Monitor 10 with Mismatched Tweeters

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I couldn't pass up a deal for a mint pair of older Monitor 10 speakers. They have the older style cabinet where the Polk Audio emblem is on the wood and not attacked to the dust cover, MW6500 drivers, and external fuse. I am planning on recapping it.

The only problem is the tweeters are mismatched. One is the original peerless tweeter and the other is (I believe) an unmarked RD0198 (it has the bigger and smaller tabs for the wire). I know the RDO198 is incorrect.

I am looking for some advice on what to do. It would be nice to keep things original with another Peerless but they are not that easy to find and I am leery about buying one on Ebay. I could buy a pair of RD0194's and part out the tweeters. Will this sound better than the Peerless?

The third option would to buy one more RD0198 and do the TL mod. This would probably sound the best but I don't have the proper equipment to unwind the inductor.

Comments

  • lawdogg
    lawdogg Posts: 450
    edited July 2017
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    Hmm. How do you know it's not an RD0194? Is there a way to tell them apart? I assume they have different DCR specs?
    <3 my 3.1TLs

    I will fix your shifted magnets for free. :)
  • Nightfall
    Nightfall Posts: 10,071
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    Wouldn't they have had to physically modify the cabinet to put in the RD-0? Will a Peerless still fit in and remain air tight?
    afterburnt wrote: »
    They didn't speak a word of English, they were from South Carolina.

    Village Idiot of Club Polk
  • delkal
    delkal Posts: 764
    edited July 2017
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    lawdogg wrote: »
    Hmm. How do you know it's not an RD0194? Is there a way to tell them apart? I assume they have different DCR specs?

    I am not sure but there was a post here a page back where someone said the 198's had 2 different sized prongs. To confuse things people on Ebay selling 194's have a picture with 2 different size prongs too! They are supposed to be different ohms too. I read the RDO0198's are 6 ohms and the 194's are 8 ohms (is this true?) I won't know for sure before I take them off.
    Nightfall wrote: »
    Wouldn't they have had to physically modify the cabinet to put in the RD-0? Will a Peerless still fit in and remain air tight?

    The peerless fits in tight and they didn't modify the cabinet for the RDO. As it is now the speaker with the RD0 fails the passive radiator "push" test. I am not sure how hard it will be to cut out the cabinet (and have it look nice).

  • lawdogg
    lawdogg Posts: 450
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    delkal wrote: »
    lawdogg wrote: »
    Hmm. How do you know it's not an RD0194? Is there a way to tell them apart? I assume they have different DCR specs?

    I am not sure but there was a post here a page back where someone said the 198's had 2 different sized prongs. To confuse things people on Ebay selling 194's have a picture with 2 different size prongs too! They are supposed to be different ohms too. I read the RDO0198's are 6 ohms and the 194's are 8 ohms (is this true?) I won't know for sure before I take them off.

    I'm not sure on the impedance / DCR, but I have some RD0198s over here, I could measure one and compare the # to yours.
    <3 my 3.1TLs

    I will fix your shifted magnets for free. :)
  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,579
    edited July 2017
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    Regardless they have foobared the screw holes more than likely . 194 has same size tabs. 198 does have two different sizes.
    Midwest speaker sells peerless clones. They are very good reproductions.
  • delkal
    delkal Posts: 764
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    lawdogg wrote: »
    I'm not sure on the impedance / DCR, but I have some RD0198s over here, I could measure one and compare the # to yours.

    Right now the tweeter is still connected but the DCR would be good to have for reference.

    pitdogg2 wrote: »
    Regardless they have foobared the screw holes more than likely . 194 has same size tabs. 198 does have two different sizes.
    Midwest speaker sells peerless clones. They are very good reproductions.

    I was not thinking about clones but that option could work too. Has anyone compared the sound of the RD0194 with the Peerless? Which is better?
  • delkal
    delkal Posts: 764
    edited July 2017
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    After listening to the speaker with the Peerless paired with one of my 10B's side by side I decided to look for an original Peerless. Now I just have to be patient and find one for the right price. What they are asking on Ebay is all over the place. At least I can sell the RDO-198 to offset the cost.

    I do have one more question. I see comments that the Peerless tweeters used a different crossover than the SL2000 and RDO194 (even SL-1000?). My crossover is identical to this schematic (M10-original). But my speaker has MW 6500 drivers. Is the tweeter in the schematic supposed to be a Peerless or an SL-1000?

    https://us.v-cdn.net/5021930/uploads/attachments/4/6/7/2/8/18775.pdf

    Comparing the original schematic to the revised one with the polyswitch the changes are subtle at best. They added a polyswitch with a 0.5 ohm resistance and reduced the shunted resister by 0.5 ohms. Everything else is the same. Is that enough to say an RDO-194 can not be used as a replacement for a Peerless?

    https://us.v-cdn.net/5021930/uploads/attachments/4/6/7/2/8/18776.pdf
  • Faustin
    Faustin Posts: 1,149
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    IIRC the first/early 10's came with MW 6500 drivers. With a 1amp fuse instead of the polyswitch and Peerless tweeters. I bought my 10's new in 1979 and that is the configuration. The RDO-198 would "make sound" but you are not doing the 10's any favors. And the cutout is not the same. I would suggest looking for a nice used Peerless. I may have an extra Peerless that may work for you. I can check the extra stock on the shelf. If you are interested send me a pm.