.

You can open them up and then take one wire off each driver. Then measure voice coil resistance. Expect about 3 to 8 ohms for a good driver.

One guess is that one of the woofers is bad and it is messing up the crossover response and maybe the amp output. But you have some doubts about the tweeter too.

Some of what you describe is a little inconsistent. I.e. it lacks bass, yet the tweeter sounds marginal. I'm not saying you're incorrect in observations. This is what makes me think there may be some complex interactions, or there are multiple problems.

If you can get the darling to Chicago or Texas, I'd take a look at it for you. However, I see you're in Arizona.

Gil