Help identifying old speaker model

So I picked these speakers up at a thrift store (old vintage polk speakers had too right?), anyways the sticker on the back was peeled off so now I'm stuck trying to figure out what model these are, I took them apart too look at the drivers and couldn't find much other than the assembly date which was 06/04/1993. So we got a date to go by, any guesses? I'll attach a picture of the front with the grille off zyn3m3tc638e.jpg

Comments

  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,477
    S model maybe but I never have known the S model to have that tweeter personally
  • FestYboy
    FestYboy Posts: 3,861
    edited September 2018
    Most likely an S4 varient, but all the S series that I can find show a dome tweet, and the 4s have a port. What's the back look like?
  • skrol
    skrol Posts: 3,330
    They were simply called "Monitor" in 1992 along with the "Mini-Monitor".
    Stan

    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
  • skrol wrote: »
    They were simply called "Monitor" in 1992 along with the "Mini-Monitor".

    You sir are a wealth of knowledge.
  • skrol
    skrol Posts: 3,330
    edited September 2018
    Yep2 wrote: »
    krazypolk wrote: »
    skrol wrote: »
    They were simply called "Monitor" in 1992 along with the "Mini-Monitor".

    You sir are a wealth of knowledge.

    He has a gift of Google.

    No, I am a pack rat and have the original sales brochure. Want any other info on vintage Polks?
    Stan

    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
  • @skrol yeah that’d be great if you could please
  • skrol
    skrol Posts: 3,330
    Well that is a scan of the actual brochure. I can take a pic and post it if you like.
    Stan

    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
  • PSOVLSK
    PSOVLSK Posts: 5,021
    skrol wrote: »
    Well that is a scan of the actual brochure. I can take a pic and post it if you like.

    If you take a picture of it, I'll believe you. I just can't bring myself to trust a scanned image :D:p
    Things work out best for those who make the best of the way things work out.-John Wooden
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926
    n9w8uk2ym21i.png

    Kind of remarkable how similar that "Mini-Monitor" appears to have been to the (roughly contemporaneous -- I think?!) Cambridge Soundworks Model Seventeen.

    20082332145_9068bb39de_b.jpgCSW17 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926
    To me (FWIW), all of the tweeters above appear to be variants of that rather hideous, and virtually ubiquitous, cheap Audax (if memory serves) 0.75" Mylar dome tweeter. Them suckas seemed to lurk under the grille cloths of virtually every cheap loudspeaker for a decade or more ca. the late 20th/early 21st Century. :p

  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926
    skrol wrote: »
    Yep2 wrote: »
    krazypolk wrote: »
    skrol wrote: »
    They were simply called "Monitor" in 1992 along with the "Mini-Monitor".

    You sir are a wealth of knowledge.

    He has a gift of Google.

    No, I am a pack rat and have the original sales brochure. Want any other info on vintage Polks?

    aww... go 'head & take the credit you're due! :)
  • Viking64
    Viking64 Posts: 6,646
    mhardy6647 wrote: »
    To me (FWIW), all of the tweeters above appear to be variants of that rather hideous, and virtually ubiquitous, cheap Audax (if memory serves) 0.75" Mylar dome tweeter. Them suckas seemed to lurk under the grille cloths of virtually every cheap loudspeaker for a decade or more ca. the late 20th/early 21st Century. :p

    My 4.5s had them. My 4.6s that I bought a year or so later had a Polk tweeter. As my local Polk dealer who just happened to be within walking distance of VPR used to say: The "sweeter tweeter". :p
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926
    ahhh, Fort Ethan Allen...
  • mhardy6647 wrote: »

    Very disappointing.
  • skrol
    skrol Posts: 3,330
    edited September 2018
    Passive tweeters! That is inconceivable.
    I've heard of them but they are not very common due to their very low output level but have zero distortion.
    Stan

    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
  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,477
    Bluetooth who needs stinkin wire
  • The only other time I've seen dummy tweets was in White Van speaker scams.
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926
    edited September 2018
    There was a trend ca. early 1980s in rack mount and all in one stereos to play all sorts of games, including but not limited to.

    Painted circles (typically white) behind the grilles on black baffles, resembling MR and/or tweeter drivers
    "diffusers" on reflex ports that simulated drivers (MR or tweeters, usually)
    small woofers with big trim rings (typically plastic).
    cone tweeters with JBL vane-style "diffusers".


    Some of these atrocities were commited by (once) well-respected names in consumer hifi audio, too! :(

    Here's a good example, albeit at a slightly higher level than the department store all-in-ones, as described (in his inimitable way) by Steve "Decware" Deckert.

    http://www.decware.com/paper10.htm
    g94j80zdfsqg.png

    (and, of course, we know that passive radiators aren't evil a priori... ;) )



  • pkquat
    pkquat Posts: 742
    mhardy6647 wrote: »
    To me (FWIW), all of the tweeters above appear to be variants of that rather hideous, and virtually ubiquitous, cheap Audax (if memory serves) 0.75" Mylar dome tweeter. Them suckas seemed to lurk under the grille cloths of virtually every cheap loudspeaker for a decade or more ca. the late 20th/early 21st Century. :p
    The Polks were much better IMO, but they did have the cheap look. I don't know which came first. I think they were made in Japan, possibly by Kawasaki or some company that starts with a K. There were a few versions of this tweeter used by a number of companies.
    mhardy6647 wrote: »
    Those are the logitech Z333 speakers. I guess at first some places actually advertised them as 2-way not knowing. Its really sad coming from logitech, but this is not their first pair to have fake tweeters.
    They remind me of my first pair of "computer" speakers that "would not affect the monitor". They had a 4" "woofer" with a larger surround so it looked like it had some good throw, and it was a two-way speaker. The tweeters did tweet. I got them on clearance for $8. They actually didn't sound horrible, but the woofer didn't move much. I thought they were shielded, but the magnet was only about the size of my thumb. The woofer had the throw, but the coil / amp couldn't push it. :| After about 5 months one of the tweeters fell out. It was attached just like the pic with glue, accept it had two barely there motor wires that had been sandwiched between two pieces of the fiberboard cabinet. The tweeter was a watch size piezo tweeter with a plastic dome glued to the outside diameter and a pinhole. The built in amp lasted about a year, and the outside fiberboard started to warp. With enough power the woofers did move and were better than expected until they burned out. :p

  • i really appreciate the help so far thanks for the brochure and stuff, i'm still having trouble finding more about them on the internet but i think ill find something
  • skrol
    skrol Posts: 3,330
    These were pretty entry level Polk speakers. I'm not sure that you are going to find much on them. They do look to utilize the dynamic balance woofer, which is a plus.
    Stan

    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
  • MPD0311
    MPD0311 Posts: 5
    Hi I need help identifying a set of polks but should I start a new thread or just can work off this one?
  • Tony M
    Tony M Posts: 11,009
    MPD0311 wrote: »
    Hi I need help identifying a set of polks but should I start a new thread or just can work off this one?

    Carry on in this one. ;)

    Whatchagot?
    Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them.