Polk Monitor 7 Upgrade

cutiger
cutiger Posts: 8
in Vintage Speakers
I would like to thank all of the wonderful Club Polk members for such a great community. F1nut, thanks for the quick answers and guidance; you are extremely patient with the new members.
I recently found an extremely nice set of Monitor 7 speakers. I took the upgrade plunge, and I am here to tell anyone on the fence to immediately upgrade these wonderful speakers. The difference is night and day! It is absolutely stunning how great these speakers have become after this project.
Upgrades:
-New RDO-194 Tweeters - What a difference! The harshness is absolutely gone....
-New Dayton Audio Crossovers - I used the 1% Tolerance capacitors with Mills Resistors. Do not hesitate buying Dayton capacitors....they blow the original caps out of the water. This upgrade can add up quickly $$$, and I have 2 kids in college....
-Dynamat treatment
-Hurricane Nuts
-JB Weld SteelStick to reinforce the magnets

Here are pictures of my progress (the hurricane nuts picture show the washer under the screwhead used to pull the hurricane nut into the wood....Be careful drilling the particle board!
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Comments

  • cutiger
    cutiger Posts: 8
    I also replaced the polyswitches.....I decide to be a purist and stick with the original design :)
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  • boston1450
    boston1450 Posts: 7,652
    Congrats. Looks great. What better speaker to upgrade than one of Polks best speaker. Enjoy them
    ..
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  • ratpin
    ratpin Posts: 85
    Could you shed a little more detail on your crossover upgrade?
    Polk: / SDA-CRS / SDA-1C / M-10B / M-7B / M-5 / M-5jr / RTA-11T / LSIM703 / LSIM704 / LSIM706 / RTI8 / CSI3 / CSI5 / RTI4 / RTI-A5 / CSI-A6 / RC80i / RC85i / RC6s / PSW300 / Atrium6 / Atrium4 / About a dozen pair of Atrium45 lol.
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  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 25,553
    ratpin wrote: »
    Could you shed a little more detail on your crossover upgrade?

    What is it you need more info on? Many of us have recapped XO's in many different Polk speakers.
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  • ratpin
    ratpin Posts: 85
    I picked up some nice monitor 7 last week and may try my hand at the xo upgrade, but I dont want to invest $100’s doing it. How much did your parts list total up to?

    My new 7’s
    fn3camxfshpj.jpeg
    Polk: / SDA-CRS / SDA-1C / M-10B / M-7B / M-5 / M-5jr / RTA-11T / LSIM703 / LSIM704 / LSIM706 / RTI8 / CSI3 / CSI5 / RTI4 / RTI-A5 / CSI-A6 / RC80i / RC85i / RC6s / PSW300 / Atrium6 / Atrium4 / About a dozen pair of Atrium45 lol.
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  • ratpin
    ratpin Posts: 85
    edited July 2020
    When I told the seller I was going to use them in my shop he laughed and said “these are pretty nice to be used as “”garage speakers””. Lol
    Polk: / SDA-CRS / SDA-1C / M-10B / M-7B / M-5 / M-5jr / RTA-11T / LSIM703 / LSIM704 / LSIM706 / RTI8 / CSI3 / CSI5 / RTI4 / RTI-A5 / CSI-A6 / RC80i / RC85i / RC6s / PSW300 / Atrium6 / Atrium4 / About a dozen pair of Atrium45 lol.
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  • Faustin
    Faustin Posts: 1,149
    Pull out 1 of the binding post cups/crossover and check the values of the capacitors and the resistor. If you want to go the cheap route, order the same value parts from Parts Express - Dayton caps and Mills 12v resistors. Go with the +/- 1% caps if they are available. Not going to get much cheaper than that.
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  • Gardenstater
    Gardenstater Posts: 4,500
    edited July 2020
    Caps plus Resistors was $193 (before tax and shipping). Sonicap Gen 1's and Vishay/Mills 12W
    George / NJ

    Polk 7B main speakers, std. mods+ (1979, orig owner)
    Martin Logan Dynamo sub w/6ft 14awg Power Cord
    Onkyo A-8017 integrated
    Logitech Squeezebox Touch Streamer w/EDO applet
    iFi nano iDSD DAC
    iPurifier3
    iDefender w/ iPower PS
    Custom Steve Wilson 1m UPOCC Interconnect
    iFi Mercury 0.5m OFHC continuous cast copper USB cable
    Custom Ribbon Speaker Cables, 5ft long, 4N Copper, 14awg, ultra low inductance
    Custom Vibration Isolation Speaker Stands and Sub Platform
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  • VSAT88
    VSAT88 Posts: 1,260
    edited July 2020
    ratpin wrote: »
    I picked up some nice monitor 7 last week and may try my hand at the xo upgrade, but I dont want to invest $100’s doing it. How much did your parts list total up to?

    My new 7’s
    fn3camxfshpj.jpeg

    The cheapest way is to not do it at all because once you hear them with a few mods you are in the rabbit hole. Those are some really nice sounding speakers with a little cash thrown at them. Warning you now...The upgrade bug will bite and $$$. Hope you love them.
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,645
    Sell the speakers to someone who will treasure them rather than being used as shop speakers.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • ratpin
    ratpin Posts: 85
    edited July 2020
    I do treasure my stuff, and my shop is nicer than many. And while I do love music and audio, I’m a very hyperactive person with many other hobbies and would much prefer being in the shop doing something with my music rather than just sitting around listening. someday when I’m not able to hustle I’ll take them in the house and give them a proper listening environment.

    I currenty have these monitor 10’s on a GFA-555ii, and while the space might not be a perfect sound stage, I still enjoy them and they are out of harms way 10’ up on a wall. a functional piece of art IMO and that’s the one that matters.fikb9k2w89b6.jpeg
    Polk: / SDA-CRS / SDA-1C / M-10B / M-7B / M-5 / M-5jr / RTA-11T / LSIM703 / LSIM704 / LSIM706 / RTI8 / CSI3 / CSI5 / RTI4 / RTI-A5 / CSI-A6 / RC80i / RC85i / RC6s / PSW300 / Atrium6 / Atrium4 / About a dozen pair of Atrium45 lol.
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  • DaveHo
    DaveHo Posts: 3,534
    edited July 2020
    @ratpin Tell me about those wall brackets. I'd like to do the same in my basement shop with some larger speakers. Those look very beefy & well thought out.
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  • ratpin
    ratpin Posts: 85
    DaveHo wrote: »
    @ratpin Tell me about those wall brackets. I'd like to do the same in my basement shop with some larger speakers. Those look very beefy & well thought out.

    Thanks! I custom made them from flat 2”stock steel. Here are some pics of the project. Set them at 15 degrees. That’s scrap rebar as the angle support :) Finished them with a gun blue chemical etch. Foamed lined the contact areas for vibration and abrasion resistance.

    I have something equally cool in mind for the M7’saerdbt02e32x.jpeg
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    Polk: / SDA-CRS / SDA-1C / M-10B / M-7B / M-5 / M-5jr / RTA-11T / LSIM703 / LSIM704 / LSIM706 / RTI8 / CSI3 / CSI5 / RTI4 / RTI-A5 / CSI-A6 / RC80i / RC85i / RC6s / PSW300 / Atrium6 / Atrium4 / About a dozen pair of Atrium45 lol.
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  • DaveHo
    DaveHo Posts: 3,534
    Nice work! Had a feeling they were custom made.
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  • tonyp063
    tonyp063 Posts: 1,087
    ratpin wrote: »
    I picked up some nice monitor 7 last week and may try my hand at the xo upgrade, but I dont want to invest $100’s doing it. How much did your parts list total up to?

    Last pair I did was Peerless M7s, which have slightly different component values than what's in yours. $120 for a "mid-level" upgrade

    Clarity CSA & Mundorf caps, VishayMills 12w
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  • cutiger
    cutiger Posts: 8
    edited July 2020
    If you go the Dayton 1% Tolerance route, I think all capacitors, polyswitches, and Mills resistors added up to around $55....
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  • Gardenstater
    Gardenstater Posts: 4,500
    ratpin Nice work and give yourself the Mister Fabrication Award. I used to use chains and eye bolts in my Monitor 7B's when I was in a small college dorm.......I know but I was just a kid. The one problem with having the speakers horizontal as I did and you are doing, is that the soundstage is screwed up relative to the drivers being in a vertically linear arrangement.
    George / NJ

    Polk 7B main speakers, std. mods+ (1979, orig owner)
    Martin Logan Dynamo sub w/6ft 14awg Power Cord
    Onkyo A-8017 integrated
    Logitech Squeezebox Touch Streamer w/EDO applet
    iFi nano iDSD DAC
    iPurifier3
    iDefender w/ iPower PS
    Custom Steve Wilson 1m UPOCC Interconnect
    iFi Mercury 0.5m OFHC continuous cast copper USB cable
    Custom Ribbon Speaker Cables, 5ft long, 4N Copper, 14awg, ultra low inductance
    Custom Vibration Isolation Speaker Stands and Sub Platform
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