Opinions on the little guys (Monitor 4s)

Nightfall

I'm looking at adding some rear speakers to my setup for gaming and movies.

My question is which of the Monitor 4's would compliment my RTA-12B's (Peerless) the best? There are so many: 4, 4 Series 2, 4.5, 4.6, 4A, etc.

Are any of them a lot worse than the others?

Lastly, would these fit on any generic surround speaker stands such as from BB?

Nightfall

Thought I'd add one last question: I'm leaning towards 4.6 because of the newer tweeter but can you replace any of the Monitor 4's with the newer tweeter?

HTguru1982

I had the Monitor 4's with the Peerless tweeters and they would suit your set up just fine. They were the original 4's, if I remember correctly. Here they are: http://polksda.com/monitor4.shtml

They're small but somewhat heavy for their size so make sure you use suitable stands. Here are some pics of them on stands so you have a better idea of their size: http://www.canuckaudiomart.com/details/138128-polk_audio_monitor_4s__with_peerless_tweeters/

westmassguy

The original 4s with the Peerless Tweeters would be the perfect timbre match for your 12s. The 4.6 which I own, have the SL2500 tweeters, which could be easily upgraded to the RDO-198-1s, however, they would sound different than the Peerless. All of the other 4s have a small, square, 4 ohm tweeter, which is not upgradable, and would not match the timbre of the Peerless either.
Your only real options are the original 4s, or original 5s with the Peerless Tweeters.

StantonZ

It's already been said, but a pair of Monitor 4's w/peerless tweets would be a great match; I have an "original" pair that I use as a center channel in my setup. What may be relevant to you is their FIRST duty was as a pair of main speakers for my dorm room/apartment back in the day, and people couldn't believe how good a small bookshelf speaker could sound. I've never made any mods to them (unlike my 10B's), and they still sound great. The only issue is: can you find them? The catch is: there's no "equivalent" replacement tweeter for a peerless. FWIW, my 10B's don't have peerless but they match up well with my 4's.

westmassguy

StantonZ wrote: »

It's already been said, but a pair of Monitor 4's w/peerless tweets would be a great match; I have an "original" pair that I use as a center channel in my setup. What may be relevant to you is their FIRST duty was as a pair of main speakers for my dorm room/apartment back in the day, and people couldn't believe how good a small bookshelf speaker could sound. I've never made any mods to them (unlike my 10B's), and they still sound great. The only issue is: can you find them? The catch is: there's no "equivalent" replacement tweeter for a peerless. FWIW, my 10B's don't have peerless but they match up well with my 4's.

Midwest Speaker sells a Peerless Clone, that's said to be made from the original drawing and specs for the Denmark version.
Several of my customers have bought them and reportedly they sound excellent. Not a true upgrade as if going from an SL2000 to a RDO-194-1, but certainly useful if one or both Peerless fail on you.

Nightfall

Thanks! I guess I'll just keep my eyes on CL for a pair with peerless. I'm not in any huge hurry to hear the guy shooting from behind me ;p I suppose that auction site would be okay as long as shipping was reasonable.

I appreciate your opinions and I leave with one more question.

Do the peerless have different crossover points than the others? I wonder if you could put the midwest peerless replacement in a non peerless monitor 4? I ask because these seem pretty inexpensive, even with gas.

http://cosprings.craigslist.org/ele/3913931622.html

If not, I'd probably rather wait. It would be cool to be surrounded in peerless!

westmassguy

Nightfall wrote: »

Thanks! I guess I'll just keep my eyes on CL for a pair with peerless. I'm not in any huge hurry to hear the guy shooting from behind me ;p I suppose that auction site would be okay as long as shipping was reasonable.

I appreciate your opinions and I leave with one more question.

Do the peerless have different crossover points than the others? I wonder if you could put the midwest peerless replacement in a non peerless monitor 4? I ask because these seem pretty inexpensive, even with gas.

http://cosprings.craigslist.org/ele/3913931622.html

If not, I'd probably rather wait. It would be cool to be surrounded in peerless!

The Peerless are 8 ohm nominal, the small square tweeters used in most of the other 4s are 4 ohm. The Peerless would not function correctly, however, Midwest does sell a 4 ohm version of the Peerless Clone which could be made compatible, however there's no data on the SPL of the little 4 ohm Polk Tweeter, so you may have to make some crossover adjustments to get the level right.