Monitor 10's - must buy?

Jimbo18

Is this a must buy even for a guy soon to be unemployed?

http://charlotte.craigslist.org/ele/3364479330.html

I know I can't eat speakers, but I could enjoy being hungry if I have great sound to console me. Would they sound better than the 7's I am using now?

gdb

Probably not, a little more/lower bass perhaps. I'd say they're priced right though......

hewlew1

If they are close to to you for that price I would buy them. I know I could stand to miss a meal.

ambiophonics

I would expect your 7's to image better since they don't have two side-by-side mids, as mentioned you may gain a bit of bass with the 10's but I don't think it's worth missing a meal for.

cnh

You're probably good with the 7s, I use my 10As to Rock out! Louder, and lower. But that's about it! Most here prefer the 7s. But I do like my 10As quite a bit. They show up often enough, though!

cnh

halo71

I think the 10's sound way better than the 7's personally. Those are not bad for the price imo, although the dome on that Peerless looks like it may be pushed in a bit. Offer $75 and see if he bites?!?

Jimbo18

I really like the 7's. Never heard the 10's, but I am new to this and don't know others in the area into vintage equipment.

I was thinking of maybe using the 10's for fronts and the 7's for rears in my main setup and either selling off the A-L Santanas or just mothballing them. They look great but really don't have the presence of the Polks. Great bass but mids and highs are lacking and they are very much "inside the box". It's more nostalgia with them for me since I bought them new 37 years ago.

Oldfatdogs

Hello Jim,I prefer the 7s to the 10s but the 10 are not bad at all.In my shop I have a 5.1 setup with 10s as mains and 7s as center and surrounds it works well for me.Try them out,for that price you could flip them when you get hungry.

Jimbo18

Thanks, OFD, unfortunately, I am always hungry, but I think I will give it a try if they sound okay in demo and that tweeter that halo mentioned looks okay.

Jimbo18

How about Monitor 5JRs instead? Better or worse than the 10s? The price is a little lower.
http://charlotte.craigslist.org/ele/3376196522.html

Mystery

Jimbo18 wrote: »

How about Monitor 5JRs instead? Better or worse than the 10s? The price is a little lower.
http://charlotte.craigslist.org/ele/3376196522.html

I'd get 10's for $25 more.

I am not sure how much 5JR differs from 5's but when I compared 7C's with 5B's, 7C's had better bottom end than the 5B's otherwise exact similar sound.
I remember 5B's imaged better than 7C's but 7C's sounded better overall.

Jimbo18

thanks, Mystery, I kind of assumed the 10's would be better, especially if I am going to use them for fronts, but wanted to ask here.

BTW, I live in Denver also. Denver, NC. Definitely not the same altitude.

nikonik

Go for the 10s! I prefer them over the 7s. I just gave my 7s to my brother. He bought them new in the late 80s and I bought them off him in the 90s. Since I just got a set of SDA SRS, I thought Id make his day and give them back and I threw in a Carver receiver! I was using both 10 and 7s in the garage music. They sounded great together and I agree the 7s have better imaging but the 10s rock better.

Jimbo18

Sounds good, nik. I haven't pulled the trigger yet, but I think I will contact him today. They have been listed for some time and I exect them to still be available.

I can sell off my Santanas and set up the 10s and 7s downstairs and probably end up with much better sound. I love the look of the Altecs but they really need stands and probably cap replacement. I can build stands but have no experience with soldering, nor can I afford the cost.

Here's a photo of one of the Altecs. Great looking speaker with real wood veneer on both sides and the back. 2-way speaker with a 15 inch woofer. I was really into bass when I originally bought them in the mid-70's.

Mystery

Jimbo18 wrote: »

...
I can sell off my Santanas and set up the 10s and 7s downstairs and probably end up with much better sound. I love the look of the Altecs but they really need stands and probably cap replacement. I can build stands but have no experience with soldering, nor can I afford the cost.

Here's a photo of one of the Altecs. Great looking speaker with real wood veneer on both sides and the back. 2-way speaker with a 15 inch woofer. I was really into bass when I originally bought them in the mid-70's.

Not sure about the sound as I never compared Polks with my Santana's before I sold them.
Santana's have very powerful bass.

These were mine before passing over to a buddy.
He's going to modify them with JBL woofers and horns.

Jimbo18

Nice, Mystery. I put them on CL today for $250 and have someone coming to hear them tomorrow night.

I will pick up the 10s on Saturday, assuming they don't sell before then. They are still available, I just could get together with the seller today.

cnh

Jimbo18 wrote: »

Sounds good, nik. I haven't pulled the trigger yet, but I think I will contact him today. They have been listed for some time and I exect them to still be available.

I can sell off my Santanas and set up the 10s and 7s downstairs and probably end up with much better sound. I love the look of the Altecs but they really need stands and probably cap replacement. I can build stands but have no experience with soldering, nor can I afford the cost.

Here's a photo of one of the Altecs. Great looking speaker with real wood veneer on both sides and the back. 2-way speaker with a 15 inch woofer. I was really into bass when I originally bought them in the mid-70's.

Mystery wrote: »

Not sure about the sound as I never compared Polks with my Santana's before I sold them.
Santana's have very powerful bass.

These were mine before passing over to a buddy.
He's going to modify them with JBL woofers and horns.

What's going on with the woofers in these? Some kind of "concentric" thing-one driver within another? Or is it just that Altec found it problematic to produce a single 15" diaphragm? I ask because Altec had a lot of concentric horn/woofer designs going back then if I remember correctly. Where is mhardy?

cnh

Mystery

Jimbo18 wrote: »

Nice, Mystery. I put them on CL today for $250 and have someone coming to hear them tomorrow night.

I will pick up the 10s on Saturday, assuming they don't sell before then. They are still available, I just could get together with the seller today.

Your pair looks in much better condition than mine and $250 is too low price around here for them.
Mine had all dust caps pushed in, one woofer had some tears and still got $200 and that was a good price.
Good luck.

Jimbo18

I guess it was too low. I have someone coming tonight but another guy begging me to come today to get them. Not to hear them, but rather "when can I pick them up?" and repeated emails.

But I will stick to the price I posted. I still think the 10's with the 7's as rears will sound a lot better and I pick up a little extra cash. I wanted to upgrade the crossovers in the A-Ls but knew I wasn't ever going to spend the money on them. Great looking old speakers but they never had sound that blew me away.

Jimbo18

I didn't try to bargain with him for the 10's, I offered the $100 if they are as nice as he says they are. He said there is no issues with the tweeter dome in the photo and that the cabinets are in good shape. I am hoping he still has them Saturday and looking forward to hearing them in place of the A-L's.

The 7Cs I have don't have the Peerless tweeters, so they won't be timber matched to the 10's if I use them as rears, but I don't think as rears that it should matter that much.

Jimbo18

cnh wrote: »

What's going on with the woofers in these? Some kind of "concentric" thing-one driver within another? Or is it just that Altec found it problematic to produce a single 15" diaphragm? I ask because Altec had a lot of concentric horn/woofer designs going back then if I remember correctly. Where is mhardy?

cnh

Yeah, the woofers are a "biflex" design and I guess were supposed to produce the mids as well as the bass. The Santana IIs did away with that, and I think went to a smaller 12 inch driver and had a ported design. I never heard them though.

And I guess I will never hear my Santanas again either. They sold tonight for the $250 I asked. Guess it was a bit low cuz they went fast and the guy had to drive about 1 1/2 hours each way to get them.

Monitor 10s here I come. But I will probably be using the CS400 for the center until I can get something that matches the Peerless on the 10s better.

Jimmy64

Jimbo

Looking forward to your thoughts on the 10's. They're classic. That is the first model of Polk Speakers I ever purchased. Since that first pair I have had several other 10's come and go.
After I sell them, I miss having them and end up buying another pair when I see a nice pair available locally.

Jimmy

Jimbo18

Jimmy, I am hoping to pick them up Saturday. As much as I like the 7s, I expect that I will like these as well, assuming there's no issues with them. If I get them, they will be set up by Sat. night and hopefully rockin' the house. I will post some pics if I get them and let you know my thoughts on them.

Jimbo18

Well, I guess I won't be getting any Monitor 10s anytime soon. My TV died last night. Not super surprising since it's been acting up for a while and is 6+ years old, but the money will now go towards a replacement, rather than the 10s. With unemployment looming, I can't justify doing both. :sad:

Mystery

Jimbo18 wrote: »

Well, I guess I won't be getting any Monitor 10s anytime soon. My TV died last night. Not super surprising since it's been acting up for a while and is 6+ years old, but the money will now go towards a replacement, rather than the 10s. With unemployment looming, I can't justify doing both. :sad:

Bad timing...
Sorry to hear that.
If you can skip few sandwiches, may be stretching to get those 10's is good for that price.