I'm looking for Larry Rings and other info on upgrades for new to me Monitor 7's

Onebean

This is my first post here at the Polk forum. I'm picking up a pair of Monitor 7's tonight, and I am excited about it. I've been reading about the Larry Rings, and I was hoping someone could point me to where I can purchase these. Also, the 7's I'm buying have the silver domed tweeter. I would like to replace these with the updated tweeter Polk offers, and lots of people recommend. Can someone post a link to that tweeter. I thought I read members here get a discount on those, that would be really cool. I plan to rebuild the crossovers with better grade components (suggestions are welcome), and install dynamat on the speaker baskets too. What else should I be doing to upgrade these? I've read some stuff on sealing the drivers to the cabinet, and epoxy gluing the speaker magnets. Are there any tutorials on that stuff?

These will go in my small (12' x 12') dedicated listening space. My system currently consists of a Yamaha CR-1020 receiver (70 watts a channel into 8 ohms), Technics SL-1200MK2 with Shure m97XE, and a Philips CD/SACD player into a Schitt Bifrost Uber. I'm using Pioneer CS-88 speakers (freshly recapped) currently , and while I go through the Polk Monitor 7's.

Waiting in the wings for a test run is a Yamaha C-70 preamp (going out for a recap soon), and a freshly recapped Yamaha M-85 amp (250 watts a channel into 8 ohms).

I'll post pictures of the speakers tonight or tomorrow, I'm not sure which version they are, but my guess is a later version, not early. Thanks for looking.

Onebean

boston1450

Welcome to the forum. I do believe Larry usually post here in Vintage & also in For Sale - Classified when/if he is doing a run of rings. You can PM him also.. Monitor 7's are a fine speaker & if its the SL-2000 tweeter you can drop in a RD0-194 from Polk. Call & order & tell them your a member on forum & get a discount. You can use Loctite Power Grab on the woofer magnets & use it to seal the cabinets to reassure they are airtight. Use Larry's rings or hurricane nuts from PE. Dynamate the woofer's & passive. As far as xovers your at the right place to ask ?'s. Someone will chime in (WMG David does all my work-excellent work). You can check for air leaks by lightly pressing in&hold-in on the passive & the woofer will come out & stay out&slowly go back to normal position in 3-5 second. If it goes out & goes back soon - ya got a leak. Those speaker will do great on the 1020

teekay0007

Randy (boston1450) is being very helpful here. A few keys to help out a newb:

Larry = toolfan66
PE = Parts Express
Dynamate = Dynamat Xtreme
WMG (David) = westmassguy

Many, many folks around here can and will vouch for the exceptional work done by both Larry and David.

F1nut

Larry is busy, don't bother him. He will post the rings whenever he gets around to making more.

Onebean

First off, thank you for the responses to my post. Can anyone post a picture of the Larry rings? I was thinking of trying to make my own. I assume they are just a clamp ring that goes on the backside of the front baffle, so you can use a #10 machine screw and sandwich the speaker, baffle, and clamp ring. I was thinking of making some from 1/4" steel. What do you use for a sealant between the speaker and the baffle? Something that seals but doesn't stick? I don't really want to permanently glue the speakers to the baffles. On the Loctite power grab for gluing the magnet to the speaker from, does anyone have a picture of how much they used, and exactly where you apply it? Is it a goop it on type of thing, or more of a controlled placement application? Also, are you suggesting I use it to seal all the internal corners of the cabinet? Again, thanks for the responses and the help.

Here are some pictures of them.









Onebean

pkquat

If you plan on upgrading the crossovers you can rebuild the tweeter section like the Rev2 version. Only an 8uF cap needs to be added. This is known as the TL (tri-laminate) mod refrencing the SL3000 tri-laminate tweeter that came out during these speakers era. Many people do this when upgrading the crossovers. Then you can use the RD-0198 tweeter. A number of people think it is slightly better than the RD-0194, but opinions vary day to day. Both tweeters are better than what is currently in there.

Your version Schematic
https://us.v-cdn.net/5021930/uploads/attachments/4/6/7/2/8/18773.pdf

Rev2 Schematic
https://us.v-cdn.net/5021930/uploads/attachments/4/6/7/2/8/18774.pdf

Sonicap are the preferred capacitors, and Mills10W or Vishay-Mills 12W are the preferred resistors. Clarity ESA caps have also been recommend.

Below are two links to gluing the magnets.
http://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/170827/loctite-henkel-power-grab-for-speaker-magnets/p1
http://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/173914/whats-the-best-adhesive-to-glue-ceramic-magnets-on-polk-6-5-drivers/p1

As mentioned, it may be a while before Larry has more rings. Larry has a set of MW rings for me (to complete a set) that am still waiting to hear back on. He's just been swamped and I'm in no rush. I would say you are fine without them for now. If the drivers have not been removed often and the wood is still good, they should be fine for quite a while.

Onebean

Thanks PK.

WTS

Welcome, Onebean.

This thread will answer several of your questions:

http://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/149215/monitor-10-rebuild-with-tl-mod/p1

Westmassguy didn't use Larry's Rings in that build; he used hurricane nuts.

Note the white fillets on the magnets on the drivers. Also note the fillets in the cabinet. You want the speakers to be well sealed.

I just upgraded my 7C speakers, to TL specs, following instructions from Dave (@westmassguy). He also rebuilt my crossovers for me. Kudos to him.

When I followed these instructions, I filleted both the top and bottom of each woofer on my speakers. I also installed hurricane nuts.

You can order the RDO-194 or RDO-198 tweeters by phone from Polk. Tell them you're a Club Polk member and you'll get free shipping and a reasonable price ($48 each, plus tax). Choose the -194 if you do not upgrade your crossovers to TL spec (or don't upgrade them at all). Choose the -198 if you do upgrade the crossovers to TL spec.

Don't throw out the old tweeters if they still work; you can sell them or give them away, or save them for another pair of speakers if you find used Polk speakers with blown tweeters. If you don't upgrade to TL, you can always save them as temporary replacements in case something goes wrong with the new -194 tweeters (accidents happen).

Have fun!

westmassguy

pkquat wrote: »

If you plan on upgrading the crossovers you can rebuild the tweeter section like the Rev2 version. Only an 8uF cap needs to be added. This is known as the TL (tri-laminate) mod refrencing the SL3000 tri-laminate tweeter that came out during these speakers era. Many people do this when upgrading the crossovers. Then you can use the RD-0198 tweeter. A number of people think it is slightly better than the RD-0194, but opinions vary day to day. Both tweeters are better than what is currently in there.

Your version Schematic
https://us.v-cdn.net/5021930/uploads/attachments/4/6/7/2/8/18773.pdf

Rev2 Schematic
https://us.v-cdn.net/5021930/uploads/attachments/4/6/7/2/8/18774.pdf

You cannot arbitrarily swap out the High-pass components, without checking the Low-pass as well. The Monitor 7 Revised Schematic, and the Revision 2 Schematic have very different values for the High and Low-pass. the Revised Schematic has a 1.5mH Inductor, and a 34uf Shunt Capacitor. The Revision 2 has a 1.75mH Inductor, and a 27uf Shunt Capacitor. The Crossover Frequency was lowered, and Slope was altered.
To do the SL3000/TL Modification on the 7, use the Monitor 5 SL3000 Schematic:
https://us.v-cdn.net/5021930/uploads/attachments/4/6/7/2/8/18767.pdf

pkquat

Thanks for the correction. Hopefully I'll remember it this time.

westmassguy

No worries.

Onebean

What's the difference between the TL mod and stock? Looking at the price for components, there's not a huge difference. I think I will listen in stock form first, then decide on an upgrade path.

Onebean

westmassguy

The "TL" Mod allows you to use the RDO-198-1 Tweeter. The Replacement for the SL2000 Tweeters you have now, are the RDO-194-1.