Made in China?

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FireModel
FireModel Posts: 7
edited March 2010 in Vintage Speakers
Had an SL2000 tweeter go bad on one of my Monitor 10B's. Decided to go with a pair of RDO-194's ordered directly form Polk. They arrived today:) Took one out of the box, no gasket:mad:. Maybe should've ordered those. No label on the back of the magnet like the old ones saying manufacture date or "inspected by", no nothing. No indicator on the contacts saying which one is positive. Looks suspiciously like "made in China". What have we (they, Polk)come to? Little piece of paper say I my have to drill pilot holes (no big deal) but that's about it. Does it matter where I connect the black wire?
Post edited by FireModel on
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  • Conradicles
    Conradicles Posts: 6,042
    edited March 2010
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    I got some extra gaskets if you need some. Just PM me your address and I'll be glad to send them in the mail. Peace and welcome to Club Polk!
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  • ben62670
    ben62670 Posts: 15,969
    edited March 2010
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    Look close at the back of the face plate. There should be markings there. Black is positive.
    Ben
    Please. Please contact me a ben62670 @ yahoo.com. Make sure to include who you are, and you are from Polk so I don't delete your email. Also I am now physically unable to work on any projects. If you need help let these guys know. There are many people who will help if you let them know where you are.
    Thanks
    Ben
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  • FireModel
    FireModel Posts: 7
    edited March 2010
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    Thanks for the welcome Conradicles. I've still got the old gaskets but like when you replace a water pump good to put in new gaskets. Not that critical on these speakers I suppose. Upon closer inspection of the new RDO-194's I see that one of the contacts is red. No other indication. I'm guessing thats positive (black). Going to put them in and see.
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  • ben62670
    ben62670 Posts: 15,969
    edited March 2010
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    You guessed correctly;)
    Please. Please contact me a ben62670 @ yahoo.com. Make sure to include who you are, and you are from Polk so I don't delete your email. Also I am now physically unable to work on any projects. If you need help let these guys know. There are many people who will help if you let them know where you are.
    Thanks
    Ben
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  • nooshinjohn
    nooshinjohn Posts: 25,100
    edited March 2010
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    mortite or armacell make a better alternative to the stock gaskets
    The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD

    “When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson
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  • FireModel
    FireModel Posts: 7
    edited March 2010
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    Well I'll consider better gaskets later as well as other "mods". A reply from TNTsTunes in another thread I posted suggested I mod the crossovers after installing RDO-194's which I'd like to consider but for now I just want to listen to some Pink Floyd.
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  • gdb
    gdb Posts: 6,012
    edited March 2010
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    Wait a minute.......red is negative and black is positive ?? that is totally opposite of everything I've ever seen that's wired with those two colors!?!?:confused:
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  • ben62670
    ben62670 Posts: 15,969
    edited March 2010
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    red is positive on the speaker, and black is "hot"(think AC) on the wire
    Please. Please contact me a ben62670 @ yahoo.com. Make sure to include who you are, and you are from Polk so I don't delete your email. Also I am now physically unable to work on any projects. If you need help let these guys know. There are many people who will help if you let them know where you are.
    Thanks
    Ben
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  • gdb
    gdb Posts: 6,012
    edited March 2010
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    Ah So.....Hop Sing got it now!:D
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,801
    edited March 2010
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    Something to consider, what other speaker company still sells parts for 20+ year old speakers, improved parts for that matter? Slim to none and slim might be out of town.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • comfortablycurt
    comfortablycurt Posts: 6,745
    edited March 2010
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    F1nut wrote: »
    Something to consider, what other speaker company still sells parts for 20+ year old speakers, improved parts for that matter? Slim to none and slim might be out of town.


    +1

    The fact that Polk even still supplies parts for speakers of that vintage, says leaps and bounds about their company as a whole. They realize that there's a big market out there for their vintage speakers. Supplying those parts goes a long way towards showing how great their CS is. With most other vintage speakers, parts were gone years and years ago, and you've gotta search high and low to find a replacement(which is generally used, in a "who knows?" kind of condition). A lot of the time, replacement parts can't even be found, and you're forced to find an aftermarket driver that's close enough to work.

    I think this is a great strategy on their part from a business perspective too. Someone wants to fix up their old speakers, and when they realize how fantastic their vintage Polks sound, they look towards Polk again for their next upgrade. It really helps to build brand loyalty.

    I've said it before, and I'll say it a thousand more times. Polk has THE BEST CS of any company I've ever dealt with. They go above and beyond to make sure your rig's up and running.



    Seriously though, basically everything is made in China anymore. It's what they have to do to keep offering us great products at great prices. If they were all handmade in America, a pair of LSi9's would probably have an MSRP of like $2500.
    The nirvana inducer-
    APC H10 Power Conditioner
    Marantz UD5005 universal player
    Parasound Halo P5 preamp
    Parasound HCA-1200II power amp
    PolkAudio LSi9's/PolkAudio SDA 2A's/PolkAudio Monitor 7A's
    Audioquest Speaker Cables and IC's
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  • cnh
    cnh Posts: 13,284
    edited March 2010
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    Careful boys...I'm making things in China at the moment....'students' that is! Really, the Chinese manufacturing base is getting better and better each day. The quality improves steadily...there is nothing intrinsically wrong with 'made in China'--politics aside (of course).

    cnh
    Currently orbiting Bowie's Blackstar.!

    Polk Lsi-7s, Def Tech 8" sub, HK 3490, HK HD 990 (CDP/DAC), AKG Q701s
    [sig. changed on a monthly basis as I rotate in and out of my stash]
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  • comfortablycurt
    comfortablycurt Posts: 6,745
    edited March 2010
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    cnh wrote: »
    Careful boys...I'm making things in China at the moment....'students' that is! Really, the Chinese manufacturing base is getting better and better each day. The quality improves steadily...there is nothing intrinsically wrong with 'made in China'--politics aside (of course).

    cnh

    For me, it's not so much the quality of the products, as it is just the simple fact that we could be producing all of these things here and be creating tons of jobs and doing a lot of good for our economy. Plus, last I checked, us and China haven't always exactly been the best of friends throughout history...lol

    But...this isn't really the place for that discussion.:)
    The nirvana inducer-
    APC H10 Power Conditioner
    Marantz UD5005 universal player
    Parasound Halo P5 preamp
    Parasound HCA-1200II power amp
    PolkAudio LSi9's/PolkAudio SDA 2A's/PolkAudio Monitor 7A's
    Audioquest Speaker Cables and IC's
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  • cnh
    cnh Posts: 13,284
    edited March 2010
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    comfortablycurt wrote: »
    For me, it's not so much the quality of the products, as it is just the simple fact that we could be producing all of these things here and be creating tons of jobs and doing a lot of good for our economy. Plus, last I checked, us and China haven't always exactly been the best of friends throughout history...lol

    But...this isn't really the place for that discussion.:)

    I understand...but as you point out, that's a discussion for another time and place....I'm just saying that Polk's line is not diminished in quality by the location of their manufacturing...and nothing more than that.

    So we're cool...


    cnh
    Currently orbiting Bowie's Blackstar.!

    Polk Lsi-7s, Def Tech 8" sub, HK 3490, HK HD 990 (CDP/DAC), AKG Q701s
    [sig. changed on a monthly basis as I rotate in and out of my stash]
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  • comfortablycurt
    comfortablycurt Posts: 6,745
    edited March 2010
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    cnh wrote: »
    I understand...but as you point out, that's a discussion for another time and place....I'm just saying that Polk's line is not diminished in quality by the location of their manufacturing...and nothing more than that.

    So we're cool...


    cnh

    Exactly...just because they're produced in China, it doesn't automatically mean that they're junk. They still have quality control standards and all that. I very rarely hear of any problems with new Polk products breaking/being defective etc.


    So, do the students come with a little "Made In China" sticker on the backs of their necks?:p:confused:
    The nirvana inducer-
    APC H10 Power Conditioner
    Marantz UD5005 universal player
    Parasound Halo P5 preamp
    Parasound HCA-1200II power amp
    PolkAudio LSi9's/PolkAudio SDA 2A's/PolkAudio Monitor 7A's
    Audioquest Speaker Cables and IC's
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  • cnh
    cnh Posts: 13,284
    edited March 2010
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    No they have 'assembled by an American' stamped on them! lol

    We're doing our best to 'transform' the model of Chinese University education over here...give it a less rigid, less hierarchical, less passive, imitative tone....and a more individualistic and creative focus!

    cnh
    Currently orbiting Bowie's Blackstar.!

    Polk Lsi-7s, Def Tech 8" sub, HK 3490, HK HD 990 (CDP/DAC), AKG Q701s
    [sig. changed on a monthly basis as I rotate in and out of my stash]
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  • Toolfan66
    Toolfan66 Posts: 16,906
    edited March 2010
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    F1nut wrote: »
    Something to consider, what other speaker company still sells parts for 20+ year old speakers, improved parts for that matter? Slim to none and slim might be out of town.

    Agreed.. I myself have spent about $800 on tweeters alone in the last year.
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,081
    edited March 2010
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    Polk drivers in the Monitor/SDA series were made in Mexico back then. Who cares where the drivers are made? Back then Mexico was the China of today.

    Once you (the OP) installs these you won't even give it a second thought as they (I assume you bought a pair) are so much better than the sl2000 you won't care. The gasket isn't a big deal and it's been mentioned in several threads you need to keep the gasket.

    Yes, definitely "refresh" the X-overs, there are lots and lots of very detailed and informative threads on re-doing X-overs and we are just a post away if you have questions.

    H9
    "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!
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  • FireModel
    FireModel Posts: 7
    edited March 2010
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    I apologize that in my orignal post I strongly inferred that "they, Polk" had "come to" some lower standard by having parts manufactured in China. At first appearance the new RDO-194's looked kind of chincy. After in put them in (no redrilling necessary) and cranked them up, yes H9, they sounded great.:p

    "Made in China" has gotten a bad rap recently, and rightfully so in some cases but I'd have to agree that wherever a product is manufactured if it's manufactured to a standard that is established by a quality company (like Polk, I'm sure), it doesn't matter where the production facility is.

    Initial appearance of the drivers aside, I placed the order with Polk on Monday (PM their time) and they were waiting for me when I got home on Wednesday. No shipping charge and a 20% discount to boot. That in itself says alot about Polk Audio. I've always loved my Monitor 10's and their over 20 years old. That after 20+ years of great sound out of them all I have to do is call Polk and order a couple of tweeters to get perhaps another 20 years of great sound out of them says even more about Polk Audio.

    I hereby pledge that I am a loyal Polk Audio customer.

    Administrator you can delete this thread, I'd like to discuss crossover mods for my Monitor 10's elsewhere.
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  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,576
    edited March 2010
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    We'll just close it as it could be useful to the next person.

    Polk Audio takes the manufacturing of all the products, including replacement parts, very seriously. They oversee the start to finish work that goes on overseas and with the introduction of the RTiA series, the cabinet work has exceeded what was possible elsewhere. In addition, the work that went into the vintage tweeter replacements was quite extensive from the nerd side of Engineering, Design and Development.

    The fact that the actual tweeter instructions have been simplified and silkscreened foam hand style fingers pointing to this and that are now missing should be the last thing you should worry about. It's just a driver, with a postive and negative, sent in a box that was meant for your loudspeaker.

    Positive is marked RED and re-use your old gasket. You can even go further with a Mortite or similar style seal, just do a search and you'll find some help.
    CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
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