promedia ultra 2.0: sometimes no sound

[TAG]

Woops. The pot is made by Alpha, not ALPS. I've had good experience with this brand, too.

[ufopsi]

These speakers have great sound but they also have a design flaw. My speakers just started to malfunction again (static, pops, sound off). Today, the right speaker has died on me! I bought the ProMedia in 2007. [:@] My last treatment fixed the speakers for a couple of years at most.

Lesson: never again buy a Klipsch product. I've just ordered a pair of Altec Lansing.

[sine wave]

"These speakers have great sound but they also have a design flaw." quote ufopsi

*** we have been mentioning the above quote many times over ***

AGAIN, I will share with you what has worked for me over the past year plus +

DO NOT power down the speakers using the volume control !!!

If using the ProMedia ultra 2.0 as monitor speakers with PC or MAC leave them powered ON - 24/7

power consumption is minimal and you will continue to enjoy the audio hassle free.

***Murphy's Law does apply -

Good luck Mates !

Si

[prmayner]

I bought these speakers on Klipsche's reputation and i have the 5.1 set up and love them. So needless to say i was dissapointed when i started hearing the same static and cutting out that you guys are hearing after only a couple of weeks of use, i thought the same thing as some of you about the circuit board components and the like, so when i read about one member here taking the control speakers front off by taking out the 10 screws i tried that and I think i have cured my problem and here's what i found. After carefully prying the front cover off there is a small wire attached to the front so be careful anyway as i seperated the two pieces the marterial they used for accoustics inside the speaker was all stuck around the magnets and electrical connections to the speakers themselves. i just pulled it away from the soldered connections with care cause this stuff was really embedded into the bare soldered connections and then i just stuffed it a little farther down inside the box so the white cobweb looking material isn't touching any of the speaker at all and so far i dont hear a single snap crackle or pop and the sound is clearer than ever. Hope this works for you.

[colterphoto1]

I have owned more Klipsch product than almost anyone on the planet and have been unhappy with my PM2.0 for some time now. Yes I have the dreaded (and terribly common) 'scratchy volume control' syndrome. I live in a non-smoking home and these are rarely turned on or off, although I do know enough to occasionally rotate the control to keep oxidation off the wipers.

Did Klipsch use the cheapest possible part for this volume control? Most computer users will not have the knowledge or fortitude to open these up and clean the volume pots every so often. They worked fine at first and had that charactistic great Klipsch sound but now are just about unusable.

Klipsch should stay out of the electronics business and stick to box speakers which they seem more than capable of manufacturing. These ProMedia products seem as troublesome as the junky Sub12 units that failed at an astronomical rate for years, also the failed RoomGroove line of products. Makes you wonder how big the trash heap is there in Hope Arkansas.

[John Booty]

For whatever it's worth, I fixed mine easily with a $10 bottle of contact cleaner from Radio Shack. (As others have suggested on this thread and elsewhere)

Had speakers since 2007. Used and loved occasionally - not my main home listening setup, but I've used them for travel and parties and such and was in love with the sound and lack of need for a subwoofer.

Symptom: The usual "scratchy noise when turning volume knob" thing others have mentioned. As of yesterday (July 2011) the left speaker cut out entirely and getting sound out of the right speaker was problematic. I tried several cables and audio sources to determine it was the PM20's and not the sound sources.

Solution: Remove faceplate, couple sprays of contact cleaner into the pots, rotated each knob 25-50 times until I could tell (by the newly "loose" feel) that the solution had worked its way into the pots.

The problem is now totally fixed. Back to "Day 1 out of box" functionality. Hope one more piece of anecdotal evidence is helpful to somebody out there.

[mdkathon]

Same story as most of the postings on the board. I picked up a small squeeze tube of DeoxIT Gold which is more of a lube/cleaner solution. I removed the front faceplate, then the plastic knobs.... dripped the solution on each knob where there is a very small gap for the lube to work its way in. Turned the knobs about 50 times each and was able to feel the lube work its way in.

Fix cost me $5.00 on Amazon. They're working great now.

[Vinnie007]

Amy, I disagree with you on this. I have had the same problem with the volume knob and this is my second set of these speakers. They seem to only last about nine months and then the control goes bad. The first set the place where I bought them replaced them and now they are bad again and they have refused to replace them even though it has been less then a year. This seems to be an issue with the potentiometer (sp), where the knob has lost control over the sound and sometimes it just goes crazy where there is no control at all and it just blaring.

I would like to see if Klipsch could look into this matter and see if the Chinese factory are using proper spec materails to assemble these speakers. These are great speaker and I was about to throw them away until I came across this forum.

[GlennAB1]

I loved my Promedia Ultra 2.0's.... my son managed to plug the power supply in backwards (reverse polarity) and fried

the power supply, so they went in a box in a closet, untill I found another set at a garage sale that didn't work. I re-wired

both satellite's and now use them as regular bookshelf speakers. I love them again, they rock!!!

[Rambojc]

On 11/24/2008 at 0:50 AM, Elameno said:

I've had my PM Ultra 2.0s for a couple of years now and have loved
the sound. I have had two problems with the speakers thus far (the second problem an ongoing issue):

Problem
1: I've experienced the dirty volume pot problem which was causing audio drop outs in the left speaker and terrible noise when the audio volume knob was rotated.

Solution: I used Deoxit cleaner on the volume pot and it cleared up the issue like magic...no more snap, crackle, pop, or loss of audio in the left channel due to the volume pot.

Problem 2: I'm now experiencing the
audio dropping out of the right speaker, either completely, partially,
or coming in and out rapidly. On occasion the audio in both speakers
will come in and out rapidly (about two or three times per second) with
a high pitched clicking sound each time it comes in and out.I took
apart the speaker in search of loose wire connections and found none.
After reassembling the speaker I believe I have now isolated the
problem to the power cable (near where it attaches to the speaker). I can make the problem appear and disappear by fiddling with the position of the power cable which leads me to believe that it is caused by a failing/shorting cable. I initially thought it might be the three prong power connector on the unit, but now I do not believe it is the power connector as I can hold that thing tight (in an isolated position) in the socket and still cause the symptoms by fiddling with the power cable's position.

Proposed Solution: I think that perhaps splicing the power cable at the end where I'm having issues OR replacing the power supply/cable might be the only way to go. Sadly, the power cable and power supply are a single unit so I'd have to pay $25.00 for a new one.

Has anyone else had this problem, or can they check to see if this is the cause of their issues as well?

Dave

Exactly on what portion of the volume knob needs to be applied with the Caig DeoxIT? Alternatively, can I use WD40 instead?

Edited September 3, 2017 by Rambojc

[SilverSport]

I don't know abut WD-40 but just a spritz of DeoxIT...I know this is an old thread and late reply but I just applied the "fix" for the first follow up since 2007ish for a friend...

 

Bill