Opionions on Monitor 10a?

davidfmartin
davidfmartin Posts: 106
edited February 2009 in Vintage Speakers
Hi again,

I have a chance to work a trade for these speakers:
http://denver.craigslist.org/ele/1047664688.html

I am considering trading my RTA11TL's with this guy if we can agree on a fair price that he would have to pay for upgrading to the RTA's. I currently own a pair of Monitor 5's and SDA-1c's so I'm thinking these would be better for my collection than the RTA's, my wife would too ;)

I paid 200.00 for the RTA's. Any opinions on the value of the trade? Are the Monitor 10's worth it or should I pass?

Thanks!
My journey: http://www.1414audio.com/
Post edited by davidfmartin on
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Comments

  • HB27
    HB27 Posts: 1,518
    edited February 2009
    I may be way off base but I thought the "A" models all used the Peerless tweeters? I'd figure about $50-75 less without Peerless on the 10s. Someone with more knowledge will surely chime in. The M10 is a very good pair of speakers.
    Harry
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  • Russ_L
    Russ_L Posts: 30
    edited February 2009
    HB27 wrote: »
    I may be way off base but I thought the "A" models all used the Peerless tweeters? I'd figure about $50-75 less without Peerless on the 10s. Someone with more knowledge will surely chime in. The M10 is a very good pair of speakers.
    Harry

    Harry -the early original 10s used the Peerless tweeters. I have two pairs of same.:)
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  • leroyjr1
    leroyjr1 Posts: 8,785
    edited February 2009
    They look like monitor 10b's. They have 6 1/2" mid drivers and 10" passive radiator. Don't know why that person states 5" mids and 12" passive radiator. I'd offer him $125. The monitor 10's and 7's are the best speaker I've heard in the $150> range.
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  • Conradicles
    Conradicles Posts: 6,133
    edited February 2009
    Those are 10B's.
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,214
    edited February 2009
    Those are 10B's. A very popular vintage Polk. I've had both the 10B's and RTA 11's and the RTA's are the better speaker. Better bass, better soundstage, etc.

    Get 'em if you must but I wouldn't cast the RTA 11's aside so quickly. The 10B's with side by side mids aren't the best design despite how popular they were and continue to be. The mids can be a bit muddy and because of the side by side drivers the soundstage can become jumbled and smeared.

    YMMV

    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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  • davidfmartin
    davidfmartin Posts: 106
    edited February 2009
    Conradicles wrote: »
    Those are 10B's.

    I was thinking 10b's too based on the descriptions on polksda.com. He is bringing them to my house on Saturday so that I can hear them and he can hear my RTA's. I was planning on taking the tweeter out to check. If they are 10b's they should have a sl2000. I have 4 of those from my sda-1c's. I agree with a 100.00-125 price. That means he can pay me 75.00 to 100.00 for the RTA trade.
    My journey: http://www.1414audio.com/
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,214
    edited February 2009
    Those are 10B's no doubt because they have the sl2000's. The best way to know which you like best is to compare, so that's good.

    Don''t be surprised if you get less for your RTA's than you are thinking. A mint nice pair of RTA 11's goes for about $150-175 on a good day.

    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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  • woodsman10b
    woodsman10b Posts: 408
    edited February 2009
    Conradicles wrote: »
    Those are 10B's.

    Yep those are 10B's and later model ones at that, late 80's or early 90's with the sl2000 tweeters. Quite a few reasons for this are, the drivers(the mw's and the pr) are inset into the cabs, the front edges of the cabs have an angle on them, no fuses with the binding posts, and the serial # badges are located on the back upper right corner.
    Most of them only hear how loud it sounds, and the rest of us hear everything else - :rolleyes:
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  • davidfmartin
    davidfmartin Posts: 106
    edited February 2009
    heiney9 wrote: »
    Those are 10B's no doubt because they have the sl2000's. The best way to know which you like best is to compare, so that's good.

    Don''t be surprised if you get less for your RTA's than you are thinking. A mint nice pair of RTA 11's goes for about $150-175 on a good day.

    H9

    These are 11TL's
    My journey: http://www.1414audio.com/
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,214
    edited February 2009
    davidfmartin wrote: »
    These are 11TL's

    Even more reason to keep them over the 10B's ;). Compare them and see what works for you in your system and listening environment.

    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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  • davidfmartin
    davidfmartin Posts: 106
    edited February 2009
    Well we couldn't come to and agreement on price but we had fun comparing my RTA's to his Monitors! I think we actually both liked the sl2000 tweeters and how they sounded when compared to the sl3000 in the RTA's when paired with my vintage Pioneer receiver. I thought that was interesting. Although both of us could pick out the spike. We agreed the bass sounded tighter and cleaner on the RTA's. Always fun to listen to other Polks. I still love my Monitor 5's and my SDA-1c's overall.
    My journey: http://www.1414audio.com/
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  • cnh
    cnh Posts: 13,284
    edited February 2009
    Can someone tell me where I can see a picture or specs for the speaker mentioned above...RTA12s. I don't see those in the Polk list of 'old' products..

    Just curious as to what we're referring to...

    cnh
    Currently orbiting Bowie's Blackstar.!

    Polk Lsi-7s, Def Tech 8" sub, HK 3490, HK HD 990 (CDP/DAC), AKG Q701s
    [sig. changed on a monthly basis as I rotate in and out of my stash]
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  • comfortablycurt
    comfortablycurt Posts: 6,745
    edited February 2009
    cnh wrote: »
    Can someone tell me where I can see a picture or specs for the speaker mentioned above...RTA12s. I don't see those in the Polk list of 'old' products..

    Just curious as to what we're referring to...

    cnh

    Here's an excellent reference site for the vintage Polk's. Go to the ebay auction guide section on there and look them up.

    http://www.polksda.com/list.shtml
    The nirvana inducer-
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