Need help with Old (really old?) Polks. 9A's?

omfgppc

Hi, I have a pair of vintage polk audio loudspeakers. The Model # appears to be 9A, but looking through the website and google hasn't produced any results for 9A.

Any help tracking down what these are, and wether or not they are worth rebuilding would be greatly appreciated.

Please see attached shots.

Thanks!

ben62670

They are worth rebuilding only if you have a personal attachment to them. I would put them up for sale for a collector to hopefully grab. I don't know how much experience you have with vintage Polk's, but some model 5's, or 7's would be a great way to get into some real good sound.
Welcome to Club Polk.
Ben

Toolfan66

refoaming the drivers will be your biggest challenge. I have never done it, i know they sell kits to do them. I am sure someone will chime in to where you can get them.

I hear it takes lots of pacience to do the refoaming.

Good Luck!!!!

and Welcome to the club.

Larry.

comfortablycurt

Ya don't see those too often.

I've never heard them, but from everything I've gathered, they aren't worth rebuilding.

omfgppc

I currently have a pair of Monitor 5Jrs which I've had for 12 years or so and I love them. I just remembered that I had these 9A's rotting away and was thinking they'd be a good complement to them. I know they're pretty shot, but in the interest of a project and a challenge I'd like to know what they are since I can't find any info on the web on them.

Thanks

skrol

Hey that is pretty cool. Up until now I had only seen an old ad for the Model 9's.

ben62670

Partsexpress.com may have some re foam kits that might fit the bill.

heiney9

Those are a nice vintage collector piece, but in reality they don;t sound very good at all. They won't compliment any of the other Polk Monitor lines. It was an early attempt to "sort of" mimmick early Bose type speakers. If you love doing that kind of restoration and want to keep them for sentimental value, go for it. If not, I wouldn;t bother because you will most likely be disappointed with the sound.

H9

P.s. I'm pretty sure the peerless tweeter on the back side was not original issue..........someone added it. I believe (going on memory here) they used some sort of piezo tweeter originally. Do a search as there have been a few indepth threads over the years about the Model 9's.

kcoc321

Cool bit of history. Thanks for sharing it.
MIGHT be worth more to a collector as a "nice vintage collector piece" than "renovated" compared to some other speakers.

omfgppc

Thanks for all the replies. What an active community!

omfgppc

Also, in searching these boards for 9A info, I'm coming up with nothing.

ben62670

Here you go.
http://www.polksda.com/list.shtml
http://www.polksda.com/pdfs/ModelNineManual.pdf


Edit: A repair kit for 8 4 1/2" drivers;)
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=260-910
I hope this will work.

skrol

Interesting that the manual shows a piezo tweeter but in the text piezo is scratched out and soft dome is written in. Could be a franken-Polk redesign.

Maybe Mr. Polk would like them for display at Polk Audio HQ.

nadams

skrol wrote: »

Interesting that the manual shows a piezo tweeter but in the text piezo is scratched out and soft dome is written in. Could be a franken-Polk redesign.

Maybe Mr. Polk would like them for display at Polk Audio HQ.

He's already got a pair... the forum donated them. Actually, I believe there's two pair.

nadams

Another thread - http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25734

Still another - this one has pics of another set with the Peerless - http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?p=631854

And yet another with some info - http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50681

comfortablycurt

heiney9 wrote: »

P.s. I'm pretty sure the peerless tweeter on the back side was not original issue..........someone added it. I believe (going on memory here) they used some sort of piezo tweeter originally. Do a search as there have been a few indepth threads over the years about the Model 9's.

I believe some of the Model 9's came with the Peerless tweeters. There were two different versions of the 9 IIRC...one of them had the piezo tweeter, and I think the later ones had Peerless tweets. I might be wrong...so anyone feel free to correct me.

heiney9

Actually the third link in nadams post has a statement from MP.

ben62670

A repair kit for 8 4 1/2" drivers;)
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=260-910
I hope this will work.

I have a feeling the drivers may have made at the same place for another company besides Bose.

Pauly

Man you dont see those pop up very often.

omfgppc

Well, now I think I want some SDA SRS 1.2TLs to refurb...

But seriously, I'm hearing 'These 9's sound like crap, toss em''. (I did grab them from the side of the road in Keene, NH... What makes them sound not so good?

Thanks

nadams

They were an early design, and, if I'm not mistaken, the only time Polk attempted a direct/reflecting speaker like this (discounting the di/bipole HT speakers).

The driver quality wasn't spectacular, and the early piezo tweeters were likely harsh.

That said, I've never actually heard a pair. Buuuut, even Matt Polk said they were fairly unimpressive compared to the Monitor lines of a few years later.

But, they would be a good speaker to practice refoaming on

Don't get me wrong... they'd be cool to a vintage Polk collector, as they are a very early model. That's why some forum members bought a pair and donated them to the Polk History Hall. But they're not the FIRST.

danger boy

so where these sold in stores? or were they pretty much just for demo or works in progress? I can't imagine that Polk would sell many speakers if people heard the 9A's back in the day.

heiney9

omfgppc wrote: »

Well, now I think I want some SDA SRS 1.2TLs to refurb...

But seriously, I'm hearing 'These 9's sound like crap, toss em''. (I did grab them from the side of the road in Keene, NH... What makes them sound not so good?

Thanks

Drivers, design, xover parts, cabinets. Seriously, those as well as the Mini-monitors sound nothing like the classics Polks we're all used to.

Knock yourself out if you want to go to the expense and invest the time. Just don;t expect them to sound all that great, because these were designed and manufactured before Polk really hit it's stride. I wouldn't be surprised if Matt and Sandy made these in the original house they rented while starting Polk Audio. Those that attended Polk Fest at HQ know the house I'm talking about.

H9

madmike

The hardest part about refoaming is getting everything nice and clean. If you follow the directions that come with kits and take your time it is actually fairly easy. I just did 4 MW's and 4 PR's for a pair of Reynolds Advance A+ speakers and now the sound like new.

omfgppc

Yeah, I'm gonna take y'alls advice and err on the side of 'find a better project'. OK, so what should I look for to compliment my 5Jrs ? Or rather, what should my 5Jr's be complimenting? My end goal is to have all Polk 5.1 home theater capability.

Polk ??? For fronts? << What should go here?
Polk 5Jr's for rears
Polk CsiA4 center<- So says the website

As far as receivers or a/v processors, I'm up in the air as far as what I want. The more I read on forums and websites the more I get put-off about the whole prospect of buying anything, so my little Pioneer receiver (that I received in 1991 or so) keeps plugging along.
My whole experience has been 'You get what you pay for, and if you don't pay >$1000 per component, you're not going to be happy'. (except here, where you guys seem to be down to earth.)

Any recommendations? I made up my mind about 6 months ago about getting the Oppo BDP-83.
I'm currently using an Olevia 242T 42" TV and a PS/2 for DVD... my other cheap-o pooped out last week.

Thanks!

everpress

omfgppc wrote: »

Yeah, I'm gonna take y'alls advice and err on the side of 'find a better project'. OK, so what should I look for to compliment my 5Jrs ? Or rather, what should my 5Jr's be complimenting? My end goal is to have all Polk 5.1 home theater capability.

Polk ??? For fronts? << What should go here?
Polk 5Jr's for rears
Polk CsiA4 center<- So says the website

As far as receivers or a/v processors, I'm up in the air as far as what I want. The more I read on forums and websites the more I get put-off about the whole prospect of buying anything, so my little Pioneer receiver (that I received in 1991 or so) keeps plugging along.
My whole experience has been 'You get what you pay for, and if you don't pay >$1000 per component, you're not going to be happy'. (except here, where you guys seem to be down to earth.)

Any recommendations? I made up my mind about 6 months ago about getting the Oppo BDP-83.
I'm currently using an Olevia 242T 42" TV and a PS/2 for DVD... my other cheap-o pooped out last week.

Thanks!

Look at my gear... all together I've paid less than $300 for my fronts, surrounds, sub and receiver. Now, my gear isn't top of the line, but it's good. Don't think you have to pay $1000+ for each piece of equipment... Someone else will. And when they are tired of it or their spouses forget how much they paid for it, or they die and it all goes to Goodwill... Be ready!

omfgppc

HA HA! I was actually poking around the local goodwills looking for receivers and speakers!

nadams

Poke around for a larger set of Monitors, RTA's, or possible SDA's for your fronts. Keep it all vintage. Great gear at a cheap price.

I've had 5jr's, Monitor 10's, and now my SDA 2's, and loved each set as I progressively grew into larger speakers. Next on the plate for me would be an even larger set of SDA's, but I honestly have no urge to go that route. I'd need a bigger house, first, and they're infinitely more expensive than the speakers.

You're only a 7 hour drive from my place... Come on up and get your ears on the SDAs

mhardy6647

The 9As are not bad sounding speakers. The 4" fullrange CTS drivers are actually quite nice, and the 9A has the same Peerless KO10DT 1" silk dome tweeter as the early Monitor Series models 5, 7 and 10 (and early 12, too).

The original Model 9, with a Motorola piezo tweeter and "no electronic crossovers" was probably a different story. I've heard a pair, but it was a long, long time ago.

I have a pair of 9As here. Definitely more as "collectors items" but they are quite listenable.

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19965&highlight=monitor

EDIT: Interestingly the CTS drivers in the 9As that are here have cloth, not foam, surrounds.
In the interest of disclosure, I got these 9As from Polk Forums and AK member xoaphexox.

mhardy6647

Lasareath wrote: »

I have a pair of mini-monitors that i want to rebuild too but I was told they sound like crap, so they are just sitting on a shelf.

If you wish to believe that... feel free to send them along to me any old time at all... :-)

omfgppc

I see some RTA 8t's on Ebay in Harrisburg, PA...

Since the Model 9's are at my folks house in CT, and I'm in VA, maybe I'll scope the rotting 9's out over my Thanksgiving or Christmas ventures north. Interested in refoaming, sounds like fun.