Monitor 5 B's

Mikey081057

I have my Monitor 5b's set up in my 2 channel room and have them hooked to my Marantz 2252B receiver, and have been doing some comparisons between my tube rig and my LSI m 703's.

While the 703's are a real treat to listen to, smooth and refined never sounding out of place or struggling to reproduce the right tone I gotta say that the 5B's in combination with the old school smoothness of the Marantz, really sound fine. The 703's bass has way more depth and refinement as you would expect, but given the age and technology of the 80's i am a little stunned about how easy they are to listen to and can say they are not junk compared to the 703's.

Hell I have even played them all at the same time and they don't clash at all. I kinda expected that the 5B's would not hold up, but they do... I really like having a retro rig to listen to... I always loved the way 70's and 80's rock sounded on them, but never had anything quite like the Marantz to drive them with.

Next up.... I think I'll hook my VR3 LSi 9's to the Yammy M80 for spits and giggles and see how they sound in comparison in the room.

Mikey081057

DSkip wrote: »

The vintage marantz does a good job toning down that sl2000. My m10s sounded impressive on the 2216.

Indeed... I have always liked to keep the SL2000's either above or below ear level.. It seems to help. But the Marantz really makes them sound good. he mids in the 5b's are it's signature though... maybe they are extending them but they sound very good for their period.

Nightfall

For the money, vintage Polks are where it's at.

Mikey081057

Nightfall wrote: »

For the money, vintage Polks are where it's at.

So for the money... I think I paid $450 for the 5B's new back in the 80's with the stands. That calculates to $981.20 in 2013 dollars.

http://www.dollartimes.com/calculators/inflation.htm

I have had them for almost 30 years so i think I got my money's worth.

cnh

Couldn't agree more! I've spent most of the night listening to my 5As, with the Peerless they're as "smooth" as butter. The music melts in your ears but never gets them wet! Beautiful mids, enough bass for an office room, and the highs, oh the highs (not as detailed as the Vifa in LSi-Ms) but endlessly warm and inviting. You can listen to these guys forever. I have mine running on a Vintage JVC.

Let me say if you need to "relax". Get some 5s or 7s, especially with the Peerless or newer Polk RD-0194 tweeters; put on some tunes, sit back, and watch the world fade away!

Enjoy!

cnh

westmassguy

Mikey081057 wrote: »

Indeed... I have always liked to keep the SL2000's either above or below ear level.. It seems to help. But the Marantz really makes them sound good. he mids in the 5b's are it's signature though... maybe they are extending them but they sound very good for their period.

If you upgraded to the RDO-194-1s or the even better 198s, you could have them at ear level without any fatigue at all.

PolkieMan

I have been looking for some not easy to find well at 150+ $40 shipping it's not hard but I need to stay around $100
I thought the 194's were the correct replacement for 2000 is there a crossover mod for the 198's to be used with these?

heiney9

cnh wrote: »

Couldn't agree more! I've spent most of the night listening to my 5As, with the Peerless they're as "smooth" as butter. The music melts in your ears but never gets them wet! Beautiful mids, enough bass for an office room, and the highs, oh the highs (not as detailed as the Vifa in LSi-Ms) but endlessly warm and inviting. You can listen to these guys forever. I have mine running on a Vintage JVC.

Enjoy!

cnh

I run a pair of modded 5B's w/RD0's on tubes in the office rig 30 wpc (6L6's, 12AX7, 12AU7) they are fantastic. But I have to say an unmodded pair of RT25i's do vocals and midrange a little better as in transparency and "right there in front of you" type thing.

The RT25i's are a real eye opener but can't quite compete everywhere else the 5B's do. It's not a matter of which upper midrange is "correct" just that they are different enough I keep both pairs around.

I will probably always have these 5B's around. They are the ones I popped my Polk cherry on in the early 80's.

H9

westmassguy

PolkieMan wrote: »

I have been looking for some not easy to find well at 150+ $40 shipping it's not hard but I need to stay around $100
I thought the 194's were the correct replacement for 2000 is there a crossover mod for the 198's to be used with these?

The 194s are the drop-in replacement. There's an SL3000 mod for the 5Bs, look for the schematic: http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?38755-POLK-AUDIO-Speaker-Wiring-Schematics-amp-More-ALL-MODELS-except-SDA

Mikey081057

Any body know where one could get a pair of 194's?

heiney9

Polk HQ. Last I heard they were on back order but they should be close to being back in stock. There was a forum member selling a pair a while back.

H9

westmassguy

heiney9 wrote: »

Polk HQ. Last I heard they were on back order but they should be close to being back in stock. There was a forum member selling a pair a while back.

H9

A few of my customers have received their 198s and 194s, so Polk must be dolling them out as the orders were received.
Mikey081057, contact Polk Customer Service Monday. Be sure to tell them you're a member of Club Polk for the discount and free shipping. The # is at the top of this page.

Mikey081057

heiney9 wrote: »

Polk HQ. Last I heard they were on back order but they should be close to being back in stock. There was a forum member selling a pair a while back.

H9

Thanks H9... The 5B's were my first Polk and did a lot of pokes listening to my Polks

Mikey081057

westmassguy wrote: »

A few of my customers have received their 198s and 194s, so Polk must be dolling them out as the orders were received.
Mikey081057, contact Polk Customer Service Monday. Be sure to tell them you're a member of Club Polk for the discount and free shipping. The # is at the top of this page.

Thanks will do...

PolkieMan

Great! Now I GOT TO have a pair.

westmassguy wrote: »

The 194s are the drop-in replacement. There's an SL3000 mod for the 5Bs, look for the schematic: http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?38755-POLK-AUDIO-Speaker-Wiring-Schematics-amp-More-ALL-MODELS-except-SDA

westmassguy

PolkieMan wrote: »

Great! Now I GOT TO have a pair.

They're great speakers. They don't go as deep as the 7s, but are fine in their own right.

boston1450

I enjoy mine alot. Once the dust settles id like to start on my upgrades . The 5s are last on list but they sound very sweet stock nice comparison on the rt25i H9

Mikey081057

Ordered em... Polk CS is da shnit

Mikey081057

Also available at http://reconingspeakers.com/?s=monitor&post_type=product&filtering=1&filter_product_brand=14366

I have no experience or affiliation with these guys

teekay0007

Mikey081057 wrote: »

Also available at http://reconingspeakers.com/?s=monitor&post_type=product&filtering=1&filter_product_brand=14366

I have no experience or affiliation with these guys

Available from them? Yes. Should you go that route? No. They charge over $73 w/shipping to my door for one RD0 tweeter.

Direct from Polk, with CP-members' discount and free shipping, the same tweeter costs $48 + sales tax (varies by your state's rate).

Mikey081057

Finally got the new tweets and installed them... way less harsh, and smoov... actually very modern sounding...Nice upgrade... anyone needa 28 yo pair of sl2000's ?