Polk Monitor Speaker ID please

Mystery

Hi Polk experts,
Just got another pair of Polk monitors but these are little different than my 5's and 4.6's.
Differences:
1. The tweeter has 'Dynamic Balance' on it along with 'Polk' instead of 'Polkaudio'.
Are these SL series tweeters or something older/newer?

2. There are two 6.5" woofers and not sure if both are active or one is passive.
The dust cap is the same in both so I suppose, these are both active.:idea:
The PR in 5's have larger flat dust cap.

3. The speaker connection is push in tabs instead of binding posts in 5's.

4. The black plastic front goes all around the front cabinet and grill flushes inside the black plastic front.
My 5's have grill that directly go on top exposing wood front cabinet.

What do I have here? 2 or 3 ways?
Attached are few pictures.
Thanks for ideas.

Mystery

DSkip wrote: »

Google RTA-8 and see if that's what you got.

RTA-8 has tweeter in the middle and one woofer above and another below as in the following thread:
http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?22220-The-new-Polk-Rta8-s-pics

Mystery

DSkip wrote: »

You added pics after I responded. Those are S8's.

Sorry, I was trying to embed pictures in between lines instead of all at once in the bottom.

Thanks for info.
So these are S8's.
Hmm... So is it okay to assume these are better than 5's I have?

halo71

Yep S8's. And no, IMO the Monitor 5 is a better speaker. I have (had, just gave them to a friend) a pair of S10's. Same set up as yours just a larger passive in the bottom. To me they are not as refined as the Monitor 5 and the bass is boomy. And my S10's have real binding posts.

Mystery

halo71 wrote: »

Yep S8's. And no, IMO the Monitor 5 is a better speaker. I have (had, just gave them to a friend) a pair of S10's. Same set up as yours just a larger passive in the bottom. To me they are not as refined as the Monitor 5 and the bass is boomy. And my S10's have real binding posts.

I see.
Thanks for info.
From S8 product manual, S8 are virtually identical in all specs except these go to 28hz and 5's go to 30hz.

So 5's are still better.
Hmm... need to test them side by side.
I was in the impression that S8's are better since they use SL5000 tweeter and larger mid than 5's. :frown:

halo71

Purely personal taste. But to me the 5's are nicer. But then again I've not heard the 8's. And I'd pay little attention to what the specs say on paper.

falconcry72

Mystery wrote: »

...So 5's are still better.
Hmm... need to test them side by side.
I was in the impression that S8's are better since they use SL5000 tweeter and larger mid than 5's. :frown:

What makes you think the SL-5000 is better?

What makes you think that a larger mid is better?


They sound different. Listen too them and see what floats your boat.


If you're looking for a cheap improvement for the 5's, you could replace the tweeters with their new replacements, the RD0-194.

Welcome to CP, btw!:biggrin:

vstarkwell

Mystery wrote: »

Hi Polk experts,
Just got another pair of Polk monitors but these are little different than my 5's and 4.6's.

Looks like someone has got the Polk bug. But I know how it feels I at one point had 10 A's W/Peerless, 5Jr+ Series 2, SDA II's and 7C's and I'm going to look at a pair of 7B's in about an hour. I no longer have the 10 A's, don't really need the 7B's but they have Peerless and I figure what the heck might as well grab to some day pass on to a fellow Polkie.

stubby

If they have 6.5 inch driver and passive, you have a pair of model S6.

heiney9

The 5's are the better sounding speaker. Don't rely on specs to tell you how something sounds.

H9

skrol

They look like S6, possibly S8. I can't tell the size of the PR. The S8 is actually very pleasant playing speakers. The S10 is boomy. The design engineer said that they were designed for folks that like "mucho bass" and not as well balanced as the S6 and S8. I think the biggest drawback is the plastic fascia which is easily cracked and the plastic bezel around the tweeter that has plastic tabs to hold the magnet in place. I have a pair of S8's that I hope to do a shoot-out with against my Monitor 5A's and 5B's.

Specs are attached.
S_Tech_Info.pdf

Mystery

falconcry72 wrote: »

What makes you think the SL-5000 is better?
What makes you think that a larger mid is better?
They sound different. Listen too them and see what floats your boat.
If you're looking for a cheap improvement for the 5's, you could replace the tweeters with their new replacements, the RD0-194.
Welcome to CP, btw!:biggrin:

I thought SL5000 is higher model number so assumed better.
The bigger the better.
I'll compare them when I have some free time.
$100 doesn't sound cheap improvement for tweeters, especially as they'll cost 3 times what I paid for the speakers.
BTW, Thanks.

vstarkwell wrote: »

Looks like someone has got the Polk bug. But I know how it feels I at one point had 10 A's W/Peerless, 5Jr+ Series 2, SDA II's and 7C's and I'm going to look at a pair of 7B's in about an hour. I no longer have the 10 A's, don't really need the 7B's but they have Peerless and I figure what the heck might as well grab to some day pass on to a fellow Polkie.

He he...
I just started into this few months back and already have 8 pairs and 3 of those are Polks.
BTW, how does peerless differ from SL series tweeters?

stubby wrote: »

If they have 6.5 inch driver and passive, you have a pair of model S6.

Actually, I was incorrect. The drivers are 7.5 inches from outside the basket. I was measuring the surrounds before.
So these are S8.

heiney9 wrote: »

The 5's are the better sounding speaker. Don't rely on specs to tell you how something sounds.
H9

Will A/B them soon.

skrol wrote: »

They look like S6, possibly S8. I can't tell the size of the PR. The S8 is actually very pleasant playing speakers. The S10 is boomy. The design engineer said that they were designed for folks that like "mucho bass" and not as well balanced as the S6 and S8. I think the biggest drawback is the plastic fascia which is easily cracked and the plastic bezel around the tweeter that has plastic tabs to hold the magnet in place. I have a pair of S8's that I hope to do a shoot-out with against my Monitor 5A's and 5B's.
Specs are attached.
S_Tech_Info.pdf

Thanks. I have regular 5's (no A or and 4.6's that I can compare these S8 with.
I prefer 5's over 4.6's as the 4.6's have too much mid range.
Please let us know how your shoot-out goes.

falconcry72

Mystery wrote: »

I thought SL5000 is higher model number so assumed better.

Nope.

The bigger the better.

Nope.

$100 doesn't sound cheap improvement for tweeters, especially as they'll cost 3 times what I paid for the speakers.

The original price of the speakers is irrelevant.

roofsmash

Hello there sorry to crash the party but this is my first post on this polk forum. I have a set of the s6's that was part of this discussion. I have had since new when I bought them from crutchfield nearly twenty years ago and have enjoyed them thoroughly. But alas they are starting to break down and I am having a great deal of difficulty finding any place that carries replacement parts. One of them has reduced output and sounds as though the active driver is losing its connection to the voice coil or something along those lines. Has anyone had one of these types of speakers apart? Found a supplier for the parts?

skrol

You can try Polk customer service but they may not have the parts for these anymore. If they do, mention that you are a Polk forum member for a nice discount. I had picked up a pair of new tweeters for my S8's off Ebay. Your tweeters should be SL-5000 and the mid-woofer MW-7000.

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=18695&d=1155781468
http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=18696&d=1155781468 The RE is a friend of mine.

Your problem sounds more like a bad connection. Are speaker wires making good contact with the terminals on your amp and the speakers? Take a look inside the speaker to see if anything is loose. Gain access by removing either the passive radiator or the mid-woofer. The screws are hidden under the rubber surround (gently lift the edge without tearing). Careful of the thin gasket that goes around the basket. Polk does not carry these anymore. Try putting the questionable driver in the other speaker cabinet. If it still sounds bad then you know it is the driver. If not and there are no bad connections then it is likely the crossover.

I have said before that this must be Polks most under-rated series of speaker (and possibly least known). My S8's have a very nice tonal quality about them that is very pleasant and easy on the ear.

Keep us posted; we'll help as best we can.
Stan

gmjungbluth

The original Polk Monitors had Peerless tweeters, which were switched to Polk-produced tweeters in subsequent models. Monitor & and 5 A series for sure have the Peerless, 7Bs as well I think.

I've had Monitor 7s with both the Peerless and SL200 tweeters. The midrange and bass response obviously is the same. The Peerless tweeter is highly regarded because it is a bit more laid back than the SL200, which can sometimes sound harsh or fatiguing due to spikes in its response in upper frequency ranges.

It's been my experience that this is more or less pronounced depending on amplifier and speaker placement. The same holds true for the earlier Monitors with the Peerless - they may be too laid-back for you.

My opinion is that out of the box the Peerless are nicer for me. But capacitor replacement could change the sonic characteristics of both series. And folks rave about th RDO replacements, saying the mitigate the harshness of the SL200s with range greater than the Peerless.

Mystery wrote: »

I thought SL5000 is higher model number so assumed better.
The bigger the better.
I'll compare them when I have some free time.
$100 doesn't sound cheap improvement for tweeters, especially as they'll cost 3 times what I paid for the speakers.
BTW, Thanks.


He he...
I just started into this few months back and already have 8 pairs and 3 of those are Polks.
BTW, how does peerless differ from SL series tweeters?


Actually, I was incorrect. The drivers are 7.5 inches from outside the basket. I was measuring the surrounds before.
So these are S8.


Will A/B them soon.


Thanks. I have regular 5's (no A or and 4.6's that I can compare these S8 with.
I prefer 5's over 4.6's as the 4.6's have too much mid range.
Please let us know how your shoot-out goes.