Monitor 10 question from a new guy.

lonmansd1@msn.c
lonmansd1@msn.c Posts: 2
edited August 2008 in Vintage Speakers
Hi everyone,
New to the site and a first time Polk owner too...glad to be here.
I recently purchased a pair of Monitor 10's and I was curious to know if these speakers are in need of a capacitor upgrade that I've been seeing this guy sell on ebay?
Is anyone familiar with this? He states the difference is night and day and that it is a big difference in sound.
The monitor 10's sound nice mind you but I'm only driving them with a Marantz 1070 integrated amp that runs at 35wpc in 8 ohms. The 10's are 6 ohms nominal.
Does anyone think the Monitor 10's need this upgrade? Also what is the difference between the Monitor 10A, 10B or Series II.
I believe mine have the SL2000 tweeters...are they good.
Thanks for the help and any info would be greatly appreciated.
Here is the ebay link...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=260262958348&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=016

Regards,
Lonnie
Post edited by lonmansd1@msn.c on
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Comments

  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,828
    edited July 2008
    Welcome.

    It's not that upgrading your crossovers is an absolute must, but the electroylic caps are getting old and replacing them with film/foil caps will result in much better sound anyway you look at it. That said, you can do MUCH better than what that seller is offering. I would suggest you search this site for more info on both your speakers and the crossover upgrades.
    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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  • george daniel
    george daniel Posts: 12,096
    edited July 2008
    Welcome to Club Polk Lonnie. If/when you perform the tweeter upgrade, be sure to keep the "gaskets" from your old tweeters,as you will need to use them with the drop in replacement (RDO). If it were me,and I planned on keeping the speakers for any length,I would replace the tweeters and caps at some point.There are alot of people here who can help you thru this if you run into a snag. Welcome and enjoy.
    JC approves....he told me so. (F-1 nut)
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  • lonmansd1@msn.c
    lonmansd1@msn.c Posts: 2
    edited July 2008
    Thanks everyone for your kindness and quick replies. I will look into the upgrades here as you say. There is a lot about Polk I need to learn and I'm sure I will find it here.
    Thanks again.

    Lonnie
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  • TroyD
    TroyD Posts: 13,093
    edited July 2008
    Lonnie,

    Welcome to the club, man. It's a sickness though so be careful!!

    BDT
    I plan for the future. - F1Nut
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,221
    edited July 2008
    lonmansd1@msn.c wrote: »
    Thanks everyone for your kindness and quick replies. I will look into the upgrades here as you say. There is a lot about Polk I need to learn and I'm sure I will find it here.
    Thanks again.

    Lonnie

    The kit sold on ebay is fairly expensive and he doesn't really tell you what you are getting as far as components.

    The schematics for Polk speakers are here

    Many here use a company called Parts Express which has a great reputation here or Madisound here

    Some inexpensive caps that are better and obviously newer than stock to consider

    Clarity Cap PX series
    Solen Fast Caps
    Bennic
    Dayton
    Jantzen
    Sonicaps are the choice of many here found here but they are more expensive.

    Also replacing the resistor(s) will Mills or Mundorf wire wound non-inductive type makes a marked difference as well.

    Good luck

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • jon s
    jon s Posts: 905
    edited July 2008
    Lonnie,
    i was in the same boat as you... I picked up a pair of Polk Monitor 10Bs a couple of months ago... After reading about upgrades I jumped in the water and spent about $50 for Jantzen Crosscaps at Parts Express.

    While this was a sonic improvement (better focus), I decided to upgrade my SL1000 tweeters to the cloth-domed RDO194s. The original tweeters are plastic domed and sounded a tad bright and harsh (plastic domed speakers tend to get hard abd brittle as it ages). The RDO194s sounds a lot smoother on the top end and eliminated the 5-dB peak at about 12 kHz.

    But the biggest improvement was yet to come. I decided to see if Sonicaps were as good as everyone says. I ordered the Sonicaps and replaced the month-old Jantzens. The improvement was immediate. There was better focus, clarity, imaging and the high end got a lot more open and had better extension, almost holographic. The Jantzens appeared to roll off the top end a bit compared to the Sonicaps.

    If you are serious about upgrading the Polks, go directly with the Sonicaps and the RDO speakers... I am still amazed at their performance...
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  • dionyxian
    dionyxian Posts: 4
    edited August 2008
    Owned Polks since 1984; just found this forum and registered today. Never even thought about cracking the seals on my Monitor 10's but I blew a tweeter after 21 years and guess I need to drop a pair of those RD0-194-1's in the box. My tweeters are black, soft, cloth covered, little hole in middle type. I think they are Peerless? Do the RD0-194-1's match up with the crossovers in my 10's as described

    Scott
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  • rayslifecycle
    rayslifecycle Posts: 511
    edited August 2008
    I am not sure that the hole in the cabinet is the same size - but these peerless tweeters are on e-bay - 49$.....although the little 1/16"dia hole in the center of the dome looks off center in the photos.....

    http://cgi.ebay.com/Pair-Of-Polk-Peerless-Tweeters-Monitor-Series-Ex-Cond_W0QQitemZ370079125047QQihZ024QQcategoryZ50597QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD4VQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1638Q2em124#ebayphotohosting
    http://rayslifecycle.blogspot.com/
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  • ajanzalone
    ajanzalone Posts: 128
    edited August 2008
    Wow..Just found this site.... what a trip!

    I own a pair of Polk 10's, now in storage, that I purchased in 1972.
    I have had some fear of the age of them to try them again.
    I am pleasantly surprised that people are still using and buying them?

    I do remember the fantastic voice quality they had in that time, (Neil Diamond era). Very tight low end that is in need of a equivalent sub wolfer.
    Any Sub-Woofer suggestions appreciated?

    I am aware of the age of this equipment and wonder if it is worth upgrade and investment.

    I still have the "Audio Research" pre-amp & the "Quad 405" dumping amp, (100 w rms). All purchased at the Huntington, NY store in 1972.

    What are your thoughts?
    Tony in Florida
    Audio Research SP5 Preamp
    Quad 405 Amp
    Pioneer Elite DV-48AV -
    Outlaw 950 preamp/processor
    Polk Monitor 10's
    Velodyne VRP 1200 Sub Woofer

    Success is having what you want ... but Happiness is wanting what you have!
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  • McLoki
    McLoki Posts: 5,231
    edited August 2008
    Ajanzalone - welcome to club polk.

    You have some great speakers (I know - I have a set as well). Hook them back up.... :)

    You will get quite a few more answers to your questions if you start your own thread rather than asking at the end of this one. Regarding the sub - subs don't voicematch like the rest of the speakers do so any good subwoofer will do. There are a quite a few good brands to choose from - it comes down to what do you want it for (music or movies), how much do you want to spend, how large is your room and how large (physically) are you willing to go..... Common recommendations are SVS, eD, Epik and HSU. Most of these are excellent subs for the price, but on the large side of things compared to subs in most stores and prices start around $500.

    Michael
    Mains.............Polk LSi15 (Cherry)
    Center............Polk LSiC (Crossover upgraded)
    Surrounds.......Polk LSi7 (Gloss Black - wood sides removed and crossovers upgraded)
    Subwoofers.....SVS 25-31 CS+ and PC+ (both 20hz tune)
    Pre\Pro...........NAD T163 (Modded with LM4562 opamps)
    Amplifier.........Cinepro 3k6 (6-channel, 500wpc@4ohms)
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  • ajanzalone
    ajanzalone Posts: 128
    edited August 2008
    Thanks
    I Have dusted off and started using the Polk 10's ......
    I also started a new thread....

    BTW: Correction:
    Purchases in 1977 not 1972

    Tony
    Audio Research SP5 Preamp
    Quad 405 Amp
    Pioneer Elite DV-48AV -
    Outlaw 950 preamp/processor
    Polk Monitor 10's
    Velodyne VRP 1200 Sub Woofer

    Success is having what you want ... but Happiness is wanting what you have!
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  • jjwm27
    jjwm27 Posts: 123
    edited August 2008
    a bit off topic but i also think i need to do some work on my polks, i have monitor 12s and cant find much info on them, maybe i just dont know how to search right, would the parts on the 10s be the same for the 12s? i have put in rdo198s but think the crossovers may need a tuneup, can someone point me in the right direction?
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  • Face
    Face Posts: 14,340
    edited August 2008
    jjwm27 wrote: »
    a bit off topic but i also think i need to do some work on my polks, i have monitor 12s and cant find much info on them, maybe i just dont know how to search right, would the parts on the 10s be the same for the 12s? i have put in rdo198s but think the crossovers may need a tuneup, can someone point me in the right direction?

    You really should start your own thread if you want more attention.

    Here are links to the two monitor 12 schematics, enjoy.
    http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=18781&d=1155784809
    http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=18782&d=1155784809
    "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
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  • jjwm27
    jjwm27 Posts: 123
    edited August 2008
    thank you.
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  • ajanzalone
    ajanzalone Posts: 128
    edited August 2008
    Lasareath wrote: »
    Tony,

    Do you have any relatives in NJ?, I have a friend whose last name is Anzalone

    Sal

    Not a relative in NJ....... small world.
    Originally Li NY... now Winter Haven FL
    Audio Research SP5 Preamp
    Quad 405 Amp
    Pioneer Elite DV-48AV -
    Outlaw 950 preamp/processor
    Polk Monitor 10's
    Velodyne VRP 1200 Sub Woofer

    Success is having what you want ... but Happiness is wanting what you have!
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