$100 budget for 16yr old son's speakers

inspiredsports

My son has finally demonstrated that he is A) interested in high fidelity and able to take care of a better quality rig.

I'm moving my vintage 1987 (both upgraded) NAD Monitor Series 1700 preamp/tuner and 2600A power amp, and one of my NAD 5425 CDP's into his room. But . . . . both sets of TL'd SDA's are staying in my man cave. He needs speakers.

I'd like to find something like Monitor 5's and would love for him to have Polks, but any decent brand will do.

His room is just 16X18 so he doesn't need a lot, but the NAD will break a lot of vintage bookshelf speakers if he abuses the true 150 a side the amp can easily produce.

At that low price, I don't want to buy something and end up having to re-foam woofers, and don't know enough about other brands to stay out of trouble by myself.

Any help?

Conradicles

Somebody on here is selling some Monitor 7's for around that price. You may have to scroll a few pages back in the For Sale section to find them but those would be perfect.

inspiredsports

Thanks. Yes, 7's would also be perfect.

I think the 7's you were thinking of sold. The next closest I found were domoflame's RTi10's and Monitor 5's, and they sold quickly too.

What I like about Polk is that I know them well, and the mid woofer material so superior that you just don't need to worry about it.

devani

monitor 10B, C? for sale at $150...looks to be in great shape

http://southjersey.craigslist.org/ele/1940658991.html

ESavinon

I'd suggest monitor 5 or 5jr+.

inspiredsports

I was thinking 5's were a good starting point too, and are more in my budget range. And it's not so much the money as I just want to get him a starting point, and then he can develop (and fund) the urge to upgrade on his own as he and his musical tastes mature.

The bigger speakers listed above are sure great deals. I just need a way to shrink those Chicago or NJ drives to something inside of 2 hrs round-trip

Face

I'd say at least a pair of M7's for that size room.

erniejade

16 years old? vega's!

inspiredsports

erniejade wrote: »

16 years old? vega's!

I've looked at a lot of them on eBay, but they seem to cost more than my budget

inspiredsports

Face wrote: »

I'd say at least a pair of M7's for that size room.

I agree with that from a raw square footage basis, but he has dragged everything you could imagine into that room whenever I try to get rid of something; a bench press, leather loveseat, leather recliner, old giant 40" TV set, end tables, etc.

Space is limited and I'm thinking I'll need to install corner shelves or wall mounting brackets. He really only has the cube of a 12X12 room

Conradicles

PM Dane...he may still have these Monitor 7's:
http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=102446&highlight=monitor

tonyb

There's a minty pair of monitor 7c's in chicago's craiglist for 80 bucks.

inspiredsports

tonyb wrote: »

There's a minty pair of monitor 7c's in chicago's craiglist for 80 bucks.

The Chicago pair is claimed to be Brand New in the Box and Never Been Kissed!

But, 12 hours of driving is about 30 gallons of gas unless I borrow one of my girl's cars (well, really mine, but that's another story) and still 20 gallons.

Conradicles

Also I think bluecomet has a set of Monitor 7's and he is pretty close to you so shipping would not be too bad.

inspiredsports

Conradicles wrote: »

Also I think bluecomet has a set of Monitor 7's and he is pretty close to you so shipping would not be too bad.

Now there's a good idea! Thanks.

PSOVLSK

R50's wouldn't be a bad choice either.

If you get 7's or 10's, be sure to enter Rev. Haynes nice Karma for stands.

inspiredsports

PSOVLSK wrote: »

R50's wouldn't be a bad choice either.

If you get 7's or 10's, be sure to enter Rev. Haynes nice Karma for stands.

It's all a blur as I bookmarked about 40 sets of bookshelf speakers on eBay last night, but I think an R50 auction ended at $75 USD delivered to my doorstep. $25 under my budget, but I was hesitant to bid because I don't know anything about them.

PSOVLSK

R50's are a pretty slim floorstander. They actually sound very good when given good power (which you'd be giving them). http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/products/recent/r50/

inspiredsports

PSOVLSK wrote: »

R50's are a pretty slim floorstander. They actually sound very good when given good power (which you'd be giving them). http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/products/recent/r50/

Those are super, but I don't think they will trade down at the $100 level for quite some time.

PSOVLSK

http://cgi.ebay.com/POLK-AUDIO-R50-MAIN-FLOOR-SPEAKERS-CHERRY-WOOD-/180557768352?pt=Speakers_Subwoofers&hash=item2a0a14e6a0

Shipping cost would probably kill this particular deal, but the R50's can be had for around $100. I'm pretty sure Fry's has them on sale every once in a while for about $100. Of course if you aren't near a Fry's this doesn't do you much good;)

I'm hesitant to recommend them because I've never heard them, but the R30's might also be a consideration.

And...you can't go wrong with the Monitor 7's or 10's that have been recommended.

Whatever you get, your son is going to have a nice little system.

thuffman03

Since you say you are in NE Ohio you should check out www.vintagehifishop.com. I nice shop just north of Pittsburgh who has a good selection of speakers. I would suggest you call him and see what he has because everything is not listed on his web site.

inspiredsports

PSOVLSK wrote: »

http://cgi.ebay.com/POLK-AUDIO-R50-MAIN-FLOOR-SPEAKERS-CHERRY-WOOD-/180557768352?pt=Speakers_Subwoofers&hash=item2a0a14e6a0

Shipping cost would probably kill this particular deal, but the R50's can be had for around $100. I'm pretty sure Fry's has them on sale every once in a while for about $100. Of course if you aren't near a Fry's this doesn't do you much good;)

I'm hesitant to recommend them because I've never heard them, but the R30's might also be a consideration.

And...you can't go wrong with the Monitor 7's or 10's that have been recommended.

Whatever you get, your son is going to have a nice little system.

thuffman03 wrote: »

Since you say you are in NE Ohio you should check out www.vintagehifishop.com. I nice shop just north of Pittsburgh who has a good selection of speakers. I would suggest you call him and see what he has because everything is not listed on his web site.

Thanks!

I appreciate all of the great advice and as always, I will make a better decision because of this group's input.

The Monitor series in general, and specifically Monitor 7's and 10's keep coming up and I am currently leaning toward upping the budget and pursing them.

Pittsburgh is a nice drive and I appreciate that tip. I love to browse in person versus online, and the opportunities to visit brick and mortar vintages stores seem to be fewer and farther between.

Greg

Bobsama

Monitor 5's or 7's would, of course, be a good if not great choice. If you can, a pair of M5-ii's (with the SL2500) and the regular XO board. I've got a pair of SDA-1's and a pair of M5-ii's myself and I truly love these little Monitors.

Conradicles

One more that I would consider is the Vintage Klipsch KG2...it would sound great with the NAD gear.

inspiredsports

I raided eBay and picked off a cheap pair of obscure Draco DP400M 2 Way's, plus a nice minty smoke-free pair of Monitor Series 2 5jr+'s with SL2500's (like Bobsama mentioned above). I'm going to let my son use the Draco's while we rebuild the 5jr's (Sonicaps/Mills/New decent-grade binding posts).

The 5jr's have not arrived yet so I have no idea how SL2500's sound. I'll listen to them for a while first, but have a preconceived notion I will want to go straight to RDO198-1's.

Does anyone have experience upgrading from SL2500's to RDO198-1's in this specific model? Or am I wrong in thinking the SL2500's need to be upgraded?

inspiredsports

I'd like to hear from anyone who has replaced SL2500's with RDO198-1's to see if you think the $100 upgrade was worth it.

Joe08867

I haven't heard the difference in 5jr's but I have heard it in larger SDA's and the RDO198 is head and shoulders above the 2500 to my ears. Much smoother to me. I would almost say laid back, which could be a real benefit for 5jr's considering the limited bottom end of those speakers. Not that they don't have any just limited compared to other monitor series speakers.

I would also say they have a more open sound that doesn't seemed colored by mechanics as much.

agfrost

inspiredsports wrote: »

I'd like to hear from anyone who has replaced SL2500's with RDO198-1's to see if you think the $100 upgrade was worth it.

My join date on the forum coincides with my decision (need) to replace the SL2500s in my 5jr+ with the 198s. Depending on the recording and volume, I had found the 2500s to be a bit bright for my taste. Going to the RD0s smoothed that out, for sure, and I've been very happy with them. Your son will have better amplification than I had at the time though...

Why not let him do work around the house to build up a 'tweeter upgrade fund,' if he seems interested? He'll value them all the more, and you can spend more time in front of the big rig while he's shortening your honey-do list.

Jay

inspiredsports

agfrost wrote: »

My join date on the forum coincides with my decision (need) to replace the SL2500s in my 5jr+ with the 198s. Depending on the recording and volume, I had found the 2500s to be a bit bright for my taste. Going to the RD0s smoothed that out, for sure, and I've been very happy with them. Your son will have better amplification than I had at the time though...

Why not let him do work around the house to build up a 'tweeter upgrade fund,' if he seems interested? He'll value them all the more, and you can spend more time in front of the big rig while he's shortening your honey-do list.

Jay

The 5jr+'s arrived early today and I have been listening for hours now. I'm really impressed with how they sound.

I love your tweeter fund idea. I think I will let him listen to them a bit, and then I will buy the parts so we can do the crossovers together. He should be able to appreciate the improvement and I will explain the RDO198-1's will take them to yet another level, and I'll him let work toward that investment on his own.

I've had SL2000's and now RDO198-1's in my 2B's, and have had all 3 versions in my SDA SRS 2's so I fully appreciate the improvement. These are my first SL2500's, and my initial impression is they aren't bad at all, but I can tell 198's will be even better.

Zitro

Congrats on the find. I have a set of Monitor 5jr's that haven't had much use since I got my 10's and was thinking maybe upgrading them could be a fun "first time" project. Since you mentioned upgrading your xovers, how much do you think it will run total? I also thought of replacing the SL-2000's (my 10's have them, too) but I haven't found any RDO's cheap. I have a pair of Peerless tweets, but I don't think they fit

PS- Glad to hear you're getting your son into hifi early. It will be up to the young generation to learn that there are things to appreciate in quality sound and keep the hifi market strong. Damn you iPods....

inspiredsports

Zitro wrote: »

Congrats on the find. I have a set of Monitor 5jr's that haven't had much use since I got my 10's and was thinking maybe upgrading them could be a fun "first time" project. Since you mentioned upgrading your xovers, how much do you think it will run total? I also thought of replacing the SL-2000's (my 10's have them, too) but I haven't found any RDO's cheap. I have a pair of Peerless tweets, but I don't think they fit

PS- Glad to hear you're getting your son into hifi early. It will be up to the young generation to learn that there are things to appreciate in quality sound and keep the hifi market strong. Damn you iPods....

It is very cool to see my son become interested in vintage gear!

As far as upgrading 5jr/5jr+'s, it seems RDO198-1's rarely come up for sale second hand so the $48 each brand new and direct from Polk is the ticket.

It looks lke the crossovers of earlier versions with the SL2000 and later versions with the SL2500 are very similar. The SL2000 version used a 12uf capacitor and there is a polyswitch in the circuit (that I would remove).

The later SL2500 version uses a 13.5 uf cap and there was no polyswitch from the factory.

###################################################
If leaving SL2000's in place or if you have a couple of RDO194-1's and using Sonicaps and Mills resistors . . .
12 uf (5%) - 2 @ $20.45 Each = $40.90
1 ohm (10%) - 2 @ $4.15 Each = $8.30
.5 ohm (10%) if polyswitch is removed - 2 @ $4.15 = $8.30
###################################################

###################################################
If leaving later version SL2500's in place or replacing with RDO198-1's and using Sonicaps and Mills resistors . . .
13.5 uf (5%) - 2 @ $22 Each = $44.00 (includes custom value surcharge over stock 13 uf price)
1 ohm (10%) - 2 @ $4.15 Each = $8.30
###################################################

So:
- $57 in parts to upgrade crossovers for SL2000/RDO194-1
- $52 in parts to upgrade crossovers for SL2500/RDO198-1
- $98 for 2 new RDO194-1's or RDO198-1's
(personally, I would always go the RDO198-1 route)

Is putting $150 into a speaker pair that cost me $102 delivered a wise investment? In my opinion, yes. That now $250 set will be around for a long time pumping out sweet tunes.