monitor 5's

falconcry72
falconcry72 Posts: 3,580
edited February 2010 in Vintage Speakers
hello oh wise ones:

I recently aquired a pair of RTA12c's. They are my first vintage polks and I love them, so now I'm hooked. I want SDA's down the road, but not quite yet; I'd like to let my ears ripen to the vintage polk sound a little more so I really appreciate the SDA magic when it happens. (i'd also like to let my wallet ripen so I can afford a really nice pair :). For now I'm looking for surrounds and rears to complement the 12c's that are my fronts. I found a pair of monitor 5's local for 80 bucks that are in great shape. How will they sound with the 12's? the 12's have the sl2000 tweets while the 5's have the 2500 i believe. is 80 a good deal? Thanks for the advice,

Ben
2-Channel: PC > Schiit Eitr > Audio Research DAC-8 > Audio Research LS-26 > Pass Labs X-250.5 > Magnepan 3.7's

Living Room: PC > Marantz AV-7703 > Emotiva XPA-5 > Sonus Faber Liuto Towers, Sonus Faber Liuto Center, Sonus Faber Liuto Bookshelves > Dual SVS PC12-Pluses

Office: Phone/Tablet > AudioEngine B1 > McIntosh D100 > Bryston 4B-ST > Polk Audio LSiM-703's
Post edited by falconcry72 on
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Comments

  • bluecomet
    bluecomet Posts: 1,118
    edited February 2010
    I would say it is a good deal. They should be find for surround speakers. If the M5's have the Sl2500 tweets they should be the Monitor 2 series. I sure someone will correct me if I am wrong. Either way they are nice speakers at a good price. I would grab them.
    Polk HT system 1: LSIC, LSI25 mains, LSI F/X rears, Lsi F/X rear centers,
    Yamaha RX-V2500 System, Carver A753 3 channel amp.

    Polk HT system 2: , SRT system with f/x 1,000's rear speakers on 7.1 system currently using Onkyo TX-RZ820 receiver, powered by Sunfire Grand Theater amp

    Polk Speaker collection: SDA SRS 1.2tl x 2, SRT system, SDA SRS 2 P/B, SDA 2A, SDA 1C Studio, SDA CRS+, Monitor 7B & 4, SRS 3.1tl, RTA 15tl, LS90, LSI 9
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  • falconcry72
    falconcry72 Posts: 3,580
    edited February 2010
    bluecomet wrote: »
    I would say it is a good deal. They should be find for surround speakers. If the M5's have the Sl2500 tweets they should be the Monitor 2 series. I sure someone will correct me if I am wrong. Either way they are nice speakers at a good price. I would grab them.

    comet,

    thanks for the advice! I grabbed them, and I'm really glad I did; they sound great and are as damn close to mint as a 20 year old speaker can get. I thought the 5's had sl2500's because that's what Polk's vintage products page says, but when i got them home I took out the tweets and they're both sl2000's, which was great news for me since my rta12c's have 2000's as well. If I had 200 bucks to burn I might get RD0's for all four. Actually, I'd just put it in my SDA fund.

    Once I saw that the tweets matched I took out the mid drivers to find that they do not match. The Rta12c's have 6501's, and the monitor 5's have 6502's. What's the difference?

    Regardless of the spec differences, they blend in a hell of a lot better than the later model RT7's I was using before. The RT7's are a great bookshelf, by the way.

    As far as the price, I didn't negotiate because I wanted to get them quick before someone else did. I think 80 bucks for a mint set of monitor 5's is an average deal market-wise, but sound quality-wise it's an amazing deal. I'm finding this to be true of all these old Polks. Even "over-paying" for a nice set of SDA's, RTA's, or Monitors, you still get an uncommonly high ratio of bang to buck. :)
    2-Channel: PC > Schiit Eitr > Audio Research DAC-8 > Audio Research LS-26 > Pass Labs X-250.5 > Magnepan 3.7's

    Living Room: PC > Marantz AV-7703 > Emotiva XPA-5 > Sonus Faber Liuto Towers, Sonus Faber Liuto Center, Sonus Faber Liuto Bookshelves > Dual SVS PC12-Pluses

    Office: Phone/Tablet > AudioEngine B1 > McIntosh D100 > Bryston 4B-ST > Polk Audio LSiM-703's
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