What's the Buzz?
I have two of these. One is dead quiet until music is pumped into it.
The other? There's this 60 Hz hum, low volume, but proportional to the volume set on the back of the SW.
This is without anything plugged into it.
Once an amp is connected (I'm using RCA inputs), there's still that annoying hum.
Pulling the panel (which holds the power supply/amplifier circuit boards), the FIRST thing you notice is the amp. board is marked R-10SW. Same amp, larger speaker in the R-12SW. And you can NOT access the power cord, the RCA jacks inside and many of the components are hot-glued in place, covered in yuge globs of unremovable pitch/glue. You can't even access the grounds.
Forget about finding a SERVICE manual, Klipsch holds onto these dearly, I spent hours scouring the usual internet sources, can't even find a simple schematic.
I DID however, find a manual for a similar, earlier SW which has "hum" under troubleshooting, advising replacing four large filter capacitors on each of the two boards.
Yeah, about that. These components are of a brand so cheap - proprietary? - none of the three major electronics component distributors carry it and I'm hard-pressed to find specs on them.
I'm told by service techs it's common for SW's to have everything glued in place. Vibration can break solder joints, damage components, electrolytic capacitors can/do act as microphones feeding back into the signal path. One solution is to use higher grade of capacitors, which I'd be happy to replace if I could get access to the boards, but they're hot-glued to the panel.
Warranty? Shouldn't even be necessary. No, I haven't gone down that path - yet. I've read too many online reports of others having exactly the same issue and highly unsatisfactory factory support.
On the plus side, this model was certainly cheaper than other options costing 3 or 4 times as much, and the actual audio reproduction is clearer than others I've heard for this price range, less muddled/muddied, with almost clearly musical representation of bass notes filling in a gap in performance unmet by a pair of Klipsch Synergy towers.
Auto ON is a nice feature, as are options of RCA vs. digital input.
Curiously, Klipsch is noted as being forward-thinking, not static in their productions. They seem to develop and market "new and improved" almost as often as I mow my lawn in the spring/summer. (intentional hyperbole here), but I'm getting the impression that one line after another has minor enough failings the factory engineers keep tinkering, altering, attempting to correct one problem after another rather than slow down, test, test some more, refine, THEN market and sell products which don't NEED support/tech help/return/repair as they're nearly bulletproof.
But that, I'm sure, is why the next level market valuation for SW's is in a high 3 to 4 digit price range.
After a few years' use of their products, and further review of many many blogs, forums, users reviews, endless lists of complaints about this one little issue and the nightmares owners have had to go through to resolve them, I'm no longer a fan.
Pay your money and take your chances.
YMMV.
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