Monitor 10A speakers, mine at last!

bguzmanjr

After a long search for a local pair, didn't want to pay for or chance shipping, Monitor 10s with peerless tweeters I now have them in my possession.

I have been looking for some ever since I found a pair of 5Jrs at a thrift sore and loved the sound. They are bone stock and sound better than I imagined. Having spent a few hours reading this fine forum I now know just enough to be completely confused as to my upgrade path for these fine speakers. So I defer to the wise members here to guide me in my path to sonic bliss. I thank all of you in advance for any help you might be able to give me.

Faustin

Nice. Have had mine since 1979. Still like them a lot

voltz

I like my 10's before the upgrade & loved them after upgrading them. I'll let other go over the upgrade path for ya as they can explain better then me.

But enjoy your 10's, I know it took me awhile to find a pair so Congrats!!

bguzmanjr

Thanks Faustin and voltz,
Probably just looking to upgrade the crossovers at first. Is there a parts list somewhere? Is it DIY or should I have someone do them?

boston1450

Congrats on the beautiful speakers. Im sure you are enjoying those fine tweets. Welcome to the forum

drumminman

Don't know of a parts list, but if you search here you may find threads on that subject. However, Polk was famous for subbing parts on the fly so the best thing to do is pull one and write down the values of what's there. Even better, take pics and post them and members can help you put together a list.

voltz

BTW welcome to club Polk bguzmanjr

I had Dave westmassguy do my crossovers and he did what was known as a TL mod upgrade so that I could use the new RDO -198 tweeters which sound a lot better then the Sl2000 that was in them... but if you just change out the caps and resistors and inductors keeping it the same you can use the RDO-194 tweeters which also sound better then the stock tweeters. ( can ad them later or keep your sl2000 tweeters)

some simple cabinet upgrades is to change out the screws with hurricane nuts but you have to drill out the hole using 3 different bits a little at a time to not damage the reamed holes.

also its been found by add some damping material like "Black hole 5 to the back wall in 2- 3x12 strips going from bottom of the drivers to towards top of cabinet this helps tighten the bass

then using some Locitite power grabber, you put some on the top and bottom on the driver magnets to prevent magnets shift which can kill the drivers,, and also ont the inside corners to make sure you have a tight seal ...then make sure all the stuffing is at the bottom of the drivers & upwards to the top..but nothing below that or behind the big 10"PR.

other can help with what caps to use if your do the crossover yourself, and help you pick what your budget can afford!

But enjoy them puppies

bguzmanjr

Thanks boston1450 and yes you are correct I am enjoying these fine tweeters for sure.

bguzmanjr

Thanks again voltz and thanks drumminman for all the info and help. This my first post and day on this forum and I can already tell this is a great place and very informative.

voltz

I just notice you have the Peerless tweeters which are the sweet spot in tweeters so you may find no reason to upgrade those, as I had the sl2000's and they really needed replacing

like drumminman said there's many old threads if you dig deep enough that have lots of great info and with Polk you never know what they put inside until you look. they changed things up now & then and there are some unique speakers out there.

bguzmanjr

Yes these 10A's have the Peerless tweeters. I think that before I do any dissecting I'm going to enjoy the sweet sound of these vintage beauties. Right now I'm listening to this.

VSAT88

You already did the biggest upgrade, you bought vintage Polk ! They look great. You are really going to enjoy your time listening to them and being here at Club Polk. Congratulations on a great buy.

bguzmanjr

Thanks VSAT88, I agree 100% with your statements.

cnh

Congrats! I have a pair of 10As. Good synergy with classic '70s Marantz receivers!

When I run mine I use a 2265. Just the right amount of power for good bass!

Enjoy!

bguzmanjr

Thanks cnh,
I'm liking these babies a lot. I have a Marantz 2218B that I would like to try with the 10A's but I'm not sure if 18 WPC is enough juice for them.

tonyp063

I've a pair of the same ones, Peerless tweets & all. Dave (westmassguy) gave me a good set of "middle of the road" suggestions for the crossover rebuild.
I would *seriously* recommend that you pay deep attention to what he says & apply that knowledge. He will adjust his suggestions according to your budget.

tonyp063

Oh and.
You cannot replace the tweeters with either the RDO-194 or RDO-198 models without serious physical cabinet modifications and crossover modifications

boston1450

^^^^ +1 i had the 10's & now have the Monitor 11's w/peerless tweets & i was using them with Yamaha CR1040&2040 & they sounded very nice. As time went buy i got a budget tube amp & it was pure bliss. The 10's are fairly easy to drive with vintage receivers. I would enjoy them tweets. The first thing i would do (like stated above) is to pull the 2 woofers on each speaker out & put some Locktite on the inside/outside of the magnets. 1 tube will be more than enough & @ 2-3.00 its money well spent. There is tons of info here & plenty of guys to walk you through upgrades if you desire. WMG has helped me a zillion times with tons of questions. Dont hesitate to ask any question. It could save you alot of time & money

bguzmanjr

Thanks much DSkip, that's all I needed to hear. Time for some switchin' and tweekin'.

bguzmanjr

Thanks tonyp063 and thanks again boston1450,
I definitely plan on tappin' that big ol' brain of WMG here soon when I'm ready to dig into these babies. In fact the more I listen the more curious I am getting as to just how much better they get.

VSAT88

Yep, I would have to say one of the first things I did was epoxy those magnets..

bguzmanjr

Hooked up my Marantz 2218B and gave it a spin. Sounded pretty sweet but not as good as my Pioneer Elite VSX-53 and no remote for my lazy bu++. So back the Pio went. Hey if it's good enough for Mark Fleischmann of Sound of Vision to use for his reviews of speakers it's good enough for me.
On a second note if I remove the speakers do I have to install the hurricane nuts? Is it east to strip the screw holes?

Nightfall

bguzmanjr wrote: »

Is it easy to strip the screw holes?

Don't torque them. Snug is good.

bguzmanjr

Thanks Nightfall, dang fat fingers. Looks like it's off to the hardware store tomorrow.

Faustin

"I'm liking these babies a lot. I have a Marantz 2218B that I would like to try with the 10A's but I'm not sure if 18 WPC is enough juice for them."

18 watts a channel is not going to be near enough power to open up those 10's. I would say a minimum of 50 watts per channel unless you are just using them for backround dinner music.

bguzmanjr

Yeah Faustin, I thought that would be the case but I was curious so I tried it just for S and G's. In post 11 I related the whole experiment were I concluded that the 18 vintage WPC on the 2218B were no match for the 110 modern WPC of the Pioneer Elite VSX-53. If I stumble across a nice vintage receiver with a good amount of power that is not priced crazily someday I'll consider it but until then the VSX-53 will stay put.

mantis

Very cool speakers man

Nightfall

nbrowser wrote: »

Let me recommend a Pioneer SX-1980...more than ample power...one would think...(ducks the friendly fire!)

Like all the big dog vintage receivers, though, extremely over priced.

The last 3 to sell on eBay? $3k, $4.2k, and $4.3k You could buy a brand spankin' new Parasound Halo Integrated and a pair of 1.2TL's for that much.

motorhead43026

Before I upgrade the speakers I would invest is a good 2 channel amp.

Just my .02

bguzmanjr

DSkip wrote: »

I haven't heard the 2218, but I'm surprised you prefer the pioneer. People tend to overrate power specs and what is necessary (not an underhanded comment to you Faustin). Those watts are enough to bring the m10 to life. Perhaps just a mismatch? Mine were 10b's and I found the marantz to tame those highs some.

They both sounded pretty good it's just that the edge went to the Pioneer. Much more headroom and as I mentioned a remote. It's the simple things man.

boston1450

I think alot of us here understand the remote thing LOL i just ordered one for my Carver receiver. Ended up going with a Logitech Harmony & i hope i can figure out how to pair them.... Back to the Marantz wpc thing... Awhile back I was playing around one day & hooked my 2252b up to my 2b's & it was ok till about 10:30 on the volume dial & above that it was clipping & distorted. I then tried it on a Yamaha cr1040 & it was much better. A tad bit more power... 10's are no different. I would stay atleast 50+wpc with those. You can hook them to a 200+wpc & they would sound awesome. When i had my 10's i hooked them to my Adcom555/565pre & it was very nice... Thats the fun in this hobbie. Playing around & enjoying tunes at the same time. Its a big-never ending rabbit hole