Monitor 10 TLC help?

heyoceanfloor

First post on the board! Hope you all are doing well. My name is Andrew, and I'm from Denver.

So I lucked out yesterday visiting a junk shop and found a pair of monitor 10s for $10! The place takes "junk" away from people's houses and sells what even the goodwills won't take... I don't know who wouldn't take these!

Anyway, they're not in bad shape. One is fine from the front (http://i.imgur.com/Rdx8T.jpg)
But on the back one of the input screws is broken (http://i.imgur.com/F8YHP.jpg)
Any idea where to get a new screw for the input?

The other speaker's original tweeter has been replaced (http://i.imgur.com/6atEK.jpg)
with what seems to be a JAMO D-21941(?) (http://i.imgur.com/UPhx7.jpg)
I did some research and created a post on AudioKarma and wound up buying a pair of Peerless tweeters off of ebay (http://www.ebay.com/itm/230836113368?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649), only to realize they may not work with the cross-over these speakers have naturally (bear with me here, I am so very new to this world that I don't fully understand all of the terminology). Is this true? :redface:

Was buying the Peerless tweeters a bad idea? How hard will it be to make them sound right? Or will they even work? What would you do? I may be able to return them if this ebay seller is friendly enough.
Should I go for the RDO-194s even though I already bought the peerless tweeters? Where do I find some?
Anybody selling any RDO-194s?

pitdogg2

welcome tot he forum.
It looks as if they came with SL2000 tweeters. The XO's for both tweeters are different. Call Polk customer service and buy the RDO-194's you will not be sorry for that move 48.00 ea. and no shipping. Contact the seller to see if you can return them if not after 100 post's you can sell them here ,ore than a few folks may need a pair of back-ups for the speakers that took the peerless. Be sure to tell CS that you belong to club polk.

cnh

Welcome to Club Polk!

You have a nice pair of speakers there. Hang around and sell the peerless on this site. Any number of us could use them, even as back ups. And get the RD-0194 tweeters mentioned above. Which are just drop in replacements. You can get those directly from Polk for about 50 a piece and you could sell the peerless for at least half that price if not more to make up the difference so the that RD tweeters won't cost that much. When ordering, make sure you tell them you're a Club Polk member!

As for the broken post, that is repairable. Look for parts on line at partsexpress.com, they should have some. You will need some soldering skills, etc. to do that. But no biggie. The whole assembly comes off.

With a little work, you'll have some very nice speakers to enjoy. I have a set of Monitor 10As with peerless tweeters. Among my favorites! When I do use them I run them off an old vintage Marantz 2265, just enough power to make them sing! Very nice, indeed.

cnh

teekay0007

First, WELCOME to Club Polk!

Now, about your new speakers - you've got a lot going on there. Those appear to be Monitor 10Bs and no, the peerless tweeters are not the right ones for them. I see, from your ebay link that you just bought the peerless tweets this a.m. Have you paid for them yet? If not, maybe the buyer will let you out of the deal if you explain your situation and maybe you just cover his/her listing fees if there is one. Otherwise, if you must take them, they shouldn't be hard to move if they're in good working condition. They always seem to be in pretty high demand.

The tweeters you'll need are the SL-2000 (that's what's in one of your speakers pictured) or the new Polk upgrade, the RDO-194 (RD-0194). Are you even sure the one tweeter you have works? Since you have a bad binding post (that "new screw for the input" you mentioned in your post) on the speaker with the "fine-appearing" tweeter, you might try swapping that tweeter out into the other speaker to see if it's working properly. That other tweeter (Jamo?) you have looks scary, get rid of it, at least as far as this speaker project goes. Even if it is properly funcioning, it would completely destroy the sound of this pair of speakers, the proper sound of which depends highly on not only matched and proper tweeters, but a proper seal around all drivers (tweeters, midwoofers and passive radiator woofers) and around the binding post cup on the speaker backside. For the seal to work properly you do need the tweeter opening to be intact. Is it still OK? It's hard to tell from your picture.

How about the other (midwoofer) drivers? Do they all work properly and look OK structurally? You might also want to swap each of them out into the one speaker with the intact binding posts to get an idea of what you have working and what doesn't work. Do this before you go out and spend a bunch of money, so you know what you will need to do to get to a good pair of speakers. Sometimes, if handled roughly, the drivers' magnets can shift causing them to lock up.

Do the speakers have grilles and/Polk Audio badges intact?

All these parts can be obtained new or used and in perfect funcioning condition and you've made the right first step by coming here. LOTS of people here who know nearly everything about any Polk speakers that ever existed and are willing to give you some valuable insight.

The Monitor 10Bs are a fantastic sounding speaker - one of my personal Polk faves! - if they are intact and are driven properly (which can even be done with a modest receiver).

So, again, assess what you have and what you're going to need - BEFORE spending willy-nilly without knowing what you're buying. Then, decide if it's worth pursuing. You might end up deciding to part out the good of what you have for a few bucks if only some if it works properly.

I also might still have an extra matching binding post around here that I could send you for that one that's broken - just PM (personal message) me your contact info and I'll be glad to send it, if you'd like.

dorokusai

It's less about the crossover than it is the physical dimensions on the Peerless vs the SL2000(RD-0194). It's smaller than the SL2000 and not a drop in replacement. I'd suggest just keeping them and selling them here after you get 100 posts. There's a lot of folks who like that tweeter so eventual resale won't be an issue.

Either way, great speakers and one of the best vintage models you could have chosen from that series.

heyoceanfloor

Hey everybody, thanks for all the advice, this community has been immensely helpful in this new endeavor of mine.

As an update: I was able to "return" the Peerless speakers to the ebay seller; he hadn't mailed them yet so I paid him the price of the ebay listing and we called it a day. Nice guy. The new RD0194s will be here soon-ish.

I took the speakers out today, everything looks okay to my untrained eye (I believe?)

Here's everything minus the SL-2000 tweeter: http://i.imgur.com/V2SZi.jpg
I've been reading a bit and have heard a lot about putting epoxy somewhere on the speakers so that the magnets don't shift, but I don't fully understand what this means... Is this explainable with this picture?

Here's a picture of the crossover from the inside, I think it looks okay to me: http://i.imgur.com/kMCPI.jpg
If it would help to get a picture from the other side, I'd be happy to!

Here's the ishtty part. Is there any way to fix what this childish dolt did to the port here: http://i.imgur.com/oEE0e.jpg
Some type of synthetic "filler" that I can sand to the proper shape? There's got to be a subpar solution to this problem other than buying an empty speaker box.

Also, my receiver has been acting up, so I haven't gotten to make sure each individual speaker is working properly. Is there anything I should look for visually to detect any problems? Or anything I can do to help prevent future problems while I've got them all apart?

Thanks everyone for all your help!

heyoceanfloor

Also, teekay0007, I'll send you a PM once the Polk boards allow me to!

drumminman

Is the filler hard, as in a bondo like material? If so you can work it with files, sandpaper, etc.

I'd probably start by drilling a couple of contiguous holes to make a hole big enough to get a file in, and then shaping it to fit your tweeter. Shouldn't take to long. Use the tweeter cutout on the un-modded speaker as your guide.

soundfreak1

If you need i do jave a pair of sl2000 tweet for sale, however i would still recommend the upgrade RDO 194's from polks the diff im price isnt that much. The 194 would cost you about 38 bucks more than the sl2000, so if that dosent brake the budget go the 194's . Also while you have the drivers out checking them out do the dynamat mod ( search this here) its well worth it as it does wonders to tje base and mids. Good luck and enjoy !

GospelTruth

heyoceanfloor wrote: »

I've been reading a bit and have heard a lot about putting epoxy somewhere on the speakers so that the magnets don't shift, but I don't fully understand what this means... Is this explainable with this picture?

You'll want to use something callled JB Weld that you can pick up at Home Depot. I used it recently on my SDA 2Bs. Here are some pictures.

You'll want to follow the instructions on the JB Weld and mix equal parts of each tube. Then using somethings like a Popsicle stick, put the weld in the 4 places shown on the picture above. You'll want to do the same under the magnet in the same 4 places for a total of 8 points. This should hold the magnet in place. I used Goof Off remover to remove any of the JB Weld that got on the side of the magnet right after putting in on those locations. I let it dry 24 hours before putting it back in the cabinet.

transmaster

Should you need to replace the MW-6503 6.5 inch drivers the current replacement sounds the same as the original. I had to replace a pair of them on one of my 10B's and between the speaker with the original, and the one with the replacements I can't tell the difference.