Monitor 5 or 5B?
domflane
Posts: 653
I just bought my first pair of vintage Polks over the weekend and I thought they were just Monitor 5's. Then unfortunately, my POS Marantz pre-amp srtuck again and I blew one of the mid drivers. I pulled it out and the back of the MW6502 was stamped with the manufacture date and "5B". So are they 5B's? And whats the difference?
Also, this gives me a good excuse to try my first upgrade. I'd like to try to upgrade the cab, XO's and tweeters, so I'm going to be hitting you guys up for info and advise coming up here soon. I recently bought a nice used set of original MW6502's from a fellow Polkie. Should I use these in my upgrade or is there a better alternative if I'm rebuilding everything anyway? Thanks in advance guys,
Dominic
Also, this gives me a good excuse to try my first upgrade. I'd like to try to upgrade the cab, XO's and tweeters, so I'm going to be hitting you guys up for info and advise coming up here soon. I recently bought a nice used set of original MW6502's from a fellow Polkie. Should I use these in my upgrade or is there a better alternative if I'm rebuilding everything anyway? Thanks in advance guys,
Dominic
Home Theater
RTiA5 - CSiA6 - FXiA6 - PSW650 - Pioneer Elite SC-55 - Carver AV-505 - Sony 46" 120Hz - Monster HP 2400 - Xbox 360 - Playstation 3
2 Channel
Polk RTA 15TL - Harman Kardon HK3485 - HK DVD48 - Signal Cable IC's and speaker cables
Post edited by domflane on
Comments
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Monitor 5's were the very early ones with the peerless tweeter, non-bevel front cabinets, velcro tabs for the grills, paper rings on the driver basket, dual protection fuses. Anything later is considered a 5B and can even have the peerless occasionally. I also believe 5's used a MW6500 driver. 5B's come with or without a tweeter fuse.
I have a pair of early 5B's with the tweeter fuse which I have bypassed."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! -
They must be 5B's then, thanks heiney.Home TheaterRTiA5 - CSiA6 - FXiA6 - PSW650 - Pioneer Elite SC-55 - Carver AV-505 - Sony 46" 120Hz - Monster HP 2400 - Xbox 360 - Playstation 32 ChannelPolk RTA 15TL - Harman Kardon HK3485 - HK DVD48 - Signal Cable IC's and speaker cables
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Here are pics of the Model 5 (Monitor 5), Model 5A (Monitor 5A), Monitor 5B and the Monitor 5 Series 2. Hope it helps.
My Monitor 5A's have the MW 6500 mid-woofers and the Peerless tweeters.
StanStan
Main 2ch:
Polk LSi15 (DB840 upgrade), Parasound: P/LD-1100, HCA-1000A; Denon: DVD-2910, DRM-800A; Benchmark DAC1, Monster HTS3600-MKII, Grado SR-225i; Technics SL-J2, Parasound PPH-100.
HT:
Marantz SR7010, Polk: RTA11TL (RDO198-1, XO and Damping Upgrades), S4, CS250, PSW110 , Marantz UD5005, Pioneer PL-530, Panasonic TC-P42S60
Other stuff:
Denon: DRA-835R, AVR-888, DCD-660, DRM-700A, DRR-780; Polk: S8, Monitor 5A, 5B, TSi100, RM7, PSW10 (DXi104 upgrade); Pioneer: CT-6R; Onkyo CP-1046F; Ortofon OM5E, Marantz: PM5004, CD5004, CDR-615; Parasound C/PT-600, HCA-800ii, Sony CDP-650ESD, Technics SA 5070, B&W DM601 -
What kind of tweeter does the Monitor 5 series 2 have?
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Here are pics of the Model 5 (Monitor 5), Model 5A (Monitor 5A), Monitor 5B and the Monitor 5 Series 2. Hope it helps.
My Monitor 5A's have the MW 6500 mid-woofers and the Peerless tweeters.
Stan
I have 5A's and 5B's and they are exactly like the pics (the middle 2). Also they are as described by H9.
I'll dbl check but:
My 5A's don't have the front bevel but do have the Peerless and the fuses.
My 5B's do have the Front bevel, but alas no Peerless, but do have the fuses.
I am pretty sure both (of mine) have the 6502's.
Both have the Grill pegs.
One other thing I noted, and you can see it in the pics as well, the 5A has the driver surface mounted, where the driver on the 5B is flush.
Another thing I noticed is that on one set, the dust cap on the drivers is less like a course woven fabric material, but more like a fiber mesh of sorts. I'm going down now to dbl check.
According to the parts list the SL2500.Conradicles wrote: »What kind of tweeter does the Monitor 5 series 2 have?____________________
This post is a natural product. The slight variations in spelling and grammar enhance its individual character and beauty and in no way are to be considered flaws or defects.
HT:Onkyo 805, Emotiva XPA-5, Mitsu 52" 1080p DLP / polkaudio RTi12, CSIa6, FXi3, uPro4K
2-chnl : Pio DV-46AV (SACD), Dodd ELP, Emotiva XPA-1s, XPA-2, Odyssey Khartago, LSi9, SDA-SRS 2 :cool:, SB Duet, MSB & Monarchy DACs, Yamaha PX3 TT, SAE Tuner...
Pool: Atrium 60's/45's -
Thanks skrol, from the pics you posted, mine appear to be M5 series 2. I'm still kinda unsure about the differences in the tweeters. I guess mine are SL2500's.Home TheaterRTiA5 - CSiA6 - FXiA6 - PSW650 - Pioneer Elite SC-55 - Carver AV-505 - Sony 46" 120Hz - Monster HP 2400 - Xbox 360 - Playstation 32 ChannelPolk RTA 15TL - Harman Kardon HK3485 - HK DVD48 - Signal Cable IC's and speaker cables
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Thanks skrol, from the pics you posted, mine appear to be M5 series 2. I'm still kinda unsure about the differences in the tweeters. I guess mine are SL2500's.
If the domes are black(ish) and there is a foam ring around the dome then you have Series II w/sl2500.
This is a smoother tweeter than the sl2000. The Series II were the last of the original Monitor series and made for arguably the nicest sounding because of the sl2500 vs the sl2000."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!
