Monitor 10 replacement drivers?

eponymous

Hey Polk folks.

I'm on my second pair of Goodwill Polks. First pair I got a little over a year ago are S8's. They are great, best speakers I'd owned to date. But then a few days ago I found a pair of Monitor 10's out behind Goodwill- they were about to send them off to the dump or whatever. They were in less than mint condition- all four drivers and both passive radiators had at least one ugly puncture in them. And someone had scrawled "don't work" on the sides of the cabinets. But I asked them if they could sell them to me anyway, and they said yes- $15 bucks. I didn't have time to test them out, but I decided to take a chance on them. The more I read up on them the more excited I got about their potential. But I assumed that they wouldn't work to start with. Well, I was wrong. To my astonishment, even in their awful condition they sound better than the S8's! They're blowing me away. However, that doesn't put me off of my plan to refurbish them:-) So:

My main questions for now are what drivers I should look for to replace these 6503's? And what tweeters would I want if I decide to upgrade at some point?

Oh, the serial number is 10 161414. No A or B designation. (what does that say about which ones they are, and what years would they have been sold?)

I may have more questions later.
And any other advice would be welcome too.

(for what it's worth, I'm not interested in messing with the crossovers at this point. I'm not sure I have the time or expertise to get into that.)

So anyway, that's my story, thanks for reading and thanks in advance for any advice you can give.

eponymous

Also, what would be a reasonable price to ask for if I decide to sell the S8's to make way for/help fund the restoration of the 10's?

Simplyrandom

eponymous wrote: »

Hey Polk folks.

I'm on my second pair of Goodwill Polks. First pair I got a little over a year ago are S8's. They are great, best speakers I'd owned to date. But then a few days ago I found a pair of Monitor 10's out behind Goodwill- they were about to send them off to the dump or whatever. They were in less than mint condition- all four drivers and both passive radiators had at least one ugly puncture in them. And someone had scrawled "don't work" on the sides of the cabinets. But I asked them if they could sell them to me anyway, and they said yes- $15 bucks. I didn't have time to test them out, but I decided to take a chance on them. The more I read up on them the more excited I got about their potential. But I assumed that they wouldn't work to start with. Well, I was wrong. To my astonishment, even in their awful condition they sound better than the S8's! They're blowing me away. However, that doesn't put me off of my plan to refurbish them:-) So:

My main questions for now are what drivers I should look for to replace these 6503's? And what tweeters would I want if I decide to upgrade at some point?

Oh, the serial number is 10 161414. No A or B designation. (what does that say about which ones they are, and what years would they have been sold?)

I may have more questions later.
And any other advice would be welcome too.

(for what it's worth, I'm not interested in messing with the crossovers at this point. I'm not sure I have the time or expertise to get into that.)

So anyway, that's my story, thanks for reading and thanks in advance for any advice you can give.

That photo just makes me sad...: (

ken brydson

My .02, you can probably find a working pair for less than restoring those will cost you. Just sayin...

eponymous

Ken, I discussed these speakers in a facebook "Audiophiles On A Budget" group and among the many responses I got were a couple saying the same thing. I realize that that may be true for many people, however, given what I see of the used audio market in LA where I live, I don't think it's true for me. Seems to me that stuff here tends to go for twice what it would go for in most of the country. And in any case, if I go with repairing these, I can pay bit by bit, which is a good thing on my budget.

F1nut

Your biggest problem and it is a big problem is the passive radiator is not available new and hard to find used. New replacement drivers will run $48.00 each. Even in LA you should be able to find a pair of 10's for less than that.

eponymous

F1nut, you helped me decide to pull the trigger on these even though I can't really afford them at the moment :

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=191475890021

scotvl

eponymous wrote: »

F1nut, you helped me decide to pull the trigger on these even though I can't really afford them at the moment :

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=191475890021

Nice find, those should get you started in the right direction. Good luck

drumminman

Sad to see speakers that were intentionally destroyed. Good luck with your project. You might find 6503's on ebay for less than news ones.

eponymous

So are there other drivers besides the 6503's that will work? Would they be any better or worse?

Faustin

Just saw these for sale.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pair-Vintage-POLK-AUDIO-SW-100-10-Passive-Radiators-from-Monitor-M10-Speakers-/181645163085?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a4ae53a4d

pongshi

I am a rookie, but a long time lurker. From what I have read MW6510 is close to the specs of a MW6503 and could work as a replacement. One of the sages may chime in on this.

eponymous

Like I said, they're more expensive here:

http://sandiego.craigslist.org/ssd/ele/4847296813.html

F1nut

Mint condition with the original stands and cartons, those are an effing steal at the asking price.

skrol

Who would do such a thing to those speakers...animals! Good to see they are now in good hands.

What mid-woofers are in your Monitor 10's? If you remove them, there should be a sticker on the back with the number (MW-65??)? I have a MW6500 and a MW6502 available if you need either.
http://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/164440/mw6500-and-mw6502

Those are some pretty cool looking S8's.

Stan

eponymous

Skroll, my guess is an angry wife or a bratty 3-year-old :-/

Know what's weird though? They both have the same damage pattern- one woofer torn to shreds, one woofer with only one puncture, and a similar level of damage to the PRS. And none to the tweeters.

My woofers are 6503's. But I understand that the 6500's are equivalent, so I'll definitely take that one if you still have it once I have $30 to spare. Which will probably be around a week.

Thanks for the compliment on the S8's. I'm quite happy with the look myself. Now I'm trying to come up with a good color scheme for the 10's... I almost want to do the same thing, but I like variety...

eponymous

What should I do with these woofers that are totally trashed?

F1nut

My woofers are 6503's. But I understand that the 6500's are equivalent

The closest to the 6503 is the 6510, but I strongly recommend you replace with the same.

headrott

Jesse knows his stuff. I would follow his advice.

eponymous

Jesse being F1nut?

ken brydson

eponymous wrote: »

Jesse being F1nut?

Si

eponymous

Anyone know anything about these? Do they only copy the looks of the Peerless tweeter, or the sound too?

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=150364380186

westmassguy

eponymous wrote: »

Anyone know anything about these? Do they only copy the looks of the Peerless tweeter, or the sound too?

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=150364380186

They were copied from the original Peerless Specs. Several CP Members have used them, and say they sound great. You can also buy them directly from Midwest Speaker. You want the 8 ohm version.

Faustin

I have a set of the Peerless clones that I used until I found a pair of used Peerless tweeters for my 10a's. They are a good substitute but I prefer the Peerless. Here is a pair of Peerless currently for sale on fleabay.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/181656291428?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

eponymous

Ah man, if I had seen your post while the auction was still live, I definitely would have been bidding.

But since I wasnt: do you want to sell your clones?

msg

eponymous wrote: »

Like I said, they're more expensive here:
http://sandiego.craigslist.org/ssd/ele/4847296813.html

F1nut wrote: »

Mint condition with the original stands and cartons, those are an effing steal at the asking price.

would have liked to have seen this ad - what was the asking price, anyway?

epo - hear you on things being relatively expensive. I'm on the opposite coast and I swear, around here, it seems like people want double for maybe just average condition. and they call it very good to excellent. I read about some of the deals people get elsewhere and it can be maddening. I have to drive 3-6hrs for most anything decent.

re: the speaker damage... yeah, what drummin and others said - that's just tragic. hope you get 'em set up to your liking!

deronb1

I have four 6503s with only a few hours on them that i may move. Looking at around 100.00 plus ship.

ptrask

I know this is an older comment thread, but was hoping someone could give me some advice. I have a line on a pair of Monitor 10s that are in mint condition except for a shifted magnet on one mid-woofer of one speaker. They have been at a local consignment shop for over a year, and the owner just offered them to me for $40.00. I would buy them at that price, just for the parts, but I'm hoping to rehab them for use instead. I see that the original mid-woofers are MW-6503, and also see that the recommended replacement for them is the MW-6510. If I replace the one bad speaker with a 6510, do you recommend that I replace all four? I also have a pair of MW-6502 speakers that came from another pair of speakers (maybe Monitor 4s?). Would the 6502 be interchangeable with the 6503? Thanks for any assistance you can provide.

motorhead43026

6503’s are readily available on eBay.

ptrask

ptrask wrote: »

I know this is an older comment thread, but was hoping someone could give me some advice. I have a line on a pair of Monitor 10s that are in mint condition except for a shifted magnet on one mid-woofer of one speaker. They have been at a local consignment shop for over a year, and the owner just offered them to me for $40.00. I would buy them at that price, just for the parts, but I'm hoping to rehab them for use instead. I see that the original mid-woofers are MW-6503, and also see that the recommended replacement for them is the MW-6510. If I replace the one bad speaker with a 6510, do you recommend that I replace all four? I also have a pair of MW-6502 speakers that came from another pair of speakers (maybe Monitor 4s?). Would the 6502 be interchangeable with the 6503? Thanks for any assistance you can provide.

Part of my question was answered with a simple google search. The MW-6503 is an 8 Ohm speaker, and the MW-6502 is a 4 Ohm Speaker.