Are Klipsch ProMedia amps prone to failure?

Well I just bought a pair of these off a large auction site, and now I see this thread. Kinda worries me! The guy had 80,000 positive comments and says they were working, so I guess I'll cross my fingers and hope for the best.
 
Ok, I know this is an old thread but my ProMedia 5.1 Ultra amp just died this morning. It was fine last night when I turned them off, but now they won't power back up.

I'm pretty sure it's that ALK3223 relay, but where the hell can one find one of these without going through a huge distributor with massive minimums?
 
mine are still dying, I dont dare turn them off coz if I do even for a few minutes, they will buzz and crackel on and off for 1/2 hour.:eek:


I should just break down and buy a new set, any recommendations?

p.s. fuck klipsch.
 
why fuck klipsch :p how long have you had them? I had mine for years no problems, still have my 4.1s ^^

BTW some guy named elliot is fixing the Klispch amps, look for the thread on it in this section.
 
Digital Viper-X- said:
why fuck klipsch :p how long have you had them? I had mine for years no problems, still have my 4.1s ^^

BTW some guy named elliot is fixing the Klispch amps, look for the thread on it in this section.
Click to expand...


I have had the 4.1 and now the 5.1 and they both died/dying. the end.

I know there are people that fix them, but how long will that last...another 3 months? I loved my klipsch, they rocked the house when they were working.

there is a reason Klipsch stopped making PC speakers....they rock, but they also suck cock.

and if yours are still working good for you, but the inevitable is on its way.
 
I finally found the relay.

I called Digikey. The P/N on the relay would not cross, so the sales rep called in a tech and he joined us on the phone. I snipped a picture of the relay and emailed it to him.

These guys spent 30 minutes on the phone with me helping to cross-reference a $1.84 part, and they were quite happy to do it for me. Really, these guys were outstanding.

I felt guilty ordering 1, so I ordered 3 :)

The replacement has a slightly different number, and has better specs than the one klipsh used.
 
My Klipsch satellites are still working with the Dayton sub and Onkyo receiver. Glad you found something to fix your Klipsch subw.:)
 
Huh.

<looks at his ProMedia 2.1 THX amp, with a few years' worth of dust and clutter on top of it>

<turns up Marcus Miller's The Sun Don't Lie>

:)
 
Only certain versions of the klipsch amps were affected with this problem of dieing or what not. I know they had the number schemes all over their forum 4 years ago when i had a problem with mine, it was in the range and they replaced for free i'm probably going on 7-10 years now with my 5.1's they make great products, have great support i think they gave a 3 or 5 year warranty on them seems pretty good to me. They left the computer speaker business cause they couldn't compete as people just didn't want to pay more for the quality. And shit if you want that good of quality get regular receiver and speaker and sub setup it is the best way to go and i think klipsch knows that anyone thinking of spending more than 500$ on their speakers realizes why get computer speaker makes more sense to get a full blown setup.
 
how do you remove the yellow adhesive? torch also. as i do have soldering tools but i have never come across this yellow stuff
 
TechLarry said:
I finally found the relay.

I called Digikey. The P/N on the relay would not cross, so the sales rep called in a tech and he joined us on the phone. I snipped a picture of the relay and emailed it to him.

These guys spent 30 minutes on the phone with me helping to cross-reference a $1.84 part, and they were quite happy to do it for me. Really, these guys were outstanding.

The replacement has a slightly different number, and has better specs than the one klipsh used.
Click to expand...

Mind sharing that part number, so we all don't have to waste time? ;)
 
i ordered 5 of them. i havent gotten around to installing them yet to know if it does indeed fix the issue, but it defintely is the same relay that comes on the sub. i guess the easist way to double check is like the previous post said short the staggard leads to see if it comes on then you should know if its bad
 
lucky for me, none of my components were dead. I simply wiggled the relays, made sure the fuse was snapped in correctly, and moved many capacitors and resistors that were touching other components so they would cool better, and amazingly the sound came back in full.

@raptor, would you be willing to ship one of those relays? I'd like to have one around, just in case mine goes.
 
well... my promedia 2.1's just died on me. They're only around 6 months old.. probably only around 130hrs on them. They're the second set i've had this year... the first set also died on me and i took them in for a replacement. unbelievable.
how could they sell these pieces of crap for so long?
 
b1m2x3 said:
well... my promedia 2.1's just died on me. They're only around 6 months old.. probably only around 130hrs on them. They're the second set i've had this year... the first set also died on me and i took them in for a replacement. unbelievable.
how could they sell these pieces of crap for so long?
Click to expand...

the 2.1's were nowhere near the quality of the 5.1's, especially sound wise. On that note, my 5.1 non Ultras have lasted me for going on 9 years now, and the only issue was what i posted a few posts back, very recently. I couldn't be happier with them.... except if they had more inputs ;-)
 
Ok, so I have had a problem with my ProMedia's for about 2 years now. I finally decided that enough was enough and spent all weekend trying to figure out what the issue was. I narrowed it down to the sub. At first I thought it was my PC, but after plugging in each speaker one by one into each channel on the ProMedia sub and having all 5 speakers fail to produce sound on ONLY the Rear Left channel is when I knew it had to be the sub and nothing else. I even borrowed a pair of my friends MedUsa 5.1 headsets and plugged it into my PC to make sure that all 5 channels worked (to rule out the PC and Sound Card) and they did - when I plug my ProMedia's back in I end up losing the Rear Left again.

I have been reading this forum since this weekend and have also contacted Klipsch on the issue to gather as much information as possible. It seems as though some of you have been able to send yours in for $60-$90 to get repaired, while others have gone online and ordered a relay or re-soldered lose connections to fix the issue - this is where my question comes in.

**My Question in all of this**
My problem is that only the Rear Left channel has no sound. I have never had any crackling issues, sub going out on me, or all speakers going out at once problems. It has always been JUST the Rear Left channel that does not work. **additional note** --> At one point in time the Rear Right channel was not working and the Rear Left one was, but after some time (including moving to an apartment, cleaning, and re-arranging the speakers) it switched to being the Rear Left that no longer worked while the Rear Right one is now fine. Maybe my problem is intermittent, but I have also had this problem come and go where the Rear Left channel will suddenly start working again for no apparent reason and then days later stop working again. Although, it has always been not working more than working.

In conclusion, does this mean that I have a bad relay, a bad fuse, a loose connection, or something totally different...? I was just going to follow the tutorial on here to replace the relay, but those of you who have replaced your relay have been because all of the speakers stopped working, because they don't pop when turned on, or because the sub stopped working all together. Since my issue is "somewhat" different; do I still fall under the relay issue? I want to make sure I'm on the correct path before proceeding any further.

Thanks for any replies on this in advance and for all of those who have helped so many others to resolve their issues with this system on this forum.

Jeepy
 
Ok, this is really weird, but here we go.

So, nobody has replied to my post yet and I didn't want to wait any longer. Therefore I decided to try taking the sub apart to see if there were any lose connections on the board, a blown fuse, or any scortch marks. I took out all 12 screws on the outter edge of the amp but could not figure out how to pull the board out. I tried prying it out, pulling on the channel pieces, and using a pair of pliars to pull on the power plug area - nothing worked. I then searched the forums and google for multiple hours and could find NO tutorials or detailed explinations on how to remove the board so I made one last attempt to get it out by turning it upside down and beating the hell out of it with my hand. Still, it wouldn't come out. I offically have no clue at this point.

I didn't feel like not having any sound while i played some games tonight so I hooked it back up to the PC and guess what..... That's right, the Rear Left channel is now working along with all of the others. Obviously there must be a loose connection in this thing somewhere. I then decided to put all the screws back in it since it's working now to see what would happen and after I got them all back in I decided to try the Rear Left channel to make sure nothing had changed, and guess what... Thats right, the Rear Left channel was no longer working again.

So, to sum this up - I basically had to beat the living @#$%! out of the sub with my hand until the Rear Left channel began working again (and now it is). I would still like to take it apart to see what is going on in there because I don't want to keep spanking it whenever the Rear Left channel stops working.

Any Ideas on how to get the pannel out once the outta 12 screws have been removed?

Jeepy
 
I guess its possible they glued yours too, but all I ever did was grab the amp panel by the speaker terminals and pull straight back. You may have *carefully* insert a small screwdriver and pry between the backplate and enclosure. There is some sticky foam padding in between. Make sure that stays with the backplate. Once it starts coming be very careful. The amp is a tight fit and there are parts near the edge that can easily snag. Dont let it drop down either, the BASH module could get smashed on the lip of the enclosure. Once its out a couple of inches you will have to disconnect the leads to the the two sub speakers.

Be careful not to short any of the large caps either (Ouch!)

From the sound of things either your speaker terminals aren't solidly connected to the amp or the BASH (white PCB) module for the rear channel has developed poor solder joints. Locate the correct one for the rear channel using the schematics on that site that was linked and either reflow the joints from the white daughter PCM to the main module or do one of the ghetto hacks like using tape to hold it in a positiion that forces the bad connections togetrher.

While your in there look for other loose bits or obviously fried components. If you aren't sure, ask first and take pictures. Someone on here should be able to tell you what to do.
 
cool, thanks... I'll give it a try later in the week and post my findings/results.

Thanks again for the tips on getting the panel out.
 
What I did to remove the amp plate was, after removing the 12 screws around the edge, loosen one or two of the larger screws in the middle by 1/8" to 1/4" and use something to give you some grip and pull on them. Make sure the screws you select still feels securely connected after you loosen it, there are a few on there that aren't very long. I used the blade and shaft of a screwdriver under the screws to lift mine out, but you might be able to do it with by gripping the screws with a cloth or some gloves. Bare skin didn't work for me.

Don't be timid, it takes a lot of force to break the seal. Once the seal is broken it will come out very easily.
 
Good advice on unwinding one of the screws and using it to pull on, but after I un-screwed all 12 screws this time the plate came right off with nearly any effort. When I got it opened up I saw many problems. Nearly all of the power connectors to each of my channels was loosly fitted and a couple of them were almost falling off. It looked as tgough a bunch of illegal mexicans were hired to put this thing together, seriously...

Anyhow, I used a pair of pliars to tighten the connectors so that they would acually grab the leads. I then checked the fuse (it was ok) and looked for any scortch marks or burnt out resistors, etc... and everything was fine. I put it all back together again and hooked it up and all 5 channels were working flawlessly. I then moved the sub back into it's original position under my desk and thought I was done. Yeah.... NOT, because as soon as I loaded up one of my games the Rear Left channel was out again and my Rear Right too. I slapped the box a few more times with my hand and the Rear Right came back on but the Rear Left was still not working. I ended up having to take the unit back apart again and really tighten all of the leads up to ensure nothing was lose. When I put it all back together again I had NO sound out of all 5 of my speakers and only the sub ws working.

Now I'm really confused... i spent the next 4 hours tonight working at it before I finally found the reason why everything stopped working. It turns out that I had two problems working against me. The first one was fixed (by tightening up the lose connectors), the second issue was the little grey ribon cable that runs from the top of the board to the bottom (it has a yellow connector at both ends). When I wiggled the cable my sound came back and as soon as it touched anything it would go out again. After further diagnosis I was able to find that I had a defective wire lead (the first white wire next to the red one that went into the yellow colored connector). I used my micro screwdriver kit to remove all of the wires and noticed that they all had these THICK lead leads that went into the connector except for the one white wire. So, what was happening is that the wire in the connector was not making constant contact with the metal spike/prong on the board - causing it to work or not work when moved, handeled, or even vibrated by the bass. To resolve the issue i had to bend the tip of the wire lead to double its size inside the connector. Although, in doing so there is no clip to hold it in place (to prevent the wire from coming out), so I had to take my micro screwdriver and jam the wire in the hole through the back of the connector to ensure that it would not come lose. I could have taped it or lightly added some soldier to the back to close it off, but I'm sure it will hold the way a is.

All in all it's just cheap parts and poor craftsmanship IMO. this has been one hell of a ride but as of 11:51p.m. EST it's finally working like new. thanks to all who posed on here for my issue and for taking the time to read my post. I hope this may help some of you with your ProMedia 5.1 issues too. If yor not getting the speaker "pop" when turning the power on be sure to check that grey ribbon cable with the yellow connector to make sure that it's not defective. Check the fuse, look for scortch marks, lose connectors, and everything else mentioned on this thread. I was able to save myself from a lot of down time and lost money by full inspecting this myself and jerry rigging the faulty connector. this may not work in all cases, but definitaly not something that you will want to overlook when diagnosing this subwoofer.

Thanks again everyone!

P.S. I swear to god - it's so late right now and I just want to go to bed so I'm not even going to proof read this post or fix any spelling mistakes tonight. If I have time tomorrow I will re-read it and fix any mistakes, but I have to get some sleep right now.

Jeepy
 
Damn, I thought I had included it in my post. Unfortunately when my repair was unsuccessful I just tossed the whole kit and kaboodle, and they didn't use an email verification since it was a phone order :(

daffoml said:
Mind sharing that part number, so we all don't have to waste time? ;)
Click to expand...
 
At 6 months that should be a warranty repair.

b1m2x3 said:
well... my promedia 2.1's just died on me. They're only around 6 months old.. probably only around 130hrs on them. They're the second set i've had this year... the first set also died on me and i took them in for a replacement. unbelievable.
how could they sell these pieces of crap for so long?
Click to expand...
 
Well I made a post on the Klipsch forums..so I figure I'll p one here too. It looks bad to see that there still isn't any definite guide to these issues...

So I had bought some 3 year old Klipsch Promedia 5.1 Ultras on eBay maybe 2 years and, god, they are great speakers. Now I am saddened because they are getting a bit of crackling on the high points of songs where there is a lot of bass. Also it seems to happen with lo quality sounds, like some loud noises on YouTube and such.

Also, I can simulate the crackling by rotating the control panel volume knob back and forth rapidly, making me believe is an issue with that device.


1. Crackling on sounds with a lot of bass.

2. Crackling when turning the volume knob.

3. Crackling on loud, lo-fi sounds (YouTube)



This is not a sound card issue as I have tried the speakers on more than one computer.

I was hoping that somebody could direct me to any sort of knowledge, tutorial, or guide where I could get a little headstart on fixing my issue.
Many thanks.
 
the original pro medias were prone to sub failure. reason being there wasnt any way to exhaust he heat. the ultras had a heatsink on the back to disapate the heat. i imagine they had other problems as well. i loved my pro media 5.1 set, but finding out the subamp would go periodlically kinda pissed me off as i payed alot of money for them. i kinda wish i had just payed the tech i found the $180 for the ultra amp and controller he had but since klipsch pro media 5.1 are no longer made its kinda moot.
 
D3DAiM: Crackling when turning the volume knob is a common issue with Klipsch PC speakers. They are fine when new but seem to develop crackle over time when dust gets into the potentiometer used for the volume control (only when turning the knob to adjust volume). It's a minor annoyance but nothing to worry about.

As far as the other crackling issues, can't help you there as I haven't experienced it with my 2.1s or my v.2-400s that were sold long ago.
 
Rogue71 said:
the original pro medias were prone to sub failure. reason being there wasnt any way to exhaust he heat. the ultras had a heatsink on the back to disapate the heat.
Click to expand...

The amp for the PM5.1 and PMU5.1 is nearly identical, and I own one of each. No added heat sinks, but a few components sized up in power handling and placed better to dissipate heat. I have had to fix both of them but for different reasons. My PMU5.1 AC/DC converter burned up a few resistors and diodes. My PM5.1 was taken out by a power surge, but the damage was confined to the fuse and the metal oxide varistor (same device that makes surge protectors work). Replaced both and fully funcitonal again.

On the subject of the volume control pod, the digital volume pot on the PM5.1 set is much worse than when I first got it. I am looking into ways to replace it because it will go from 40 to 1 with the slightest turn, or suddenly shoot to max volume without even touching it. The volume control on the PMU is infinitely better.
 
sorry to bring this up again. but i've had my amp sent back twice so far and they've both lasted about 6 mos before dying again. this is on 5.1 ultras. when i turn it on it makes a whining noise for about 1-2 hours before it goes away and i can listen to the system.
is there any harm in leaving these on 24/7? that way i dont have to wait 1-2 hours before listening to music or playing games? i've had it with these speakers but i figure at the very least, i can buy a receiver and some other sub to use with the satellites. sure i'll lose control pod functionality but it would be taken care of by the receiver.

any recommendations on a good replacement sub and good enuf 5.1 receiver?

thanks

funny thing is my original klipsch 4.0 v2 system is still working fine after a decade lol
but these "ultras" lasted 2 yrs on first sub/amp, and 6 mos for each replacement they sent. that was a total of $200 bucks as it was 90 for each replacement + shipping back to them.
 
I might be a little late replying, but I got my subw from PartsExpress and it is a 12-inch Dayton (although some say 12-inch is overkill and all you really need is a 10-inch). At the time, the 12-inch was on sale and in-stock, so it was a no-brainer for me. As far as the receiver, I'd recommend an Onkyo but just make sure it has plenty of breathing room as I think I fried mine after 3.5 years and just replaced it with a Pioneer. Besides those two, I believe Denon has some good deals as well. The problem now is finding receivers that have analog multi-channel plugs in the back. Obviously, the Pioneer one in my sig does and to find out other info you can search a possible thread I might have going here as well as at pcper forums.
 
Just an FYI here, I own a set of these as well, and I'm glad I do, but it wasn't always this way.. I was just luckier in that mine died a few years ago.

Why do I say that? I jumped into the Klipsch forums and found a guy who did repairs on them in the South Dallas area.. I described the problem to him, and he was like "Yeah, that happens a lot, Give me the sub and a $120, and I'll make them sound better than ever"... So yeah, I admit it, I paid him to replace a few $2 parts as I was paying for his knowledge and his skills, and I'm happy I did.

They are still working GREAT, and I wish I had this guy's # or I'd post it, but I'm sure it may still be in the Klipsh forums... the sub was notorious even back then.

All in all, I paid $520 so far on these things, and I've had them for years... I sincerely wish you all luck in getting them all working again, and I'd ask that if you had a set of these lying about broken and are in the DFW area, and it's "just the sub", to let me know if I can have them! /grin I'll open the case on the one I have and make the parts match.
 
Rogue71 said:
the original pro medias were prone to sub failure. reason being there wasnt any way to exhaust he heat. the ultras had a heatsink on the back to disapate the heat. i imagine they had other problems as well. i loved my pro media 5.1 set, but finding out the subamp would go periodlically kinda pissed me off as i payed alot of money for them. i kinda wish i had just payed the tech i found the $180 for the ultra amp and controller he had but since klipsch pro media 5.1 are no longer made its kinda moot.
Click to expand...

I've had my 4.1's since 2002 without a problem (knocks on wood) I bought a second set when i saw someone selling the for $50 locally. sure they crackle when you turn the volume up but i rarely mess with the volume knob. both my friends that had the 5.1's have had them die.
 
Anyone ever experience their Klipsch PMU 5.1's having a high pitched ringing/whining noise when they turn them on? It actually goes away and works again after leaving it on for an hour or so... but if I turn it off and on again the problem comes back... I've sent my amp in once for repair already 2 years ago because it wouldn't turn on at all but this time i get this high pitch noise...
 
I do not have these speakers but I think Klipsch needs to take some responsibility for this. They never will but they should. They were selling expensive system with a flawed sub. I've read on other forums that 80% of subs fail within 2-3 years. This kind of nonsense shouldn't be tolerated by the customers. It has nothing to do with the 1 year warranty anymore. They knowingly produced defective systems and now want to charge to have it repaired. Unbelievable.

My Logitech Z5300e have lasted 4 years and are still going strong.
 
There is a guy name Henry who can pretty much do a permanent good fix on these Klipsch 5.1 subs and another name Elliott and Nick,depending on your location you can send to any of these guys...Personally, i rather Henry or Nick from their turn around time,Elliott is kind of slow in this regard but does good work.See the klipsch forum for more details.The fact is,there is nothing out there,not even today as far as quality is concern that can even compare to the 5.1 Promedia Klipsch speakers...
 
dekard said:
$60 to have klipsch repair them is a steal. Do it. Those speakers are still worth quite a bit as an ebay search will show you. So, for about $100 you could get them repaired or spend $300-500 to replace them with something of the same quality. Unless you've been looking for an excuse to move to a 5.1 system just repair them.

Also, don't let anyone fool you. The logi's are great but they can't compare to the klipsch. You've got the best, enjoy it.
Click to expand...

Then why did Klipsch stop making them if they are so good? Not enough profit? I have a pair of ProMedia 2.1 and have never had an issue with the amp yet and I have owned them for about 4 or 5 years now.

Last time I saw them on sale they were only $100.00 new so $100.00 is not such a good price to get them fixed. I paid $200.00 CAD for mine but that was on sale too because NCIX listed them at $300.00 at the time. If the amp did go I would just trash them because sending them to Klipsch from Canada is just not worth the cost.
 
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