Harsh Monitor 70's Bought From Polk Direct

echoofformless

Two months ago I won a pair of refurbed Monitor 70's from Polk Direct on Ebay. When they arrived and I set them up they were certainly an improvement over the Cerwin Vegas I had previously, but I thought them a tad harsh in the high midrange/low treble frequencies. They were also quite sibilant. A little EQ tweaking made them sound much nicer, and I took it that maybe my ears were just oversensitive or something being as though these speakers receive such glowing reviews from trusted sources. I also thought maybe they would need some break in time. So I opted to hang on to them.

On Monday I decided to finish my home theater with a matching pair for the rears. This time I bought them new from Newegg.com because they were offering a great deal. They arrived today and I connected them in the front just to see if they sounded different from the ones I already have.

They sound incredibly different! Almost like night and day. I turned off the EQ and was immersed in a warm, beautifully detailed sound that was anything but harsh and had no sibilance whatsoever. These are the amazing speakers that all of the reviews had been claiming.

So what happened? Are the refurbed speakers from Polk just that bad? I fail to understand how the first pair could sound so harsh and this second pair could sound so warm. I thought that Polk's refurbs are supposed to be comparable in quality to brand new units. What's the deal?

Unfortunately the return period is over so I'm out of luck and stuck with what I have. But just wondering...why are they like this?

mmadden28

All of the speakers I've bought via Polk Direct have been nothing short of Brand New condition if not actually.

Something could have happened in shipping, or there might be an issue with the tweeter or Crossover. Eitherway you're most certainly not 'stuck'. Call Polk Customer Service (see the far upper right of this page), they'll help get your issue fixed--Polk Direct stuff is still covered under a warranty.

mmadden28

By the way, Welcome to Club Polk.

echoofformless

It does seem odd to me - especially that both speakers sound harsh. If there was something like damage or a bad crossover, I would assume that it's very unlikely for both speakers to have the issue.

mmadden28

Me too. And if you hadn't bought a 2nd set that sounded different I would have pointed towards a gear issue or synergy (some amps are brighter than others with certain speakers, etc), or perhaps even a break-in period.

At this point who knows-just guesses at this point. If the 'refurbs' you got are actually refurbs, such as a customer return, it's possible that they were abused by the original owner or something by being played to distortion levels or with very underpowered gear or something to that effect.--I'm not saying that could be the cause, just a possibility.

But rest assured Polk CS will help you out. Whatever ends up happening, do post a follow-up as to what caused the issue or what resolved it.

Outfitter03

One thing that could have happened during shipping is the Poly fill could have shifted. The drivers are easy to remove. A 7/64" hex key fits mine. I found one medium sized sheet rolled up behind the top Mid bass driver and tweeter. The second roll was lodged in the bracing between the second mid bass driver and the top bass driver.

The poly fill absorbs the sound energy and converts it to heat, reducing the reflection of the sound waves off the walls of the speaker enclosure. Without the fill these out of phase waves may be transmitted through the driver cones. Damping the top section of the enclosure with the mid bass driver and tweeter is important.

Polk CS could tell you what the correct placement of the poly fill is, as my locations are only a sample of two. If this fill worked it's way down to the bass chamber in shipping it may affect your sound quality. My fill is not glued in, though it is fairly well wedged into the internal braces. It takes about ten minutes to pull these two drivers. There is a plastic retaining ring that comes off and underneath is the driver that lifts out easily. Polk builds in enough slack 4-6" so the driver can be lifted out and the Faston connections easily removed if the driver or crossover needs to be replaced.

BTW I bought my 70's from Newegg this summer and they have a very nice sound. I noticed quite a bit of improvement following two weeks of use.

HB27

Outfitter03 wrote: »

One thing that could have happened during shipping is the Poly fill could have shifted. The drivers are easy to remove. A 7/64" hex key fits mine. I found one medium sized sheet rolled up behind the top Mid bass driver and tweeter. The second roll was lodged in the bracing between the second mid bass driver and the top bass driver.

The poly fill absorbs the sound energy and converts it to heat, reducing the reflection of the sound waves off the walls of the speaker enclosure. Without the fill these out of phase waves may be transmitted through the driver cones. Damping the top section of the enclosure with the mid bass driver and tweeter is important.

Polk CS could tell you what the correct placement of the poly fill is, as my locations are only a sample of two. If this fill worked it's way down to the bass chamber in shipping it may affect your sound quality. My fill is not glued in, though it is fairly well wedged into the internal braces. It takes about ten minutes to pull these two drivers. There is a plastic retaining ring that comes off and underneath is the driver that lifts out easily. Polk builds in enough slack 4-6" so the driver can be lifted out and the Faston connections easily removed if the driver or crossover needs to be replaced.

BTW I bought my 70's from Newegg this summer and they have a very nice sound. I noticed quite a bit of improvement following two weeks of use.

I'll have to second the recommendation to check the filler behind the mids. It does make a difference in sq. I even have been known to add a bit of extra polyfill and put in some sound wave reducing materials the length of the cabinets. It can clean up the sound and even make the cabinets more inert.
It doesn't work on all speaker designs but I like to coat the inner cabinets on the thinner tower speakers.

echoofformless

Well I sent them an email a few days ago, as I never have time to make phone calls. Have not heard back from them yet.

I also noticed that the low end on these new ones is much more full bodied than on refurbs. The difference is like night and day.

agfrost

Calling is the way to go--Polk CS is second-to-none; they'll help you get it figured out.

cnh

echoofformless wrote: »

Well I sent them an email a few days ago, as I never have time to make phone calls. Have not heard back from them yet.

I also noticed that the low end on these new ones is much more full bodied than on refurbs. The difference is like night and day.

Polk will get back to you....it's a little slower these days than it was a couple of years ago...probably due to volume and maybe some cuts on Polk's part in these trying economic times. But they DO cover/read all those e-mails. So a day or two..maybe three at the most.

BTW. My M-70s which sounded great on an Onkyo 805 in a smaller room...sounded a bit more shrill in the larger HT room? Still experimenting with placement and probably room treatments. I knew rooms made a difference but this one was so OBVIOUS?

cnh

echoofformless

cnh wrote: »

Polk will get back to you....it's a little slower these days than it was a couple of years ago...probably due to volume and maybe some cuts on Polk's part in these trying economic times. But they DO cover/read all those e-mails. So a day or two..maybe three at the most.

BTW. My M-70s which sounded great on an Onkyo 805 in a smaller room...sounded a bit more shrill in the larger HT room? Still experimenting with placement and probably room treatments. I knew rooms made a difference but this one was so OBVIOUS?

cnh

The new ones I got from newegg are in the exact same spot in the room and powered by the exact same receiver. So it couldn't be any sort of room or power issue.

F1nut

echoofformless wrote: »

Well I sent them an email a few days ago, as I never have time to make phone calls. Have not heard back from them yet.

It takes longer to type an email than it does to dial a phone number.

george daniel

+ 1--pick up the phone

dorokusai

They even have online help. Seriously? If your that concerned this would be resolved.

starless

Reviving an oldish thread...
echoofformless, I was wondering if you ever got your problems sorted out?
I just received some M70s from newegg and to both my wife and myself they also seem to have a bit of harshness in the "high midrange". (Sound great in other ranges though!)
However, we have them powered from an ancient amp right now which isn't a great test...

m1aman

F1nut wrote: »

It takes longer to type an email than it does to dial a phone number.

emails don't put you on hold.

JimAckley

lol, responding to a post from 3 months ago?

m1aman

Yep. I have some of the series II on order from newegg and now I have more to worry about then UPS it seems

moggi1964

m1aman wrote: »

Yep. I have some of the series II on order from newegg and now I have more to worry about then UPS it seems

Mine are great and from the same source as yours.

TECHNOKID

JimAckley wrote: »

lol, responding to a post from 3 months ago?

Never too late to do good I was thinking of the same sort of reply when I read the answers on phone. To me, what is the sense of having email service if the service is not as good as the phone service? I work with both phone and email as means of communications and my downtime response is treated equally for both service. That is part of efficient multi tasking

BTW, don't get me wrong I am not pointing at Polk or complaining as I always communicated with Polk by email and never had any issues. Some to consider, computers are also manned by human and error is human. It may happen that an email over god knows how many hundreds could be overseen. It happened to me in the past and once I found my mistake I dealt promptly with the issue.

starless

starless wrote: »

seem to have a bit of harshness in the "high midrange". (Sound great in other ranges though!)

I shouldn't complain too much about the speakers though - my wife just thanked me profusely for buying them! (She loves good bass sound.)

mdaudioguy

m1aman wrote: »

Yep. I have some of the series II on order from newegg and now I have more to worry about then UPS it seems

Relax - you placed an order, and are now searching around for potential issues and second-guessing yourself. Apparently this guy here (the OP) had some issues, and you can see that Polk CS even jumped on here to offer help. They'll help you too if under some remote circumstance you experience an issue. Don't let these thoughts bias your judgment when you get your speakers and hook 'em up. The vast majority of folks buying the 70s seem to be very happy with them - Here's to you experiencing the same! What will you be powering them with?

EDIT: Also, the guy above who "revived" the thread seems to be working through his issues. Remember, the sound of a speaker is affected by much more than the speaker itself. Sometimes adjustments and other changes are recommended and/or necessary to get the most out of a speaker.

Upstatemax

I just broke my Monitor 70's open and found that the top woofer in one of them had a loose/broken positive connection and the other one had a really loose connection on the second midrange driver. They were purchased new from Crutchfield 2.5 years ago.

Makes me want to go and pull all the drivers from my RTi A7's...

BTW, I am not doing this because I was looking for problems, I am refinishing the the silver face to black, I just happened on the problems.

However, the one with the broken connection did always sound different to me, I thought it was my ears playing tricks. Guess not...

cnh

Couldn't you just tell by 'listening' and 'feeling' the activity of each driver? If something is seriously loose it would show itself as some sort of distortion or absence of sound?

Careful you don't spread speaker paranoia. lol

cnh

Upstatemax

Thanks to my wife (and the silver face), the grills were on almost ALL the time so I almost never looked at or felt the drivers.

To my disgrace, I never really looked into it like I should have... I just figured it was me, not the speaker.

Lazy strikes again...

Upstatemax

My Monitor 70's now have new black faces and solder on all the woofer and tweeter connections.

They sound good, but I have not been able to really push them since the wife and baby are sleeping upstairs.

Midrange seems to present a little better with better imaging. I'm pretty sure one of the midrange woofers was "dead"... I don't think it was like that when I first got them.

However, my idiot Shepherds have knocked that speaker down several times...