New SDA 2B's, Larry's Rings, & Dynamat

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  • americannight
    americannight Posts: 6
    Nightfall wrote: »
    I believe those are Monitor 5 Series 2, not 5A's. Yes, 2500.

    Thanks for the help identifying these. You are right. I see a label on the back now which says series 2. What's the general consensus on this version?

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  • westmassguy
    westmassguy Posts: 6,850
    americannight wrote: »
    Nightfall wrote: »
    I believe those are Monitor 5 Series 2, not 5A's. Yes, 2500.

    Thanks for the help identifying these. You are right. I see a label on the back now which says series 2. What's the general consensus on this version?

    They're excellent. Those are the last version of the Monitor 5 Polk produced. Crossover will be easy to update, no modifications required, and the RDO-198-1 Tweeters will really make them sing.
    Home Theater/2 Channel:
    Front: SDA-2ATL forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/143984/my-2as-finally-finished-almost/p1
    Center: Custom Built forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/150760/my-center-channel-project/p1
    Surrounds & Rears: Custom Built forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/151647/my-surround-project/p1
    Sonicaps, Mills, RDO-194s-198s, Dynamat, Hurricane Nuts, Blackhole5
    Pioneer Elite VSX-72TXV, Carver PM-600, SVS PB2-Plus Subwoofer

    dhsspeakerservice.com/
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  • americannight
    americannight Posts: 6
    I still have yet to update the crossovers but I did perform three of the recommended mods: apply the dynamat to the woofer and PR baskets, add extra sound absorptive material on the inside back of the cabinet behind the woofer, also positioning the fiber fill inside the cabinet and securing it in place so it does not fill the bottom of the cabinet behind the PR. It's a good improvement with just these simple things. I suspect the capacitors have certainly changed in value due to the age of the speakers so that will be next. They look really easy to work on. Likely I will do just the re-cap at this time due to budgets. Thanks everyone for the help. Great forum!
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  • Nightfall
    Nightfall Posts: 10,086
    What "extra sound absorptive material" did you use?

    Enjoy!
    afterburnt wrote: »
    They didn't speak a word of English, they were from South Carolina.

    Village Idiot of Club Polk
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  • americannight
    americannight Posts: 6
    The material I used is some pretty generic sound absorbing mat or pad which appears to be made of about 1/2" of gray colored felt of some kind. I had it left over from my car audio project, same as with the dynamat. I cut approx. 8"x8" squares of this stuff and staple gunned it to the rear wall of the enclosure behind the mid/woofer. I'm sure it's not as good as the stuff the rest of you used but for what it's worth the totality of my mods made an improvement in the sound.

    I read somewhere on this forum that these speakers sound good on a 6 degree angle stand. My listening position is a bit higher than most, up on a bar stool in my office so I took these stands I found at goodwill, cut them to 15" high, and added a 6 degree angle using my miter saw. They sound good more on axis to the listener like this. Nice looking stands too! Was lucky to find them, only $15 bucks.

    1jd62u9c29li.jpg
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  • lightman1
    lightman1 Posts: 10,788
    Looking good. Sounding good????
    These folks around here won't steer you wrong. Good folks.
    Old skool deck behind the speaker adds to the dimensions of the soundstage.
    Double bent birch?
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  • americannight
    americannight Posts: 6
    Canadian Hardrock Maple on that deck. It's the Steve Alba deck put out a couple years ago. I enjoy cruising around when the weather gets nicer in Seattle, summer months. These Polks sounding really good to my ears, the best speakers I've ever had hooked up to that old Sansui TR707a receiver (first solid state Sansui 1965). I've done some work to the Sansui as well, new output and driver transistors in the amplifier board. Sounds nice. Just a bit of hiss in the pre-amp stage I'm trying to troubleshoot now though. It might not be worth the effort. I might fix the hiss but kill the lifelike sound of the amp in the process -- so many cool old Sony transistors in there, could never get those today. I'm using that tablet through an external DAC which sounds nice. Android 5.0 or above can support external USB DACs with the right hardware. Can stream FLAC from my Plex server that way. This stereo is a neat melding of old and new technology.
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  • lawdogg
    lawdogg Posts: 455
    The dynamat on the cage of the woofer & PR is to prevent any ringing due to resonances, I believe; yes it is recommended (and worth it!) to place some sound deadening directly behind the woofer. I used a 5.5" tall piece of Parts Express "Sonic Barrier" behind the woofer of my M7s and it did noticeably cleaned up the upper mids.

    Gluing / sealing the cabinet junctions internally is also recommended, to ensure a complete acoustic seal and to guarantee structural integrity.
    <3 my 3.1TLs

    I will fix your shifted magnets for free. :)
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  • Gunther16
    Gunther16 Posts: 243
    Good improvements are always worth it!!!!!
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  • Toolfan66
    Toolfan66 Posts: 17,237
    Looks great guys!!
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