Just picked up some Monitor 7A's the other day.

comfortablycurt · January 2009

So I managed to pick up a pair of Monitor 7A's the other day. My parents do a lot of buying and selling on ebay, so they hit up a lot of the local auctions. They went to one the other day...and saw a pair of Polk speakers, and they decided to bid on them for me. No one bid against them so they ended up getting them for 20 bucks!!:D:eek: They gave them to me, saying that they were an early birthday present...really early I guess, cuz my birthdays not for like another 7 months...lol

They were pretty dirty when I first got them...they were covered in this sticky residue all over...but I managed to clean them up pretty well. The cabinets are in great shape, other than a few little nicks on two of the corners on one cab. They also had the original boxes, which was a nice bonus.

These things sound MAGNIFICENT!! First thing I listened to when I hooked them up was my Dark Side of the Moon hybrid SACD. Wow...these things sound great. In the beginning of "Time" when you hear all the clocks ticking...I could actually hear the individual gears inside of the clocks moving...incredible. "The Great Gig In the Sky", with the female vocals...wow, these tweeters accentuated those high notes like my old speakers never could. I could actually hear her inhaling breath in between notes. Moving on to "Us and Them", and "Any Colour You Like", I was even more blown away. These are my two favorite songs on DSOTM, and IMO have the best stereo imaging on the album. Wow...these 7A's have some phenomenal imaging. My soundstage melded together like it never has before...I'm happy if you couldn't catch the drift!:D:D

I initially tried them without my sub, which is just a crappy 75watt 8" Pioneer, and was very impressed with the bass output as it was. I tried turning the sub on then...which only stayed on for about a minute. These 7A's hit harder and lower than my sub has ever been able to. I think my subs only going to be getting use during movies for now.

Here are some pictures. Don't pay any attention to how badly I need to vacuum...lol You can also see how badly I need to invest in the couch upgrade.:p

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ben62670 · January 2009

You suck:eek:

thsmith · January 2009

Nice parents and a great find for $20. I agree the vintage Polks for music do not need a sub. My SVS PB13U is for movies only since getting my SDA-1Cs.

CONGRATS !!!

cnh · January 2009

Do those speakers have what used to be known as the tri-laminate tweeter--a kind of plastic-like dome.

I remember a lot of Polk bookshelves with that tweeter in NYC record stores in the 80s?

But I think those were 'transparent'? Are your tweeters of a diifferent sort/material.

cnh

comfortablycurt · January 2009

ben62670 wrote: »

You suck:eek:

Yes yes...I know. It's something that can't be helped though. I'd be willing to trade you for the Frankenpolks though if you're interested.;)

thsmith wrote: »

Nice parents and a great find for $20. I agree the vintage Polks for music do not need a sub. My SVS PB13U is for movies only since getting my SDA-1Cs.

CONGRATS !!!

Definitely...my parents are the shizznit.

cnh wrote: »

Do those speakers have what used to be known as the tri-laminate tweeter--a kind of plastic-like dome.

I remember a lot of Polk bookshelves with that tweeter in NYC record stores in the 80s?

But I think those were 'transparent'? Are your tweeters of a diifferent sort/material.

cnh

I'm not positive, but I don't believe these are tri-laminate tweeters. They're fabric dome tweeters...some of the tweeters on the other Polk Monitors were transparent though, I believe those are the tri-laminate domes. These have the Peerless tweeters, which are typically regarded as the better tweeters on the Monitor series.

Here's a close-up of the tweeters. Not mine, but the same tweeters.

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ND13 · January 2009

non tri-lam

Ron Temple · January 2009

Peerless = score

Face · January 2009

Ron Temple wrote: »

Peerless = score

+1. I had a pair identical to those, but now another member here has them.

Now that you're done cleaning them up, clean up that listening area.

DollarDave · January 2009

Face wrote: »

+1. I had a pair identical to those, but now another member here has them.

Now that you're done cleaning them up, clean up that listening area.

I had a pristine pair with the Peerless, too. They were real nice sounding. Congrats!

+1 on the cleanup of the listening area....cost about 10 cents for the the electricity and I don't think the parents would complain a bit! I take that back, it would cost about 20 bucks for a rug doctor - a vacumn ain't gunna cut into 4 years of dirt.

leroyjr1 · January 2009

Nice score. How do they sound ?

comfortablycurt · January 2009

lol...Yeah, the carpet in there is pretty bad. It's an apartment though, and the carpet was pretty nasty when I moved in. Haven't vacuumed in a while though because my vacuum cleaner quit working about a month ago, and it hasn't been replaced yet. I need to borrow my parents vacuum sometime soon. I've tried shampooing the carpet here a couple times...that dirt is not going anywhere unfortunately. There's a humongous stain from god knows what right under the couch...I've shampooed it several times...didn't even cut into it. Oh well...this isn't a permanent residence or anything.

leroy-these things sound fantastic. I've been listening to them for a few days now, and it seems like the tweeters have kind mellowed out a little bit. Either that or my ears are breaking into them a little better. I think these were sitting unused for quite a while though before I got them.

I think my enjoyment level of music has gone up considerably these last few days. With my old speakers I started getting a lot of ear fatigue after a couple hours of listening...with these though, I think I could sit here all day and have no problems with ear fatigue. Smooth as could be.

Also...All but one of the grill posts on one of the speakers are broken. I have all the tabs though. Think I'd be able to re-attach them with superglue or contact cement or something? Does Polk have replacements?

Conradicles · January 2009

What a sweet way to spend $20. Very good deal!
Got my 1st Monitor 10A's for $60, and that is why I am @ Club Polk...LOL

comfortablycurt · January 2009

Here ya go guys...Happy now!? I went and borrowed my neighbors vacuum cleaner...lol

Holy ****!! Is that a different cat?

:eek:
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There...you guys inspired me to go and borrow my neighbors vacuum cleaner. That's ok though...I was telling him about my new speakers yesterday, and he's been wanting to come check em out anyway. He liked em.;)

Notice how the carpet still looks like crap? Yeah...those stains aren't going anywhere...lol Having two cats isn't very productive to keeping a small apartment clean either.

comfortablycurt · January 2009

Conradicles wrote: »

What a sweet way to spend $20. Very good deal!
Got my 1st Monitor 10A's for $60, and that is why I am @ Club Polk...LOL

That's a killer deal too...I've seen 10A's go for close to four times that price recently.

skrol · January 2009

comfortablycurt wrote: »

These things sound MAGNIFICENT!! First thing I listened to when I hooked them up was my Dark Side of the Moon hybrid SACD. Wow...these things sound great. In the beginning of "Time" when you hear all the clocks ticking...I could actually hear the individual gears inside of the clocks moving...incredible. "The Great Gig In the Sky", with the female vocals...wow, these tweeters accentuated those high notes like my old speakers never could. I could actually hear her inhaling breath in between notes. Moving on to "Us and Them", and "Any Colour You Like", I was even more blown away. These are my two favorite songs on DSOTM, and IMO have the best stereo imaging on the album. Wow...these 7A's have some phenomenal imaging. My soundstage melded together like it never has before...I'm happy if you couldn't catch the drift!:D:D

Can you feel the LOVE!

SCompRacer · January 2009

Nice score Curt!

danger boy · January 2009

congrats on your new to you Monitor7A's w/Peerless tweeters. those look to be in pretty incredible shape. take your parents out to dinner some time for hooking you up with what would normally be a $100+ pair of speakers.

mhardy6647 · January 2009

I've owned a pair since 1978, and not just because I'm nostalgic!

The worst thing I can say about mine is that they're "finished" in the hideous "rosewood" vinyl that Polk offered for a time. "Orange" is a better description. They were floor demos, and the price was right!

comfortablycurt · January 2009

danger boy wrote: »

congrats on your new to you Monitor7A's w/Peerless tweeters. those look to be in pretty incredible shape. take your parents out to dinner some time for hooking you up with what would normally be a $100+ pair of speakers.

I was already planning on doing something like that actually. My dads birthdays coming up in like a month or so, and I've got some awesome stuff for him too. He's really into slot car racing, so I picked up a couple of slot cars for him a few months back. They're pretty rare ones...he should like em.

mhardy-I know the rosewood color you're taking about. Orange would probably fit the description pretty well...lol I'd have to say I like the color of mine much more...These are some badass speakers though. As they say...Millionaires keep their Monitors.

woodsman10b · January 2009

comfortablycurt wrote: »

I was already planning on doing something like that actually. My dads birthdays coming up in like a month or so, and I've got some awesome stuff for him too. He's really into slot car racing, so I picked up a couple of slot cars for him a few months back. They're pretty rare ones...he should like em.

mhardy-I know the rosewood color you're taking about. Orange would probably fit the description pretty well...lol I'd have to say I like the color of mine much more...These are some badass speakers though. As they say...Millionaires keep their Monitors.

Slot Cars - Ive got a vintage Aurora 'Willys "Gasser"' thats in the original package. Its an off yellow color and in excellent condition, if your interested let me know.

Curt - Awesome Present!!!:cool: My mother used to be a rummage sale nut and I have often wondered how many nice Polks she's seen and had no idea how badly I would have wanted them.

M5jr+ - very nice pair 5jr's+ on ebay posted yesterday that are in excellent shape, theyre in Minneapolis if anyone besides me is near there and the starting bid is $.99.

smjcolsga · January 2009

I just bought a pair of these from an eBay re-seller in Omaha, in the oak vinyl 'veneer', to match my Monitor 5B's in the same finish. I just got them delivered last night and they are in excellent condition! I would say 'mint' except for a few minor rub-marks on the cases which are hardly noticeable once cleaned up. I got them for the princely sum of $36.00... and the seller nicely double-boxed them at my request before shipping to me. These are now my 3rd set of vintage Polk Audio speakers (Monitor 5B, SDA 2B and now Monitor 5jr+) I am using these paired with my original Adcom GTP500/GFA535 on the 'b' outputs along with the Monitor 5B's as a multi-stereo set-up for my iTunes playback (I'm listening to the 'Phantom of the Opera' on them as I type this!) The Monitor 5's have a very nice synergy with the original Adcom GFA535 amps (the second-series Adcom GFA535II btw, has only 1 set of speaker outputs and is not a Nelson Pass designed amplifier, AFAIK) The 5jr+ are the best of these run of speakers, imo, and have a 6.5" driver and passive radiator along with the silver-coil dome SL-2000 tweeter. The 'regular' 5jr's only have a bass-port in the enclosure w/o the passive radiator. One thing I noticed which struck me as a little bit 'odd' is that both of these speakers are labeled with the same serial number! They are both numbered 5JR 55438.. whereas my SDA's and Monitor 5B's have individual serial numbers (#'s 5 78528 & 5 78529 in the case of my Monitor 5B's) I guess Polk numbered these as 'sets' unlike the larger speakers... anyone know for sure?

smjcolsga · January 2009

woodsman10b wrote: »

M5jr+ - very nice pair 5jr's+ on ebay posted yesterday that are in excellent shape, theyre in Minneapolis if anyone besides me is near there and the starting bid is $.99.

Those M5jr's in Minn. are the Series-2 models as well... fyi.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Polk-Audio-Monitor-5jr-Series-2_W0QQitemZ320336473884QQcmdZViewItemQQptZSpeakers_Subwoofers?hash=item320336473884&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2%7C65%3A10%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

smjcolsga · January 2009

These are the Series-1 M5jr+ I picked up for $36.00 ...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&item=180320286821

comfortablycurt · January 2009

Nice...I was watching those ones when they were up on ebay. They look like they're in great shape. Excellent price too. Congrats on the purchase.:D

Since they have the same serial number, I'm guessing that those were sold as pairs, while the larger ones were sold individually. The newer Polks are the same way. The smaller bookshelves are in pairs, while the floorstanders are individual.

I also forgot to mention that my 7A's are one away from being consecutive serial numbers. I'm just going by memory here, so I may be off, but one of them is 7 3461, and the other is 7 3463. I wish they were consecutive...not that it really matters, but it'd be a nice extra bonus.

2turbos · February 2009

You did good at $20!

I don't want to brag but I bought mine at Salvation Army for $9.95pr less 50% old fogies discount day so the final price to me was $4.95pr.. Not exactly 50% off, I'm not going to complain. Mine didn't have grilles But Harry on this list fixed me up with an excellent set, medallions and all.

comfortablycurt · February 2009

Nice! That's a killer deal.

If it's the same Harry(HB27), he's sending me some grille clips for my 7A's. He's a real stand up guy.

comfortablycurt · February 2009

So would anyone happen to know if the 7A's are magnetically shielded? I'm in the middle of re-arranging my living room right now...and I just realized how close my speakers are going to be to the TV. I'm just trying to avoid any potential problems that might cause.

mhardy6647 · February 2009

Negatory, good buddy.

comfortablycurt · February 2009

Yeah...I figured they weren't. Oh well...it's about a foot and half away from my TV...doesn't appear to be causing any problems, so I'll just leave it as is.

It won't damage the speaker anyway will it? Just damage the TV potentially? I'm not to worried about the TV...lol...It's getting replaced hopefully later this year anyway.

mhardy6647 · February 2009

It should only be a concern with a CRT TV; the strong magnetic field can eff up the convergence (and deflect the electron beam). I have mine on either side of a TV in a cabinet; one is no more than 1.5 ft from the TV (an ancient Toshiba... I am not much on "HT") with no ill effects.

No the TV won't hurt the speaker :-)

comfortablycurt · February 2009

It is a CRT TV...an old 25?inch Magnavox. It's even got the simulated wood grain plastic panels that were ever so popular in the 80's...lol

Looking to upgrade to an LCD or plasma later this year. Probably somewhere in the 36 inch area.

As long as the speaker won't get hurt, I'm not worried about it. Like I said, it doesn't appear to be affecting anything thus far. The TV looks just like it usually does.

Just picked up some Monitor 7A's the other day.

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