Some "new" Monitor 11's, and a question

pickoid

Hi gang, I'm new here. I ended up here because I just got some 1982 Monitor 11's on Craigslist, along with some lovely similar-vintage Yamaha electronics. I have always loved Polk speakers, and am currently using a pair of RT8's as fronts in my home theater system.

Anyway, two of the MW6600X drivers are bad (frozen due to magnet shift) in my Monitor 11's. I wonder if it would be better to find two used MW6600X drivers to replace these, or if I should go ahead and order a couple of new MW6510 drivers from Polk. I thought if I went with the MW6510's, I'd put one new driver in each cabinet.

What do y'all think? I can't wait to get these Monitor 11's singing again. My search for "awesome vintage speakers" might be over.

comfortablycurt

Welcome to Club Polk, and congrats on the Monitor 11's!! I'd love to find myself a pair of those someday to add to my collection. Do you know which tweeters yours have?

I'd call Polk customer service at the number at the upper right hand of this page. Ask them if the 6510's would be a suitable replacement for the 6600X drivers...they'll be able to help you out.

Be sure to mention that you're a Club Polk member for a discount.:)

If they turn out to not be a suitable replacement, post a want to buy ad here. I'm sure someone has a couple spare 6600X's laying around.

pickoid

Thanks for the welcome. I did email Polk customer service, and they indicated that the 6510 was a suitable replacement for the 6600x. In fact, based on some poking around here in the forums, there seems to be some indication that some Monitor 11's actually have 6510's in them from the factory? I believe mine are "early" Monitor 11's. They have Peerless tweeters, and the passive radiator has a full-width "flat" diaphragm. The 6600's in mine were dated March '82, which would put them pretty close to the beginning of the run, I would think. Is it possible that some later Monitor 11's had the 6510 to begin with?

ben62670

Welcome to Club Polk!
Ben

comfortablycurt

pickoid wrote: »

Thanks for the welcome. I did email Polk customer service, and they indicated that the 6510 was a suitable replacement for the 6600x. In fact, based on some poking around here in the forums, there seems to be some indication that some Monitor 11's actually have 6510's in them from the factory? I believe mine are "early" Monitor 11's. They have Peerless tweeters, and the passive radiator has a full-width "flat" diaphragm. The 6600's in mine were dated March '82, which would put them pretty close to the beginning of the run, I would think. Is it possible that some later Monitor 11's had the 6510 to begin with?

Nice score on the Peerless tweets! IMO, the Peerless tweeters are the best sounding tweeter that was used in the Monitor line. I've got a pair of Peerless Monitor 7A's, and this weekend I'm going to be snagging up a pair of Peerless 5A's as well. It's a damn good sounding tweeter.


It's very possible that some 11's came with 6510's. There are many variations in the vintage Polk's, depending on whether they were earlier or later production runs, there are also many transitional models during model changes. Polk is infamous for that.

If they have Peerless tweeters, they're probably earlier production examples...but don't quote me on that.

jrgoswick

POST SOME PICS!!! I've heard of these, never heard them or seen them.

F1nut

Monitor 11's had a very short production run, so forget early or later versions, they all came with Peerless tweeters. As for the drivers, I believe they were all 6600x, but it's been a long time since I looked. Personally, I would try to find some of those.

comfortablycurt

F1nut wrote: »

Monitor 11's had a very short production run, so forget early or later versions, they all came with Peerless tweeters. As for the drivers, I believe they were all 6600x, but it's been a long time since I looked. Personally, I would try to find some of those.

Interesting...I guess that explains why I've never seen a pair of 11's with any tweeter other than the Peerless. Thanks for the clarification.

I agree that your best bet would be to find some original drivers.

cnh

You know I've never paid attention to the tweeter in the Monitor 11s in the various posts I've seen here and on ebay? F1nut has the 'history' and the 'eye'.

Thanks.

cnh

comfortablycurt

What are these then? They're labeled as Monitor 11's...

http://www.polksda.com/monitor11.shtml

They don't look like Monitor 10's...they're too tall...but they do have 10" PR's instead of the 12" PR's. According to the info there, these had the MW6510's. As we all know, polksda.com isn't entirely accurate though.

jrgoswick-Here are some pics of the Monitor 11's. This link shows a Monitor 11 next to a Monitor 10 for comparison. The Monitor 11 is the one on the left(the taller one).

http://www.polksda.com/ebay/Monitor11_5835330716.pdf


I've never heard the 11's before, but I'd love to snag a pair to add to my collection someday.:) Gotta love the vintage Monitors!!

halo71

Looks like these are still for sale in Augusta...wish I had the money for them. Although I think he was asking $250 for them. Guess these are RTA11's....but do these have Peerless?

CLPolk

Well I bought my 11s a few years ago from the Original Owner and they are like the ones comfortablycurt posted the link for http://www.polksda.com/monitor11.shtml They do not have peerless tweeters. I'd sell them for $200.00

pickoid

halo71 wrote: »

Looks like these are still for sale in Augusta...wish I had the money for them. Although I think he was asking $250 for them. Guess these are RTA11's....but do these have Peerless?

Mine look exactly like this (except I don't see the 2" to 3" integrated "stand" at the bottom of the cabinets in this photo). I was noticing that there were differences in the passive radiators in the various photos I had seen of the Model 11's. Mine are the "flat foam" type. The others seem to be more of a "cone" type.

F1nut

This link shows a Monitor 11 next to a Monitor 10 for comparison. The Monitor 11 is the one on the left(the taller one).

http://www.polksda.com/ebay/Monitor11_5835330716.pdf

^Those are Monitor 11's.^

I have no idea what those are on polksda's site, certainly no Monitor 11 that I've ever seen. IIRC, the Monitor 11 had a one year run from '82 to '83. The mid-drivers produce different frequency ranges, so the cabinets are marked Left and Right on the back.

Guess these are RTA11's....but do these have Peerless?

Those are Monitor 11's that have had the tweeter changed to a SL1000.

I don't see the 2" to 3" integrated "stand" at the bottom

Yeah, someone removed it.

Bobsama

I've got three MW6600X's listed in the FS section if you're in need.

pickoid

Bobsama wrote: »

I've got three MW6600X's listed in the FS section if you're in need.

Yep, I need two of them!

CLPolk

Ok then these are what I have http://www.polksda.com/monitor11.shtml What are they than??????????

Bobsama

They still appear to be Monitor 11's; they've got the original SDA cabinet style stands.

F1nut

CLPolk wrote: »

Ok then these are what I have http://www.polksda.com/monitor11.shtml What are they than??????????

I see no label, so open them up and see if there is a model number on the crossover board.

CLPolk

F1nut wrote: »

I see no label, so open them up and see if there is a model number on the crossover board.

Well got around to pulling them apart and the only thing on them is a date 2/4/1987

F1nut

Hmm....that looks more like a Monitor 10 board as it looks nothing like the 1982-1983 Monitor 11 board. I wonder if Polk tried to bring the Monitor 11 back in 1987?

geppy1

F1nut is right. That looks like a 10 board. Are the speakers marked right anleft on back. The 6600X was made for the RTA12s but they threw it in some SDAs and 10bs (early) I would look for a 6600 if that is what the rest are. Having compared a number of drivers they do sound different.

pickoid

Here are some photos of my Monitor 11's. The drivers are all dated March of 1982, and the cabinets are stamped '82 as well. You can see that I've disassembled the two bad MX6600x drivers. The only thing holding the magnet assembly to the basket was the magnetic force itself. I really think these drivers can be fixed. All it will take is a basic jig and some care (and maybe a little luck). I've seen a photo here on the forums of a simple jig setup with a couple of pencils, rubber bands, PVC pipe, and eyebolts. I'm going to give it a shot. I absolutely love repairing stuff. When I get around to that, I'll start a thread on it and document the whole process. In the meantime, a couple of replacement MW6600x drivers are on the way from Bobsama.

You can see that the stand part of my cabs has suffered a little bit. Overall, they're not in bad shape. If they were sitting on carpet, you really wouldn't see the damage to the vinyl veneer on the stands. If I'm really feeling it, I may attempt to re-veneer these cabs. If and when I get around the that, I'll start a thread on it and document the whole process (yada yada yada).

gdb

Polks are like boxes of chocolates.........you never know what you're going to get !:mad::D

pickoid

While I'm thinking about fixing those drivers, I wonder if anyone has ever attempted cutting the dust cover off and shimming the voice coils from the top side while re-gluing the magnets? This is how I've always re-foamed woofers in the past. As long as some reasonable replacement dust covers could be found, I don't see why it wouldn't work. Of course, the repaired drivers wouldn't look quite the same, but their function should not be inhibited. Just a thought.

pickoid

gdb wrote: »

Polks are like boxes of chocolates.........you never know what you're going to get !:mad::D

Mama always said, stupid is as stupid does.

gdb

Shims are good to position cone,coil & surrounds but they will not hold either the pole plate or the magnet in position relative to the voice coil. A feeler gauge might be a better way to verify tolerances if you decide to pull the dust cap.

pickoid

gdb wrote: »

Shims are good to position cone,coil & surrounds but they will not hold either the pole plate or the magnet in position relative to the voice coil. A feeler gauge might be a better way to verify tolerances if you decide to pull the dust cap.

Roger that. It is a more complex problem than a simple refoam job. I was picturing using the shims in combination with a centering jig on the magnet.

gdb

here ya go, something I posted a while ago.

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=79649&highlight=magnet+repair

Bobsama

Your pair of woofers should be on your doorstep by whenever your mail comes in. Have a screwdriver handy when you get home! They're a bit ghetto-packed, but I am very sure that they made the trip in two pieces.

epoxied the magnets to the cage (8 beads around each should stop shift). Other than that, the woofers are screwed to a 1'x1'x1/4" board** and packed pretty darn well if I do say so myself. They're packed in two plastic bags with foam peanuts as filler and bubblewrap on the top and bottom. Short of being driven over, they should deliver just fine.

**Rubber spacers were used to keep the cages from touching the wood.
The inside of the box was a little bit over 1'x1' and the entire thing was firmly sandwiched. I had to fight to even get the box closed.

Bobsama

Pickoid; the USPS delivery confirmation came through. Congratulations! Your twins have arrived! Your (future?) wife/fiancee/girlfriend/roommate will be SO pleased!