Original Owner Of Monitor 5JR Plus

melchionda

Hello folks. Back in the mid nineteen eighties I was in high school and I had two hobbies. Riding bikes and high end audio equipment. On weekends I did yard work in my neighborhood to make money two fund both of those hobbies. I saved my money and bought a pair of Polk Monitor 5 Jr + speakers at Audio Breakthroughs in Manhasset on Long Island NY. I took those speakers up to college and then out to California where I now live. They are in great shape but probably need an upgrade. I'll probably do the recommended tweeter replacement as everyone seems to recommend that. Also I'll re-do the cross-over with new higher quality parts. Any other recommendations? How about the veneer? Is there a way to re-do veneer? What about lining the interior with a layer of foam. Does that help?

plastic_avatar

Oh man!

Check out my thread for links to mods you can do!

https://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/comment/2704595#Comment_2704595

plastic_avatar

And welcome!

5jr were my first Polks (same age range as you, I am), but didn't get mine until about 2000-2002.

You'll quickly learn that there's a great deal of info and help here.

F1nut

melchionda wrote: »

Hello folks. Back in the mid nineteen eighties I was in high school and I had two hobbies. Riding bikes and high end audio equipment. On weekends I did yard work in my neighborhood to make money two fund both of those hobbies. I saved my money and bought a pair of Polk Monitor 5 Jr + speakers at Audio Breakthroughs in Manhasset on Long Island NY. I took those speakers up to college and then out to California where I now live. They are in great shape but probably need an upgrade. I'll probably do the recommended tweeter replacement as everyone seems to recommend that. Also I'll re-do the cross-over with new higher quality parts. Any other recommendations? How about the veneer? Is there a way to re-do veneer? What about lining the interior with a layer of foam. Does that help?

Are they wood veneer or vinyl?

Do NOT line the interior with foam.

Do NOT bother looking at the link posted above, it's full of really bad ideas.

Clipdat

Welcome to the forum! Looking forward to following along on your 5JR mod/upgrade progress.

xschop

Rick James would approve.

melchionda

F1nut wrote: »

melchionda wrote: »

Hello folks. Back in the mid nineteen eighties I was in high school and I had two hobbies. Riding bikes and high end audio equipment. On weekends I did yard work in my neighborhood to make money two fund both of those hobbies. I saved my money and bought a pair of Polk Monitor 5 Jr + speakers at Audio Breakthroughs in Manhasset on Long Island NY. I took those speakers up to college and then out to California where I now live. They are in great shape but probably need an upgrade. I'll probably do the recommended tweeter replacement as everyone seems to recommend that. Also I'll re-do the cross-over with new higher quality parts. Any other recommendations? How about the veneer? Is there a way to re-do veneer? What about lining the interior with a layer of foam. Does that help?

Are they wood veneer or vinyl?

Do NOT line the interior with foam.

Do NOT bother looking at the link posted above, it's full of really bad ideas.

melchionda

[/quote]

Are they wood veneer or vinyl?


[/quote]


When I bought them I had the choice of walnut or black. The black had the same texture as the walnut except it was black in color. How can you tell if it’s wood or vinyl veneer?

pitdogg2

Post a picture of them. From the sounds of it, it sounds like vinyl. You can tell wood from a vinyl pretty easily.

F1nut

One way is to follow the grain pattern up from the side to over the top. Vinyl will look like one continuous pattern as the planes change.

melchionda

I'm thinking that the first two upgrades will be replace the tweeter and the crossover. However it looks like if I am going to re-do the crossover I should probably modify it to use the RDO-198 tweeter as that is preferable to the RDO-194. Is there a parts list and schematic for the crossover that I can reference?

Gardenstater

In the vintage speakers section. The first one is for the SL2500 tweeter, which the RD0198 is the upgrade/replacement for. Surprising that it seems like all they did is change the 12uF cap to a 13.5uF one, and jumper out (eliminate) the polyswitch. The inductors are the same values but you need to check the wire awg because that will effect the DC resistance. They are probably the same but who knows?

https://us.v-cdn.net/5021930/uploads/attachments/4/6/7/2/8/18771.pdf

https://us.v-cdn.net/5021930/uploads/attachments/4/6/7/2/8/18770.pdf

melchionda

I'm looking for crossover components. Is parts express the best place? I'm going through the trouble of doing the work so I'm looking for quality stuff.

Questions:

1.) For the capacitors what is the spec on the volts that I should look for? Also, I assume that I should do a metalized polypropelene?

2.) For the resistor.... what am I looking for? wire wound? non inductive? etc?

3.) The coil at .19mH and 22awg doesn't seem to be available at parts express. Any other places to get them?

F1nut

Sonic Craft or Parts Connexion.

Voltage will always be higher with film caps, which is perfectly fine.

Wire wound, non-inductive. Mills are nice.

Inductors often have to be custom ordered.

Gardenstater

The only reason to replace your coil would be if the one in your speakers isn't 22awg. If you have a dial caliper you can measure the diameter of the wire. 22awg would be .0253"

https://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm

If you have a spool of known 22awg that is solid wire (not stranded), you could use an adjustable wrench to check if they are the same sizes, if you don't have a caliper.

melchionda

For the resistor what wattage should I get? Looks like they come in 2.5, 5 and 10 watt.

pitdogg2

10 or 12 watt resistors. Cheap insurance over stock 5w

melchionda

Hi... I have three questions today..

1.) Which speaker to you think that this actually is? I always thought that I had the Monitor 5 Jr+. However the name plate on the back says "Monitor 5JR"

2.) I'm considering re-doing this veneer. I'm guessing that this is actually not wood veneer but rather vinyl veneer? I'm thinking its vinyl because the grain is continuous around the corner of the cabinet and because in the corner where it is damaged the cross section of the outer layer appears to be black all the way through and does not appear to be wood.

3.) What is the best way to remove the vinyl veneer? I have a heat gun and so was thinking of attempting to use heat to release the glue so I could peel off the veneer. Anyone else removed the vinyl veneer? Whats the best way to attack that?

xschop

I used a heat gun on a few sets of 5Jrs with good results. Those feet are not original

F1nut

5jr.

Why are there feet on the side of the cabinet?

Use a heat gun. Start at a rear edge, heat small areas at a time, pull the vinyl off. It is a PITA.

pitdogg2

I was under the impresssion the 5jr+ had the 6.5" passive and the 5jr had the port.

Gardenstater

5jr+ first appeared in Audio Oct 1987 Equipment Buyer's Guide and was with the passive radiator. All the 5jr (not 5jr+) listings in years prior had the port, at least according to the EBGs.

F1nut

pitdogg2 wrote: »

I was under the impresssion the 5jr+ had the 6.5" passive and the 5jr had the port.

I defer, not really familiar with that model.

xschop

pitdogg2 wrote: »

I was under the impresssion the 5jr+ had the 6.5" passive and the 5jr had the port.

Yep

You can score the edges with a sharp blade or hit them with a belt sander, then burn those edges quickly with a flame so the material lifts off, then the heat gun will be easy to take off the rest.

F1nut

A belt sander!?! HELL NO!!!

Just use heat gun, start at a rear edge with a putty knife to start to lift the vinyl. Once you get it started heat small areas and pull on the vinyl by hand. Repeat until skinned.

wispolkboy

^^^^This^^^
that's what worked for me...

xschop

I suggested the belt sander just to score the edges as I have found that the adhesive/vinyl to be tougher near corners to remove. To each his own method.

melchionda

xschop wrote: »

I used a heat gun on a few sets of 5Jrs with good results. Those feet are not original

yes. I put the feet on because I’ve had to have these sitting on their side on a ledge in my previous house.

msg

I removed the vinyl on some RTA/Monitor 11Ts with a heat gun and scraper.
It was, indeed, a pita, but the heat gun makes it easy.

Might want to think about wearing some glubs. That vinyl gets hot. The pulling might not be as big a deal on the 5JR+ vs something bigger, but easy to get blisters with this job.

melchionda

Has anyone tried an iron with maybe a thin piece of cloth between the iron and the vinyl surface? I was thinking maybe an iron could heat the vinyl faster than the heat gun.

msg

Might work. I read about using an iron for applying veneer, but not removing the vinyl.

One thing I noticed with the heat gun is that there's a range of optimal heat. Too little and the vinyl won't lift. Too much, and it becomes too soft and just stretches and tears easily - pretty much that it's getting close to melting.