A bit of a modern twist on a classic

Braddles63

I bought a pair of Monitor 7A's a while back and the boxes were pretty knocked around. I stripped them back and planed on finishing them in the classic timber veneer. But the corners were really bad so i decided to take i different but risky move. I rounded off the edges of the boxes and found a granite look paint that i thought would look good. Im sure some will consider it sacrilege to do this but I'm happy with the lookand interestingly so is my wife.
I have rebuilt the cover using Jantzen Superior Z caps on the tweeter and cross caps on the MW. Also used their Mox 10 Watt "Superes" resistors. The tweeters where no good so after hanging out for some original Peerless on eBay etc i took the plunge and bought the new ones from Mid West. This was a bit costly to get them to Australia as the exchange rate is down to 70c but i ran out of patients.
Also done the usual dampening of the baskets and new seals. Still have to do T-Nuts and new grill cloth.
I have only about 20-30 hours on them so I'm trying not to judge them yet. They do sound a little veiled so far so we will see if they open up after some more time.

jeremymarcinko

Dang that actually looks fantastic. Bold move but it payed off...very cool

Braddles63

Cheers mate.

ken brydson

nbrowser wrote: »

You know, I've seen some wild re-finishes on speakers that were downright garish and ugly, but this re-finish is actually very attractive! Different yet classy and done well. Good job mate!

Purple shag carpet comes to mind. Cool look on these though..

Nightfall

I actually dig it too, nice work Braddles. Now if only you could remove the grey "trim" around the midwoofers and PRs, always thought that was ugly on the earlier models.

Braddles63

Yes Nightfall i agree. I was going to taker them off all together to improve the look but I'm assuming they are there for an acoustic reason so i left them.

Does anyone know if you can buy after market replacement trims?

westmassguy

Very nice job. The rings you're referring to are gaskets. They serve no purpose when the woofer or PR is front mounted (they're used when rear mounting the woofer to the front baffle). Removing them may be more difficult than you think. There will be a glue line leftover, and you risk damaging the rubber surrounds getting them off. New Gaskets are available, but finding an exact fit may pose a problem. Many are "universal" fit, come in four sections, and have sliding/adjustable joints. Not the nicest look.
If the gaskets are in good shape, no blemishes, you could carefully mask off the rubber surrounds, and cones, then paint them......BLACK. If they have black paint down under.
Use flat or matte finish. The gaskets are cardboard, and will soak up the paint, so any gloss finish will be uneven.

Faustin

Nicely done. Most people would have parted them out. Glad to see that you were able to resurrect them.

[Deleted User]

They look Heavy man!
Would fit nicely in the studio.
Well done.

mhardy6647

(not that my opinion matters one whit, but...) I like 'em!

motorhead43026

Are those ETI AMG toppers on the speakers?

mhardy6647

heh -- I just noticed that they're the seldom seen 7A variant with two fuses per loudspeaker system (tweeter & system fuses). Mine are identical (although still finished in their original, rather tired -- and orange! -- "rosewood" vinyl).

I'm gonna (ahem) borrow a copy of the rear view photo above to document the XO configuration for posterity... since mine are boxed up in the basement and I am far too lazy to dig 'em out just for that :-P

Thanks to the OP for posting those photos!

Braddles63

Thanks all.

Motorhead. Yes you are correct.

hardy. Yes they are quite rare. Even more so here in Australia. The Xover is point to point rather than a PC board. I had to concentrate and take it slow so i didn't stuff it up,

I assume that if i update the binding posts and loose the fuses it would improve things a bit more?

Gatecrasher

I think they look good but I might also be tempted to re-do the grills.

Newly recovered black or grey grills might look pretty-nice.

Braddles63

Yes mate thats in the plans for sure.

zappafan2

I like them good job!!!!

mhardy6647

I am -- truth be told -- rather surprised to learn that there are ANY Polk Audio loudspeakers of that era (1970s) in Oz. Wonder how they even got there...?

;- )

[Deleted User]

I'm going with twister.

Mikey081057

I like.... Rock Solid look...much better than the original contact paper fake wood "veneer"

westmassguy

mhardy6647 wrote: »

I am -- truth be told -- rather surprised to learn that there are ANY Polk Audio loudspeakers of that era (1970s) in Oz. Wonder how they even got there...?

;- )

They must have had some distribution, because I have several Polk Customers down under. Europe too.

Braddles63

Polk have been available here in Oz as long as i can remember. Im 48.

I bought my first pair of Monitor 10s in the late eighties.
Im on the West coast of Australia in Perth. The most isolated capital city in the world. So to find them here is pretty rare. Same as when i found a pair of SDA CRS+.

mhardy6647

rednedtugent wrote: »

I'm going with twister.

:- ) Now... that... that right there is some funny stuff, that is. Right there. Funny. Stuff.

Now that you mention it, though... I do believe I saw Miss Gulch fly by on her bicycle.



She may well have had a coupla Monitor 7As in her basket with that little dog...

Braddles63 wrote: »

Polk have been available here in Oz as long as i can remember. Im 48.

I bought my first pair of Monitor 10s in the late eighties.
Im on the West coast of Australia in Perth. The most isolated capital city in the world. So to find them here is pretty rare. Same as when i found a pair of SDA CRS+.

So... let me do some math :-P You'd have been about 9 or 10 when the 7As were new (I bought mine, as scratch 'n' dent demonstrators, in 1978). :- ) In all seriousness, I had no idea Polk was distributed that far and wide that long ago! The early Polk products aren't really all that common outside of the US "midatlantic" area, to the best of my knowledge.

Braddles63

You would have one more customer down under too for my CRS+ If it wasn't for a crappy exchange rate.

westmassguy wrote: »

mhardy6647 wrote: »

I am -- truth be told -- rather surprised to learn that there are ANY Polk Audio loudspeakers of that era (1970s) in Oz. Wonder how they even got there...?

;- )

They must have had some distribution, because I have several Polk Customers down under. Europe too.

westmassguy

Braddles63 wrote: »

You would have one more customer down under too for my CRS+ If it wasn't for a crappy exchange rate.

westmassguy wrote: »

mhardy6647 wrote: »

I am -- truth be told -- rather surprised to learn that there are ANY Polk Audio loudspeakers of that era (1970s) in Oz. Wonder how they even got there...?

;- )

They must have had some distribution, because I have several Polk Customers down under. Europe too.

Thanks, Canada is right behind you in that respect.

Polkaguy58

I'm thinking maybe some leopard fur covers.
That way, they'd match my sofa.
Granite finishes ROCK !

Moose68Bash

Nice and very creative job @Braddles63!

Well done!

Braddles63

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

I have been running them for about 2 weeks solid 12-14 hours per day and I'm a bit disappointed at this stage. Top end is recessed and the bass is over powering and bloated. I know some have noted some improvement after run in but it will have to improve a fair bit for me to be happy.

westmassguy

Those are not qualities normally associated with the 7s.

Braddles63

Hopefully some more run time will help.

motorhead43026

^^I have my doubts^^

westmassguy

Check for air leakage. Do the push test. Press in and hold the Passive Radiator, the woofer should pop out and stay out for 3-5 seconds, then slowly retract. If it doesn't, you've got leaks, which will affect the bass. Double check all drivers are in phase/wired properly.