1st post / intro and thanks!
ChiGuy
Posts: 27
I officially joined the forum in January 2020 but I was a guest visitor before that searching the forum reading and gathering information as I worked to put my “vintage” system back together. I bought my first stereo back in 1976 when I was 20. It was a Marantz 2240 receiver , Large Advent Loudspeakers and a B&O turntable. It came to college with me, followed me as I got married, moved in our first apartment and then to our first home. Unfortunately, my wife wasn’t keen on the large speakers and wanted something smaller. I checked out different speakers I could afford at the time and really liked the sound of the Polk Monitors but because of WAF based size constraints I purchased a pair of Polk Monitor 5jr (ported version). I figured I could always add a subwoofer to make up for bass I was missing from the Advents.
Fast forward 30 years or so and we decide to downsize to a townhouse. Time to purge so I sold my NAD gear that I had acquired along with the Advents with the plan to get new audio gear. However I kept my Marantz receiver, Polk Monitor 5jr’s and B&O turntable because of their sentimental value. The new townhouse had 5.1 surround sound speakers installed in the basement family room so I bought a Marantz 7.1 AVR and hooked them up as well as my small Polk Monitors for a separate 2 channel system streaming music from an Amazon Echo Dot!
A few years ago, I got the audio itch again and decided to get my old Marantz receiver out of storage. I had it serviced and started using it for my 2 channel system with the Polk Monitor 5 jrs. Then I started looking for new speakers. I read reviews and went out and listened to Elac’s, Monitor Audio, Wharfedale and others. I really liked the Wharfedale Diamond 225’s but in the end I couldn’t decide what to get next. I kept coming back to the fact that I liked how the Polk Monitor’s sounded and I really wanted to keep it a vintage system, so I started reading about getting the crossovers of my Monitor 5 jrs recapped. I reached out to Dave at DHS and we discussed some upgrade options. However after doing some research on the Polk forum, I decided that if I was going to upgrade XO’s I should try to get one of the larger and more esteemed Monitor speakers to do it on. I had my sights on Monitor 7’s with the Peerless tweeter however not many came up anywhere near me. If they did, they were short lived.
I retired in December 2020 and decided to get back into vinyl. I pulled the two boxes of records I saved along with my B&O turntable out of storage and started down a new “old” path. I bought a new belt and a new Soundsmith cartridge for my old B&O.
I subscribed to the Vintage Monitor and SDA Speaker Deals thread on this forum and scoured ads on Craigslist and Offerup . I was able to find a pair of Monitor 10’s with Peerless tweeters on Craigslist that were modified (recapped with Dayton 1%, magnets glued and Dynamat installed). I decided to drive the 2.5 hrs one way to pick them up. They weren’t perfect as a couple of the mid woofers had been replaced and didn’t look like the original PR but they sounded great. I saw several posts about making stands for them so I built a set.
However, I kept looking for any new Monitor listings. Then a couple of weeks ago I saw a post on the thread I subscribed to from wispolkboy about some Monitor 7’s with Peerless tweeters that were listed on Craigslist. I checked out the link and saw that they were located close to me. I knew I didn’t really need another set of speakers, but these were exactly what I had been looking for and they don’t come up very often. So, I contacted the seller (and original owner) and decided to make the 1.5 hr drive the next day to see them. I’m happy to say that I’m now a proud owner of a really nice pair of Monitor 7’s along with the original stands.
As a result of my “win” I felt I had to move off the sidelines and make a post to thank all of you that share your knowledge and experience on this forum and to those of you that update the Vintage Monitor and SDA Speaker Deal thread with good finds. I know it helped me on my renewed audio journey!
Thanks!
Comments
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Great first post, welcome to the forum.
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Welcome to the JUNGLE
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Now, THAT's an introduction! Hello and please allow me to offer you a very warm welcome to the Polk forum.
Tom~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~ -
Welcome 1st post. Very nice speakers. How do they sound to you? Many here enjoy the peerless tweeters. Marantz & vintage Polks pair well IMO...
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Great first post, welcome to the forum.Welcome to the JUNGLENow, THAT's an introduction! Hello and please allow me to offer you a very warm welcome to the Polk forum.
Tom
Thanks for welcoming me!
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boston1450 wrote: »Welcome 1st post. Very nice speakers. How do they sound to you? Many here enjoy the peerless tweeters. Marantz & vintage Polks pair well IMO.
Thanks Randy,
I’m really enjoying them. I can play them for hours, and I do, without any fatigue! The combination sounds great to me but, then again, I don’t have a lot to compare them to. Currently the 2240 is the only amplification I have. I did set them up next to the Monitor 10’s I have and will do some speaker family comparisons!
I’d like to put together a “modern” system with a new amp and preamp and some new speakers. The crazy part of this hobby that I’ll have to balance, at least for me, is the gear /system building vs just listening and enjoying music. I’d love to try high efficiency speakers and tube amps or Magnepan speakers and high power amps. In the mean time I’ll just sit back and listen to more music!
Regards,
Don
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Welcome to Club Polk
You can also simplify and use an integrated amp eliminating interconnects
With what you want to play with a nice integrated tube that will with efficient all the way to Maggie 1.7 is a Black Ice F22 or even better F35....holler at Walter at Underwood hifi, he'll better than anyone's deals.
I own a Jolida 801BRC with 6550's and have played in that realm of high to low efficient speakers with the 801. Black Ice is what used to be Jolida. I like 6550 tubes as the bass IMHO is better than the EL34.
If Solid state you could go a whole realm but what comes to mind is the Parasound Hint 6.
--Ron2-channel: Modwright KWI-200 Integrated, Dynaudio C1-II Signatures
Desktop rig: LSi7, Polk 110sub, Dayens Ampino amp, W4S DAC/pre, Sonos, JRiver
Gear on standby: Melody 101 tube pre, Unison Research Simply Italy Integrated
Gone to new homes: (Matt Polk's)Threshold Stasis SA12e monoblocks, Pass XA30.5 amp, Usher MD2 speakers, Dynaudio C4 platinum speakers, Modwright LS100 (voltz), Simaudio 780D DAC
erat interfectorem cesar et **** dictatorem dicere a -
Welcome to Club Polk! Now the journey really begins. Great bunch of people here.Gustard X26 Pro DAC
Belles 21A Pre modded with Mundorf Supreme caps
B&K M200 Sonata monoblocks refreshed and upgraded
Polk SDA 1C's modded / 1000Va Dreadnaught
Wireworld Silver Eclipse IC's and speaker cables
Harman Kardon T65C w/Grado Gold. (Don't laugh. It sounds great!)
There is about a 5% genetic difference between apes and men …but that difference is the difference between throwing your own poo when you are annoyed …and Einstein, Shakespeare and Miss January. by Dr. Sardonicus -
Great introduction and congrats on the 7's. Damn fine speaker!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
