Opinions - Monitor 4 or 5jrs?

Pastor Bill

Given a choice at roughly the same price ($5 difference) what would you select? The Monitor 4 or the 5jrs?

Faustin

5jrs

GospelTruth

I've had both, and I would take the 5jrs any day over the 4s. It does also depend on what version of each you are looking at though, but on the whole I would take the 5jrs.

teekay0007

5Jrs, without question, IF they are 5Jrs with the 6-1/2" passive radiator. If they are the ones with the tiny port instead of the PR, then go for the ones that are in better condition.

mhardy6647

Given the choice, the 5jr.
The only wild card would be if the 4s had the Peerless silk dome tweeter and the 5jrs don't.

bugsnt

5jr ... even without the Peerless tweeter.

boston1450

Depends what your using them for. Rears 4's..2 channel listen 5jr's

westmassguy

Depends on what model 4 they are. Plain 4, I'd take the 5jr any day. The 4.6 which was the last monitor 4, and is essentially the same as the 5jr. The 5jr+ has a 6.5" PR and is better the regular 5jr or any 4

soundfreak1

5jr's or even 5jr+'s ( if you can find them)

Pastor Bill

The CL listing on these is:

5JR26231

I'm assuming that these are 5jrs...they appear to have a peerless tweeter and passive radiator. Any info on these? They are about 1.75 hours south of me, while the Monitor 4s are about 20 minutes away.

Mystery

The ones with PR are 5JR+.
They are decent but since they are 1.75 hours away, it's up to you to decide depending upon price, gas, time.

Joey Ward

5jr+ were my first set. run 5jr+ and 5 together for a great sound.

StantonZ

I'm surprised at the overwhelming preference for 5's! Still love my 4's after 30+ years, and never replaced the tweets because they are peerless. They've been my main (college), center channel, and soon my 'top/ceiling' Atmos speakers.

aprazer402

I have the original Monitor 4's with the Peerless tweeters, I also have the 5jr+ series 2 with the SL-2500 tweeter, different speakers. Like others have said the 5jr's will outperform any of the Monitor 4. Any of the 5's or 5jr's with passives and not a port will better the 4's.

Mystery

StantonZ wrote: »

I'm surprised at the overwhelming preference for 5's! Still love my 4's after 30+ years, and never replaced the tweets because they are peerless. They've been my main (college), center channel, and soon my 'top/ceiling' Atmos speakers.

I'm pretty sure op is not talking about 4's with peerless tweeters as they are pretty rare.
Even then, 5's are better with same tweeters.

The latter version of 4's with plastic bars over tweeters are more common.

Nightfall

Mystery wrote: »

I'm pretty sure op is not talking about 4's with peerless tweeters as they are pretty rare.

I still use your 4's every day. Literally every day.

Mystery wrote: »

The latter version of 4's with plastic bars over tweeters are more common.

I refer to them as Zelda triforce tweeters for some reason..





To OP: What are the speakers going to be used for? Rear channels in a surround sound setup? Go with the much closer driving distance Monitor 4's. Main 2 channel speakers? Wait and find the 7's at minimum.

EDIT: I feel like an idiot now. Didn't realize this thread was 7 months old... Thanks a lot Joey Ward lol

Joey Ward

Nightfall wrote: »

Mystery wrote: »

I'm pretty sure op is not talking about 4's with peerless tweeters as they are pretty rare.

I still use your 4's every day. Literally every day.

Mystery wrote: »

The latter version of 4's with plastic bars over tweeters are more common.

I refer to them as Zelda triforce tweeters for some reason..





To OP: What are the speakers going to be used for? Rear channels in a surround sound setup? Go with the much closer driving distance Monitor 4's. Main 2 channel speakers? Wait and find the 7's at minimum.

EDIT: I feel like an idiot now. Didn't realize this thread was 7 months old... Thanks a lot Joey Ward lol

Who keeps count of time, 7 months is like yesterday...Cheers and your welcome. lol

teekay0007

Nightfall wrote: »

EDIT: I feel like an idiot now. Didn't realize this thread was 7 months old... Thanks a lot Joey Ward lol

Don't be so hard on yourself, Nightfall. Haven't you noticed Joey Wadd is just crankin' up his post count so he can try and peddle some junk here? He's been pullin' up every old thread that mentions the Monitor series that he can find over the past few days.

Joey Ward

teekay0007 wrote: »

Nightfall wrote: »

EDIT: I feel like an idiot now. Didn't realize this thread was 7 months old... Thanks a lot Joey Ward lol

Don't be so hard on yourself, Nightfall. Haven't you noticed Joey Wadd is just crankin' up his post count so he can try and peddle some junk here? He's been pullin' up every old thread that mentions the Monitor series that he can find over the past few days.

Sorry, your barking up the wrong tree. I didn' know that I was not to do that with older post. I know not to do that now. Also I have nothing to sell, let alone junk.
I did not mean any harm.

mhardy6647

... given that the drivers in mine are pushing fifty... I'm not seeing a problem here.

mascab

I recently found this forum. I'll start by asking here instead of a new thread. If a new thread is better let me know. I got a set of 4A's with the "triforce" tweeter many years ago, and still love them for there size and sound. I always wanted some 5jr's with the passive radiators for the added bass, and no port whistling.

I recently got a set of 5jr's. I think they have the newer SL2500 tweeter. They do not sound harsh like the silver ones and no wires going to them are visible. I didn't really listen to them before buying. All the drivers appear to be working, but the mid to highs are very muddy. There is little definition from mid vocals to cybal crashes. My 4A's sound much better even when cranked. A friend with some Monitor 5's with the SL2000's sound better. Some cheap no names sound better. My friend with the Monitors also thought they sounded off. I don't think its from the boosted highs, I find the SL2000's annoying for some tracks, but at least the definition was there. Any idea's what could be wrong. Is it this style? The woofers look a little different than my 4A's. The coating has a smoother finish or there is less fiber ripples in the cone. I assume it is newer driver. Any idea what could be wrong? Are the crossovers bad? Could the tweeters be bad? They do produce sound, so they are not dead.

I was also wondering about the 5Jr's with the port. I had listened to some many years ago. I also thought my 4a's sounded better. They were not as shrill for some music and IMO my 4's could produce more bass over all. I think they do pretty well with an equilizer boost as they roll off. The 5's seemed to roll of quicker and maybe sooner from what I remember. The 5's appeared to only have a hole in the cabinet and no port tube. I am not sure if it was missing. I was told it did not come with one.

TCK

First off, they are +- 25 yrs old so they could use new caps, etc. & getting them used, your not sure how they were treated.
That said, the SL2500 is a bit muffled & veiled compared to the other 2. The replacement is the RDO-198, and it is wonderful. Very open & clear. Upgrade those tweets & you will feel the love.

boston1450

^^^^ agree.... Also Check to see if they are the correct woofers also.. I have bought Monitors & SDA's & found that when woofer goes bad people tend to fill its spot with woofer they thought was correct one & they were not.. 4 screws-take a look & see. While your in there LocTite the magnet on both sides (helps prevent shifting) a 3.00 tube from WallyMart will do. On this section there is schematics list above all threads. Just make sure you got the right model-as there are alot of different models

westmassguy

Post some photos. We'll be able to tell exactly what they are. As suggested, pull the drivers and see what's actually in there. The woofers should be MW6502s, and if they're Rev 2, the tweeters will be SL2500s. The crossovers on the late production Monitor 4s and 5s may be all NP Electrolytics. Due for replacement/upgrade.

mascab

I'll pull them apart when I get a chance later today. I am pretty sure based on pictures they are the SL2500. Is there a way to tell the difference between the SL2500 / 3000 and RDO's? I thought the Series 2, SL2500's were supposed to be an improvement. IMO from memory it is a down grade if they truly are that muffled. I hoped the crossovers would be at least ok. My 4's that are older don't sound that far off. Did things get cheaper later on? Reading some of the posts on here about the costs of crossovers, I am not sure I want to toss about $200 at these for crossovers and new tweeters.

Out of curiosity, has any one ever put two drivers in a 5jr+ and run it as a sealed cabinet design. I wonder how the bass response would compare. If I plug the port on my 4's the roll off is only a little quicker, but there is more cone movement.

westmassguy

The label on the back of the tweeter will tell you which model it is. The SL2500s are better than the SL2000s that's about it.
Sounds like you have 5JR+s. The cabinets are too small for dual MW6502s.

mascab

Mine do have the 6.5in passive radiator. It looks like a 6.5in powered woofer would fit. Its not my intention but it looks like one could fit, unless you mean the cabinet volume would be too small for them to be effective.

The woofer is a MW65020, stamped 5jr+ and dated 1990. the black wire was connected to the red dot lead. There were x boxes for different series 4.5-10 I think. None of them had a mark in them, but it was stamped so maybe they changed. Was there is difference in what model it went into from quality control or testing?

The crossover caps were 13.5, not the 12s.

The tweeter was a SL2500 also stamped 5jr+ dated 1990. The black wire was on the "p" side and the white wire on the "o" in polk audio. I assume its all in phase and original. A friend covered each driver with his hand and there was no bump in sound. All the screws seemed to crack loose, and the tweeter almost would not come out without damaging a corner.

A friends dad has some RTA11T's with the SL2000 tweeter so i talked him into a listen. IMO they were a bit harsh, but the detail was there, both in cymbals and vocals. A lot could be going on and nothing was lost. Although we didn't crank them to see if they lost detail at high volumes. IMO my SL2500's sound much worse. My friend also agreed. I ducked into a Best Buy Magnolia store for a quick ear check, I don't think its my hearing

I possibly found an SL2000 and a crossover to try from a Monitor 5, but I thought I read the SL2000 and SL2500 have different sized face plates. I can't find the info again. I assume electronically I could swap them out to try. It appears the they all used the same crossover values and same woofer.

Searched for a tweeter comparison / review, but did not find a solid thread that described differences only preferences and the bump in the SL1000 and 2000. I did read about the MT-4115-8, and peoples love for the peerless. Has there been any review and comparison between them all?

Could I try swapping my woofers between the 4A and the 5Jr+. The vintage monitor pdf I downloaded from here or PolkSDA lists them both a 6ohm. Is there a speaker model, driver model, impedance chart?

westmassguy

You're all over the place. The correct schematic for your 5jr+s is: schematic_m5jr+s_rev
The Crossovers are not interchangeable. The SL2000s and the SL2500 have the same size plastic trim, but different connector sizes, and electrical requirements.
The Peerless tweeters are not compatible with your crossovers.
If the woofers are functioning, move in and out freely with no rubbing, and read approximately 3.5 ohms DCR, swapping them will not change anything.
The SL2500 tweeters should measure about 5.6-5.8 ohms if memory serves.

xschop

I've been reading along this thread since I have a set of factory un-modded Monitor 4's and an Early set of 5Jr's with sl1000 tweeters.

I did a comparison and had them both on the exact system, same volume, same tunes even. The 5Jrs were producing Lower bass notes than the 4's. However when standing close to the 5's I could easily hear port noise from them even at low volume, whereas the Monitor 4's you cannot. The 4's have a long plastic port tube and the 5's do not. I'm remedying this on my current 5Jr build by adding a longer fluted port.

mascab

westmassguy: I was presented with a lot of information yesterday without much nailed down. It was overwhelming for me too. You helped. The woofer moves fine. I'll check the impedance across it to be sure. I'll also try and get the SL2000 and crossover combination and see if it makes a difference.

Is there a way to tell which is positive and negative on the tweeter?

What happens when the crossover goes bad? Are the values off a little or a lot? I know if values can change cross over points, but would it allow near full range to the tweeter possibly causing distortion?

xschop:
Good to know on the 5jrs. Maybe the upper end sounded louder to me because of the SL2000 so the volume was actually lower.

The 4A's port whistle was mainly audible if the grill was off, rarely when it was on. I think it was noticeable around 30Hz or 30Hz warble and below. I rarely noticed it unless there was low freqency bass on its own. Mostly when I used them as my HT mains with no SW. I boosted the 31.5Hz band a little more then.
If I remember right, I was told whistling happens when the port hole is too small. A larger port hole would require a longer port tube which was not practical in that cabinet. It sounds like that is your plan. I wonder why they didn't do that in the first place.

mascab

mascab wrote: »

If I remember right, I was told whistling happens when the port hole is too small. A larger port hole would require a longer port tube which was not practical in that cabinet. It sounds like that is your plan. I wonder why they didn't do that in the first place.

If I remember right, I was told whistling happens when the port hole is too small. A larger port hole would require a longer port tube which was not possible in the 4A cabinet. It sounds like a larger hole with a proper tube length tube is your plan. I wonder why polk didn't do that to the 5jr in the first place?

I can't edit my post any more.

I did find more information on all the tweeters and some sonic reviews oddly searching for MT-4115. I see now there would my major mods going to a peerless style. I thought they were more similar and shared woofers. I also like the reference of "mythical holy grail" regarding the peerless. I'd love to find some to listen too, but there is the age old question of if they sounded so good, why are they not being made today.

BTW what does TL stand for in "TL Mod" All I gather is that mod is changing crossover values to use the RDO-198 vs the 194. I am interested to know the crossover frequencies or what is different to require the different crossovers between the 194 and 198, and even the peerless style.

I am still going to try the SL2000 and cross over first for some type of reference. If the SL2000 combo sounds ok would anything bad happen if I made adapters to connect the SL2500 to the SL2000 crossover, or vs versa. I am trying to figure out which needs the most replacement or if I should try and sell them and find a better pair. Are upgraded 5Jr+s worth 300+ for the upgrades? If the crossover plates were the same, id be haIf tempted to make a mod plate for the 4A tweeter.