Vintage Peerless clarification

geppy1

Having been on this site since 2002 (lost my old name) I have seen a number of threads concerning tweeters. However there still seems to be some confusion about the Peerless units. I have spent way to much time researching these and collecting them to try and figure out whats what and have a pretty good handle on it. If I may i would like to offer the following imformation.

Denmark made are marked 7514 ____ US made marked 5514____ Even the silver faced SL1000s were marked as such


1) Peerless made in Denmark by Peerless... HF1000 My favorite Red wire used in the coil. Used by Polk 1977 to around 1981 depening on speaker model Magnet housing is silver with two flat spots and is marked 7514____ on the magnet or on the plate The last two numbers being the year. Has hole in dome (very early ones did not) Back is gray raw metal but later ones black.

2) There is also a version with a gold magnet back and heavier magnet still with flat spots

3) Peerless made in Denmark by Peerless REPLACEMENT I think Polk called them KD 1011 or something Sold as the replacement for the above in the 90s. This is what the new Midwest Speaker replacement is based on. NO HOLE IN DOME. Back is black and usually has the decal shown. Sounds more peaky then the original. Tooling cracked in around 2001 one and they stopped making them.

US made for Peerless In 1982 Polk listed them as SL 1000 in their lit.

1) Marked 5514____ last two numbers are the year. Copper colored coil. Has gold back with large heavy magnet with two flat spots on the housing.

2) Same markings but silver back , smaller magnet housing and no flat spots.

3) Same as one above but two flat spot on the magnet housing. NO PICTURE

4) Same markings as above But gold back , no flat spot and a dimple in the middle on the back Seems to have been used in 1983 .

There ya have it. There may be others. If you are looking for one Peerless make sure and get the exact one you have as it has been my experience after much testing they do sound slightly different and have their own charactoristics. keith

skrol

This is great stuff. Thanks!

As well as having different sonic characteristics, I believe that the XO's may be different for some of the variants. For example, ANWKLO's Monitor 5(A?) with Peerless has different XO components than my Monitor 5A. I believe he had a Denmark Peerless (ca. 1979) while mine are USA Peerless (1983). This stresses the point for matching your replacement Peerless tweeters.
Stan

Toolfan66

You know your an Audiophile when you have the passion to do the leg work like this for the sake of yours/others hobby..;)

geppy1

I spent a lot of time listening to them in RTA 12s and Monitor 10s. (wore out screw holes) The 12Bs early Cs are what got me. No change in the crossover values between 1981 and 1985 yet they used 4 different tweeters. 86-87 are the same too but they added polyswitch and another tweeter SL2000
I like the orignal Denmark made ones from 1977 to 1980. They have a very special sound, detailed very clear, musical almost three D but do not sound harsh. They may be a little one noteish in the treble. Voices really come out. The RDO194 (in the 12s) reminds me of them but not quite as clear.

kcoc321

this thread would make a good sticky.
Thanks Keith

ANWKLO

What is the marking behind the sticker? Is it 5514_

geppy1

As you know that is an SL1000 Some are marked and some are not. That is a warranty replacement . I have found the later ones (early 90s) have a gasket betweenn the plate and magnet that the early ones (84-84) do not have. The later pair was much more harsh and in your face then the earlier ones.

smcgov34

I have some M10's I was going to drop some peerless into, I bought some off of the bay that were in some cizek speakers..and they have different magnets so I'm probably just going to sell those again. thanks for the info....great writeup

comfortablycurt

smcgov34 wrote: »

I have some M10's I was going to drop some peerless into, I bought some off of the bay that were in some cizek speakers..and they have different magnets so I'm probably just going to sell those again. thanks for the info....great writeup

If they didn't have Peerless tweets originally, you can't just drop them in. The cutouts are slightly different and they use different XO architecture than the SL-1000/2000.



Some great info in this thread! Thanks for posting it!

Mystery

geppy1 wrote: »

I spent a lot of time listening to them in RTA 12s and Monitor 10s. (wore out screw holes) The 12Bs early Cs are what got me. No change in the crossover values between 1981 and 1985 yet they used 4 different tweeters. 86-87 are the same too but they added polyswitch and another tweeter SL2000
I like the orignal Denmark made ones from 1977 to 1980. They have a very special sound, detailed very clear, musical almost three D but do not sound harsh. They may be a little one noteish in the treble. Voices really come out. The RDO194 (in the 12s) reminds me of them but not quite as clear.

Reviving few years old thread.
So from your experience, is it okay to replace SL2000 tweeters in RTA-12C with peerless from 7A?
I can definitely try that if that's okay and see if I like that better.

Also, what does that dome hole in peerless tweeter serve?
Thanks

soundfreak1

Thanks so much for your efforts. Have always learned alot from your knowledge on these speakers amd finding out exctly what speakers i have had. And have. Thanks agsin for your research and willingness to share your knoweledge.

mikemokr

Bumping this to report/inquire about a Peerless not described in the OP. Mine are from Monitor (Model) 5s circa 1978. This is the back:



This differs from the 7514 in the second photo above in two respects: No model number stamped on the magnet or plate (I can see no indication that it was removed); and in front of the magnet there's that oval silver-colored base set into the plate. The magnet housing does have the two flat spots though.

The front looks like the typical 7514 with the hole:



The other tweeter is the same, front and back. I acquired these speakers only the other day and haven't fully opened them up yet but can say the date on one MW6500 was 11/20/78. The labels with serial numbers etc were paper stapled to the back and are gone. Curious any thoughts about these tweeters.

Faustin

mikemokr wrote: »

Bumping this to report/inquire about a Peerless not described in the OP. Mine are from Monitor (Model) 5s circa 1978. This is the back:



This differs from the 7514 in the second photo above in two respects: No model number stamped on the magnet or plate (I can see no indication that it was removed); and in front of the magnet there's that oval silver-colored base set into the plate. The magnet housing does have the two flat spots though.

The front looks like the typical 7514 with the hole:



The other tweeter is the same, front and back. I acquired these speakers only the other day and haven't fully opened them up yet but can say the date on one MW6500 was 11/20/78. The labels with serial numbers etc were paper stapled to the back and are gone. Curious any thoughts about these tweeters.

Probably 7514's

Indyaudio2

Wow, great reference material, thanks!

mikemokr

Yup, really is a great thread. I now see two eBay listings for Peerless that look like mine, with no model # on the back and that oval base. Given the vintage I can't imagine they're anything other than a 7514 variant.

geppy1

Those are Denmark made peerless. Not sure what you mean oval colored silver?? I see a gasket with the silver of the back of the faceplate. keith

pitdogg2

geppy1 wrote: »

Those are Denmark made peerless. Not sure what you mean oval colored silver?? I see a gasket with the silver of the back of the faceplate. keith

agree with Keith that is a gasket there

VSAT88

Wow, I am going to check the Monitor 5z now...

pitdogg2

5z??

VSAT88

pitdogg2 wrote: »

5z??

Monitor 5

VSAT88

pitdogg2 wrote: »

5z??

These are the speakers. Got em and a Tandberg TR 2080 a few weeks or so ago. I have not took time to clean them up yet. To be honest I wanted that Tandberg and really did not care one way or the other about the Polk 5z but they were basically free with the deal. I think they sound really nice. I thought the tweeter was a Peerless but I don't really know as there is no sticker or writing on it at all. I have not looked in the box to see if it had fallen off and I have not pulled the other tweeter yet

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westmassguy

They're Peerless Tweeters

Flathead38

Any info on these? Magnet back are silver and round with no markings.

VSAT88

westmassguy wrote: »

They're Peerless Tweeters

Thank you for confirming my suspiss

Flathead38 wrote: »

Any info on these? Magnet back are silver and round with no markings.

From what I gather those are USA made Peerless called SL 1000 . However please do not take my word for it..please wait till one of the more knowledgeable Polkies take a gander.

westmassguy

Flathead38 wrote: »

Any info on these? Magnet back are silver and round with no markings.

Those are Polks SL1000 Tweeters. Similar specs to the SL2000. Both the SL1000/2000 can be upgraded to the RDO-194-1 Tweeter for better performance.