Mobile Monitor 6501's Ride Again

skrol
skrol Posts: 3,330
edited October 2016 in Car Audio & Electronics
One of the speakers in my Volvo V50 just blew. Normally I would have ripped factory speakers out in the first week, but this car with the Premium Sound Dolby Pro-logic II system has been very impressive. The speakers are by Harman / Kardon, the head unit by Mitsubishi and the amp is by Alpine. Except for the speakers, the system is interconnected by a fiber-optic MOST bus. Later years they switched to Dynaudio speakers.

The front doors are 3-way with 6.5" woofer, 2.5" midrange and 1" soft-dome tweeter. One of the woofers just died after 11 years and 193K miles of high dB enjoyment.

I was going to buy a new set of aftermarket speakers, and still may, but then I found my old Mobile Monitor 6501's (MM-6501) in the basement. These are the ones from the late 1980's that look like any other vintage Polk mid-bass driver. I had these in all my other cars (1990 Daytona, 1994 Integra, 2002 Volvo S40) so why not the 2005 V50.

Volvo makes some pretty odd mounting brackets for their speaker but I was able to un-glue and pop the 6.5" woofer out. It looks like the Polks will fit perfectly. Just not sure how it will all sound together though but I just gotta play. If it sounds like crap then I'll buy a new set of speakers.

Stan
Stan

Main 2ch:
Polk LSi15 (DB840 upgrade), Parasound: P/LD-1100, HCA-1000A; Denon: DVD-2910, DRM-800A; Benchmark DAC1, Monster HTS3600-MKII, Grado SR-225i; Technics SL-J2, Parasound PPH-100.

HT:
Marantz SR7010, Polk: RTA11TL (RDO198-1, XO and Damping Upgrades), S4, CS250, PSW110 , Marantz UD5005, Pioneer PL-530, Panasonic TC-P42S60

Other stuff:
Denon: DRA-835R, AVR-888, DCD-660, DRM-700A, DRR-780; Polk: S8, Monitor 5A, 5B, TSi100, RM7, PSW10 (DXi104 upgrade); Pioneer: CT-6R; Onkyo CP-1046F; Ortofon OM5E, Marantz: PM5004, CD5004, CDR-615; Parasound C/PT-600, HCA-800ii, Sony CDP-650ESD, Technics SA 5070, B&W DM601
Post edited by skrol on

Comments

  • skrol
    skrol Posts: 3,330
    edited October 2016
    This is what I've got so far...
    nbu0z8ci9161.jpg
    xuq7wtdp4hf3.jpg
    yunoetmjo6qw.jpg
    3rcz410xe2rb.jpg
    Stan

    Main 2ch:
    Polk LSi15 (DB840 upgrade), Parasound: P/LD-1100, HCA-1000A; Denon: DVD-2910, DRM-800A; Benchmark DAC1, Monster HTS3600-MKII, Grado SR-225i; Technics SL-J2, Parasound PPH-100.

    HT:
    Marantz SR7010, Polk: RTA11TL (RDO198-1, XO and Damping Upgrades), S4, CS250, PSW110 , Marantz UD5005, Pioneer PL-530, Panasonic TC-P42S60

    Other stuff:
    Denon: DRA-835R, AVR-888, DCD-660, DRM-700A, DRR-780; Polk: S8, Monitor 5A, 5B, TSi100, RM7, PSW10 (DXi104 upgrade); Pioneer: CT-6R; Onkyo CP-1046F; Ortofon OM5E, Marantz: PM5004, CD5004, CDR-615; Parasound C/PT-600, HCA-800ii, Sony CDP-650ESD, Technics SA 5070, B&W DM601
  • codycatalist
    codycatalist Posts: 2,662
    Those are some sweet car monitors! I thought the older Polk MMs had the silver face, I might just be thinking of the Momo line.
    Just a dude doing dude-ly things

    "Temptation is the manifestation of desire which equals necessity." - Mikey081057
    " I have always had a champange taste with a beer budget" - Rick88
    "Just because the thread is getting views don't mean much .. I like a good train wreck doesn't mean i want to be in one..." - pitdogg2
    "Those that don't know, don't know that they don't know." - heiney9
    "Audiophiles are the male equivalent of cat ladies." - Audiokarma Member
  • skrol
    skrol Posts: 3,330
    The MOMO's did have silver cones and I think thet were designated MM65xx. These predate those by a few generations.

    These have doped paper cones like the MW65xx mid-woofer that we all know and love. A later variant had a doped poly cone but was otherwise the same. After these came the DB65xx, then the MOMO, followed by the more recent Mobile Monitor MM65xx.

    They actually blended very well with the rest of the factory speaker system and have a more natural quality. The factory woofers produced a nasty peak around 40-50Hz that could add some real thump but could get wearing.

    The downside to these old Polks is that the cones are not very stiff and have a hard time handling the factory 130W Class-D (by Alpine) amp. This is a fast amp with a bit of slam and can abuse speakers if not careful. If I decide to keep this car for a while longer (has 194K miles) I think I'll put something stiffer in but it sounds good for now and is plenty loud for a factory system.
    Stan

    Main 2ch:
    Polk LSi15 (DB840 upgrade), Parasound: P/LD-1100, HCA-1000A; Denon: DVD-2910, DRM-800A; Benchmark DAC1, Monster HTS3600-MKII, Grado SR-225i; Technics SL-J2, Parasound PPH-100.

    HT:
    Marantz SR7010, Polk: RTA11TL (RDO198-1, XO and Damping Upgrades), S4, CS250, PSW110 , Marantz UD5005, Pioneer PL-530, Panasonic TC-P42S60

    Other stuff:
    Denon: DRA-835R, AVR-888, DCD-660, DRM-700A, DRR-780; Polk: S8, Monitor 5A, 5B, TSi100, RM7, PSW10 (DXi104 upgrade); Pioneer: CT-6R; Onkyo CP-1046F; Ortofon OM5E, Marantz: PM5004, CD5004, CDR-615; Parasound C/PT-600, HCA-800ii, Sony CDP-650ESD, Technics SA 5070, B&W DM601
  • skrol
    skrol Posts: 3,330
    edited October 2016
    One of the spiders were detaching from the basket. I reattached it with a little epoxy and it is really sounding nice with these old drivers.

    A little sound deadening helps too.

    hzv50kc94q5u.jpg
    uklsngejo8ao.jpg
    w745z58jr91d.jpg
    w5vvjfsyv6qj.jpg
    Stan

    Main 2ch:
    Polk LSi15 (DB840 upgrade), Parasound: P/LD-1100, HCA-1000A; Denon: DVD-2910, DRM-800A; Benchmark DAC1, Monster HTS3600-MKII, Grado SR-225i; Technics SL-J2, Parasound PPH-100.

    HT:
    Marantz SR7010, Polk: RTA11TL (RDO198-1, XO and Damping Upgrades), S4, CS250, PSW110 , Marantz UD5005, Pioneer PL-530, Panasonic TC-P42S60

    Other stuff:
    Denon: DRA-835R, AVR-888, DCD-660, DRM-700A, DRR-780; Polk: S8, Monitor 5A, 5B, TSi100, RM7, PSW10 (DXi104 upgrade); Pioneer: CT-6R; Onkyo CP-1046F; Ortofon OM5E, Marantz: PM5004, CD5004, CDR-615; Parasound C/PT-600, HCA-800ii, Sony CDP-650ESD, Technics SA 5070, B&W DM601
  • skrol
    skrol Posts: 3,330
    Hit a deer and the car is totaled. Yanked out the MM6501's to go in the next car.
    Stan

    Main 2ch:
    Polk LSi15 (DB840 upgrade), Parasound: P/LD-1100, HCA-1000A; Denon: DVD-2910, DRM-800A; Benchmark DAC1, Monster HTS3600-MKII, Grado SR-225i; Technics SL-J2, Parasound PPH-100.

    HT:
    Marantz SR7010, Polk: RTA11TL (RDO198-1, XO and Damping Upgrades), S4, CS250, PSW110 , Marantz UD5005, Pioneer PL-530, Panasonic TC-P42S60

    Other stuff:
    Denon: DRA-835R, AVR-888, DCD-660, DRM-700A, DRR-780; Polk: S8, Monitor 5A, 5B, TSi100, RM7, PSW10 (DXi104 upgrade); Pioneer: CT-6R; Onkyo CP-1046F; Ortofon OM5E, Marantz: PM5004, CD5004, CDR-615; Parasound C/PT-600, HCA-800ii, Sony CDP-650ESD, Technics SA 5070, B&W DM601
  • skrol
    skrol Posts: 3,330
    edited December 2016
    No the deer was totaled too. They usually don't last long even if they get up and run.

    My son and I are fine though. My son commented that he heard the bang but didn't really feel anything. I attribute that to the Volvo crumple zone design.
    Stan

    Main 2ch:
    Polk LSi15 (DB840 upgrade), Parasound: P/LD-1100, HCA-1000A; Denon: DVD-2910, DRM-800A; Benchmark DAC1, Monster HTS3600-MKII, Grado SR-225i; Technics SL-J2, Parasound PPH-100.

    HT:
    Marantz SR7010, Polk: RTA11TL (RDO198-1, XO and Damping Upgrades), S4, CS250, PSW110 , Marantz UD5005, Pioneer PL-530, Panasonic TC-P42S60

    Other stuff:
    Denon: DRA-835R, AVR-888, DCD-660, DRM-700A, DRR-780; Polk: S8, Monitor 5A, 5B, TSi100, RM7, PSW10 (DXi104 upgrade); Pioneer: CT-6R; Onkyo CP-1046F; Ortofon OM5E, Marantz: PM5004, CD5004, CDR-615; Parasound C/PT-600, HCA-800ii, Sony CDP-650ESD, Technics SA 5070, B&W DM601
  • shilmoe
    shilmoe Posts: 12
    I had a set of those speakers in the late 80s. Best speakers I've ever heard in a vehicle, period. I'm hoping the new series does them justice.
    Scott H.

  • skrol
    skrol Posts: 3,330
    I had to pull them out of the car last Nov when a suicidal deer ran in front of me and the car was totaled. When I get some $$$ I plan to upgrade the sound system in my present car and the old MM6501 will go back in or I may try the new MM's.
    Stan

    Main 2ch:
    Polk LSi15 (DB840 upgrade), Parasound: P/LD-1100, HCA-1000A; Denon: DVD-2910, DRM-800A; Benchmark DAC1, Monster HTS3600-MKII, Grado SR-225i; Technics SL-J2, Parasound PPH-100.

    HT:
    Marantz SR7010, Polk: RTA11TL (RDO198-1, XO and Damping Upgrades), S4, CS250, PSW110 , Marantz UD5005, Pioneer PL-530, Panasonic TC-P42S60

    Other stuff:
    Denon: DRA-835R, AVR-888, DCD-660, DRM-700A, DRR-780; Polk: S8, Monitor 5A, 5B, TSi100, RM7, PSW10 (DXi104 upgrade); Pioneer: CT-6R; Onkyo CP-1046F; Ortofon OM5E, Marantz: PM5004, CD5004, CDR-615; Parasound C/PT-600, HCA-800ii, Sony CDP-650ESD, Technics SA 5070, B&W DM601