North Jersey Speaker Restore

shaun928

Hi Everyone! I hope this is an appropriate place to post this. I joined the forum because I'm looking for someone in the North Jersey area who can more or less restore a pair of Polk Monitor 10s. They are my father's and he adores them, but he's got a blown tweeter (I believe the sl1000? the silver-faced tweeter with diagonal leads) and the cabinets are in rough shape (mom is not having them in the living room as-is!). I thought it would be a nice surprise for my dad if we could have them restored. Are any forum members aware of someone in the North Jersey area (maybe you!) that does this work? He lives in Sussex County, in Vernon. Thanks!

boston1450

Question . Does that model have fuse on back of cabinet & is it working properly ? If tweeter in 1 cabinet works - try swapping tweeters around to make sure tweeter IS bad.... eBay may be your friend

Gardenstater

Sounds like a great present for your Dad. Might get expensive to have someone else do it however, since that sort of work is detailed and fussy. Veneering I mean. Throw up some pictures for more comments.

shaun928

Thanks guys! I do believe his speakers have a fuse on the back (going from memory, I live a few hours away from my folks, so I don't really have pictures of them either). So, it's possible that a blown fuse would disable signal to the tweeter? I'll ask him to swap them and see. The veneer is the main issue preventing him from listening, since mom won't let them in the living room (they survived a house fire around a decade ago and suffered water damage as a result, so there is lots of cracking and peeling), and I figured the caps were probably due for a refresh.

My other option is to simply give him my Monitor 10s that I picked up earlier this week for a measly $70 in phenomenal condition, but I'm loving them and not ready to let them go!

SeleniumFalcon

Yes, that could be the reason.

boston1450

If the fuse looks good - that doesn't mean diddlysquat.. Clean the tabs with contact cleaner that holds fuse in place & work it so you know the contact is good. Polk Monitors with the fuse tabs are known for this issue.... Understand this is not always the case.

pitdogg2

boston1450 wrote: »

If the fuse looks good - that doesn't mean diddlysquat.. Clean the tabs with contact cleaner that holds fuse in place & work it so you know the contact is good. Polk Monitors with the fuse tabs are known for this issue.... Understand this is not always the case.

Along with this, the wires going to the fuse block are known for corrosion. In many instances you cannot see as its under the wire jacket. If you see green peeking out of the wire jacket it's safe to assume the internal wire is geen and sticky

Mike Reeter

I would suggest that you give your father the pair you have acquired. Bring his pair home and do some mods yourself, taking your time and make a good 'winter' project out of them.

Veneering can be fairly easy with a Peel and Stick product

https://wisewoodveneer.com/product/peel-stick-veneer-small-wood-veneer-sheets/

A good gentle cleaning of the drivers and then applying some damping to the driver baskets is an inexpensive process. The list goes on, there are numerous threads here on bringing the Old Polk Classics back to better than new condition, both physically and sonically.

When all the mods are complete, you can make the decision to return them to your dad, or keep them yourself.

They would make a very nice Heirloom

shaun928

@Mike Reeter I like your idea. I'm probably more up to the project than he is, and it'll be fun for me. It'll likely be a few months between now and the next time I visit, so I'll have some time to think on it and plan the project. Appreciate everyone's input/info on my first post here, seems like a great community!

dromunds

I concur that you should give him your pair. Then either take your time restoring his or simply be patient and wait for another minty pair to show up for sale. Patience is a virtue. If a pair of Monitor 7b come up in minty shape (with stands) grab those for yourself. M7’s were Matt Polk’s favorite in that line. The Peerless tweeters are superior.

shaun928

Took a drive up to my folks and gave my dad my minty Craigslist score. He was thrilled! I did wind up taking his older pair back with me and lo and behold, tweeters are fine and the fuse/fuse mount was indeed causing the issue. I wrapped some wire around the contacts and am enjoying listening right now (I'll probably bypass the fuse entirely when I get around to it). The grime cleaned up nicely, and although they're still in rough shape, good enough for me (and I don't have anyone living with me to object ) Still considering a redo of the veneer, but will prioritize putting some stands together first!

DaveHo

I have a pair of 10s I've been thinking of refinishing. How do you veneer the bevel at the front?

shaun928

Picture of Dad's old monitors. Just enjoying them for the time being before I consider recapping and possibly refinishing (like I said, they actually cleaned up fairly nicely! The plastic grille holders are broken off the left speaker).

Gardenstater

What manufacturing date are they? Would be dates on XO, tweeters, and MW's. I know of someone who has an 83 Monitor 7B that was exactly the same as my 79 7B except for there being an SL1000 tweeter instead of the Peerless. Same XO, same MW.

There is a strong possibility the same holds true for these 10s and you might prefer the Peerless if that's the case.

Mike Reeter

shaun928 wrote: »

Picture of Dad's old monitors. Just enjoying them for the time being before I consider recapping and possibly refinishing (like I said, they actually cleaned up fairly nicely! The plastic grille holders are broken off the left speaker).

I've used these for SDAs, prolly fit the 10's as well

https://www.parts-express.com/Heavy-Duty-Grill-Guides-12-Pair-260-367?gclid=Cj0KCQiAraSPBhDuARIsAM3Js4r0RHjebw4QPF1834YipeT3xTIZkQCkDWu1qKm72KTkXmRQ3rWOGs4aAiPaEALw_wcB

shaun928

@Gardenstater dates on the tweeters put these at 1986. I'll keep an eye out for the Peerless tweets on eBay, is the improvement that substantial?

@Mike Reeter Thank you! Definitely will order a set of those. Any tips on getting the broken off bits out of the cabinet? Was thinking they might pull out if I put a screw in them and yank with some pliers, but I'm not sure how easily they'll come out.

Gardenstater

shaun928 wrote: »

@Gardenstater dates on the tweeters put these at 1986. I'll keep an eye out for the Peerless tweets on eBay, is the improvement that substantial?

I have never heard anyone say they preferred the SL1000. I think Polk simply had to scramble to come up with something when Peerless apparently stopped manufacturing that model, for whatever unknown reason.

I'd feel more comfortable advising it if you could confirm with at least one M10 Peerless owner that your MW and XO are the same. If you had an 83 or 84 I'd say go ahead and try it. They may have had time to make some tweaks to integrate the SL1000 better. Check the date on your MW and XO when you get the chance.

Edit to add - I would also compare your XO and MW to the earliest schematic here which is dated 11/26/84.

pitdogg2

shaun928 wrote: »

@Gardenstater dates on the tweeters put these at 1986. I'll keep an eye out for the Peerless tweets on eBay, is the improvement that substantial?

@Mike Reeter Thank you! Definitely will order a set of those. Any tips on getting the broken off bits out of the cabinet? Was thinking they might pull out if I put a screw in them and yank with some pliers, but I'm not sure how easily they'll come out.

Be very careful they can be real buggers to get out. I had to use a screw and a claw hammer with a protective piece of wood so not to damage the cabinet finish. Even then some chipping around the hole occurred.