Anyone using a sub with m10?

mikebisch

What sub are you using with model 10?

odcics2

Are you talking about vintage Monitor 10 speakers? If so, none required.
Mine go down to the mid 20s.

mikebisch

Vintage monitor 10. That's what I figured, but I'm sure some nut cases use a complimentary sub to go just that much lower. If so, I was wondering what sub goes well with Monitor 10?

msg

Depending on the kind of music you like to listen to and the room size, a sub can add to the experience. If you're seriously looking for a sub and have a budget figure in mind, we can help you to select something. I'd look for a music-first sub, and depending on your front end, you may need a sub with high-level inputs, not just the RCA. Many actually prefer this connectivity for 2ch systems.

If you are set up in a smaller room, a smaller sub will work, or you may not need one at all, as has been stated. For larger spaces or difficult rooms, a sub will definitely be helpful.

mikebisch

So no one is using a sub with their monitor 10?

Tony M

I've owned a few sets and still have a pair of the 10's with Peerless tweeters.

I never had a sub while playing them. I think the bass is just right.

These Monitor 10's got me hooked on audio BIG TIME.

F1nut

odcics2 wrote: »

Are you talking about vintage Monitor 10 speakers? If so, none required.
Mine go down to the mid 20s.

Ah, no. The -3dB spec is 37Hz – 20kHz, which means below 37Hz you're getting pretty much nothing.

odcics2

Original Polk brochure below.

I played a 30 hz sine wave on my 10s and it was clearly audible without turning up the volume.

F1nut

Official Polk specs.


The much larger SDA SRS 1.2TL is rated -3dB 27Hz and SDA SRS 2.3TL is rated -3dB 30Hz.

BlueFox

There doesn't seem to be many speakers anymore rated at 6 ohms.

Gardenstater

-3dB sort of implies +0/-3dB, which is a range of 3dB. +/- 2dB is a range of 4dB. The freq responses Polk quoted often changed quite a bit for different models, I have noticed. Passive Radiator systems roll off really fast compared to Sealed Enclosure and Bass Reflex. You kind of left off the frequency response charts from that brochure, which is the same one I received when I bought my 1979 Monitor 7B's. You can see how fast the response rolls off below 30Hz. From the graph it *does* look like it goes a hair lower than 30Hz for +/- 2dB. I think a better way to assess bass response would be 3dB down from the peak of the bass curve below 100Hz. You would have to do logarithmic interpolation to be exact. It is this rolloff that you are trying to compensate for with a subwoofer. Maybe a subwoofer which has an adjustable crossover and one that rolls off equally fast would be ideal, but with a sub you are also compensating for room acoustics so it isn't that simple at all.



Edit - "controlled reverberant field environment" means to me that Polk had to get pretty creative with the room acoustics to produce these curves. YMMV would definitely apply here, I think.

Gardenstater

Julian Hirsch's review in Stereo Review Jan 1980 doesn't help much because he spliced together a calculated composite of separate mic measurements in front of each of the passive and midwoofers. He did say that it was 6dB down at 20Hz from the level at 1kHz. How about 3dB down Julian? He doesn't even show the graph!

https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Archive-HiFI-Stereo/80s/HiFi-Stereo-Review-1980-01.pdf

odcics2

Official Polk Audio brochure for original Monitor series, NOT A or B series of speakers.
Apparently, original 10 speakers go lower than B suffix speakers.

Gardenstater

Even though that brochure doesn't say so, they are probably 5A, 7B, and 10A. Or at least that is what Polk had out in Oct. 1979. Like I said, I'm an original owner of 1979 7B's and I got that very brochure when I bought my speakers in early Nov 1979. In Audio Oct 1979 (appears to be an error for 7B.....should be 33Hz not 30Hz):



Unless this is in error, you can see that the specs Polk was putting out there in 1978 for the 5, 7A, and 10 were even better still but can we believe them?:



I think Julian Hirsch reviewed the 10A but he didn't specify. From Audio Oct 1980:

odcics2

Those 1978 specs match the brochure that I attached.
Perhaps when you got your speakers, you got an older brochure?
I recently bought foam for a pair of Advent 5002 speakers on ebay.
The seller includes a cd with a 30 hz sine wave to center the VC without having to remove the dust cap for shims.
That cd plays cleanly and loudly through my 10s at normal volume regardless of what brochures say! 👍

I also have a test cd with tones from 1hz to 100 hz.
It’s interesting in that things in my room will be set off and vibrate before you can actually hear it.
My Vandersteens played down audibly to 22hz, powered by an MC275.

Gardenstater

odcics2 wrote: »

Those 1978 specs match the brochure that I attached.
Perhaps when you got your speakers, you got an older brochure?
I recently bought foam for a pair of Advent 5002 speakers on ebay.
The seller includes a cd with a 30 hz sine wave to center the VC without having to remove the dust cap for shims.
That cd plays cleanly and loudly through my 10s at normal volume regardless of what brochures say! 👍

I also have a test cd with tones from 1hz to 100 hz.
It’s interesting in that things in my room will be set off and vibrate before you can actually hear it.
My Vandersteens played down audibly to 22hz, powered by an MC275.

Nope check what I posted again. Your brochure doesn't match the 1978 specs for the 10. It *does* match the 1979 and 1980 specs for the 10A. Why do you think I got an *older* brochure? I bought my speakers in Nov 1979 and the brochure I got and the one you have matches the specs in Audio Oct 1979. Like I said they made a mistake though and the 7B is 33Hz not 30Hz.

I'm assuming you have 10A speakers (not 10). Why would it be surprising for you to hear a 30Hz tone if they are flat from 30Hz to 20.5kHz within +/-2 dB? For reference, when it comes to how the ear perceives loudness, 3dB is a subtle but definitely noticeable amount of less loudness. 1dB is said to be the smallest amount that is consistently noticeable on average for people.

Yeah it is amazing to see objects move or vibrate slightly when you can't hear anything yet. People who have been through even a mild earthquake can vouch for that.

odcics2

Here’s the numbers.

Gardenstater

I believe Polk believed in yankee thrift style of manufacturing and they used up old labels. My speakers said 7B on the box and the sales receipt but the sticker on the back just says 7. That brochure we both got doesn't even give letters but we know they weren't 5, 7 , and 10 without any letters, just by the Audio magazine evidence above. I think if you want to make sure you don't have 10A's you should look at the dates on the crossovers and MW's.

I question those freq response numbers in Audio. I mean 22Hz to 25kHz +/- 2dB? Comeon.........maybe Polk was getting a little creative in the earlier days? Maybe Audio magazine got it wrong and should be 20.5kHz and not 25kHz? Same Peerless tweeter so why would it go from 25 to 20.5 in the next year's model? Why would the bass extension go down from 22Hz to 30Hz in the next model? That's a huge change.

So much mystery always lol.

odcics2

Speaker front and crossover.

odcics2

Back of woofer. No paper label.
None found in the cabinet either!

Gardenstater

3-10.......March 10th but no year lol. You didn't say if you are the original owner or not? If that is 3-10-78 they are definitely 10's. 3-10-80 they are definitely 10A's. Another clue is that the tweeters have the hole, but I'm not sure when Polk started putting the holes in. If they didn't have the holes I'd definitely say they are 10's.

PS: You had better glue those magnets, unless that is an old photo before you did it.