Vintage Monitor and SDA Speaker Deals

Gardenstater

The Stereophile review of the 11t sound quality was not very complimentary. Who knows what they'd be like with a crossover, tweeter, and wiring upgrade. That's a $950 orig. price speaker for $225 though, and allegedly in great condition and wood veneer. I don't know if the wood veneer was an option or not.

aiconn

Saw these posted today. https://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/ele/d/houston-vintage-polk-audio-srs-31tl/7176709469.html

audioluvr

aiconn wrote: »

Saw these posted today. https://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/ele/d/houston-vintage-polk-audio-srs-31tl/7176709469.html

Hell the crossovers are worth that! Must be a member.

aiconn

audioluvr wrote: »

Hell the crossovers are worth that! Must be a member.

That's what I thought too. If I had the extra cash I'd be on the road.

aprazer402

https://omaha.craigslist.org/ele/d/council-bluffs-vintage-polk-audio-sda-1/7171149643.html

No Affil. These must be very early SDA-1's, two fuses on rear and special SDA cable with multiple pins. Has the original boxes. Too bad he posted tiny thumbnail photos.

xjghost

Peerless tweters too?

pitdogg2

xjghost wrote: »

Peerless tweters too?

Wrong SDA1 never came with peerless, they were all SL1000 until the SDA1a and then they used the SL2000 tweeters.

xjghost

pitdogg2 wrote: »

xjghost wrote: »

Peerless tweters too?

Wrong SDA1 never came with peerless, they were all SL1000 until the SDA1a and then they used the SL2000 tweeters.

That is what I thought. Those look like the peerless though in the picture. that is why I asked.

pitdogg2

xjghost wrote: »

pitdogg2 wrote: »

xjghost wrote: »

Peerless tweters too?

Wrong SDA1 never came with peerless, they were all SL1000 until the SDA1a and then they used the SL2000 tweeters.

That is what I thought. Those look like the peerless though in the picture. that is why I asked.

Yes but different dome material. Same dome as SL2000

JayMX

Not mine, but anybody in Utah might be able to get themselves a nice deal. They won’t last long methinks.
https://classifieds.ksl.com/listing/60936412

Gardenstater

Something doesn't look right with that tweeter, besides the obvious damage. Probably not the right tweeter and what's up with that piece of sheet metal above it? He says he bought them 10 years ago at Best Buy LOL. Some of the MW drivers don't look right....maybe dust cap separation dunno.

PS: Maybe the tweeter is from an RTA 12C with the tweeter flipped upside down?

subkron

Monitor 10 and 10Bs, $100/$200 in south jersey:

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/290018555468437
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/268827254449733

no affiliation

Gardenstater

Those 10B's are interesting but I don't like what I've heard about the imaging issues. I have 2 extra 7B crossovers. I wonder how the 10B's would sound if you disconnected either the inner or outer MW's and used a 7B crossover instead? Would they sound as nice as a 7B only with deeper bass? I realize that you might need to swap out the MW with one that is compatible with the 7B crossover, but I also have some spare MW6500's as well as some USA Peerless tweets.

pitdogg2

Gardenstater wrote: »

Something doesn't look right with that tweeter, besides the obvious damage. Probably not the right tweeter and what's up with that piece of sheet metal above it? He says he bought them 10 years ago at Best Buy LOL. Some of the MW drivers don't look right....maybe dust cap separation dunno.

PS: Maybe the tweeter is from an RTA 12C with the tweeter flipped upside down?

The tweeter appears to be SL3000 with a pushed in dome. The plate above it is legit. No it's not from RTA 12 anything.
Polk used the same plate other speakers RTA 15 for example.

Gardenstater

I see. Thank you! http://www.hifi-classic.net/review/polk-audio-rta-15tl-87.html

xschop

Gardenstater wrote: »

Those 10B's are interesting but I don't like what I've heard about the imaging issues. I have 2 extra 7B crossovers. I wonder how the 10B's would sound if you disconnected either the inner or outer MW's and used a 7B crossover instead? Would they sound as nice as a 7B only with deeper bass? I realize that you might need to swap out the MW with one that is compatible with the 7B crossover, but I also have some spare MW6500's as well as some USA Peerless tweets.

The 10Bs sound fantastic when converted to SDAs using CRS+ crossovers. The lobing issue is gone and soundstage expands.

Gardenstater

xschop wrote: »

Gardenstater wrote: »

Those 10B's are interesting but I don't like what I've heard about the imaging issues. I have 2 extra 7B crossovers. I wonder how the 10B's would sound if you disconnected either the inner or outer MW's and used a 7B crossover instead? Would they sound as nice as a 7B only with deeper bass? I realize that you might need to swap out the MW with one that is compatible with the 7B crossover, but I also have some spare MW6500's as well as some USA Peerless tweets.

The 10Bs sound fantastic when converted to SDAs using CRS+ crossovers. The lobing issue is gone and soundstage expands.

That sounds like a great idea. Do you know anyone who has CRS+ crossovers for sale, from a parted out one? I'll put in a saved search on eBay but I won't hold my breath.

xschop

What ohms are your spare mw6500s?

Gardenstater

DC resistance 6.5 Ohms, Nom. impedance 8.0 Ohms

Driver: MW 6500 Driver's model #.
Brand: Polk Driver's brand name.
Fs: 31.0000 Hz (Free air resonance)
Vas: 2.6486 ft^3 (Compliance volume)
Qts: 0.2190 Total Q
Qms: 1.3000 Mechanical Q
Qes: 0.2640 Electrical Q
Sd: 0.0130 M^2 (Piston area)
Xmax: 3.1800 mm (Cone excursion, linear)
Revc: 6.5000 ohms (DC resistance)
Znom: 8.0000 ohms (Nominal impedance)
Pmax: 35.0000 watts maximum rated power

xschop

You have to replace one of the mw6503s with preferably mw6511 for the SDA drivers.

Gardenstater

Thanks. Good to know. I guess that complicates things. One thing for sure there is a plentiful supply of unmodded 10's being sold, and one could probably be had on the cheap, for it's box and passive and perhaps one of the MW's could stay. The issue will be finding a CRS+ crossover for sale, or point to point wiring up one myself with high end components. I'd prefer to get a stock crossover to check the feasibility of the whole project before spending the cash for all the upgrade crossover components. It's something to think about as long as it's cheaper than buying a used SDA and for the entertainment value of trying something new. If it turned out to be a great sounding little speaker perhaps someone could make circuit boards for the crossovers to be populated by people's choice of components and it would be cool to be able to take all those unrespected 10's out there to a much higher level.

xschop

Let me check my stash. I think I still have an unmodded set.

xschop

Seems like PMs aren't working again here. I have an extra set I got from another member last year or so. PM me if you're interested.

Gardenstater

Price may be a bit high at $300 but I think these RTA 11 (also referred to as Monitor 11) are pretty rare, and as it has been said here by others, is what the Monitor 10's should've been. No affiliation. Chester Springs PA:

One MW handles 3.5kHz and below and is phase compensated and the other Woofer handles 400Hz and below and is impedance compensated.

https://philadelphia.craigslist.org/ele/d/chester-springs-two-vintage-polk-audio/7169647394.html

xjghost

I like my 10's. I bought them new in the 80's. Served me well all through college and now they are a part of my office system. Carver Pre with and Adcom amp. Of course I'm not really sure what people mean when they start throwing terms out. I have always wanted to get in on a Polk get together to see if someone can explain it to me. I'm a first person learner....

aprazer402

These SOLD in one day! No Affil.

aprazer402

Gardenstater wrote: »

Price may be a bit high at $300 but I think these RTA 11 (also referred to as Monitor 11) are pretty rare, and as it has been said here by others, is what the Monitor 10's should've been. No affiliation. Chester Springs PA:

One MW handles 3.5kHz and below and is phase compensated and the other Woofer handles 400Hz and below and is impedance compensated.

https://philadelphia.craigslist.org/ele/d/chester-springs-two-vintage-polk-audio/7169647394.html

The 11's are rare. Did you buy them? If I find a nice pair local I'm buying.

Gardenstater

If only it were in my budget and only 1hr, 45m drive. Those are really really nice (except for the tweeter). Original owner too. I'm not even done with the upgrades in my 7B's yet, but if I could do it all over again I would prefer to have these I think. We don't have an actual schematic of this one so I wonder what the MW drivers were in these, and whether it would also be an option to SDA these with a 2B or CRS+ crossover.

Gardenstater

Sometimes I answer my own questions. It had 2 MW6510's. So it could be SDA'd without any driver swap outs with a CRS+ Blade-Blade crossover. Same driver compliment. Or swap out one of the MW6510's for a MW6511 (or perhaps MW6502) and use a 2B or CRS+ Pin-Blade Crossover.

https://polksda.com/monitor11.shtml

But of course I'd like to listen a long while first as is.

xjghost

I would say 11's are very rare. I see all the others fairly often. I'd love to complete my Monitor collection with a set of them. I think I have all the Monitor but them.