Monitor 70 Tweeters

Sciotto

Hi, I've had my Monitor 70's since 2005 and have blown the tweeters 3 times now. I'm running them on an Onkyo 8511 receiver. They sound great when the tweeters are working. But, I'm concerned that when the warranty runs out, I'll have these great speakers with no tweeters. What can I do?

Thanks
Sciotto

Ern Dog

Interesting.
I ran my monitor 70's for a couple years on an Onkyo 502, 75 WPC and never had a problem.

How hard are you playing them? Ever play loud enough to hear distortion?

Sciotto

I do play them pretty loud. I'm no audiophile, but I haven't noticed any distortion.

Ern Dog

You aren't the only one. If you read some of the customer reviews on the Polk product page you'll notice that others also have had this problem with the tweeters blowin' out. Maybe it's time to sell the 70's and upgrade.

RuSsMaN

A. Turn it down

2. Get a better, high current amp

D. Buy a substantially more efficient speaker for your application (or lack thereof)

Cheers,
Russ

'Clipping' is your word of the day. Search. Read. Learn.

jayman_1975

I have the 70's and have also had a tweeter crap out on me while running off an avr only. Since i added my Rotel RB1070 i can crank those puppies up as loud as i want with zero distortion and no blown tweeter. My advise...get a 2 channel amp and be done with it. You will be amazed at how good your 70's will sound with more power, IMO they shouldn't be run off an avr if you listen at high levels.

F1nut

'Clipping' is your word of the day. Search. Read. Learn.

Bingo!

Sciotto

Message received on clipping. Apparently my onkyo does not have a powerful enough amp. I would I integrate an amplifer into the system?

Old and stuupid Sciotto

F1nut

If you are asking if adding a separate amp will help, yes.

Schwingding

I don't want to insult anyone, but I suspect that people who buy the larger Monitor series tend to skimp on the components required to run them. Why do I suspect this? I was one of them. They're large, inefficient speakers. They are also relatively inexpensive, and available at big box stores. That is exactly why I bought a pair! But then with cost cutting in mind, I also neglected to provide them with what they need to run at loud levels - proper amplification, instead relying on a high end receiver. I blew a tweeter.

I then upgraded a couple of times - speakers that is. I blew a tweeter in a RTi10. I knew it was due to clipping, I honestly knew it. So then I bought a separate amp - an Adcom 545. No more clipping, better sound, and no more blown tweeters. Now I have separate amps for all 5 speakers, Outlaw 2200 monoblocks. I have zero fears of blowing tweeters in any of them, and am able to play them much more loudly and with greater performance than ever before. Those Monitor 70s are power hungry, inefficient speakers. You need to feed them properly. Properly powered, they will sound even better to you.

Yes, you have a few options - turn down the sound, buy a separate amp, buy a more efficient speaker, or any combination of the three.

Incidentally, "inefficient", while sounding bad when you read it, does not mean necessarily that the speakers will sound bad, just that they take more power to run at a particular sound level. The RTi10s are technically less efficient than the Monitor 70s, by 1 db.

mutelight

I have had my Monitor 70s for about a year now and when I watch some movies or have friends over and we are drunk we will absolutely crank the volume and sing along to songs. However I haven't heard any audible distortion nor have I blown any tweeters. I have them bi-wired so they are receiving 240 peak watts per speaker. My receiver is fairly powerful, do you think I will be alright or should I tone it down a little?

zombie boy 2000

Yes.... I think you and your friends should tone it down.












I'm trying to sleep over here:D

mutelight

Haha, will do man, sorry about that.

Schwingding

Mute, the problem with "loud" is that it is subjective. The same speaker load in a small room will not sound as "loud" as that in a large one, and the same thing that sounds loud to my wife is barely even enjoyable to me.

Incidentally, the same speaker, the left front, was always the one to blow with my AVR driving them. Makes me wonder what if anything is different about the internal amp driving that particular channel.

FicmanS

Had my 70's almost 11 months now, I really think I gave them a good 100 hour gentle break in. In the last few months I've hit them pretty hard no tweeter issues here. I read in several threads about taking it easy on these tweeters in the forums, I've really put the heat to those speakers a few times recently without any problems... Break in time seems to have paid for me...

70's seem to get beat up often, I've been very happy with mine...

zombie boy 2000

I think it's an underrated speaker.... and certainly takes more flaming than it deserves.

jayman_1975

I used to like 5 channel stereo until i put my Rotel amp on my 70's. Now there's nothin but 2 channel music for me.