Vintage Monitor 4's
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goosedog
Posts: 5
hi there
I just bought my first ever Polk Audio speakers today and I am in love! I can't believe how sweet these little things sound. Here's a couple pictures for fun, hope you like them.
I believe they are Monitor 4 with Peerless tweeters. Got them on Craigslist for $100. They're in amazing shape and sound incredible.
I just bought my first ever Polk Audio speakers today and I am in love! I can't believe how sweet these little things sound. Here's a couple pictures for fun, hope you like them.
I believe they are Monitor 4 with Peerless tweeters. Got them on Craigslist for $100. They're in amazing shape and sound incredible.
Comments
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I've been on the hunt for a pair just like that, nice grab! Don't be afraid to give them some juice.
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Nice.
The early ones, like these, with the Peerless silk domes are surprisingly good sounding little loudspeakers. -
Nice!
There are many new production speakers that you could have spent that coin on, that wouldn't sound as good.
Enjoy them.
Then look into this forum for threads about upgrading them & god help your soul :-)
Seriously. Nice speakers.
Good purchase.
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oh man, I can't imagine how they'd sound any better. I hope I can keep my wits about me and not mess around inside. lol
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BUT I did peek inside and saw the drivers are MW6500 and they have 10/25/83 written on them in blue ink. The crossovers have 10-83 and the number 4 written in white grease pencil. As well as what looks like someone's initials. R.E. maybe?
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Doooeeeet *poke poke poke* common, doooeeeet!!
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Now to move up the chain and get bigger Polk Speakers if you haven't already had them..
Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them. -
do I really need to replace the caps and resistors?
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do I really need to replace the caps and resistors?
Well, the capacitors are tired and you can certainly get quantitatively better ones today. This said, new XO capacitors will have some sonic consequences -- which you may or may not prefer relative to the "base case". Bear in mind that the sound they're producing now is not identical to the way they would have sounded nigh-on 40 years ago, due in no small part to the aging of the passive components in the crossover.
Generally speaking, I'd expect an improvement in neutrality and transparency of the sound with decent quality, modern replacement film capacitors (based on my generic experience with crossover rehabs in "simple" loudspeakers). There is such a wide range of options (and prices), though, that may lead to analysis paralysis. One's alternative is to take someone else's word for what kind to use. I am not discouraging that, but we all have different tastes in reproduced sound and (as they say) de gustibus non est disputandum.
Were they mine, I wouldn't worry about the resistors. You certainly can put better ones in there, but whether it's worth the effort and expense, is more a matter of taste and debate (I'd opine). That said, if you're in there any way, why not?
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Would these work? -
If you like an edgy harsh sound they're perfect.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 -
they'd work (assuming 5.8 uF is the right value for the original Monitor 4; I have no idea) -- but many folks aren't that crazy about the sonics of the Solens when used in loudspeaker crossovers.
Folks here seem to like the Clarity Caps in general. I was kind of hoping that someone with ears-on experience would chime in by now
For low cost projects, I think the Dayton XO caps (made by Bennic, last I knew) are a good value> Some folks find them bright/harsh compared to the boutique-ier options, though.
Dayton is PartsExpress's house brand.
Re: Clarity caps.
https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/claritycap-csa-capacitor-250vdc/claritycap-5.6-mfd-csa-copperconnect-poly-cap-250v/
If you really, truly want/need 5.8 uF, you could parallel ('shunt') this with a good 0.2 uF bypass cap if you wish -- but the sonic impact of bypass caps is kind of controversial, too
They also have a 6.0 uF capacitor.
https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/px-cap-250vdc/claritycap-6.0-mfd-px-range-polypropylene-caps/
Given the likely wide tolerance spec for the original XO caps, either of these may well be absolutely fine -- I dunno.
As a final comment -- someone brought a pair of early (Peerless-equipped) Monitor 4s to a small hifi shindig at my house shortly after we moved up to NH. I hooked 'em to a vintage Yamaha receiver (CR-1020 or 2020, don't remember which we used) and they were superb. Their XOs had been refreshed, but I have no idea what capacitors he'd used. -
Clarity Caps
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Plus you do not need no where near the 400 volt DC spec on that Solen. That would be a very large cap to put on the tiny crossover. The newer film caps will be larger than the electrolytic anyway so no need to super size it as well so to speak.
I'm with Doc here I'd be inclined to use Daytons on those myself, Dayton also make a 1% tolerance cap that I have always wanted to try on a small project. So if they have the 1%'ers in your value for a dollar or two more I'd be all over it. -
Dayton's work great. Used them on several speakers.
No "need" to go crazy on lower priced speakers, as if/or when you try to resale them, its very hard to convince most buyers to pay much more than the basic speaker itself is worth...
We did that before, learned a lesson.
Outside this forum, most see it as a Polk M4 no matter what caps are in it.. -
At that value, the difference in price isn't much between the Clarity Cap PX and the Dayton, and he only needs one for each speak IIRC - the cost of shipping will likely be more than the difference. The 1% tolerance issue is another matter tho
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I dunno -- what are the choices? 1% vs. 5%?
I'd roll the dice. The 5 percenters are probably gonna be close enough.
Heck, the originals were probably 10%, maybe 20%. Did I say that already?
The Clarity Caps seem cost-effective enough to me; I think the OP'd be happy going either way. Heck, he might even be happy with the Solens -- but they seem to grate on too many people for me to recommend 'em.
