5B's

factorz

Saw a pair of these pop up locally and was wondering what owners think of them. Also what is a fair price?

heiney9

Fabulous.

Depending on age/model, condition, price varies. $75-150. $150 being for a pristine series II pair with sl2500 tweeters. Could you be more specific or post pics of front and back? Do they have a peerless tweet, fuses, sl2000 tweet, stuff like that.

H9

factorz

Attachment not found.

heiney9

Those are early Monitor 5's with the peerless tweeters and square (non-beveled) cabinets. You can also see the passive radiator and MW speaker baskets almost touch. They look like Monitor 5 or 5A. What are they asking?

H9

factorz

They are asking $80 or OBO.

heiney9

Hard to tell condition from the small photo. If they are very good to mint probably worth it. I always offer less and see where it goes, but $80 for a solid, working pair in very good condition is a good price.

Conradicles

Good deal if the grills are in nice shape and the cabinets look good.

vstarkwell

Is it me or are the tweeters upside down? if they are does it affect the sound? I'd grab them for $80 or less.

heiney9

vstarkwell wrote: »

Is it me or are the tweeters upside down? if they are does it affect the sound? I'd grab them for $80 or less.

That's the way the peerless were made. That is normal

H9

falconcry72

factorz wrote: »

They are asking $80 or OBO.

Jump on them. One of the best bang for your buck speakers in the world.

Paden501

Great speakers. I have a set of B's downstairs in the garage system and they would be much better suited in a main system. You won't be dissapointed.

rromeo923

I have the same speakers. They are nice and I would say $80 is fair. You would have a hard time finding a nicer set of new speakers for $80.

cnh

5s? Very nice, with Peerless, you'll like them! BTW my tweeters have the leads facing downward (also peerless). Probably just one of those many Polk differences in various production models? 80 is a good price if cabs are decent and all speakers are functioning!

Good Luck!

cnh

vstarkwell

Thanks guys for feedback on the tweeter question.

factorz

Ok it looks like I am going to at least go check them out. Owner said I could hear them before I buy and should be able to get them below the asking price. Other then grills and cabinet what should I be looking for?

Falconcry I havent' forgotten about you. We need to connect about the archive.

Paden501

Take a look at the binding posts and make sure they're in good shape.

Also, look at the surrounds on all the woofers for cracks. Also the tweeters shouldn't be pushed in, dimpled, have a pin-hole, etc.
You can do a 'push test' on the passive woofer by basically pushing in on it a little bit. The other woofer should react by pushing out by about the same amount, and slowly go back. If it doesn't push out, or bleeds off quickly then you know there's an air leak.

Other than that just listen to them. If they sound good then make an offer.

skrol

Most air leaks can be fixed with new gaskets. I wouldn't consider an air leak a show stopper unless the cabinets are damaged and not easily repaired.

Do Make sure that the woofers move freely. Press with light even, pressure. There should be no scratchy noises.
Stan

TNHNDYMAN

BUY THEM..... seriously, get the best price you can but keep in mind a set of peerless tweets usually sell for $40-50 pair, mids sell roughly the same, passives sell for 25-40 a pair- you get the idea. Offer $50 pay $60 take them home and enjoy. If any problems or cosmetics on the cabs are too much then part them out.

factorz

So have owners typically updated xo on these speakers. It sounds like the tweets are keepers.

heiney9

factorz wrote: »

So have owners typically updated xo on these speakers. It sounds like the tweets are keepers.

Yes,

For budget friendly go with Clarity Cap PX and Mills wire wound resistors. Well worth it and they will sound excellent. I did my 5B's a long time ago and they are wonderful sounding speakers.

H9

factorz

Thanks for the input everyone. Going to check them out today and will report back what I end up doing. I also see a pair of 4.5 popped up as well in my area. So many polk speakers so little time.

factorz

Well I pulled the trigger and picked these up. I have to say it's always impressive when you come across a seller with such a wide collection of Polk. Multiple 5, 10, and SDA speakers in this sellers basement and all of them in great condition. The 5's I picked up were a bit different then the picture as those were sold. These are 5b's and I think they have the SL1000 tweeter in them. Is there a upgrade to this or should I keep it?

Sorry no pictures as I took them to a buddies house last night and let him keep them. He had a lackluster set of speakers and I figure he could use these till I figure out what I am going to do with them. I will say everyone was correct about them being great speakers. Such good sound from a smaller speaker!! I also ended up picking up a pair of 4.5 the seller had for surround duties.

heiney9

Yes, you'll want to get the RD0194-1, if the bezel is silver on the tweets then they are sl1000's.

H9

falconcry72

factorz wrote: »

Well I pulled the trigger and picked these up. I have to say it's always impressive when you come across a seller with such a wide collection of Polk. Multiple 5, 10, and SDA speakers in this sellers basement and all of them in great condition. The 5's I picked up were a bit different then the picture as those were sold. These are 5b's and I think they have the SL1000 tweeter in them. Is there a upgrade to this or should I keep it?

Sorry no pictures as I took them to a buddies house last night and let him keep them. He had a lackluster set of speakers and I figure he could use these till I figure out what I am going to do with them. I will say everyone was correct about them being great speakers. Such good sound from a smaller speaker!! I also ended up picking up a pair of 4.5 the seller had for surround duties.

Congrats!

Does the tweeter look like this:

Or like this:

The top one is an sl-1000, the bottom one is an sl-2000. Either way, replacing them with the RD0-194 will make a big improvement.

The RD0's cost about 95 bucks shipped from Polk. Tell them you're a CP member for a discount.

Good luck!

factorz

They look like the top picture.

factorz

This might be a dumb question, but would it be possible to use 1 of the 5b's on it's side as a center speaker? After the first of the year I think I might make the jump to a flat panel on the wall which would give me enough room to do this.

falconcry72

dude, remember this?:

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?125909-Center-Speaker-Suggestions-for-RTA-12C&p=1673372&viewfull=1#post1673372

factorz

Yes, but I wasn't sure about this comment "Monitor 5B on its side is not too much harder to place than a conventional center channel speaker."

falconcry72

factorz wrote: »

Yes, but I wasn't sure about this comment "Monitor 5B on its side is not too much harder to place than a conventional center channel speaker."

I just meant that it doesn't take up that much more space than a conventional center.

I used a 5B on its side for a good while with with great results.:biggrin:

factorz

Ok so after 5 months of these sitting at my buddies house getting little to no use I decided to take them back and give him some other speakers I won't miss. I'm going to use these in the basement for 2 channel and was wondering about stands. Do owners bring them up off the ground with stands or is it not needed? When I bought them the guy just had them on the ground and they sounded fine. Thanks for the input.

teekay0007

DEFINITELY, put them on stands! It will make a world of difference. Ideally, you'll want the tweeters raised up to about being even with your ear level when in your most common listening position. Also, it's best if you can spike the stands too.