Polk Monitor 10

70383roadrunner
70383roadrunner Posts: 12
in Vintage Speakers
You bet I scooped them up for $100 today and I just joined the forum. Looking foreward to the discussions. This is my first set of Polks. Will be driving them with a Carver M1.5t and also an M500t in rotation.

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  • SeleniumFalcon
    SeleniumFalcon Posts: 3,764
    Hello,
    Welcome to Polk's forum! Those two tweeter protection fuses look to be a bit too large in value for that application. They should be 1.0 ampere fast blow fuses.
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  • bcwsrt
    bcwsrt Posts: 1,877
    First things, first. Do you actually have a ‘70 383 Road Runner?

    If so, let’s see some pics of that, too!

    10Bs were my first Polks, also, though that was back in the day.

    Welcome to the forum.

    Brian

    One-owner Polk Audio RTA 15TL speakers refreshed w/ Sonicap, Vishay/Mills and Cardas components by "pitdogg2," "xschop" billet tweeter plates and BH5 | Stereo REL Acoustics T/5x subwoofers w/ Bassline Blue cables | Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum III integrated tube amp | Technics SL-1210G turntable w/ Ortofon 2M Black LVB 250 MM cart | Sony CDP-508ESD CD player (as a transport) | LampizatOr Baltic 4 tube DAC | Nordost & DH Labs cables/interconnects | APC H15 Power Conditioner | GIK Acoustics room treatments | Degritter RCM
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  • 70383roadrunner
    70383roadrunner Posts: 12
    SeleniumFalcon wrote: »
    Hello,
    Welcome to Polk's forum! Those two tweeter protection fuses look to be a bit too large in value for that application. They should be 1.0 ampere fast blow fuses.

    Thanks. Let me check the value.
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  • 70383roadrunner
    70383roadrunner Posts: 12
    bcwsrt wrote: »
    First things, first. Do you actually have a ‘70 383 Road Runner?

    If so, let’s see some pics of that, too!

    10Bs were my first Polks, also, though that was back in the day.

    Welcome to the forum.

    Yes. I did have a 70 383 Roadrunner I completely restored and sold about 5 years ago. I'll have to find the pics.

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  • 70383roadrunner
    70383roadrunner Posts: 12
    SeleniumFalcon wrote: »
    Hello,
    Welcome to Polk's forum! Those two tweeter protection fuses look to be a bit too large in value for that application. They should be 1.0 ampere fast blow fuses.

    Just checked. Both fuses are 1A 250 volt quick blow.
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  • SeleniumFalcon
    SeleniumFalcon Posts: 3,764
    Good, that's fine.
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  • Gardenstater
    Gardenstater Posts: 4,458
    edited October 2023
    Those look like circa 1979. How do they sound? How big of a slush fund do you have for crossover mods etc.?

    Check the MWs for any voice coil rubbing. They are prone to it and oftentimes the reason is magnet assembly glue slippage. The speaker on the left has had it's MWs rotated 180deg from the way they left Polk factory, which was always with the tinsel leads towards the bottom.
    George / NJ

    Polk 7B main speakers, std. mods+ (1979, orig owner)
    Martin Logan Dynamo sub w/6ft 14awg Power Cord
    Onkyo A-8017 integrated
    Logitech Squeezebox Touch Streamer w/EDO applet
    iFi nano iDSD DAC
    iPurifier3
    iDefender w/ iPower PS
    Custom Steve Wilson 1m UPOCC Interconnect
    iFi Mercury 0.5m OFHC continuous cast copper USB cable
    Custom Ribbon Speaker Cables, 5ft long, 4N Copper, 14awg, ultra low inductance
    Custom Vibration Isolation Speaker Stands and Sub Platform
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  • 70383roadrunner
    70383roadrunner Posts: 12
    Gardenstater wrote: »
    Those look like circa 1979. How do they sound? How big of a slush fund do you have for crossover mods etc.?

    Check the MWs for any voice coil rubbing. They are prone to it and oftentimes the reason is magnet assembly glue slippage. The speaker on the left has had it's MWs rotated 180deg from the way they left Polk factory, which was always with the tinsel leads towards the bottom.

    I just noticed that from you mentioning that. Is that a bad thing they were rotated? I'm new to this. I just picked them up. I don't plan on any mods yet Dont know enough about what should be done. You can fill me in.
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  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 25,413
    Welcome aboard
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  • Gardenstater
    Gardenstater Posts: 4,458
    70383roadrunner wrote: »
    Gardenstater wrote: »
    Those look like circa 1979. How do they sound? How big of a slush fund do you have for crossover mods etc.?

    Check the MWs for any voice coil rubbing. They are prone to it and oftentimes the reason is magnet assembly glue slippage. The speaker on the left has had it's MWs rotated 180deg from the way they left Polk factory, which was always with the tinsel leads towards the bottom.

    I just noticed that from you mentioning that. Is that a bad thing they were rotated? I'm new to this. I just picked them up. I don't plan on any mods yet Dont know enough about what should be done. You can fill me in.

    It isn't bad per se, just that sometimes when a voice coil starts to rub it can be ameliorated or fixed by rotating the driver 180 deg so that gravity helps out.
    George / NJ

    Polk 7B main speakers, std. mods+ (1979, orig owner)
    Martin Logan Dynamo sub w/6ft 14awg Power Cord
    Onkyo A-8017 integrated
    Logitech Squeezebox Touch Streamer w/EDO applet
    iFi nano iDSD DAC
    iPurifier3
    iDefender w/ iPower PS
    Custom Steve Wilson 1m UPOCC Interconnect
    iFi Mercury 0.5m OFHC continuous cast copper USB cable
    Custom Ribbon Speaker Cables, 5ft long, 4N Copper, 14awg, ultra low inductance
    Custom Vibration Isolation Speaker Stands and Sub Platform
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  • 70383roadrunner
    70383roadrunner Posts: 12
    Gardenstater wrote: »
    70383roadrunner wrote: »
    Gardenstater wrote: »
    Those look like circa 1979. How do they sound? How big of a slush fund do you have for crossover mods etc.?

    Check the MWs for any voice coil rubbing. They are prone to it and oftentimes the reason is magnet assembly glue slippage. The speaker on the left has had it's MWs rotated 180deg from the way they left Polk factory, which was always with the tinsel leads towards the bottom.

    I just noticed that from you mentioning that. Is that a bad thing they were rotated? I'm new to this. I just picked them up. I don't plan on any mods yet Dont know enough about what should be done. You can fill me in.

    It isn't bad per se, just that sometimes when a voice coil starts to rub it can be ameliorated or fixed by rotating the driver 180 deg so that gravity helps out.

    So how can you tell that it was rubbing. I'm new to this. So should I rotate the other one to match?
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,500
    Oh Lord...ignore the fear mongering. If a voice coil is rubbing you'll know it.
    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

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  • Gardenstater
    Gardenstater Posts: 4,458
    70383roadrunner wrote: »
    Gardenstater wrote: »
    70383roadrunner wrote: »
    Gardenstater wrote: »
    Those look like circa 1979. How do they sound? How big of a slush fund do you have for crossover mods etc.?

    Check the MWs for any voice coil rubbing. They are prone to it and oftentimes the reason is magnet assembly glue slippage. The speaker on the left has had it's MWs rotated 180deg from the way they left Polk factory, which was always with the tinsel leads towards the bottom.

    I just noticed that from you mentioning that. Is that a bad thing they were rotated? I'm new to this. I just picked them up. I don't plan on any mods yet Dont know enough about what should be done. You can fill me in.

    It isn't bad per se, just that sometimes when a voice coil starts to rub it can be ameliorated or fixed by rotating the driver 180 deg so that gravity helps out.

    So how can you tell that it was rubbing. I'm new to this. So should I rotate the other one to match?

    Nope. Just listen to them and enjoy them. You stole them by the way :)

    The way to check for rubbing is to evenly space your fingers around the perimeter of the dust cap and gently push in evenly and listen/feel for any rubbing. Another thing you can do is to gently push in on the passive radiator and make sure all the drivers move in and out freely and quietly.
    George / NJ

    Polk 7B main speakers, std. mods+ (1979, orig owner)
    Martin Logan Dynamo sub w/6ft 14awg Power Cord
    Onkyo A-8017 integrated
    Logitech Squeezebox Touch Streamer w/EDO applet
    iFi nano iDSD DAC
    iPurifier3
    iDefender w/ iPower PS
    Custom Steve Wilson 1m UPOCC Interconnect
    iFi Mercury 0.5m OFHC continuous cast copper USB cable
    Custom Ribbon Speaker Cables, 5ft long, 4N Copper, 14awg, ultra low inductance
    Custom Vibration Isolation Speaker Stands and Sub Platform
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  • joebass3
    joebass3 Posts: 283
    Gardenstater wrote: »
    The speaker on the left has had it's MWs rotated 180deg from the way they left Polk factory, which was always with the tinsel leads towards the bottom.

    I agree that the left speaker MW's were rotated on his, but just wanted to mention that not all Monitor 10's had the tinsel leads at the bottom. I've seen many (including mine) that are positioned at 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock for the left and right MW.
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,500
    I bet they left the factory that way due to being installed after a Friday fun lunch.
    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

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  • xschop
    xschop Posts: 5,000
    Polk factory BYOB day?
    Don't take experimental gene therapies from known eugenicists.
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  • 70383roadrunner
    70383roadrunner Posts: 12
    joebass3 wrote: »
    Gardenstater wrote: »
    The speaker on the left has had it's MWs rotated 180deg from the way they left Polk factory, which was always with the tinsel leads towards the bottom.

    I agree that the left speaker MW's were rotated on his, but just wanted to mention that not all Monitor 10's had the tinsel leads at the bottom. I've seen many (including mine) that are positioned at 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock for the left and right MW.

    I've seen numerous pairs of them on ebay with the 3 and 9 o'clock position.
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  • Gardenstater
    Gardenstater Posts: 4,458
    70383roadrunner wrote: »
    joebass3 wrote: »
    Gardenstater wrote: »
    The speaker on the left has had it's MWs rotated 180deg from the way they left Polk factory, which was always with the tinsel leads towards the bottom.

    I agree that the left speaker MW's were rotated on his, but just wanted to mention that not all Monitor 10's had the tinsel leads at the bottom. I've seen many (including mine) that are positioned at 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock for the left and right MW.

    I've seen numerous pairs of them on ebay with the 3 and 9 o'clock position.

    So have I. The MW6500s had VERY tight voice coil clearances that required precision assembly. Polk opened up the clearance between the OD of the voice coil and the ID of the base plate in later models. I think they were aware of the issue. This change meant they had to make up for loss of flux density due to the larger gap by adjusting other parameters of the design like magnet size and voice coil windings.
    George / NJ

    Polk 7B main speakers, std. mods+ (1979, orig owner)
    Martin Logan Dynamo sub w/6ft 14awg Power Cord
    Onkyo A-8017 integrated
    Logitech Squeezebox Touch Streamer w/EDO applet
    iFi nano iDSD DAC
    iPurifier3
    iDefender w/ iPower PS
    Custom Steve Wilson 1m UPOCC Interconnect
    iFi Mercury 0.5m OFHC continuous cast copper USB cable
    Custom Ribbon Speaker Cables, 5ft long, 4N Copper, 14awg, ultra low inductance
    Custom Vibration Isolation Speaker Stands and Sub Platform
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  • Gardenstater
    Gardenstater Posts: 4,458
    joebass3 wrote: »
    Gardenstater wrote: »
    The speaker on the left has had it's MWs rotated 180deg from the way they left Polk factory, which was always with the tinsel leads towards the bottom.

    I agree that the left speaker MW's were rotated on his, but just wanted to mention that not all Monitor 10's had the tinsel leads at the bottom. I've seen many (including mine) that are positioned at 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock for the left and right MW.

    Oh, so yours came that way from Polk?
    George / NJ

    Polk 7B main speakers, std. mods+ (1979, orig owner)
    Martin Logan Dynamo sub w/6ft 14awg Power Cord
    Onkyo A-8017 integrated
    Logitech Squeezebox Touch Streamer w/EDO applet
    iFi nano iDSD DAC
    iPurifier3
    iDefender w/ iPower PS
    Custom Steve Wilson 1m UPOCC Interconnect
    iFi Mercury 0.5m OFHC continuous cast copper USB cable
    Custom Ribbon Speaker Cables, 5ft long, 4N Copper, 14awg, ultra low inductance
    Custom Vibration Isolation Speaker Stands and Sub Platform
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  • joebass3
    joebass3 Posts: 283
    Gardenstater wrote: »
    Oh, so yours came that way from Polk?

    I didn't buy them new but looking at some Polk sales literature I'm thinking that's how they were assembled.
    rjsaz5z0rp7c.jpg

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  • Gardenstater
    Gardenstater Posts: 4,458
    edited October 2023
    Nice sleuthing! Maybe they started doing that in the 10B on purpose? Those terminal strips do occlude the window in the basket to some degree and this way it blocks some (admittedly) small amount of the internal wave that goes from cone to cone but maximizes the wave that goes from MWs to passive? Angle of incidence = angle of reflection.

    PS - just remembered that the Monitor 10 has a brace between the MWs, but this would be reflective back at the given MWs cone.
    George / NJ

    Polk 7B main speakers, std. mods+ (1979, orig owner)
    Martin Logan Dynamo sub w/6ft 14awg Power Cord
    Onkyo A-8017 integrated
    Logitech Squeezebox Touch Streamer w/EDO applet
    iFi nano iDSD DAC
    iPurifier3
    iDefender w/ iPower PS
    Custom Steve Wilson 1m UPOCC Interconnect
    iFi Mercury 0.5m OFHC continuous cast copper USB cable
    Custom Ribbon Speaker Cables, 5ft long, 4N Copper, 14awg, ultra low inductance
    Custom Vibration Isolation Speaker Stands and Sub Platform
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  • ratpin
    ratpin Posts: 85
    One of the issues I found with my early M-10 is that gray surround piece on the front of the basket hinders the screws from coming out cleanly without damaging the gray piece (at least on mine) For this reason they are the only MW's I own that I did not add glue to the magnets. You should be able to tell if those drivers were removed by checking the gray rings for damage near the screws.

    Polk: / SDA-CRS / SDA-1C / M-10B / M-7B / M-5 / M-5jr / RTA-11T / LSIM703 / LSIM704 / LSIM706 / RTI8 / CSI3 / CSI5 / RTI4 / RTI-A5 / CSI-A6 / RC80i / RC85i / RC6s / PSW300 / Atrium6 / Atrium4 / About a dozen pair of Atrium45 lol.
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  • ratpin
    ratpin Posts: 85
    uhgcgbn67qye.jpg
    Polk: / SDA-CRS / SDA-1C / M-10B / M-7B / M-5 / M-5jr / RTA-11T / LSIM703 / LSIM704 / LSIM706 / RTI8 / CSI3 / CSI5 / RTI4 / RTI-A5 / CSI-A6 / RC80i / RC85i / RC6s / PSW300 / Atrium6 / Atrium4 / About a dozen pair of Atrium45 lol.
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  • Tony M
    Tony M Posts: 11,146
    Welcome to the forum.

    Your exact model of the Monitor 10's got me hooked on Polk Audio the first minute I heard them being powered by a Luxman 1030 receiver. I loved them so much, I quickly went on eBay and bought a second pair. That was 15 to 20 years ago. :D

    I've since moved up to Polk SDA models of various sizes.

    These earlier Polk speakers sound GREAT with Carver amps.

    You're in for a treat.

    I just let a guy hear my pair that's hooked up to an older JVC powerful receiver. He smiled and loved the set-up / pairing.

    I play my 10's at least once a week. I REALLY LOVE THEIR SOUND!

    Congrats on you getting them for 100. B) They look new like mine does.

    Glue those magnets asap.

    Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them.
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  • tommch
    tommch Posts: 12
    OK I have to ask... where on earth did you find them for $100? You got a heck of a deal, they look great for their age.
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  • xschop
    xschop Posts: 5,000
    I would like to hear a set of 10's that had the lobing issue addressed without converting them to SDA's.
    Don't take experimental gene therapies from known eugenicists.
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  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 25,413
    Those are called monitor 11
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  • xschop
    xschop Posts: 5,000
    I imagine the 11's are rare compared to 10's.
    I'll say it again, the only great sounding set of 10's I've heard were converted to SDA's. But that doesn't mean a @westmassguy modded set of factory 10's wouldn't sound very good with the lobing issue nixed.
    Don't take experimental gene therapies from known eugenicists.
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  • Gardenstater
    Gardenstater Posts: 4,458
    MTM redesigned tower enclosure with the PR on the side. Someone with CNC access could make a flat pack and have a little mail order business perhaps.
    George / NJ

    Polk 7B main speakers, std. mods+ (1979, orig owner)
    Martin Logan Dynamo sub w/6ft 14awg Power Cord
    Onkyo A-8017 integrated
    Logitech Squeezebox Touch Streamer w/EDO applet
    iFi nano iDSD DAC
    iPurifier3
    iDefender w/ iPower PS
    Custom Steve Wilson 1m UPOCC Interconnect
    iFi Mercury 0.5m OFHC continuous cast copper USB cable
    Custom Ribbon Speaker Cables, 5ft long, 4N Copper, 14awg, ultra low inductance
    Custom Vibration Isolation Speaker Stands and Sub Platform
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 25,413
    Personally I've never been a fan of the woofer or passive on the side of a tower. They never sounded right to my ears. I've heard a number of those designs and just something about them seemed out of place.
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