Peerless Monitor 4 find at GW

Hofy

Yesterday on the way to work I stopped by Goodwill. I look over where they have been placing speakers lately with the lamps and vacuum cleaners. Through the tangle of floor lamps I spot the terminal cup of a speaker. Instantly I knew they are Polks. I get over to them and they are rough. Grill cloth is all nasty and pulled, the cabinets have been brush painted with black latex paint. I see from the sticker on the back these are Monitor 4. I would have passed except these are early versions with the fuse above the terminals. So I pop off the grills and sure enough Peerless tweeters. I gave the woofers the push test and they are both OK. $15.49 out the door. I took the pictures last night and opened them up. 1982 vintage. Hooked them up this morning and they sound great except for the lack of bass. I may transplant the tweeters into my Monitor 5A's later to see if there is an improvement as they have always sounded muddy, even after recapping the crossover.

Now the pictures

What I seen when I came in the store. Consecutive serial numbers.


Love the crappy brush on latex paint.


Square cabinets, missing logos.


Looks like the grills did their job protecting the drivers.

Faustin

Nice find. Had a pair of those that if I remember correctly I paid 19.00 for them. Rebuilt the crossovers and re veneered them in cherry. Looked and sounded great.Gave them to a friend as a college graduation gift last year. I still keep an eye out for another pair.

xschop

Good score indeed. I need to start perusing the Goodwill for these OB's
If you need a set of Insignias, you can have the ones I removed from the 5jr's

MrBuhl

Love a great GW find - congrats!

Hofy

xschop wrote: »

Good score indeed. I need to start perusing the Goodwill for these OB's
If you need a set of Insignias, you can have the ones I removed from the 5jr's

Thanks for the offer but I already have extras.

StantonZ

Good story! I just showed my son--who works at the local Goodwill--and told him: "if you ever see any Polks come through the store, call me"!

jaya666

Well done. I'm in Oz we don't get that sort of bargain. I just spent $50 on a pair of Monitor 4s, sans the "paint" job you got "included" and with no tweeters.

Which brings me to my question, For my Monitor 4s; what tweeters am I looking for? I'd like to know what they would have had when they came out, and possibly what they could take that's currently in production.

I have been reading this forum since I traded with a mate for my Monitor 10Bs. It took me about a week to work out that thy were Bs. The cabinets had been sprayed with the SL2000s still in place and looked so bad I assumed they were first release. Needless to say the tweeters burnt out in no time, I didn't even get them in place. So I bought 2 from US for $75US plus postage. But they are now polished wood with the beautifully full sound. I am going to re do the XOs once I feel confident and have something else to listen through.

I have become a little obsessed with the sound of the 10Bs and Polk's in general. To the point that I purchased a pair of mint condition Monitor 5s last night. Which are being sent half way across the country. But I'll deal with them latter.

Any info on the 4s, including if they have A/B models, and how I could tell would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
A.

mhardy6647

The earliest Monitor 4s had the Peerless silk dome tweeter (as shown above). Later versions had (I think?!) the Audax plastic dome that was very common in cheap loudspeakers for a long time.

I assume by Oz you mean "down under" I'd reckon that Polk Audio loudspeakers (at least, of the vintage kind) are pretty scarce there!

lawdogg

Nice find!