Monitor 5s

arcspark

Hey everyone... I picked up a pretty decent pair of 5’s....5a I think, they have the fuse on the back and the peerless tweeters. Dates on the inside all indicate around ‘83......they have the emblem on the lower front and nonbeveled front corners. Any way I epoxied the magnets and matted the frames so should I take out the poly fill that’s behind the pr? I know it needs to be up behind the tweeter and maybe the mw but the others I’ve seen don’t have the poly down lower. Secondly, what’s the odds these will sound like my old ones that were the 5b’s? Thanks for listening, arc
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JayCee

Hi, @arcspark. Congrats on the 5A's. I have a pair w/peerless tweeters and they're nice little'ish speakers. Can't speak to how they compare to the 5b's but I have a pair of 5 Jr's and prefer the 5A's. Don't remove the polyfill and, as you referenced, keep it up and behind the mids/tweets....not behind the PR's.

I have several sets of bigger Polks, so haven't upgraded the 5A's, but you should consider replacing/upgrading the caps and resistors. Popular brand of caps w/this vintage is Sonicap http://www.soniccraft.com/index.php/sonicap-m-21 and Mills resistors http://www.soniccraft.com/index.php/mills-m-29

After recapping, if you have a power amp capable of good clean power (not a receiver), you might consider eliminating the fuse from the signal path. One caveat...bypassing the tweeter protection on SDA's is common practice, however, see if there's more forum consensus on doing this.

Schematics for the Monitor series can be found, here: https://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/38755/polk-audio-speaker-wiring-schematics-amp-more-all-models-except-sda#latest

A quick scan and all I see is 5b's???

pkquat

2nd @JayCee The main thing to check with the fuse, are the wires going to it. They can get very corroded in some environments. Also check the PR's for cracks around the edges if they are black basket PR's and keep them out of the sun. For some reason the rubber on that era of 5A PR's can get hard and crack. The earlier silver basket and later 5B PR's do not have this issue. That said, I have found replacement PR's from this time frame on the bay in very good condition. They usually have JB or someone else's initials on them. They are not the SW80 PR though. The SW80 PR sounds different. The earlier silver basket PR's also sound a little different, but are a close match IMO, they just don't look the part.

arcspark

Hey there, thanks for the reply...always look forward to it. So...would these monitors have had this much polyfill in there...I stapled the fill behind the tweeter and somewhat behind the mw but there is another entire “roll” that fits in the bottom...so that there’s very little open space in the box...if it’s supposed to be, that’s perfect, cuz I’m not into changing a good thing but I’ve heard sometimes the bass improves or tightens in these smaller boxes without so much behind the pr...it goes without saying I can listen but I enjoy the input...also are these peerless models the most revered of the 5s? Thanks for listening, arc

Gardenstater

I'm an original owner of 7B with Peerless and they came with a roll of polyfill in each that was only tucked up behind the MW and the tweeter with the entire bottom half with the passive radiator devoid of any polyfill. I don't see why the 5 would be different. If you have sound absorbent material around the passive it should only serve to reduce the impact of kick drums etc., by reducing transient response and increasing time delay / phase misalignment. The roll of polyfill is a snug(ish) fit and it is rolled with the axis of the roll being horizontal and there shouldn't be any need for staples.

JayCee

Don't remember opening the 5A's up but will remove a PR in a bit and confirm how they're configured.

JayCee

Well, goes to prove...trust but verify. Glad I did and we didn't send you down the wrong path!!!

Mine have polyfill in the bottom, too. Also, cautionary note, I purchased these speakers very early in my CP days when rope caulk was the rage. Don't use it if you need to replace the gaskets. Use gasket material or Armaflex (currently use).

Posting pics to visually confirm we have the same speakers....

Gardenstater

Well the plot thickens I guess lol. I found this thread with a fairly early Monitor 5 with Peerless cutouts and no chamfer on front edges of enclosure. This person had theirs filled like mine in upper area but none behind the Passive Radiator. https://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/comment/2146263#Comment_2146263

arcspark

Well, now it gets interesting....my thought was a question...how can the air “fluid” move the passive blocked by polyfill, therefore it needs to be in the upper part of the box.With room for air pressure to move the pr maybe the bass would be tighter, faster, in a sense?? Keep in mind it’s all fun... thanks,arc

pkquat

If I remember correctly there are two rolls. One fits roughly behind the tweeter, and one fits roughly behind the MW with the bottom part of the MW partially exposed similar to what is shown in the last picture and thread @Gardenstater posted. What often happens is with shipping and moving and maybe just vibration over time the polyfill falls to the bottom. Polyfill is used to make the cabinet appear larger to the speakers and PR and also dampens high frequency reflections in the cabinet a little. When I moved mine the bass was a little richer and the mid range a little more subdued but better sounding.