5 Jr+ vs 5a

JayCee

I'm looking for opinions on 5 Jr+ vs. 5a's and is either worth $60.

heiney9

5A has a bigger passive radiator so it hits a little lower. Some 5A's have peerless tweeters which are prefered. The 5A's might be fused whereas the the 5 Jr+ isn't. They are worth $60 if the condition is vg to excellent, IMO. The 5A's use a MW6500 driver which is harder to find uf you ever need one or if it gets damaged in shipping which can happen.

H9

cnh

Not sure about the Jrs. But I have a pair of 5A peerless, and they're definitely worth 60 if they're in good condition!

They're nice for a smaller room, office type situation. My 10As, though, can fill up a much large room and dig deep with enough power.

I'd take a listen, these are near the beginning of the Polk Legacy and well worth owning/experiencing!

cnh

Cayuga

I think $60 is a good buy, I've sold several pairs out of my little store for $100-$125. All the 5's I had were in very nice condition.

pitdogg2

heiney9 wrote: »

5A has a bigger passive radiator so it hits a little lower. Some 5A's have peerless tweeters which are prefered. The 5A's might be fused whereas the the 5 Jr+ isn't. They are worth $60 if the condition is vg to excellent, IMO. The 5A's use a MW6500 driver which is harder to find uf you ever need one or if it gets damaged in shipping which can happen.

H9

Sorry Brock My 5jrs are fused both my 5's use 6502 drivers and both have SL2000

heiney9

pitdogg2 wrote: »

Sorry Brock My 5jrs are fused both my 5's use 6502 drivers and both have SL2000

Then they aren't early 5A's. I have a pair of early 5B's that are fused. 5A's are fused sometimes both the tweeter and woofer and most 5A's use a peerless and maybe even an sl1000. But then again, we all know how Polk models can have different parts, etc.

5 Jr +'s won't be fused, they are newer than 5A's or 5 Jr's.

5 Jr+ had a 6.5" passive the 5 Jr did not.

H9

pitdogg2

I have a pair of 5's that have a 6.5 passive and a poly switch. My 5jr have a port and fuse.
sorry I was not aware of a 5jr+

thanks Brock

heiney9

pitdogg2 wrote: »

I have a pair of 5's that have a 6.5 passive and a poly switch. My 5jr have a port and fuse.
sorry I was not aware of a 5jr+

thanks Brock

They aren't just "5's" then, they are most likely 5Jr +'s. I suppose in typical Polk fashion there could be 5Jr's out there with a passive, but that's why they added the "+"

There are

4's, 4.5's, 5Jr, 5Jr+, 5's, etc............I'm sure there was a little cross pollination.

pitdogg2

heiney9 wrote: »

They aren't just "5's" then, they are most likely 5Jr +'s. I suppose in typical Polk fashion there could be 5Jr's out there with a passive, but that's why they added the "+"

There are

4's, 4.5's, 5Jr, 5Jr+, 5's, etc............I'm sure there was a little cross pollination.

well just going by the tag on the back that says Monitor 5. The other pairs tag says monitor 5jr. on the tag and on the binding post cup.

Did the 5's have an 8" passive?

heiney9

pitdogg2 wrote: »

Did the 5's have an 8" passive?

Yes, they all did. Again the label can lie as with certain SDA's, etc. Then we go by driver configuration. It's really not a big deal and I'm not trying to be "right". Just clarifying for future users that come across this thread. If it doesn't have a PR and it has an sl2000 it's a 5JR. 5JR+ had a 6.5" PR and 5, 5A, 5B, etc had an 8" PR.

H9

H9

george daniel

5A's with tubes will put your **** in heaven.

Joe08867

george daniel wrote: »

5A's with tubes will put your **** in heaven.

Amen Brother!!!

heiney9

george daniel wrote: »

5A's with tubes will put your **** in heaven.

Joe08867 wrote: »

Amen Brother!!!

Amen to the Amen!

H9

thesurfer

Ive heard alot of folks say the 7,s were the best all around speakers polk ever made, just saying, since were talking the monitor series,

Joe08867

If I am rating the original monitor series it would go .

7, 5, 10, 11, 12 and 4.

mhardy6647

monitor 5: http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/products/recent/monitor5/

monitor 5jr+: http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/products/recent/monitor5jr/


FWIW, my one & only pair of Monitor 5As, with the infamous SL-2000 tweeter. It isn't really as bad as it is cracked up to be...

heiney9

Those look like 5B's to me. 5A's never came in black from the factory. In fact 5B's in black are a little rare. Monitor 5 Series II came in black.

H9

heiney9

What color Polk logo silver or gold? That can also date a Polk if they are original logo's.

mhardy6647

heiney9 wrote: »

Those look like 5B's to me. 5A's never came in black from the factory. In fact 5B's in black are a little rare. Monitor 5 Series II came in black.

H9

I will double-check; my memory has the tag on the back saying "5A", but since my memory pretty routinely turns up blank about 10 minutes after anything significant happens nowadays, there's just a wee chance I am incorrect.

Good project for a rainy MA night; a little quality time in the basement.

JayCee

Thanks to all for the responses.

Just spoke to the seller and I'm heading over after work. He said all drivers are in working order and the cabinets are in excellent condition.

heiney9 wrote: »

Some 5A's have peerless tweeters which are prefered. They are worth $60 if the condition is vg to excellent, IMO.
H9

cnh wrote: »

...I have a pair of 5A peerless, and they're definitely worth 60 if they're in good condition! They're nice for a smaller room, office type situation. I'd take a listen, these are near the beginning of the Polk Legacy and well worth owning/experiencing!

cnh

george daniel wrote: »

5A's with tubes will put your **** in heaven.

The 5A's have the peerless tweeter. I've never heard a peerless, so am really interested in them.:cheesygrin:

heiney9 wrote: »

5 Jr+ had a 6.5" passive the 5 Jr did not.

H9

I confirmed the Jr's are the "+"...they have an SL-2000 along w/the PR. I just may pick up both sets to broaden my vintage Polk collection and exposure.:loneranger:

pitdogg2

can't hurt they all sound pretty good

JayCee

JayCee wrote: »

I confirmed the Jr's are the "+"...they have an SL-2000

Just read this on the 5 Jr link posted above:

"Featured in the Monitor 4.6, 5jr+, 5, 7, 10 and 12, the SL2500 tweeter makes a major contribution to the improved performance of the Monitor Series 2. Sharing much of the technology of the incomparable SL3000 tweeter used in the Polk flagship SRS series, the SL2500 is a highly refined, technically advanced driver.

The voice coil, wound around an aluminum voice coil former, is cooled by an exotic ULV (ultra-low viscocity) magnetic fluid. This material, which has a viscocity close to that of water, enables the SL2500 to exceed normal listening levels without loss of performance or reliability. The resulting dynamic range is dramatic, indeed unique for speakers in this price range."

heiney9

They made a 5Jr+ and a 5Jr+ series II so a 5Jr+ can have either the sl2000 or sl2500.

H9

JayCee

Picked up both pairs of speakers for $100. Overall conditions are very good to excellent. Once I had them home, I listened to the jr's and really am impressed w/the overall tone, sound stage and amount of bass for their size. Listened to Clapton and BB King, Riding w/the King, and Fleetwood Mac, Tusk.

Haven't listened to the 5A's. Initially, the fuses were blown and tweeters not working, but the seller used a questionable fuse from his stash. Tweet's tested fine, but there are no markings on the fuse holders showing replacement specs. I opted to leave the fuse he produced and am trying to find the correct values. Does anyone know?

mhardy6647

FWIW, the tag on the back of the Monitor 5s in the basement just says "Monitor Series" and there is just a "5" in front of the serial number. Thus H9's hypothesis of their being Monitor 5 Series II is most likely correct. Sorry for any confusion I caused.


As to the tweeter fuses in the 5A (previous post); all I can tell you is that my 7As and the other Monitor Series speakers of the same era used a 1 amp fast-blo for the tweeters. That should be a fairly safe bet for starters, I'd think.

heiney9

mhardy6647 wrote: »

As to the tweeter fuses in the 5A (previous post); all I can tell you is that my 7As and the other Monitor Series speakers of the same era used a 1 amp fast-blo for the tweeters. That should be a fairly safe bet for starters, I'd think.

That is correct. I have bypassed the fuses in my 5B's so I don't recall the size, but they should be the same for all the Monitor series that use a tweeter fuse.

H9

JayCee

mhardy6647 wrote: »

...my 7As and the other Monitor Series speakers of the same era used a 1 amp fast-blo for the tweeters. That should be a fairly safe bet for starters, I'd think.

heiney9 wrote: »

That is correct. I have bypassed the fuses in my 5B's so I don't recall the size, but they should be the same for all the Monitor series that use a tweeter fuse.

H9

Thanks.

tx_polkhead

Haven't posted in quite some time, hello again fellow polk fans...
I am glad to read above someone else tout the M5JR+ so highly, for a while I thought my brain was playing tricks on me! I purchased two pair of the M5JR+ series II, one black one walnut vinyl veneer, the plan was to use them as rear and side surrounds in the living room 7.1 HT and is where they live today. Before hanging them up high I brought them to the bedroom and A/B'ed them against the SDA CRS+ with a simple Onkyo integrated and a Kenwood CD changer, nothing fancy but a 'nice' bedroom set-up in a slightly large bedroom (18x24) and the M5JR+ ser II nearly matched the CRS+'s with most recordings. The Onkyo might be too little power to really make the CRS+'s sing, but the M5JR+ ser II were impressive. Lastly the SL2500 tweeter was like butter.