My earliest, and most prized, bit of Polk Audio ephemera: ca. 1976 "Monitor Series" brochure

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mhardy6647
mhardy6647 Posts: 33,115
in Vintage Speakers
OK, so it ain't much, but it's been in my possession since I started loudspeaker shopping (ca. fall 1976/spring 1977) in Baltimore, so I am kinda attached to it. :)
I have been meaning to generate a better quality scan of it for... well... nigh on two decades. A recent post on very early Monitor 7s (and 7As) got me to thinkin' - again - about doing it. Today is hot and humid and generally a good "inside" day, so I finally got around to it.

These are better than the old ones, which I had to rescue from Photobucket's evil clutches a couple of years back :# but they're not pro-quality. I also decided to keep these in color (I'd reduced the earlier set of scans to monochrome). In particular, one page of the brochure had artifictually mottled color on each of two attempts to scan it -- so that page is, regretfully, reproduced in monochrome.

51294321276_85cf86aa9f_b.jpgPolk Monitor brochure 1976 p1 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

This brochure had a fold-out front page with some "features" recorded on it, and also three photos on its 'back' side.

51295324050_9100e087eb_b.jpgPolk Monitor brochure 1976 foldin by Mark Hardy, on Flickr
51293718107_a7e101c1af_b.jpgPolk Monitor brochure 1976 foldin reverse by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

51295323880_f6d71f4cc3_b.jpgPolk Monitor brochure 1976 p2 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr
51294321136_ace501877d_b.jpgPolk Monitor brochure 1976 p3 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr
51294498973_521bb99248_b.jpgPolk Monitor brochure 1976 p4 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

Hope that this is useful, or at least interesting! :)


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  • maxward
    maxward Posts: 1,526
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    A National treasure….
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  • odcics2
    odcics2 Posts: 310
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    👍. Cool stuff!!
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,115
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    maxward wrote: »
    A National treasure….

    Wait, is that sarcasm?
    B)
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  • Gardenstater
    Gardenstater Posts: 4,209
    edited July 2021
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    Super interesting! Thanks so much. So now I think this clears up the issue (for me) of whether or not the specs in the Audio Oct 1978 were accurate or not. They say 26Hz to 25kHz +/- 2dB. Unless that is a later brochure? Aaargh. Still hard to believe and why would it be so low?

    PS: lol @ *our* soft dome high frequency unit. I don't see a hole in the dome. Can you see one in your original copy?

    PPS: Doesn't that picture of the tweeter look different from a Peerless? The corners are chamfered, not rounded. It looks like the dome is mounted behind the bezel rather than in front in a rabbet. The wires are behind the bezel rather than in a groove in the front.
    George / NJ

    Polk 7B main speakers, std. mods+ (1979, orig owner)
    Martin Logan Dynamo sub w/6ft 14awg Power Cord
    Onkyo A-8017 integrated
    Logitech Squeezebox Touch Streamer w/EDO applet
    iFi nano iDSD DAC
    iPurifier3
    iDefender w/ iPower PS
    Custom Steve Wilson 1m UPOCC Interconnect
    iFi Mercury 0.5m OFHC continuous cast copper USB cable
    Custom Ribbon Speaker Cables, 5ft long, 4N Copper, 14awg, ultra low inductance
    Custom Vibration Isolation Speaker Stands and Sub Platform
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  • maxward
    maxward Posts: 1,526
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    Are you interested in the auction value or what you should insure it for?
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,115
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    maxward wrote: »
    Are you interested in the auction value or what you should insure it for?

    Do... do you think I should get a rider for our insurance?

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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,115
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    Gardenstater wrote: »
    Super interesting! Thanks so much. So now I think this clears up the issue (for me) of whether or not the specs in the Audio Oct 1978 were accurate or not. They say 26Hz to 25kHz +/- 2dB. Unless that is a later brochure? Aaargh. Still hard to believe and why would it be so low?

    PS: lol @ *our* soft dome high frequency unit. I don't see a hole in the dome. Can you see one in your original copy?

    PPS: Doesn't that picture of the tweeter look different from a Peerless? The corners are chamfered, not rounded. It looks like the dome is mounted behind the bezel rather than in front in a rabbet. The wires are behind the bezel rather than in a groove in the front.

    There was a plate over the Peerless's bezel (escutcheon? whatever...) in some of the very, very early Polk products. Perhaps to disguise the tweeters' provenance?

    PS I wouldn't get too hung up on the numbers printed in the sales literature... :|
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  • Gardenstater
    Gardenstater Posts: 4,209
    edited July 2021
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    That was probably an error in Audio 1978 Oct. But your brochure is 1976 = earlier. I have read an article by someone who was an employee of Polk that when they give no dB qualifiers, it implies -9dB, just as sort of an aside. Perhaps Audio took the wrong numbers and then put a +/- 2dB.

    I don't know. If you zoom in you can see that there are raised areas that look like the terminals are mounted there. You wouldn't do that if you were buying Peerless tweeters and putting another plate in front of their plate, would you? They are centrally located on the bezel from top to bottom and that's not where the Peerless terminals are even located, which is why there is the familiar upside down V.

    Isn't there anyone in Engineering from the old Polk that we can consult on this stuff? Stu _____? Are they uninterested in sharing their knowledge?

    8uk5t8ci6pnr.jpg
    George / NJ

    Polk 7B main speakers, std. mods+ (1979, orig owner)
    Martin Logan Dynamo sub w/6ft 14awg Power Cord
    Onkyo A-8017 integrated
    Logitech Squeezebox Touch Streamer w/EDO applet
    iFi nano iDSD DAC
    iPurifier3
    iDefender w/ iPower PS
    Custom Steve Wilson 1m UPOCC Interconnect
    iFi Mercury 0.5m OFHC continuous cast copper USB cable
    Custom Ribbon Speaker Cables, 5ft long, 4N Copper, 14awg, ultra low inductance
    Custom Vibration Isolation Speaker Stands and Sub Platform
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  • odcics2
    odcics2 Posts: 310
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    Do they remember?? That’s a long time ago!

    Maybe the tweeter photo is of a sample unit, not production?
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  • maxward
    maxward Posts: 1,526
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    @mhardy6647 I was just having some fun with it. Like Frazier Crane’s Dad, I enjoy the “game show” aspect of Antiques Roadshow.
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,115
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    maxward wrote: »
    @mhardy6647 I was just having some fun with it. Like Frazier Crane’s Dad, I enjoy the “game show” aspect of Antiques Roadshow.

    I assumed (well, OK, hoped) as much! :)
    I was trying to respond in kind. B)
    I wish I'd amassed more Polk ephemera back then -- I am (for better or worse) a sucker for catalogs & brochures.
    ... and that's why I love www.worldradiohistory.com :)
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  • SeleniumFalcon
    SeleniumFalcon Posts: 3,523
    edited July 2021
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    Next time you're on that site, search for "DKL Sound Lab" they've got one of our really early ads.
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  • skrol
    skrol Posts: 3,342
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    mhardy6647 wrote: »
    maxward wrote: »
    @mhardy6647 I was just having some fun with it. Like Frazier Crane’s Dad, I enjoy the “game show” aspect of Antiques Roadshow.

    I assumed (well, OK, hoped) as much! :)
    I was trying to respond in kind. B)
    I wish I'd amassed more Polk ephemera back then -- I am (for better or worse) a sucker for catalogs & brochures.
    ... and that's why I love www.worldradiohistory.com :)

    Amen to that. I used to grab any that I could get my hands on at the local shops. Some I probably wasn't supposed to have.
    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
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,115
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    apropos of funny/early Polk tweeters -- did all y'all see this?
    https://www.ebay.com/itm/324114061663?hash=item4b76b4195f:g:vTgAAOSwiI1eesvr

    Description sounds like it came from a Model 9A. :)
    I don't know the model number that it came out of but i have never seen another one anywhere. It was in a small tower speaker with 4 mid woofers, 3 with the tweeter in the front of the box and one in the rear.

    innerestin'.

    irnyp9ootp9p.png

    zclxqjmaq7qj.png

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  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,639
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    Rudimentary...
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,115
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    pitdogg2 wrote: »
    Rudimentary...

    In an innerestin' way B)
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  • SeleniumFalcon
    SeleniumFalcon Posts: 3,523
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    There's a bit of a family similarity to early Polk PCB

    zw79szmd27pt.png
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,115
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    SeleniumFalcon wrote: »
    There's a bit of a family similarity to early Polk PCB

    zw79szmd27pt.png
    Indeed -- both are built on perfboard.


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  • SeleniumFalcon
    SeleniumFalcon Posts: 3,523
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    Perfboard with strawberry jelly.
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,115
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    SeleniumFalcon wrote: »
    Perfboard with strawberry jelly.

    To quote Jimmy Buffett:
    Well it reminds me of the menu at a Holiday Inn...
    B)
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