polk monitor 10 upgrade questions

RexAeterna

Hi, im new here and while I found some answers I still wondering bout something.

I acquired pair of like new polk monitor 10s bout month ago for 100 bucks and really like them but find them bit hot sometimes. At normal to avarage listening levels not too bad and not as bad I read online. They use the sl2000 tweeters. My polks I thought were original looking at the serial number but has no fuses on the back and they seem to use the updated drivers. There is no "b" or "a" and does not say "series II". Probably was updated at one point im guessing.

I want to order the rdo-198 tweeters but how do I do about it? And how much? I know I read somewhere modding will be required and understand that. I probably get a buddy to help me since he works on speakers and amps and really good at what he does.

I know the rdo-198 is drop in replacements for the 2500/3000 but will it hurt dropping them in my monitor 10s as is currently and upgrade crossover then cause I might only be able do one thing at a time per month cause of other personal expenses. But I do plan on keeping these and get them running better then before. Thanks for reading.

F1nut

The RD0194-1 is the correct replacement tweeter for your model.

Mystery

I have a question to add too. (Westmassguy?)
Many other models with sl2000 just need a 5.8uf cap in the tweeter circuit to be able to use rdo-198 instead of rdo-194.
If you check schematics_m10sl3000mod.pdf in the sticky above for monitor 10 upgrade, changes are on inductor (from .4 to .27) and resistors (from 2 to 2.7).
Why is m10 different?
Can we not just add 5.8uf cap instead to use the rdo- 198 as what we do for others?

westmassguy

Polk Engineers, who are way smarter than I am, worked out the changes required for the Monitor 10s. I've done at least a dozen pairs of Monitor 10/SL3000 crossovers, and followed the schematics. It just works. You will need to special order the #22 gauge .27mh, .5 ohm Jantzen Inductor from Parts Express # 000-1640, or buy the stock #20 gauge .30mh inductor, unwind it to .27mh, and then increase the value of the Shunt Resistor in series with it from 2.7 to 3.0 ohms to compensate.

Mystery

westmassguy wrote: »

Polk Engineers, who are way smarter than I am, worked out the changes required for the Monitor 10s. I've done at least a dozen pairs of Monitor 10/SL3000 crossovers, and followed the schematics. It just works. You will need to special order the #22 gauge .27mh, .5 ohm Jantzen Inductor from Parts Express # 000-1640, or buy the stock #20 gauge .30mh inductor, unwind it to .27mh, and then increase the value of the Shunt Resistor in series with it from 2.7 to 3.0 ohms to compensate.

I see.
Have you ever tried the normal 5.8uf upgrade on tweeter circuit on the 10's to see if that works?
If all it's doing is changing sl2000 tweeter circuit, it should behave the same way as in other models with sl2000.

westmassguy

Have I tried it? No Would I try it? No. It's already been engineered, tested and approved. Why re-invent the wheel? The 5.8uf shunt cap only applies to the Monitor 5 TL Mod and a few SDAs. The Monitor 10 already has a 12uf shunt cap, and another 12uf Cap in Series with the tweeter. Where would you even put the 5.8uf shunt cap?

Mystery

Okay.
So you think it's worth all the work to get 198 or just go with 194 for OP?

westmassguy

I prefer the 198s over the 194s. The 194s, are light years ahead of the SL2000s, but the 198s have that little extra detail and smoothness. If you're mating the 10s with other vintage Polks, then try and keep them all the same.

RexAeterna

Thanks for replies here. So, so far as I understanding I will need to redo the inductor(coil thing right?) And a resistor? How much are we talking bout in parts here? Can you make a list for me, please? So I exactly know what im buying here.

Now, how do I order the tweeters here? Do I call the site's phone number or what? Im probably gonna have friend help as I mentioned and so forth. These are the only Polks i plan on keeping so this upgrade/rework will be one time thing. This is basically a Christmas/birthday gift to me by my g/f and I chose to get these very good speakers upgraded cause I had good feeling bout these before I bought them from a friend. If they sound this impressive as is then I know they can sound even better with little work.

From reading pair of rdo198's are around 100 bucks right? So, then, how much will the parts for the crossovers come to?

westmassguy

If you know how to read a schematic, the needed parts are right there. There are two schematics: https://us.v-cdn.net/5021930/uploads/attachments/4/6/7/2/8/18775.pdf
and: https://us.v-cdn.net/5021930/uploads/attachments/4/6/7/2/8/18777.pdf
Depends on whether you want to do the RDO-198 upgrade.
Costs are dependent on the quality of parts you buy.
Conservative upgrades would be Dayton, Solen, or Clarity PX Metalized Polypropylene Capacitors. Higher end would be Sonicap Gen I or Clarity ESA Metalized Polypropylene Caps. Mills MRA-12 or Mundorf MOX Resistors, and the Polyswitch should be replaced with a .5 ohm Mills MRA-12 or Mundorf MOX .47 ohm Resistors.

Mystery

Yes, call Polk customer service.

Crossover is old so it's better to replace old capacitors as well.

Check this thread for detail info:
http://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/164500/monitor-10b-crossover-upgrade-parts-confirmation

You can use Sonicaps for tweeter and Dayton/Solen for woofer circuit to be more budget friendly.
There is no limit on crossover price as they can be very expensive depending upon brand/model/material.

RexAeterna

Thanks guys. I will look through everything later and make a list later. Im guessing gonna cost bout 100 bucks in parts just bout. So it'll be around 210-220 total for tweeters+parts. Have to think here for a bit and let you guys know. Thanks again for everything.

Mystery

Ya, it adds up quickly with crossover update and new tweeters.
That's one of the reasons why I haven't jumped on the RDO's yet but crossover upgrade is cheap enough to do.

RexAeterna

Thanks mystery. Been big help on both forums. If I can I might just update the crossovers first and then get the tweeters. I would of just got the tweeters first and did the updates later cause even though the current crossover is not optimal for the 198 they would probably still of worked and still could of been considered an upgrade maybe/most likely. Still have to make list here and talk with my friend after thanksgiving cause he does ton of speaker and amp repairs/projects so he can explain things better to me personally.

Would just of got the 194 and call it a day and worry bout updates later but, supposedly the 198's are worth the work so, I shoot for those then. All or nothing right? Thanks again for the big help. Got confusing bit cause there is so many different tweeters out there and models. Doesnt help much either browsing when both the sda and srs models use same drivers as the monitor series. This is as confusing as the akg 240 sextett/monitor/DF variations lol. Anyhoo, thanks again. Major help here

boston1450

RexAeterna wrote: »

Thanks mystery. Been big help on both forums. If I can I might just update the crossovers first and then get the tweeters. I would of just got the tweeters first and did the updates later cause even though the current crossover is not optimal for the 198 they would probably still of worked and still could of been considered an upgrade maybe/most likely. Still have to make list here and talk with my friend after thanksgiving cause he does ton of speaker and amp repairs/projects so he can explain things better to me personally.

Would just of got the 194 and call it a day and worry bout updates later but, supposedly the 198's are worth the work so, I shoot for those then. All or nothing right? Thanks again for the big help. Got confusing bit cause there is so many different tweeters out there and models. Doesnt help much either browsing when both the sda and srs models use same drivers as the monitor series. This is as confusing as the akg 240 sextett/monitor/DF variations lol. Anyhoo, thanks again. Major help here

.Good luck on your project. You will find different models of SDA's & different models of Monitors use DIFFERENT drivers. Alot may use same stock tweeters BUT to upgrade/change to a different tweeter there are steps to take to get best performance out of your speakers. Great advice on steps here. If you do it in the right steps you can grin ear to ear. To take short cuts-that can be more expensive & possible do damage to your crossover or tweeters or sound like crap. Keep us updated on what you have done. Heck even post pics. Thats how i am learning even after almost 3 years on Club Polk. Welcome to Polk

boston1450

WOW. Cant post CR&P. What is this sunday school

Mystery

boston1450 wrote: »

WOW. Cant post CR&P. What is this sunday school

Leave the cra.p where it belongs.
If you post it here, it'll make the forum crappy.

tonyb

Drop in the 194's and call it a day. Anything else will require an investment exceeding what the speakers are worth.

westmassguy

tonyb wrote: »

Drop in the 194's and call it a day. Anything else will require an investment exceeding what the speakers are worth.

Painting with a pretty wide brush Tony. They're mint according to the OP, and well worth upgrading. Just because you don't care for vintage Polk anymore, or the idea of upgrading them, doesn't mean the rest of us don't.

voltz

I also feel they are worth what you put into them to upgrade the crossovers and such. I have a pair of the 10's & 4's. I did my 4's myself but had Dave do my 10's as I did not want to screw them up. He did a TL upgrade of my crossover so I could use the RDO-198-1 tweeters and I just love them now. I thought about getting some 703's with the coupon I got from Polk, but my brain said NO!!! as I love them now and they are all I use for 2 channels and sometimes I hooked them up for some HT.
As Tony Likes to say: All the matters is they blow your skirt up! and the really do, So me I highly recommend fixing them up completely and you may just fall in love with their sound like I did. look at all the old threads where people have fixed up Monitor 4's & 5's & 7's & 10's and RTA12 etc... some great ideas and reading if you take the time to look for the old threads on this forum!
And if you do not have speaker stands for them that has been cover many times also, and highly recommended.

boston1450

voltz wrote: »

I also feel they are worth what you put into them to upgrade the crossovers and such. I have a pair of the 10's & 4's. I did my 4's myself but had Dave do my 10's as I did not want to screw them up. He did a TL upgrade of my crossover so I could use the RDO-198-1 tweeters and I just love them now. I thought about getting some 703's with the coupon I got from Polk, but my brain said NO!!! as I love them now and they are all I use for 2 channels and sometimes I hooked them up for some HT.
As Tony Likes to say: All the matters is they blow your skirt up! and the really do, So me I highly recommend fixing them up completely and you may just fall in love with their sound like I did. look at all the old threads where people have fixed up Monitor 4's & 5's & 7's & 10's and RTA12 etc... some great ideas and reading if you take the time to look for the old threads on this forum!
And if you do not have speaker stands for them that has been cover many times also, and highly recommended.

? Which tweeter did you have in them ? I installed the 0198's in the RTA's i have & what a big difference. Love them

voltz

Me I have the 198's in my Monitor 10's and now over 400+ hours of burn in time it caught me off guard what I heard with the 198 tweeters. I have never listened to the 194 so I can't compare the two as I 1st heard them with sl2000 tweeters. you have to make some changes to the crossovers to use the 198's.

boston1450

400 hours Nice. I did a side-by-side with the 198 & SL3000 when i installed the RDO's & it didnt take me 2 mins to hear just how much better they sounded. I had the 10's with the sl2000 & sl1000's both sounded good. Never heard the RDO's in any of the 10's but im sure they sound sweet. Never heard the RDO194-1 ?? But im getting ready to buy 6 of them. So im looking forward to it

westmassguy

boston1450 wrote: »

400 hours Nice. I did a side-by-side with the 198 & SL3000 when i installed the RDO's & it didnt take me 2 mins to hear just how much better they sounded. I had the 10's with the sl2000 & sl1000's both sounded good. Never heard the RDO's in any of the 10's but im sure they sound sweet. Never heard the RDO194-1 ?? But im getting ready to buy 6 of them. So im looking forward to it

The SL1000 and SL2000 sound similar, and both have the same 5db resonance peak around 12-13KHz. The RDO-194s are vastly superior to them. The 198s, as I've said before, have that little extra details, smoothness. Either replacement will improve the sound quality dramatically.

[Deleted User]

Both the RD-0194 and RD-0198 were designed by John Crisco at Polk and he was instrumental in developing all of the replacement 6.5" drivers. So, as you enjoy your Monitor and SDA speakers give a nod to John.

westmassguy

Kenneth Swauger wrote: »

Both the RD-0194 and RD-0198 were designed by John Crisco at Polk and he was instrumental in developing all of the replacement 6.5" drivers. So, as you enjoy your Monitor and SDA speakers give a nod to John.

Will do Ken, and thanks for the info. He did a superb job, on all of them.

voltz

Good info Thanks Ken...Thanks John.

[Deleted User]

John was also project manager for the Polk XM radio, which sounded quite good.

F1nut

Kenneth Swauger wrote: »

Both the RD-0194 and RD-0198 were designed by John Crisco at Polk and he was instrumental in developing all of the replacement 6.5" drivers. So, as you enjoy your Monitor and SDA speakers give a nod to John.

I met John and shook his hand while thanking him for the replacement tweeters. Thanks again, John.