Polk monitor 10A

Vonharaland
Vonharaland Posts: 23
edited April 2011 in Vintage Speakers
Just purchased the Monitor 10a on E-bay for 200.00- has the peerless tweeter with the hole in the front ( I think and hope!!) and I'm waiting for the seller to tell me where to go. 1st heard these speakers at Cal Audio, in Visalia, CA, around '81 or '82 and always remembered that beautiful sound... Been listening to Polk S6, with sub and they are pretty good, can't wait to hear my new- 30 year old- babys. And my wife said I could, so no familial discord.
Post edited by Vonharaland on
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  • vstarkwell
    vstarkwell Posts: 328
    edited April 2011
    Congrats and welcome to CP, Those are nice speakers.
    Monitor 7C's With Tubes
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  • Vonharaland
    Vonharaland Posts: 23
    edited April 2011
    When I get them home and listened to, will post pics and critique... the wait is horrible!
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  • kefranklin
    kefranklin Posts: 141
    edited April 2011
    Congratulations and welcome from a fellow Monitor 10 lover.
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  • TennMan
    TennMan Posts: 1,266
    edited April 2011
    Welcome to Club Polk from a fellow monitor 10 owner!
    • SDA 2BTL · Sonicaps · Mills resistors · RDO-198s · New gaskets · H-nuts · Erse inductors · BH5 · Dynamat
    • Crossover upgrades by westmassguy
    • Marantz 1504 AVR (front speaker pre-outs to Adcom 555)
    • Adcom GFA-555 amp · Upgrades & speaker protection added by OldmanSRS
    • Pioneer DV-610AV DVD/CD player
    • SDA CRS+ · Hidden away in the closet
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  • Oldfatdogs
    Oldfatdogs Posts: 1,874
    edited April 2011
    I also have monitor10 with peerless, Welcome and enjoy.
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  • DON73
    DON73 Posts: 516
    edited April 2011
    Welcome to the Club. It's always nicety hear from someone who is buying a pair of older Polk Monitors. The 10 is a fine speaker! Hope they work well for you.
    TO ERR IS HUMAN. TO FORGIVE IS CANINE.
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  • indyhawg
    indyhawg Posts: 1,642
    edited April 2011
    Congrats on the score. The Monitor 10 is one of my all-time favorite speakers.
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  • ncbuckeye3
    ncbuckeye3 Posts: 38
    edited April 2011
    I have three sets, you are going to love them.
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  • pjdami
    pjdami Posts: 1,894
    edited April 2011
    Congrats. I have a set of 10As that I currently use in the breakfast area / kitchen rig. Need to get some good stands for them. Search the forum for the DIY Monitor 7 / 10 stands design if you want to build your own.
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  • TNHNDYMAN
    TNHNDYMAN Posts: 2,145
    edited April 2011
    Congrats and welcome to the club. I currently have 2 pair of 10's as well as a pair of 7's. Hope you enjoy them for a long time.
    2-ch System: Parasound P/LD 2000 pre, Parasound HCA-1000 amp, Parasound T/DQ Tuner, Phase Technology PC-100 Tower speakers, Technics SL-1600 Turntable, Denon 2910 SACD/CD player, Peachtree DAC iT and X1asynchorus USB converter, HSU VTF-3 subwoofer.

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  • Vonharaland
    Vonharaland Posts: 23
    edited April 2011
    4 hour road trip, 2 hours re-arranging the entertainment center, 15 minutes of Audyssy calibration on my Onkyo TSXR 606, in with The Man Who Sold the World... and I was underwhelmed. Everything worked, loads of God-Pounding bass, but the guitars and vocals were sadly flat and lifeless. Cranked it up this morning a little, sounded better, even more so this afternoon and the vocals and cymbals are pretty damn good. Been in the sellers garage for months and just needed to shake the stasis out. I am the 2nd owner, and the grills and cabinets are perfect. #s 95101, and 95113, Model 10A, single fuse in back ( never blown! ), teeny perforation in the ( now sizzling ) Peerless tweeters. Also received the 10A owners manual and the glossy Polk brochure. My wife likes the rosewood veneer, and I moved the sub behind the sofa- she likes that too. Adrian Belew Power Trio's ' E ' ,and King Crimson's "Power to Believe " are simply overwhelmingly forceful and involving. Thinking about RDOs, and XO upgrades, but they are stock and perfect so I'll sit on that idea.... for now. Won't let me attach pictures. Rats!
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  • headrott
    headrott Posts: 5,496
    edited April 2011
    Ah yes, The Man Who Sold The World. David Bowie. Scary album! One of the most frightening albums I have heard. Extremely good album though. Good to test the Monitor 10's out too! Very dynamic CD. Congratulations on the Monitor 10A's I have 2 pair and they are very good. You may want to take a look (listen) to some SDA's as well. They are the "next step". Check out some SDA-2B's.

    Greg
    Relayer-Big-O-Poster.jpg
    Taken from a recent Audioholics reply regarding "Club Polk" and Polk speakers:
    "I'm yet to hear a Polk speaker that merits more than a sentence and 60 seconds discussion." :\
    My response is: If you need 60 seconds to respond in one sentence, you probably should't be evaluating Polk speakers.....

    "Green leaves reveal the heart spoken Khatru"- Jon Anderson

    "Have A Little Faith! And Everything You'll Face, Will Jump From Out Right On Into Place! Yeah! Take A Little Time! And Everything You'll Find, Will Move From Gloom Right On Into Shine!"- Arthur Lee
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  • DON73
    DON73 Posts: 516
    edited April 2011
    I have a pair of 10s, 7s and 5s. The 10s sound better to me in a large room but they really put out the sound. They have to be up off the floor about 10" or the bass can get boomy and overcome some of the mids.

    I don't think the RDOs will fit where the Peerless are. The peerless are good tweeters.

    Congratulations. At least you're honest about what you paid for them. A lot of these speakers either come from Goodwill for $10 or the dumpster.:biggrin::biggrin:
    TO ERR IS HUMAN. TO FORGIVE IS CANINE.
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  • Vonharaland
    Vonharaland Posts: 23
    edited April 2011
    The tweeters are now keeping up with the rest- blew the right tweeter fuse with DSOM clockwork chimes- just like the Hi-Fi guy told me would happen 30 years ago. Replaced both fuses and these 10As are super good. I am speculating that 30 year old fuses make a difference in sound- Anyone know? I'm happy, stuff I love to listen to is more... present. And I am definitely interested in re-doing the XOs, is there any one in the SF Bay area who does this?
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  • DON73
    DON73 Posts: 516
    edited April 2011
    There are a few CP members who rework crossovers maybe they'll come along soon. Try a search on crossovers. I would give you their names but I'll let them PM you.
    TO ERR IS HUMAN. TO FORGIVE IS CANINE.
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  • Vonharaland
    Vonharaland Posts: 23
    edited April 2011
    DSCN0210.jpg


    Got the photos to down-load. Some moderately high volume playing and new fuses, and turning the treble up 4 db has balanced out the tone some. The bass is phenomenal and I keep remembering music I really like and hopping up to put it on. Who sez I can't relive my youth?!
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  • DON73
    DON73 Posts: 516
    edited April 2011
    Nice looking speakers! The pair I have now are black wood veneer. I'm fairly certain that the x overs on mine could use some fresh caps. Mine have the 2500 tweeter and several members say the RDO replacement is much better. Now you need the 7s and 5s.
    Are your 10s on stands or on the floor?
    TO ERR IS HUMAN. TO FORGIVE IS CANINE.
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  • Vonharaland
    Vonharaland Posts: 23
    edited April 2011
    Neither, I have them on 14 inch tall end tables.
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  • DON73
    DON73 Posts: 516
    edited April 2011
    That'll work. Thirty five years ago I had my whole system on a coffee table: AR2ax, Kenwood Receiver and an AR Turntable.
    TO ERR IS HUMAN. TO FORGIVE IS CANINE.
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  • Vonharaland
    Vonharaland Posts: 23
    edited April 2011
    Looking to have my x-overs revamped- there's a kit on E-Bay. Anyone know if it is any good?
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  • jon s
    jon s Posts: 905
    edited April 2011
    the eBay kits are junk... you can do it your self and get better caps... Best would be Sonicaps but the price wud be higher...
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  • Vonharaland
    Vonharaland Posts: 23
    edited April 2011
    Keeps getting better, toed them in a little more severely and like how the image improved. And I suspect that they were unused for a Long Period of Time, the highs and upper mids continue to improve ( sweeter and clearer ) with use. I think I have gotten very lucky.
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  • Joe08867
    Joe08867 Posts: 3,919
    edited April 2011
    I would steer clear of the ebay kit. Like jon s said Sonicaps are the way to go..
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  • rayslifecycle
    rayslifecycle Posts: 511
    edited April 2011
    check this thread for info.
    http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=117359&highlight=Monitor+10%2C+Crossover

    Keep your peerless.
    http://rayslifecycle.blogspot.com/
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  • george daniel
    george daniel Posts: 12,096
    edited April 2011
    Vonharaland wrote: »
    Looking to have my x-overs revamped- there's a kit on E-Bay. Anyone know if it is any good?

    nope--spend your money on sonicaps or a comparable capacitor
    JC approves....he told me so. (F-1 nut)
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  • Vonharaland
    Vonharaland Posts: 23
    edited April 2011
    Thanks for the links- found the 10B XO but haven't yet found the 10A. And some thoughts from a newbie... oops, never mind- thought I had a thought there. I really value what I have, and would prefer to put my crossovers into a pro's hands. I'm a tradesman myself, so I know what I know AND I know what I don't know. I've searched as thoroughly as I know how ( much still to learn ) and haven't yet found my pro. Could use a heads up. Oh, and the two distorted sax's in Diamond Dogs jumped out at me last night, didn't know there were two.
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  • Vonharaland
    Vonharaland Posts: 23
    So I am giving these 10A's to #2 daughter for a vinyl listening rig and have down sized to RT 55's for the living room. They arrived with a dimpled tweeter and I am forlorn. The 10's have worked flawlessly for 4 years now, warm and fat and easy on the ears, and are now heirlooms.
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