Polk monitor 10B?

audioblaster

There is a pair of mint condition monitor 10B's on Craigslist in my area for $150. Anyone have experience with these or know how much they would be worth. They look awesome having a 10 inch woofer and to 6 1/2 inch woofers in the box

Conradicles

If they are in mint condition, they are worth $150 easy. The 10" is a passive radiator, and not an active woofer. They are great speakers to get into the vintage Polk sound. Replacement tweeters can improve the sound as well. Enjoy.

befuddle

I'd have to agree with Conradicles that if they are in mint shape both physically and functionally that a asking price of 150 would be a decent deal as they seem to average around 100 on the low end to 250 on the high.
However prior to purchase a couple of factors are worth consideration:
1] The design of the side by side mids produced a symptom called lobing which makes the imaging snd wider than it should be.However they are noted for being good party type spks, as the bass goes a bit deeper and they have the capacity to play louder than others in the monitor line.So if the magic in good quality imaging isn't essential they're worth considering.
2] Is performance-To achieve the best snd from them would recommend upgrading the tweeters to the new Polk replacements,and switching some of the well aged x-over electronics for the more superior components available today.
And while this makes for a notable performance gain its obviously an addition the initial cost.
But even in stock form their quality is still well reviewed.I currently use a stock set as rear surrounds and are quite happy with them!

audioblaster

Thanks guys. I think i might go check them out tmrw if still available. I'm only 26 and just stardted getting into buying
A lot of stereo stuff. But I have never in my life herd vintage Polk stuff. Or hardly anything vintage for that matter. Other than my dads 30 year old
Jbl speakers. But im kind of curious about these and they look really
Cool also. Hopefully I like vintage as much as all the more modern Polk speakers I already have. (Monitor 40's and monitor 30's and m20's and m10's)

ustirit

I have recently acquired a pair of monitor 10s with the peerless tweeters and I really enjoy the sound. I paid $135 including a pair of original stands. The condition of the ones I acquired is very good, so $150 seems reasonable. Good luck.

teekay0007

My Monitor 10Bs that I acquired new in '88 remain as one of my favorite pairs of speakers on the planet, at any price! High praise, I know....deal with it. I like their sound that much. If the ones you are looking at are as mint as mine, $150 is a steal.

If you get them, be sure to get them on some stands that get them off the floor and slightly tilted back - ie. Polk original stands or replicas. This makes a world of difference.

motorhead43026

I really enjoy my M10's also. I rotate them in once and awhile and give the SDA's a rest.

codycatalist

audioblaster wrote: »

Thanks guys. I think i might go check them out tmrw if still available. I'm only 26 and just stardted getting into buying
A lot of stereo stuff. But I have never in my life herd vintage Polk stuff. Or hardly anything vintage for that matter. Other than my dads 30 year old
Jbl speakers. But im kind of curious about these and they look really
Cool also. Hopefully I like vintage as much as all the more modern Polk speakers I already have. (Monitor 40's and monitor 30's and m20's and m10's)

Hey I am 24 and have been in this for a little over a year or so now. I was always into audio but it progressed over time. Started with car audio, home theater in a box then I was introduced to SDA SRS2s and fell in love. Since then I purchased 2 pairs of Monitor 5s, SDA 2Bs and a pair of RTA11TLs. The bug strikes and when it does the itch doesn't go away.

Jimbo18

I had Monitor 10's with original stands and sold them because they had the SL2000 tweeters and I was looking for Peerless, at the time.

I had a pair of M7's at the same time and, although I know many prefer the 7's, I really liked the deeper bass of the 10's and wider soundstage. Kinda regret selling the 10's but they were just too big for where I was placing them.

audioblaster

So what's the difference between the peerless and the other tweeters.

Jimbo18

audioblaster wrote: »

So what's the difference between the peerless and the other tweeters.

I had never heard a Peerless and kept reading about how much better it was than the SL1000 and SL2000, which were on many of the early Monitors. So I wanted to check it out.

The current Polk replacement for the SL1000 and SL2000 is the RD0194 and it's supposed to be much better also.

Faustin

The original Peerless tweeter that Polk used was made in Denmark, Polk had it slightly altered by having a small hole put in the center of the dust cover. They then switched over to a Peerless that was nabufactured in the US.
To my ears the Peerless tweeter is very smooth and almost airy. Not fatiguing at all. I 'have had early Monitor 4's, 5's, 7's, 10's and RTA 12c's, all with Peerless. They are no longer available new but can be found used and there are new knockoffs available that are not to bad.

steroguy1999

I have a set of polk 10bs and a set of polk sda 2as. With the 10bs you can beat on them as hard as you want and they will never go out. They sound wonderful for the price. Low bass heavy songs are fun as can be. And the really nice part is the tweeter over heat so you don't blow the tweeters out of em. Saved me hundreds of times from blowing them up I mean hell I've bottomed out the drivers so hard they sounded like bongos. Yet they still keep kicking

pitdogg2

steroguy1999 wrote: »

I have a set of polk 10bs and a set of polk sda 2as. With the 10bs you can beat on them as hard as you want and they will never go out. They sound wonderful for the price. Low bass heavy songs are fun as can be. And the really nice part is the tweeter over heat so you don't blow the tweeters out of em. Saved me hundreds of times from blowing them up I mean hell I've bottomed out the drivers so hard they sounded like bongos. Yet they still keep kicking

I don't know where to begin....So I'll just say those drivers are starting to get very hard to obtain.
Bottoming out drivers is nothing to be proud of, it just shows a lack of respect for your gear.

skipshot12

pitdogg2 wrote: »

steroguy1999 wrote: »

I have a set of polk 10bs and a set of polk sda 2as. With the 10bs you can beat on them as hard as you want and they will never go out. They sound wonderful for the price. Low bass heavy songs are fun as can be. And the really nice part is the tweeter over heat so you don't blow the tweeters out of em. Saved me hundreds of times from blowing them up I mean hell I've bottomed out the drivers so hard they sounded like bongos. Yet they still keep kicking

I don't know where to begin....So I'll just say those drivers are starting to get very hard to obtain.
Bottoming out drivers is nothing to be proud of, it just shows a lack of respect for your gear.

Or clipping from straining under powered equipment?

mikey_Xrp815

Just picked up a beautiful set of 10b's . They look fantastic! Purchase price was 125. These are my second pare of Polks, my first were the RT8's and loved them. Sold them and bought a set of Klipsch RP8000 to be kinda disappointed. Back to Polk Audio.