One channel not working in my Polk 5000.5 amp

[Dave burke]

Finally solved one problem (gauges and stereo weren’t working) when the dealer replaced the port tach. Now I have a problem with my amp and I’m hoping others have dealt with a similar issue.

The right rear channel of my amp is not working. It’s the stock Polk 5000.5 in the 2017 212X.

At first I thought maybe the rear starboard swim platform speaker had become disconnected but it was good.

Then I checked the connections into the sound bar. They were also good.

Then I thought maybe there’s a bad RCA from the Head unit so I disconnected the RCAs from the amp and plugged my phone directly into the amp. Got sound from three channels but not the fourth.

So I thought let’s see if there’s a bad speaker wire somewhere between the amp and the soundbar and/or swim platform speaker. So I disconnected the leads from the amp and wired an extra speaker I have directly to the right rear channel output. No joy.

Now I’m running out of ideas so I tried two more things: checked the fuses in the amp (duh, should have done this sooner) and used a different speaker just in case the first one I tried was bad (fortunately in have an extra pair as I’m planning to mount them in the helm).

None of these things worked so I took the amp out of the boat and took the cover off in case there was visible corrosion inside the amp. I didn’t see any.

I also realized when I took the cover off the amp that I’m over my head in terms of DIY repairs!

Anybody have any ideas? Has anybody had one of these amps repaired? Or is it time to cut my losses and replace it?

Thx all.

 

[Julian]

Sounds like you need a replacement amp....you've covered everything I would have checked.

 

[Dave burke]

Thx Julian. Have you heard that these amps often go bad?

 

[Compatico]

Sounds like you need a replacement amp....you've covered everything I would have checked.

I concur...these units are pretty integrated and it would be hard to find an issue and repair it at home without serious gear, schematics, and skills. You can poke at Yamaha and maybe they had a few bad units and would be willing to replace or discount to keep a customer happy. You can also try contacting Polk and see if this sounds like a known issue and perhaps get a low cost repair. It doesn't hurt to inquire. Maybe they had a bad run of solder joints or traces and you can get a decent discount on a replacement. This kind of stuff they don't advertise, so going to the source (Polk) can sometimes yield results if Yamaha can't help.

 

[Dave burke]

Thx @Compatico. Good suggestions.

 

[Compatico]

Thx @Compatico. Good suggestions.

You're welcome, my dad was an EE and I picked up a few things along the way about fixing "stuff".

 

[Dave burke]

EE? Electrical engineer?

 

[Compatico]

EE? Electrical engineer?

Yup...he doesn't boat though, so not as interested as I'd hoped!
LOL

 

[Bogus]

Finally solved one problem (gauges and stereo weren’t working) when the dealer replaced the port tach. Now I have a problem with my amp and I’m hoping others have dealt with a similar issue.

The right rear channel of my amp is not working. It’s the stock Polk 5000.5 in the 2017 212X.

At first I thought maybe the rear starboard swim platform speaker had become disconnected but it was good.

Then I checked the connections into the sound bar. They were also good.

Then I thought maybe there’s a bad RCA from the Head unit so I disconnected the RCAs from the amp and plugged my phone directly into the amp. Got sound from three channels but not the fourth.

So I thought let’s see if there’s a bad speaker wire somewhere between the amp and the soundbar and/or swim platform speaker. So I disconnected the leads from the amp and wired an extra speaker I have directly to the right rear channel output. No joy.

Now I’m running out of ideas so I tried two more things: checked the fuses in the amp (duh, should have done this sooner) and used a different speaker just in case the first one I tried was bad (fortunately in have an extra pair as I’m planning to mount them in the helm).

None of these things worked so I took the amp out of the boat and took the cover off in case there was visible corrosion inside the amp. I didn’t see any.

I also realized when I took the cover off the amp that I’m over my head in terms of DIY repairs!

Anybody have any ideas? Has anybody had one of these amps repaired? Or is it time to cut my losses and replace it?

Thx all.

So did you fix your AMP? What was the real case? I have the same issue with mine AMP.

 

[Dave burke]

I did. Had to take it to an electronics shop to get it repaired. That was a few months ago and I can’t remember what the problem was. But the amp was clearly the issue.

 

[Bogus]

Ok. Thanks!

 

[Dave burke]

I think it cost me about $100 to get it fixed. If it had been much more than that, I was going to buy a new JL amp.

 

[Bogus]

What kind of JL Do you think is the Best fit for our boats?

 

[Dave burke]

That’s not a simple question. Depends on many factors, and there‘s lots of posts on this forum on what people have done to upgrade their stereos. In my my case I added two more Polk 4 channel amps on top of existing 5 channel, changed the Polk sub for a JL sub and added two mid cabin speakers.

I did this because the stock sub really wasn’t very good, not much sound in the mid cabin at speed and the tower sound bar was way underpowered. And because the speakers were all wired in series, even the cabin speakers were underpowered.

I also didn’t want to leave the amps under the seat (that’s probably why mine had to be repaired) so moved them to under the helm and rewired everything. It was quite a bit of work.

If all you want to do is swap the Polk for a JL, I’d say the M700/5 is pretty comparable. But there are definitely more knowledgeable JL people on this forum than I am so it would be interesting to hear what they say.

I think you have two amps in your boat right? Are they both under the seat?

 

[Bogus]

Thank you for the informafion. Yes I Do have two Polk AMPs under the seat. But Why Do you think this is not the right place FOR them. Hot? Or wet?

 

[Dave burke]

Too damp. Far from waterproof. And the Polks are not true marine amps from what I’ve been told so they won’t stand up to wet environments very well.

 

[Bogus]

Ok, depending on the price for repair I will decide to change for another amp manufacture. Thanks sharing your experience

 

[Dave burke]

Makes sense. If I were you, I wouldn’t spend much more than $100 or so. A lot of guys on this forum have used Odin at Earmark Audio (odin@earmarkcaraudio.com) and I reached out to him last fall when I was trying to troubleshoot my problems. He was very helpful and he basically said that the Polks are cheap. They sound ok when they work but they’re not worth putting a lot of money into when then go bad. JL is a completely different class.

The other thing he told me was that the Polk subs are not free-air subs and sound terrible when not in enclosures. I experienced that first hand and I’m no audiophile. How does yours sound?

Good luck. Let me know how it turns out.

 

[Bogus]

The sound of my amp is far away from perfect. But I think its because of the specific D class amp. D class is good because it use not so much battery power. But its not the best sound quality. By the way, I looked for JL as you said its also D class. And one more thing is that I don't hear anything when I ride at 6000rpm. Only at full volume but quality is even worth.

 

[Dave burke]

Have you tuned your amps since you got the boat? The factory tuning on mine was terrible.

After I tuned mine, the sound was substantially better but not great. Mainly because the sub sucks. The JL sub is way better but I really couldn’t enjoy it because of the amp problems.

The main reason I added the mid cabin speakers was because of the sound at speed.