Should I get Peerless or RD-0198/TL?

nspindel

The day has finally come. I've talked in previous threads about how my wife and I are selling our home of 19 years after my son leaves for college. Well, he's now a freshman at East Carolina University, and the house goes on the market on March 20th! Still don't know where we're going to end up, we'd like to get ourselves down to Florida if we can make the job thing happen down there. Meanwhile, we're putting the house on the market because we've just done a ton of fix-ups, and the spring real estate market is looking pretty good so we want to pull the trigger even though we don't know where we're ending up next. Chances are we'll move around a few times, a bit of apartment shuffling as things evolve before we finally settle down again in somewhere that's pretty permanent.

Meanwhile most of our belongings are going into storage, including most of my audio gear. I'm putting together a far less capable but far more transportable 2-channel setup, just a receiver and a pair of vintage Monitors. I'm thinking 5's (not Jr.'s) are the size I'm looking for, I had those speakers once upon a time before I moved up to SDA's.

I had 5B's, but looking around Craigslist and eBay, I've seen original 5's with the fuse and peerless tweeters, and I've seen the SL2000/no fuse variety. I'm trying to decide which ones I should buy. I know that the big advantage of the peerless tweeter is that you don't need to replace it as you do with the SL2000, at least upgrading to RD-0194 (yes, it's an upgrade, but let's not go there.....). So that's about $100 that doesn't need to be spent if you get peerless. But the 5B can also be TL-modded and you can use the RD-0198.

So I'm wondering, besides the cost of the new tweeters, can anyone opine on peerless vs. TL/RD0198 in something like a Monitor 5? Wondering how the sound quality compares?

I'll be powering these with a vintage (1989) Harman Kardon receiver that I scored recently, the HK 990Vxi. This was the receiver I had when I had the 5's originally many years ago, and I know it paired very well back then. Happy to be reassembling my old rig!!!

boston1450

Not heard the 5's with RDO's but i can say the 5a with Peerless on the small Sansui i use to have was pure bliss

Faustin

I have a pair of the 5's with Peerless hooked to a Yamaha CR 1020 that sound wonderful in my home office. They have been re capped, dynamatted etc. I have them fs in the flea market if you are interested.

nspindel

Yeah I saw yours, they're beautiful but are a fortune to ship. There are a couple pairs of 5a's nearby but I was looking for 5b's. If I can't find I should be able to snag a pair of a's without paying shipping.

pglbook

I can't comment on the RDOs with Monitor 5s, but my first serious speakers were a pair of Monitor 5s with the Peerless tweeters and I loved them (wish I still had them). I currently have a pair of 10As with the Peerless tweeters, powered by a Yamaha CR 2020 receiver, and the sound is pure bliss. The Peerless tweeters are fabulous, imho.

teekay0007

nspindel wrote: »

Meanwhile most of our belongings are going into storage, including most of my audio gear.

I got your storage for those CRS+ 4.1's right here!

nspindel

I bet you do!

Going to check out a pair of peerless 5's 20 minutes from my house. $95 on CL, no upgrades. Pretty good condition.

westmassguy

7s are better if you can find them. Little wider than the 5Bs, but much better bass.

Faustin

^^^^^ I agree. There is really no comparison between the 5's and 7's. Unless room is an issue..........

nspindel

I'll keep my eye out for a pair of 7's, couldn't hurt. I have a storage room after all! I don't think I'll pass up these 5's for $95 though, the parts are probably worth more than that!

nspindel

Another question on this topic. In the schematics I see a SL3000 mod for the 5's, typical 5.8uF cap in parallel with the high-pass resistor (a few other changes as well), then swap the SL2000 for SL3000. For the 7's I see a schematic with a 8uF cap in parallel with the high pass resistor, and they're using the SL2500 tweeter. I'm not real familiar with the 2500. Is an RD-0198 a replacement for the 2500? Just wondering if the revision of the 7 with the cap in parallel with the high-pass resistor is the equivalent of a TL mod so I can use a 198?

[Deleted User]

I poured thru this entire thread waiting to read polk discount on the house.

[Deleted User]

I'd get the 7's if you can. Got mine mint for $120.00 a few years ago. If they stand out just say you are going retro!

[Deleted User]

Also, Florida is a long state. I much prefer the gulf side. Indian Rocks/Largo/Clearwater area seems to be blessed. There is just a occasional tornado and of course the lightning which is no joke either.

Nightfall

Florida? It's much nicer here in Colorado.

westmassguy

nspindel wrote: »

Another question on this topic. In the schematics I see a SL3000 mod for the 5's, typical 5.8uF cap in parallel with the high-pass resistor (a few other changes as well), then swap the SL2000 for SL3000. For the 7's I see a schematic with a 8uF cap in parallel with the high pass resistor, and they're using the SL2500 tweeter. I'm not real familiar with the 2500. Is an RD-0198 a replacement for the 2500? Just wondering if the revision of the 7 with the cap in parallel with the high-pass resistor is the equivalent of a TL mod so I can use a 198?

If your 7s are equipped with SL2000s, then the Monitor 5 SL3000 mod is what you would use to TL them. If the 7s are rev 2s, no changes need to be made (other than upgrading the caps and resistors). The RDO-198-1 Tweeters replace the SL2500 and SL3000.

nspindel

Well my wife's company has a big office in Tampa, we're trying to get her transferred down hence the choice of where to live.

Sorry, no discounts on the house, but If a Polkie steps up to buy I'd happily karma you some vinyl!

Meanwhile back to my question, which in a nutshell is can 7b's be TL'ed?

nspindel

Ah thanks Dave, that's what I was hoping to hear. So looks like I'd need to replace the coils as well if I have the SL2000 versions. Looking at specs I see they indicate inductance and wire gauge, but there's no indication of what DCR should be. Wondering if this is a concern or should I just go with the Jantzens that match the inductance and gauge?

Also, spec calls for coils that are .22mH and 22 gauge. Jantzen has three different ones, the difference on their spec sheet seem to be variations of DCR between 0.44 ohms and 0.5 ohms, as well as a measurement in millimeters. I'm not even sure what that measurement is an indication of. The three Jantzen part numbers I'm referring to are 000-1013, 000-1650, and 000-1915. I'd need a bit of coaching on that choice from someone much smarter than me!

nspindel

On that topic, I notice that in the SL3000 mod schematic for the 5's, the .23mH coil is replaced with a .27mH coil. However, from the SL2000 version of the 7 to the SL2500 version, the .22mH coil does not change, but the 1.55mH coil becomes a 1.75mH. Any thoughts there?

[Deleted User]

She can drive over the bridges…

nspindel wrote: »

Well my wife's company has a big office in Tampa, we're trying to get her transferred down hence the choice of where to live.

Sorry, no discounts on the house, but If a Polkie steps up to buy I'd happily karma you some vinyl!

Meanwhile back to my question, which in a nutshell is can 7b's be TL'ed?

nspindel

Actually looking at downtown Tampa, which we really like. The office is east of the city, a commute from Clearwater would be brutal with the traffic.

westmassguy

nspindel wrote: »

On that topic, I notice that in the SL3000 mod schematic for the 5's, the .23mH coil is replaced with a .27mH coil. However, from the SL2000 version of the 7 to the SL2500 version, the .22mH coil does not change, but the 1.55mH coil becomes a 1.75mH. Any thoughts there?

Neil, you're over thinking this. If you have late model Mon 7s with SL2000s, you're adding 5.8uf shunt caps, and changing the bypass inductors. If you have Revision/Model Two Mon 7 then no changes are required other than upgrading what's there.
If you change the bypass inductor, you must maintain .5 ohms total. You can special order a .27mh, 22 gauge Jantzen inductor #000-1640, which is .49 ohms. You could also order an 18 gauge .27mh stock inductor. and pad it with a mills resistor. Either way will work.

nspindel

Ok, thanks for the info Dave. I specialize in overthinking things. Now I need to find some Monitors that I like before I can finalize how I'm modding them. At this point I'm trying to gather info to determine what exactly I want to buy. You've convinced me to go with 7's over 5's, the trick is finding a good pair at a good price.

One other question - I remember seeing the diagram for the original stands at some point, but can't seem to find it. Anyone have a link?

westmassguy

PM Ronnie/Tennman, he built some beautiful stands from prefinished shelving.

westmassguy

Found this:

nspindel

Ah fantastic! Thanks again Dave!

[Deleted User]

This is cool. I bought some stand at the goodwill for 10 bucks and forgot about it.

westmassguy wrote: »

PM Ronnie/Tennman, he built some beautiful stands from prefinished shelving.

nspindel

I've been looking all over for 7B's.... So I bought 5A's! Well, not just yet, I'm picking them up tomorrow at noon 20 minutes away. CL seller offering 5A's for $60. They look to be in very good shape, but at that price I don't even care what they look like. I'll be giving them the royal treatment anyway. And I'll still keep looking for 7B's

westmassguy

Great Neil!.