Updated Discussion - Integrated Amps for Polk Monitor 10 Speakers?

JesseS

Hello Polk People!

I adore my Monitor 10s - recapped, secured magnets, Dynamat on the driver frames, speakers up on stands. They are just so easy to listen to and beastly! I have had a Kenwood KA-9100 for years, love it. Picked up a Pioneer SX-1010 and love that too! The extra power is noticeable with the Monitor 10s, and the bass is insane.

But... both of these amps really should be fully restored for safety and optimal performance. I have only ever had them serviced for spot repairs to clean, replace bulbs, visually inspect, etc. A full rebuild with caps and transistors and all the other goodies would run about $1,000 for either amp, with the Pioneer being easier to service, from what I understand, if I could even find a local tech willing to take on either project.

So, I looked at specs on some modern / new integrated amps, and the specs even favor some new stuff. I know the cool vintage visual factor would be missed, but what do you all think of modern integrated amps? How much "modern" wattage would the speakers need to sound as confident as they do with my vintage set-ups? Is even more recommended? Is anything out there as warm and full-tone?

I use a JVC QL-A45 turntable or plug-in an iPhone or iPod to aux for digital tunes.

The Yamaha A-S801 looks lovely. (The A-S1100 looks more vintage but too pricey!) Then there's the Denon PMA-800NE. The Marantz PM-6006 is loved online but boasts lower power. Or the Onkyo A-9150... Under $1,000. Sound quality is the goal, not price / name / looks.

verb

Hey @JesseS welcome and congrats on your M10 rebuild! Lot's of choices for a solid integrated amp to power those babies. Others here will opine I'm sure.

What is your budget? Depending on that, there are still plenty of good choices out there. Not new, but here on CP a lot of members sell their stuff in the FS section. I personally have purchased several (ahem, lots of) items from members here.

I know one of our very own, @Clipdat (professional reviewer) just wrote about the new
Parasound integrated, IIRC. You may want to check that out. Pretty close to the $1K price point too!

https://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/188903/parasound-newclassic-200-integrated-amplifier-review#latest

JesseS

Thank you Verb - cool looking amp, the Parasound... Not sure I "need" to spend as much though.

I've been extremely lucky and have not had to invest much in gear at all. My Kenwood KA-9100 and the matching tuner were a thrift store find, on half price day! The Pioneer SX-1010 was posted on local classifieds, as were the Monitor 10 speakers, both from original owners.

I a budget of $1,000 divides the playing field, weeding out some, but spending so much would make me uneasy, thinking I might not hear a difference from something much less expensive. I figure I could sell either or both of my vintage amps to fund something new-ish, and good stuff should be out there for under a grand.

Locally, I saw a Cambridge 651a for sale, but I understand that would require a phono preamp. And shipping from online classifieds presents dangers, another reason to look into new stuff at local shops, or at least retail online. There is a lovely Yamaha AS1100 online, but it is pick-up only, about 2,000 miles from my house. Oh well!
I'll check the FS pages at Polk asap

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F1nut

Basically you want 50 watts per 6" driver.

Where in the world did you come up with that silly notion?

Viking64

JonathanPeterson wrote: »

Basically you want 50watts per 6" driver.

Don't forget you need an extra 10 watts per foot on each speaker cabinet. 15 watts if they are spiked.

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mhardy6647

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mhardy6647

JonathanPeterson wrote: »

And if u had lots of speakers in life . Keep track of impedance, efficiency and magnet size .. u can eye ball these pretty quickly. And predict that these woofers will blow if fed over 100watts per channel of bass heavy music

I'm not sure the rules of thumb for the SDAs would apply to the Monitor 7 and 10, despite the similarity of the 'midbass' drivers (as Polk called them at the time).

I keep fairly good track of my loudspeakers, FYI and FWIW.



Welcome to the Polk forums, and keep reading and listening.

F1nut

JonathanPeterson wrote: »

"Straight from Ken at Polk. It was a while ago when I asked pertaining to my SDA project.
"50-60 watts per woofer" would put them at near max. This is clean power from an amp. So if you have 8 woofers per speaker(1.2s) you can use 400wpc. Going over lessens the load on the amp if you like to run them full out for long periods.
Ben

Edit. BiAmping the tweeters helps protect the tweeters from clipping;)"

From this thread.

https://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/72621/polk-sda-srs-power-recommendation-rms

Pretty sure ken from Polk is more credible source than gif posting trolls. Trashing threads with useless posts. Zero value or contribution. No difference from people throwing garbage on streets

That poster was trying to make his own Frankenpolks and failed miserably. You have a lot to learn and we're here to help.

erniejade

@JesseS before jumping into a new amp, my question to you is do you use the loudness button on either the Kenwood or Pioneer? If your ears are accustomed to using an old loudness button or using tone controls, it might take some time for your ears to adjust to not having them.

In the past, I have recommended to friends in the past some nice intigrated amps that do not have loudness or bass treble controls and even though to me their rig sounded better, they were disappointed and they couldn't get used to that cleaner more natural sound.

I am not trying to talk you out of changing rigs but, proceed with caution depending on how you use what you currently have.

JesseS

Thank you all!
Lately, I’m running the Pioneer SX-1010 with everything through a Yamaha AVS-700 Natural Sound AV Selector to the Polk M10s. This allows me to avoid signal loss from the scratchy input selector buttons, and I’m starting to enjoy the more neutral phono preamp too.

I’ve had my Kenwood KA-9100 in a closet, but I’m tempted to have that one restored and to sell the Pioneer if I do keep either. I don’t need a tuner, and I prefer the silver face and meters on the Kenwood - geeky and irrelevant as that is!

Of the new stuff out there, I’m still smitten by the A-S1100 from Yamaha, wondering how much different it would be from a restored Kenwood KA-9100, which is also known for a quiet, neutral sounding performance. I do understand the significant design differences, but wonder how the sound would differ.

I read about Elite and Reference amps from Pioneer such as the a-88x, but 1980s is still vintage, likely to need servicing.

The Polks seem happier with more juice, but they do sound more balanced and transparent with the Kenwood, so...
Anyway, it’s keeping my brain occupied amp in quarantine!