New to me Monitor 10 Project

lukewayne

Hello all, i'm pretty new around here. I picked up my second pair of Polk speakers today, they are definitely in need of some tlc, so its yet to be seen if 40$ was a good deal
Here they are as purchased: (a little rough around the edges)





I knowingly bought them with one bad (locked) driver, but when i opened got them home and opened them up and did a little more inspection i started finding a few oddities that were unexpected.

First i pulled out the bad driver the first clue that something was up was the ease at which the screws came out. The locked driver was a MW6502 marked M4


Ok so i was slightly duped, it's not that a driver went bad in one of the speakers, its that one of the previous owners put a bad driver in to make their M4's work. not much of a biggie, i knew i would be replacing at least one driver anyway.

The other three appear to be the MW6503 that these speakers shipped with, tight fitting screws and all




I am wondering if this pair is even an original pair that was sold together because of the differences on the back. One speaker has the serial sticker by the binding posts and is partially torn/worn off:


and the other has a really snazzy looking plate at the top of the cabinet:


The serial numbers are also quite far apart (if i have all of the one that is torn) 37043 and 140405. since the MW6503's are pretty close date wise i'm guessing that its really 137043 and the 1 just got torn off with the first half of the sticker.

The binding posts are a bit different from each other also, i don't think these are original, but i have no other M10's to compare with.




As you can see one of these things is not like the others. the black post that doesn't match the rest looks like the post on my Monitor 5b's. i cant imagine a previous owner only deciding to change 3 of the 4, i'm at a loss for guesses here.

The crossover's look to be in fine shape to me, although i'm pretty much 100%newb when it comes to crossovers.




Since i just put new RD0194-1's in my M5b's i am thinking about swapping them for the SL2000's in the M10's and using the 10's as my L & R and then one of the M5b's for center. I know it wont be a perfect match, so i'm thinking of ordering a 3rd RD0194-1 so i have matching tweets across the front. i would be interested in hearing other's thoughts on this, as i haven't been working a lot lately so i'm not super excited to be spendy. Also i don't know if i'd be messing things up XO wise. I'll be using this setup mostly for movies, and some casual music listening. Would it be better to leave the new tweeter in the center and keep the SL2000's in the L & R?

I'll be picking up a MW6503 probably a used one for now. hoping one shows up in the for sale here, and watching a few on the fleabay.

All that stuff aside, probably the most annoying suprise i got from these speakers is a tacky residue on the sides of the cabinet. It appears that the PO tried some sort of i dont know what to make a shine on the cabinets, but all it did was cause the entire thing to be tacky. So far i have tried Goo gone, old english, and denatured alcohol with no success. could really use some suggestions here, even though the cabinets aren't in amazing condition i don't want to go making them worse.


Anyhoo, i'm excited to get these at this price, can't wait till they're fully functional. i'll post updates as i get there

PS. there aren't any markings that say excatly what monitor 10 these are, i've been looking on the forum and haven't found a definate answer i was guessing maybe 10b based on the SL2000 tweet and MW6503 mids, can someone confirm this for me ?

Hamatym

Even if they were truely from a different run, you still got a great deal! Think about what you can get from Best Buy for $40, and you'll smile real quick:) You can easily fix them back up to original, so feel good about the purchase. One thing I look for is where the soder marks are on the 6.5" drivers. As you can see from your pics, they are all rotated in different directions, meaning they have been pulled out at some point in time from the factory. Not a big deal, but I find it useful info for future purchases.

zarrdoss

These seldom sold in sequential SN sets as far as I know, and somebody probably stripped the terminal nuts and replaced them you can get matching speaker terminal nuts and grill clamps at parts express, then look for a 6503 MW on here or E-bay and your in business.

JohnLocke88

YOU LITTLE B*TCH!!! I CALLED THE GUY AN HOUR AFTER YOU!!!!

I was waiting for this post. LA Craigslist right?

there's several 6503s on the bay now. $40 is a steal, regardless of condition.

As far as the cabinet 'gunk,' not sure what to do really. I tried to use some wood oil on my 7Bs, but the veneer isn't like the real wood on my SDA 1As...it did the same thing you mentioned...

Any how, I'm glad someone on the forum got them (Although I really wanted them.... )

lukewayne

@Hamatym: Yeah i noticed that about the solder points when i was trying to figure out which way they should go back in and none of them matched. And you're right about best buy, i get sick every time i see the prices in their speaker section.

@zarrdoss: Thanks for the tip on where to get the grill clamps, i had forgotten to mention that in my post and wasn't sure where the best place to pick those up would be. Are the terminal nuts something i can replace without taking the xo assembly apart to get to the inside of the plate?

@JohnLocke88: yes LA craigslist exactly. sorry to beat you to it, but i'm really glad i did ;-) the guy was actually way out in Ontario, and sorta was living in a garage. he had a pair of 12's also that he was holding on to. I scour the LA Craigslist pretty often these days, as the work in this town is slow slow slow. so i'll be sure to post any similar findings for you to snatch up.

I did see the few MW6503's on ebay currently ,but i noticed another forum member looking for one in the last day or two and i am weary of bidding against another polkie but i'm keeping an eye on them. Thanks for the Imput so far guys

NJPOLKER

luke,
Try communicating with the fellow polkie on the mw6503's it may work out best that way.
Nice looking 10's by the way.

lukewayne

@NJPOLKER: nice idea, will do, and thanks

ps. am i right in calling these plain old 10's or am i missing something?

Hamatym

I beleive those are Monitor 10B's, since they have the SL2000 tweets. I have the same pair and really like them...you'll be really happy with them!

lukewayne

Thanks Hamatym for the confirmation

JohnLocke88

I just noticed something else. You probably haven't hooked them up yet since the one MW is bad, BUT check the polarity on those terminals. I just noticed that one is flipped. I just checked my speakers... If you're looking at the back of the cabinet, the right side is positive (RED) and the left is black (NEGATIVE).

Might want to pop the terminal cups again. I believe on my monitor 7b's and sda-1a's the negative leads were also WHITE. I wonder if someone buggered up the polarity and that lead to the drive issue... Could be completely off, but it's a possibility...

lukewayne

woah, john, good catch, i'll be sure to look into that! probably just saved me a ton of hassle. thanks!

JohnLocke88

It seems strange. I didn't talk to the guy long enough to get a back story, but has he used them in a while? If the crossovers look un 'screwed' with, I'd assume that it's still the 'stock' polarity on the wire terminals...

I'd wait to hear back from some of the more electrically savvy CP members though...

lukewayne

Well John your sharp eyes were spot on. the speaker with two new posts was color coded incorrectly! everything inside was correct (black wires to positive), but the posts are the wrong colors. Great catch!!

As far as the tacky residue on the cabinets, i still haven't had much luck, i was able to get some of it to a reduced tacky state with some rubbing alcohol, but its going to take a few hours of elbow grease to finish the job i guess, for now i'll just refrain from touching them :P

I tried dropping in one of my RDO194's but the magnet hole was just barely too small. I had access to a friend who was good with and owned a few routers to adjust the hole in my M5B's, but now he's out of the country and doesn't have a shop any more. i was hoping that since the 10's had a SL2000 it would be a drop in replacement. but it was just a bit to tight, almost like if i banged it with a mallet it might get in.

Whats the best hand tool for making the hole just a bit bigger? considering i'll have to do the work either in my living room or outside, and i'll probably have to buy it solely for this task as i have zero wood working tools.

thanks again for the polarity switch tip John!

ken brydson

If the hole is just slightly too small you could probably enlarge it a bit with a file. A Dremmel would be easier if you have access to one. Try Murphy's Oil Soap on the cabs. I've had pretty good luck with that. They are wood veneer not vinyl covered, right?

lukewayne

Ken: its slightly to big, thanks for the file tip, i was thinking that too, i'll have to go pick one up, i've been looking for an excuse to get a dremmel for a while, i suppose this would be a good one.

They are wood veneer, i'll pick up some Murphy's while i'm out and give that a shot.

There doesn't seem to be much on the market in the way of MW 6503's that run much cheper than new ones. so i'll probably order a replacement from polk today.

lukewayne

Ordered a replacement MW 6503 from Polk today. Looking forward to getting these two up as a pair.

lukewayne

so i'm looking at picking up a cs350ls to use as a center with the 10's front and the 5's rear.

i'm wondering if i'll like it, or if i'd be better off trying to fashion a center using monitor pieces like someone else was doing to match their sda's?

thoughts?

hearingimpared

I use the CS350ls and it is a great center. I have it matched to RT2000Ps.

lukewayne

hearingimpared: thanks for the reply, let me ask you this: i always feel like i have to turn the volume up too loud just to understand people while i'm watching movies, do you have that issue with the cs350ls? then i have to turn it way down because the explosions or music swells will piss off the other apartments. i'm hoping the 350 will partially resolve this allowing for clearer cleaner speech from the center channel.

kawizx9r

hearingimpared wrote: »

I use the CS350ls and it is a great center. I have it matched to RT2000Ps.

+1
The CS350LS is absolutely an awesome center, and I use it with my matched RT1000P's. Soon the RT1k's will move to the back for rear surround duty and my SDA's will fill in the void. I've seen 400's and (especially) 350's play a huge role as a center channel when it comes to having older monitors, rt's, sda/srs models speakers and heard nothing but great things. Can't wait til I'm doing the same

lukewayne

wow two strong suggestions to get it at this time in the morning and so quick. i hope i can get it as i haven't heard back from the seller yet. fingers crossed :-D

hearingimpared

lukewayne wrote: »

hearingimpared: thanks for the reply, let me ask you this: i always feel like i have to turn the volume up too loud just to understand people while i'm watching movies, do you have that issue with the cs350ls? then i have to turn it way down because the explosions or music swells will piss off the other apartments. i'm hoping the 350 will partially resolve this allowing for clearer cleaner speech from the center channel.

The 350 is clear as a bell and produces very soft passages loud and clear.

Polkie2009

A couple of months ago I was looking for a center speaker to match the SRS's and was torn between getting a CS350 or a CS400,both are excellent. I ended up with a used CS400 and it works just fine.

lukewayne

ok so my good find streak continues and probably ends, because i dont have room for any more giant speakers in my apartment ;p

CS350LS picked up this morning for 75$ its black, looks to be in fairly good shape. its got a bit of the veneer separating from one side, but its minor, and its missing two feet. it sounded good when hooked up to sellers system. i'll post pics soon.

The grill doesn't seem to come off easily like the older type grills, i'm going to have to search around and see if there is a trick to removing the grill.

also my replacement mid driver came for the 10 making my 5.1 completely complete today, as soon as its all assembled

JohnLocke88

lukewayne wrote: »

ok so my good find streak continues and probably ends, because i dont have room for any more giant speakers in my apartment ;p

CS350LS picked up this morning for 75$ its black, looks to be in fairly good shape. its got a bit of the veneer separating from one side, but its minor, and its missing two feet. it sounded good when hooked up to sellers system. i'll post pics soon.

The grill doesn't seem to come off easily like the older type grills, i'm going to have to search around and see if there is a trick to removing the grill.

also my replacement mid driver came for the 10 making my 5.1 completely complete today, as soon as its all assembled

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/ele/1310037618.html

Lol. You stuck him for another $10. Nice one,

kawizx9r

You should just be able to pull it off, it comes off like any other speaker grill except theres like 2 extra posts that holds it in (one above the tweeter and one below, both offset)

slack56

Little late on this post but I had my replacement tweeters hooked up wrong for years. Black wire positive, white negative, what is this AC. I figured it out on these forums so thanks guys. The peerless tweeters in my 10A's were still better than the SL1000 replacements, even with proper polarity. But believe it or not I still prefer my tens to my RT1000P's. The tens are in the living room playing in stereo. The RT's are in the front of the Home Theater with the CS400 center and FX500 surrounds and a RT2000 rear center, compliments of CC cheap.

G

lukewayne

ok, got the new MW 6503 installed. i took some advice i found on another post and cut out slits for the screws in the rubber surround. (not perfect, but definitely avoided disaster the other poster encountered)



now that i've got both the 10's hooked up i'm really diggin them. although it looks like the new mw6503 doesn't move as much as the older one its next too, should i expect a break-in like with tweeters? or maybe they make them extend less now? i did notice that the surround is either made of a slightly different material than they used to use, or they just put a different texture on it in the molding processes, because it looks rough next to the smooth rubber of the older driver.

as for the CS350LS i was able to get the grill off, but a few of the inserts that the pegs go into came out with it, i doubt it had ever been off since it was purchased. it just took a little extra effort. i'll post a few pics of it once i get it cleaned up.

JohnLocke88

lukewayne wrote: »

now that i've got both the 10's hooked up i'm really diggin them. although it looks like the new mw6503 doesn't move as much as the older one its next too, should i expect a break-in like with tweeters? or maybe they make them extend less now?

That's absolutely terrible. You really ought to sell them to me for cost plus 10%. I think they're permanently broken with no hope of fixing

kawizx9r

JohnLocke88 wrote: »

That's absolutely terrible. You really ought to sell them to me for cost plus 10%. I think they're permanently broken with no hope of fixing

Don't listen to him, I mean think about it. Would you be able to live with yourself knowing you sold him a pair of completely defective speakers?! I say you should just donate them to me instead so they can rest peacefully.

JohnLocke88

kawizx9r wrote: »

Don't listen to him, I mean think about it. Would you be able to live with yourself knowing you sold him a pair of completely defective speakers?! I say you should just donate them to me instead so they can rest peacefully.

ssssssshhhh.... you'll ruin everything... you'll get your cut later