Polk S10/8 replacement drivers

deucekazoo

Hi everyone.
Decided to build up my home theater with some older Polk speakers. I bought a pair of S8 a long time ago. They still sound great so went on a quest to find the rest of the line. I found and bought a pair of the S10 that I will use as my main speakers. They needed a little work, tweeters were blown and someone modified the x-over with different caps, so replaced the tweeters and make a new x-over with new parts. So here comes the question, one of the mids started making noise. It was a scraping noise that I found to be the voice coil scraping the magnet. So ordered a used one and a few hours in started doing the same thing. Was there an issue with this driver (MW8000) with doing this? I found some NOS ones but should I get them or get the copy ones they sell? Would the copy ones be made better with better (newer) materials than the original? That is my dilemma now, get the NOS or the copy. I want to get these thing fixed and running for the next 20 years. Thanks for any help.
John

boston1450

Welcome to Polk John. Have you called Polk to see if they have replacement drivers. Im not sure they have a y of the S drivers. But worth the call. I too had the S6 & 8's. Fine speakers too. Others will chime in that know more. But try calling them. Tell them your a member on forum & youll get discount. Good luck

boston1450

Call is best

boston1450

To help your old Polk drivers take some JBWeld & apply some on each side of magnet to help prevent 'magnet shifting' which will help alot. Smooth it out with your finger (i use rubber gloves) & let it dry for 1.5-2 hours.

deucekazoo

Thanks guys, I will give them a call to see what they say.
Also about the magnet shift issue. The driver baskets are riveted to the magnet pretty good. I took apart the original driver that went bad and it took a while to pull them apart. I don't think the magnet would shift but could it? Should I still glue them?
How were the older magnets held on lets say the SDA drivers?

Nightfall

Magnets on the SDA drivers are held on with glue. Now 30 year old glue.

ken brydson

Where you at? Pair of S8's on Seattle CL for $50

http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/ele/4893302358.html

boston1450

Do they look like these ? They look sorta like the SDA & Monitor drivers from what i see. I never opened the ones i had up & not sure what you see. One little drop/hit could shift magnet.

deucekazoo

Ken, I'm in central IL. There is a couple for sale in Chicago but I am a little worried about buying used again because of the last one I bought that went bad.
Boston1450, those are the copy ones I was talking about. Just wondering if they would be better than the original because of them being newer with newer materials.

deucekazoo

This is how the magnet is held on to the basket. They are pretty strong.

deucekazoo

deucekazoo

Well called Polk. They do not make/have this driver any more, but did say that Midwest Speaker Repair has them. They worked with Polk to get the exact parameters for that driver. I think I am going to go with new and see what happens. Will keep you guys updated.
Thanks for all the help.
John

boston1450

Good Luck John. Those dont come up often on the bay & when they do prices are crazy. I had a feeling Polk didnt stock them but wasnt sure. If the condition of those cabinets are good their worth it. I thought the 6-8's sounded very comparable to the Monitor Polk line. (Not to discount the almight 7's or any other) Lighter speaker. Kinda plasticy. But outstanding speaker imo. When i did have them i always wanted to hear the 10's. Hope you can get them up n running soon

deucekazoo

I keep hearing they are plastic but they are not really. The only think plastic on them is the outside trim frame that hold the grill. The rest of the speaker is wood, the front has a black melamine coating to blend in with the trim frame.
These are very under rated speakers. I also heard they are boomy but have not found that with these to me. It could be my room, but they sound smooth, bass is nice and deep for the size and they disappear. You can't tell the music is coming from the speaker, nice soundstage.
So the replacement driver showed up yesterday, put it in and they sound great.
I bought these for the HT setup but they might stay a while in the music room, that is how good they sound. The new x-over might be doing the trick.

deucekazoo

I also added a new connector. I don't care for binding posts.

boston1450

Agree. Very under rated speaker. I didnt find the boomy at all on the 6&8's. I did read the 10's were somewhere. But sometimes what you read is from reviewers who never even heard let alone seen them. Glad to hear you got them up n running. When i did have the 6&8's i also had alot (still do) Monitor series 4-5-7-10-11's & the S series is definetly a fine line of speakers & hold steady with the Monitor line IMO.... Maybe what was ment was the Monitor 10 is boomy ? I found that the Monitor 10 was boomy'r compare to the 4-5-7 & even more so then the Monitor 11 which took the place of my 10's last year. Not to discount the 10's which are a fine speaker... As for as plastic-the grills are plastic frame. Front edge on cabinet is plastic & the cabinet itself seemed a different material than the Monitor line. Lighter weight. Change in new dirrection from Polk i guess.. I also replaced a driver on the 8's as the same issue you had. If placed on stands/shelf the S speakers are spectacular speaker. I hope you enjoy them & definetly worth the coin in upgrading the crossovers to original/upgraded specifications. Enjoy your speakers

skrol

I have directly compared my S8, Monitor 5A (Peerless) and Monitor 5B (when I still had them. The Monitors are a little more exciting but I find the S8 very pleasant and non-fatiguing. Do I dare say that I like the sound quality over either of the Monitor 5's? The one thing that I don't like about the S series is the build quality. Too much plastic which does break.

deucekazoo

Boston1450, wow you had a lot of speakers from Polk. So out of all of them, which ones were/are your favorites?
Yes you are correct, plastic grill, plastic outside trim edge. Also they are made out of 5/8" particle board covered with vinyl oak for looks. So I could see the plastic comment on these. Not sure what the monitor line uses as wood, I would guess plywood. Now days speaker are made out of MDF.

skrol, true on the plastic braking.
I now in my possession have two pairs of the S4 (surrounds), a pair of the S8 (center yes two for the center) and the S10 for the front mains. Out of all of them the S8 grills are still good and do not move. the rest of them have a few mounting holes that do not hold any more. I guess over time the plastic gets brittle, especially around the mounting holes. My fix will be 100% silicone, I will glue them on and not worry about rattles.

boston1450

Theres the problem. Like em all i think when people see how the grills just snap in place with the S series & the plasticy & lighter weight they might look down on them. But in all honesty i think their a great speaker & if someone can pick them up on a great deal-dont hesitate. When i had the 2 pair i had other Monitors & then i got my CRS+ & RTA15tl's & as we all know you can only have so many in this hobby. So some went. I only have one pair of SDA's that arent used. I try my hardest to use what i have to minimize storing. 1 year before joining this forum i had one system for over 20 years. I planned on buying new Paradigms & HK & decided to go vintage & its been enjoyable. One thing i do do is. If im going to buy something try to make sure i can get my money back if i decide to get rid of them. There has been a few things ive paid too much for. I admit & you wanna know something. Their still here & im still enjoying them.