Snatched up a pair of monitor 12s ? Opinions

Dropthebeat

So I found a listing on Craigslist for a set of monitor 12s cabinets I'm decent shape 7 out of 10 the grills need to be replaced though and one blown tweeter of which I have two extras. I paid 100 ? I'm guessing I didn't overpay since it's not going to cost me anything to replace the tweeter

zane77

Sounds like a very good price to me, enjoy.

Dropthebeat

Thanks , can't wait to clean them up and listen to them .

Mystery

I enjoyed them when I had them.

Loud & Clear

Many will say that those have a little too much bass. So perhaps getting them out into the room would be a good place to start.

Dropthebeat

I'll have them hooked up later tonight maybe , I'll report back afterwards ... Chipped a little piece of wood off the edge of the cabinet while carrying them through the door -_- .

transmaster

I tried to purchase a pair of these new back in 1989 and I could not land a pair and ended up with a pair of 10B's which I am listening too right now. The Monitor 12's are fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!

Those tweeters look like SL2500's that is the ferro-fluid cooled tweeter that Polk used in the final speakers of the original Monitor series

Indyaudio2

Great buy for $100!

Dropthebeat

Well the tweeter I put in replacement is actually a sl3000 it sounds much brighter than the 2500 . The speakers sounded great , but I can't help but to get a feeling something isn't right . They sound almost muffled compared to my rta11 or even my monitor 10s.

The bass is definitely much louder , is there any way to tighten up the bass other than added insulation that I'll be buying tomorrow ?

Loud & Clear

The bass in those are overwhelming. I'm not sure I've seen anyone provide a proper fix as of yet. If anyone has I'm sure it would be greatly appreciated by those who own them.

Oldfatdogs

First off congratulations on the deal.Check cabinets for air leaks,you can use liquid nails on inside seams I believe.If gaskets on drivers are bad use armiseal-not sure of spelling,can be had at home depot. Use poly fill in cabinets not insulation.The old might just need to repositioned.Start there,I'm sure others will chime in.Hope that helps.

Dan

boston1450

Congrats your new speakers & hopefully youll get them squared away. Send a picture our way. That Monitor always remind me of the 1c's sorta. Enjoy

soundfreak1

If you dynamat the drivers and passive it will tighten up the base a bit, however they can be a bit boomie by there nature.they do (like most polks I have owned) like a lot of power to proform at there best.

Phish56466

Make sure you have a high current amp to drive them with. I'd consider doing the XO's if you're going to keep them(RDO's suggested as well as the usual Dynamat mods). For what they are, they're pretty clean and they will get LOUD!! I've also noticed with mine, that unless your grills are PERFECT they tend to rattle a bit. Just take them off and watch them work. I LOVE mine! BUT like most of us, I want the BIG ONES(just because)!

leftwinger57

Just to carify, if it's the gaskets the product most used here is Armacell--AP/Armaflex insulation tape .I got a roll about $8 @ Home Depot. Some use Amaflex and Armacell interchangeably.

xjghost

Those were my dream speakers back in the day when I got my 10's. I'd say around 88 or 89. Now that I'm divorced and have recently purchased a set of 3.1's I'm now on the lookout for a set of these.

Dropthebeat

I have a nad 2600a powering the two speakers , they sound very different compared to my other speakers but I like the sound they make , and that's all that matters I just hope I can get the bass to be a bit more punchier I feel it lingers as of now . I don't know if that's a good way to describe it. Thanks for all the input everyone , I'm going to do some of the things dan recommended hopefully that will help in improving their sound.

tonyb

The bass has always been a tad slow, muddy on those old monitors even the R line and some of the RT's as well. Exception being the Monitor 5's and 7's in my book. Punchier bass happens when you hit the RTI line on up. Just my opinion based on past experiences.

Dropthebeat

I like the speakers but they could never replaced rta11tl or 15.

Mystery

nbrowser wrote: »

Dangnabbit...those would pound like no tomorrow on my amp...me want !

Sorry, the bass lover in me is wanting out...lol

When I sold them, I was in a townhouse so I had bass all the way to down -6 or something in the A/V receiver so it won't disturb neighbors too much.
I auditioned them for the buyer and they all said, they have great bass.
After they left with the speakers, I realized that I was auditioning them with the bass still all the way down at -6.
Haha... yes they do have lots of bass.

Dropthebeat

Just bought some poly fill and armaflex. Instead of dynamatting the drivers I was thinking about using a molding rubbery gasket material . Resembles the texture of gum . Does anyone see a possible issue with this or should it be fine ?

Dropthebeat

well I added some Polly fill, I added some rubbery gummy material to the drivers to help with resonance and used some of the armaflex to seal the drivers to the cabinet. The bass does sound a bit more controlled , the overall sound has improved but man do they produce a lot of bass and at all times lol I like them though, they're completely different from my other speakers. Thanks for all the input and advice everyone. Much appreciated.

Dropthebeat

you can see in my pictures I have non matching tweeters. I couldn't find my other sl3000

Oldfatdogs

I have non matching tweeters

In the words of a senior member when I first came here and told him I had miss matched tweeters in my 7Bs.
( Oh that not good ) As polity as he could. Tom I know your gonna snicker when you read this.

Find a match asap,your ears will thank you.Glad everything else helped.

Dan

Dropthebeat

Well I bought them thinking I would sell them but I swapped over my rdo198 tweeters to see what they would sound like and I don't think I want to get rid of them, I love that they're a bass heavy ... What tweeter is recommended for these ? Stick with the originals or swap to the rdo198 ?

xjghost

Dropthebeat wrote: »

well I added some Polly fill, I added some rubbery gummy material to the drivers to help with resonance and used some of the armaflex to seal the drivers to the cabinet. The bass does sound a bit more controlled , the overall sound has improved but man do they produce a lot of bass and at all times lol I like them though, they're completely different from my other speakers. Thanks for all the input and advice everyone. Much appreciated.

I want a set of these.

agfrost

Well, the the RD-0-198 is the correct current-model replacement for the original SL2500 tweeter the M12 had, so feel free to leave 'em in there when you're listening to them. Sharing those tweets with the 11TLs or 15TLs?

Dropthebeat

my rta11tl came with the rdo198 and I purchased a pair for my rta15tl as well, but i plan on leaving them in there. I just cant find my other sl3000 tweeter out of my 15tls. So either I purchase another sl3000 or give in and do the TL mod.