promedia ultra 2.0: sometimes no sound

[Amy]

I apologize for any confusion...I try to post in many places that this forum's intent is for peer to peer support, and we do not monitor every thread--although we do try.

[starsky]

Thanks Amy. Understand where you are coming from.

For those of us in far-off places this is the closest thing we have to first level support without ringing up huge phone bills. Maybe a sticky in the forums with support contact information for overseas people (other than phone contacts) would be a big step forward.

Update re my support job. It has made it through to my regional support person, who has informed me that there is no end-user RMA, only distributor RMA. They have said they will find out what my options are.

[Amy]

The best way for international customers to get us at this time is to email promedia@klipsch.com for multimedia and support@klipsch.com for Home Audio, and we can get you in contact with the right person. Internationally, we are growing quite a bit, and I don't want to post any contact information that may soon change...

Be sure to contact me directly if you don't hear back soon.

Thanks again!

[akpy]

wow, I also have the exactly same problem described in the forum. Mine starts to show the same sound cut-out symptom after about 3 months usage. Mine is still in warranty(about 7 months left). I wonder if I should bring it back to the retailer or requests a RMA here. It's rather disappointed that this is a common problem. This is my first Klipsch set of speaker, hopefully not my last.

BTW, I purchased this in London Drugs in Canada. I haven't contacted London Drugs yet, but I doubt they will help me to RMA the speaker.

[starsky]

Time for an update for everyone.

I got sent the details of a local tech contact in Australia to either fix or "trade-in" my faulty speakers. The price to fix is about 70% of a new pair. The price to "trade in" is about 60% of a new pair.

I have had no-one acknowledge that this is a design fault. Paying this much to have an obvious design fault repaired is ridiculous. I am yet to find 1 person in Australia who has a set of these speakers that hasn't had trouble. And when you read user feedback on the web more and more stories of people who have owned these for 6 months are cropping up with problems. And the solutions available for fix/trade-in are stupidly expensive.

Amy I want to thank you for trying to get me help, but the help has unfortunately been not acceptable. I am going to try and fix it myself, and as I mentioned before I will not be buying Klipsch or jamo ever again. This has left a very sour taste in my mouth.

[SilverSport]

have you tried the turning (cleaning) the on/off switch???...mine have been working much better now and I leave them on 24/7 now...the pair I bought for the GF have been working without fault since new...she also leaves them on 24/7...both well over a year...

Bill

[Atlink]

Rather than get on everyone's bad side, I'm going to explain my problem in painfully great detail, being sure to leave no bit of evidence behind.

I've been using the ProMedia 2.0 Ultra speakers for over a year now, and I've loved them every moment I've had them. However, about six months or so into my ownership, I noticed that my speakers would very randomly cut out, preceded by a faint crackle or pop noise.

Occasionally, it would come back on in a matter of seconds, and be fine the rest of the time they were used. Other times, they would come back on, and then cut back out again within a few moments.

Thankfully, I'm technologically inclined, so I opted to check my sound card first. My sound card is an integrated piece of junk, so I figured that would be the prime culprit. After my speakers cut out again, I removed the plug to the jack, and my built in speakers instantly powered up and started playing music. Maybe it was the jack? I tried other tests. I tried with my DiscMan, I tried with my iPod, I tried with just about anything that made noise through a headphone jack. I tried the front AUX port, and the rear LINE IN ports, and the sounds could be reproduced. I tried a wide array of different cables and cords, plugging in the speakers into different outlets, surge protectors and suppressors, and so on and so forth.

The problem kept happening.

Obviously my problem has nothing to do with my devices I'm connecting them to, and I treat my speakers like newborns. The worst handling they had was when I took them out of the box and set them on my table (meaning to imply that gently unboxing them was the worst they've been subjected to). Other than that, they haven't moved and they haven't been subjected to any acts of nature (hurricanes, lightning storms, etc.).

I believed in the Klipsch name when I first got my set of ProMedia V2-400's back in the day, and I was blown away at the sound quality. These Ultra 2.0's do the same, but this problem of intermittent sound is rather disheartening.

Is there a possibility an internal component used in manufacturing a first generation batch was just faulty? I've heard many people have this problem, and I'm hoping there will be a simple fix. If anything, I hope someone may have come up with a "so far it's working" method of fixing this "not extremely annoying but it's quirky enough to be distracting" problem.

Thank you in advance,

Shawn Holmes

[Wourd]

I just got these a week ago and this thread makes me nervous. At $90 for a pair of 2.0's, they should provide peace of mind in addition to great sound. I'll give them a fair chance but I'm watching my 30 days closely and they're going back if anything is off. Mine had a small piece of masking tape sticking out from the vertical slit near the front; no big deal of course but unexpected.

Back in 2001, I got a pair of Logitech Soundman X1's (2.1) for free after rebate, because they were being cleared out, and they're still running fine in 2007. They'll probably last for virtually forever. Something for $90, like the Promedia Ultra 2.0's, should match that durability at the very least.

[SilverSport]

Hope this helps and quells some of your fears about these ProMedia Ultra 2.0s...quick recap...I have two pairs of these...one pair I bought at Best Buy...gave them to the GF for her computer...she LOVES music and these speakers are FAR better than the speakers that came with her Dell...she leaves them powered ON all the time and has never had ANY issues with them...coming up on two years of service...

I had hesitated in the past to mention my issues with my pair as I bought them as returns from Best Buy...I just figured that I bought someone else's problem and mine could be "cured" by adjusting the volume/power switch on and off (a nice clue to a dirty switch)...static and pops along with drop outs...but I did buy mine "second hand."

I believe I just cured the problem with suggestions here and I wanted to share...

*things needed to begin...small phillips head screwdriver, can of DeOxit cleaner and DeOxit Gold conditioner, patience...

*take a small "phillips head" screw driver and remove the 10 screws from the left speaker (bass volume power unit)...be careful not to strip the screw heads and also in removing the "top cover" as it is connected to the base unit by wire...don't want to break that...

*remove cover from base unit but don't detach wire...you can see the "pot" for both the Bass control and for the Power/Volume control...spritz the DeOxit into the "slot" on these both...

*wait a short amount of time (5 minutes at most) follow up with DeOxit Gold conditioner...work the two knobs back and forth...

*reassemble top and screw down 10 phillips head screws...not too tight...it is steel going in to plastic!

*wait a half hour or so just to be sure that the liquid has evaporated and left the lubricant and conditioner...

*reattach all connections...feel how the controls glide instead of turn stiffly (as mine were)...

*listen to your favorite selection of music and don't worry about drop offs or pops anymore...

I recommend DeOxit only because on a receiver two years ago I tried other products and they worked for for about an hour before problems re-occurred...when I FINALLY tried DeOxit on so many other's recommendation, success...that receiver still sounds as new today as it did when I cleaned and conditioned with the DeOxit products last year!

If you hae a Fry's Electronics, you can get DeOxit as cheap as anywhere else but it may be about $16 bux or so...just a little goes a long way...

Hope this helps!

Bill

[Wourd]

Mine had a static-y volume control out of the box. I got them from Amazon and the box was pretty banged up. Not sure if I got something completely new. How were your vol controls out of box?

[SilverSport]

mine were fine out of the box and for months and then the static, drop offs and pops started...I have had these going since before I posted about the "fix" and they have not popped, gotten static or dropped off since this morning...and I have been doing other things.

Bill

[N. Outterside]

slightly off subject, but i have a used pair given to me by a friend minus a power supply. so if anyone out there is ready to throw theirs in the trash, i'd be happy to buy your power supply off you. and then, maybe after encountering the same problem, i may join you all in heated criticism.

thanks

outterside@iinet.com.au

[Atlink]

I'll be honest, when I had my ProMedia v.2-400's back in the day, the pre-amp developed a scratchy problem when the volume was adjusted, tapped, or even stared at wrong. The speakers never dropped, but an EXTREMELY annoying scratching was present whilst moving the knob. I tried a can of rheostat cleaner from Radio Shack (a tiny bottle that was about 20 dollars!!) and sprayed it all over the rheostat. Waited about 20 minutes, and presto, the scratching was gone, and after two years, it's still gone. So, yeah, I can see this problem working. I was going to try it a while ago, but my knob didn't scratch, it just cuts out. However, it makes sense. Thank you for the idea!

[SilverSport]

same here...I am trying to get them to get scratchy...drop out...pop...nothing but sound...on 24/7...

Bill

[mjrpes]

Here is my review on newegg:

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PROS:

Absolutely best sound from a 2.0 speaker setup in its price category. Crisp clear sound and strong bass. No distortion even at high volume. Narrow, tall design is a great space saver. Minimalist design is appreciated.

CONS:

After a couple months speakers emit a crackling sound when changing volume. This gets worse over time to the point where the sound becomes uneven between speakers and you have to fidget the volume up and down to get it sounding properly. Soon even this becomes difficult and you find yourself looking for a new set of speakers.

OTHER THOUGHTS:

I wouldn't be posting this review except for the fact that I have bought two sets of these speakers and both have ended up having the problems I describe above (and which other reviews here have noted). If this defect was a rare occurrence the chance of this happening to both units would be highly unlikely; therefore my guess is the problem is quite widespread. To make matters worse, it takes about six months or more before the crackling starts, so don't expect you're OK just because you made it past 90 days. In conclusion, STAY AWAY until Klipsch admits they have a problem and comes out with a new model that fixes it. Don't take my word for it, go to their website forum and look up this model... you'll see what I mean.

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I can't believe a company that makes such great sounding speakers could fail at not only fixing what is seemingly a trivial problem, but be so reticent about it. Are you going out of your way to LOSE customers, Klipsch?

[SilverSport]

...give the "cure" I mention above a try...not one problem yet!...perfect sound, no static, no scratchy noise, no pops, no drop outs...PERFECT!

Bill

[Ra7y]

I bought my 2.0s on Ebay where they were described as new. I had a very noisy volume control from day one. My 2.1s have been so wonderful, without a single glitch, so I was disappointed.

I decided to shoot some cleaner into the control, but there didn't seem to be any holes in the control. Then I read this forum and got even angrier. I figured what the heck, these are pretty useless now and Klipsch is still mum about the defective control and since I bought on Ebay (not an authorized Klipsch dealer) my "warranty" was useless.... Sigh.

I gave the volume control three short blasts of NU-TROL Control Cleaner. I rotated the knob many times, and voila! All the noise is gone. I don't really know how the cleaner penetrated the control, but it did.

Maybe if you can't locate a good control cleaner you can persuade some generous tech at a repair shop to give your volume control a squirt. Its definitely the volume control that is the problem.

Good luck. The 2.0s are really amazing sounding - they're worth fixing.

[demaX]

I'm so disappointed. After spending 2 months deciding on a set of Speakers, reading umpteen forums and web opinions, I had my heart set on the Ultra2 speakers because of their sound quality but people are posting all over about the terrible longengevity of these speakers. Therefore I came here (to this forum) to see if a solution has been found for speaker cutout and noise problem. It appears the solution has not been addressed.

Perhaps this will help someone who hasn't read every post in this thread.
To Test your speakers if you have a problem, you may want to try the old RCA method.
Simple plug in another set of speakers, or use your headphones connected to your PC, to isolate the Ultra2.

Squirting a the Potentiometer with a Contact Cleaner is NOT a solution, but a temporary fix; only to be repeated another time. This 67 year old electronic engineer has radios made in the 50's. And Hi-Fi stereo equipment I build by myself in the early 60's and Altec & Universal speakers made in the 1958, so claiming that a 1 year old Ultra2 is "old" is simply a cop-out.

A good set of speakers should last you a lifetime, unless you exceeded the power of the speakers specifications. And then it would be a Cone problem NOT a Pot problem. And according to the symptoms given, it is definitely a Rheostat/Potentiometer problem.

At first I thought it may be heat related. A weak capacitor to Ground or a Resistor that breaks down with wattage use -- translated into heat. But since a few people say that the problem of cut-out goes away when using a "Contact Cleaner & Lube" that eliminates other components.

I myself would be willing to wait until Klipsch came out with a replacement POT. And if the admin would be so kind as to Post of that possibility, or if Klipsch is looking into this matter. That would be appreciated to know.

These speakers, namely the Ultra2 are meant for my Laptop - so I can wait to purchase.

For my desktop PC I bought a 2.1 (with Base) 10 years ago, and one of best sounding speakers ever heard. At least for my ears and my guests. Don't know if their still on the market -- but search for Yamaha YST-M15 if you need a 3 spkr system for clarity both base & treble. It has 2 Pots, and no problems. If you don't like them I'll buy them from you.

Now my last request, if at all possible, if Klipsch has a replacement supplier for the pots, can we purchase the pots only. Installation would be no problem for me.

As a last word I'd like to address all the posters that said: "I'll never buy another Klipsch".
You must remember that most (if not all) manufacturers do NOT make all components. Just as in this case, the likelyhood that other manufacturer run into component problem is very high. We the public, have the duty to inform a manufacturer of problems, for their R&D burn in time is limited and cost prohibitive respectively.

demaX

[Crochu]

Ok, I'm French, so excuse me for langage.

I have the same conflict. The speakers sound get ON/OFF quickly. When I play with the Volume, I can restablishes sound. That is really boring.

After 1 year of use.

[SilverSport]

if you can spray the volume control knob (power) as mentioned earlier in this thread, I bet it will fix your problem...not one problem with mine since doing this...good luck and welcome.

Bill