Topic: im really liking these polk monitor 10s (Read 2558 times)

RexAeterna · « **on:** November 11, 2014, 12:55:01 AM »

I picked these up yesterday from guy I usually talk to for 100 bucks for new looking condition polk monitor 10s.

They are solid wood veneer cabinets with a very beautiful cherry finish and slick black front baffle.

I thought these were the first model versions cause of the cabniet and it uses no fuse (s) for the tweeters. It also uses the upgraded sl2000 silver coil dome tweeter and not the peerless or sl1000 ones. It also has the newer coated bass passive woofers and midranges and still basically still look brand new.

I find these speakers amazing and actually exceeded my expectations. I expected them to sound nice but not this darn good. They have very good clarity, very open with surprising deep clean bass response. The midrange is absolutely clean, transparent and tons of clarity.

I was reading that the peerless tweeters were best while the sl1000 were considered really bright. Never read much or heard much from anyone bout the upgraded sl2000 tweeters but to me they do not sound bright or strident. Will only sound that way depending on recording. Have very good air extension and the speakers sound very clear and open.

I like these as much as my technics sb7000a and they sound very similar to each other. Just my technics sb7000a have a deeper bass extension but other then that I cant complain. They work so well together cause of how similar in the fr range they sound and actually like using the polks and the technics at the same time and usually hate using 2 different sets at one time.

I know my technics and polks are 6ohms nominal so my amp is seeing a 3ohm nominal load but not worried since I ran very low impedance loads on the harman kardon hk770 before with no issues and still runs cool to fairly warm if pushed.

I can see why people praised the monitor 10s for. They have very exceptional performance. Very good clarity and very resolving that will let you know if your source and rest of your gear is crap. These are definitely keepers like the technics sb7000a. Never seeing myself parting with them ever. Will try to post pics here later on. If have issues I might try the library or something cause all I use is my phone since it's only internet source I have. But, yea, I really like these Polks.

dBel84 · « **Reply #1 on:** November 11, 2014, 01:09:32 AM »

cool Rex , glad you are enjoying them. I have read many a good thing about the Monitor 10's over the years , great deal !

RexAeterna · « **Reply #2 on:** November 11, 2014, 03:03:15 AM »

Quote from: dBel84 on November 11, 2014, 01:09:32 AM

cool Rex , glad you are enjoying them. I have read many a good thing about the Monitor 10's over the years , great deal !

Thanks. I kinda forgot bout the 10s for good while to be honest during my speaker search in the past but that's probably cause the avg high prices people been asking for them. I guess the hyped died down on them cause can find them reasonable prices but not always the best condition. I still see them go for atleast 250-300 a pair. Guy told me the person he bought them off just wanted to get rid them so gave it to for 100 and that's what he gave them to me for which I could not pass especially on how curious I been bout them. I have pics up but my crappy phone cam doesn't do them or my technics sb7000a justice. Much prettier in person. Also color always seem off. The polk's finish is a deep cherry color but shows up brown in the pics. I think the tweeters look pretty cool too cause they are whitish silver surround with a black iris. It looks like an eye ball haha.

RexAeterna · « **Reply #3 on:** November 11, 2014, 02:49:18 PM »

I have to say for the money these are one of the greatest deals you can get if on a budget. These things sound really good. I mean for me the technics sb7000a was best buy since I only paid 150 those but that's cause I knew the guy and he just had too many speakers. The sb7000a still goes for extreme prices especially if the tweeters are perfectly working and haven't blown or shifted off the very powerful magnet.

Back to the polks... but yea, I do find the monitor 10s better then their newer monitor series they make for ht. Too bassy and bit bright. They also will cost you 3x or more in price, even on the used market.

Only problem I was told is if you ever buy a pair polk had a reputation with the magnet glue and any type of bump or bang can cause the magnets to shift and lock up the voice coils. Mine was gently taken care of cause the guy knew of this problem.

Like most good speakers they need pretty good amp. More accurate the amp and source is the cleaner and better they sound. Hooking them up to warm sounding amp is pretty good but makes them bit boomy (like it adds more boom to them. Like turning on loudness switch 24/7).

If you ever run up on pair locally for good price and condition I say run! Lol. But, yea these guys live up to thier reputation and keep smacking myself cause I paid more then twice the price than I got the technics and these polks for in the past.

burnspbesq · « **Reply #4 on:** November 11, 2014, 05:27:50 PM »

Also worth noting: the 10s are pretty efficient. When I first got them (1978), I ran them off a Harman-Kardon 330B receiver, and could get them to neighbors-call-the-cops level.

RexAeterna · « **Reply #5 on:** November 11, 2014, 05:42:29 PM »

Quote from: burnspbesq on November 11, 2014, 05:27:50 PM

Also worth noting: the 10s are pretty efficient. When I first got them (1978), I ran them off a Harman-Kardon 330B receiver, and could get them to neighbors-call-the-cops level.

Yup. They're rated I think 94db@1w so you can easily get them cranking with a few watts.

RexAeterna · « **Reply #6 on:** November 15, 2014, 11:20:31 PM »

After I finished treating my room and repositioning speakers I still like the Polk a lot. I plan replacing the sl2000 tweeters eventually to see if I notice an improvement like hardcore polk fans suggest. I might either try search for old pair of peerless tweeters or if can't find them get the supposedly upgraded RDO-194/198 tweeters to see if they're worth the money.

So far I find really not much faults with the silver coil sl2000 domes. Only time I was bothered by them was when I was watching tales of eartshia. In part of the movie where there were zechadias (I think that's how spell the type of bugs) my ears starting to get hot and irritated and parts of movie I noticed random bursts of high frequency tones (I notice some music does this too which is annoying). Other then that no issues really with them. Still find them an impressive speaker. When I heard these at the guys place I thought they sounded bit better than the thiel speakers he uses as main speakers.

The polks do have very clean deep bass response too which bit surprisely for them only using dual 6.5" midbass drivers and 10" passive radiator.

Mr.Sneis · « **Reply #7 on:** November 21, 2014, 05:43:47 PM »

Rex, what can you tell me about these?

Polk Monitor 10 Series II
http://phoenix.craigslist.org/wvl/ele/4730214349.html

The tweeter doesn't seem to match other pics I've seen, modern retrofit?

RexAeterna · « **Reply #8 on:** November 21, 2014, 08:35:16 PM »

Quote from: Mr.Sneis on November 21, 2014, 05:43:47 PM

Rex, what can you tell me about these?

Polk Monitor 10 Series II
http://phoenix.craigslist.org/wvl/ele/4730214349.html

The tweeter doesn't seem to match other pics I've seen, modern retrofit?

Probably the newer rdo-194 upgrades. People usually like those more than the monitor 10s with the slxxxx tweeters. The rdo-194/198 are supposedly the real upgrade from the peerless. 160 is really good price in my opinion. Usually polk monitor 10s with the peerless or upgraded rdo-194/198 tweeters go for 200+

RexAeterna · « **Reply #9 on:** November 25, 2014, 03:32:55 PM »

Quote from: Mr.Sneis on November 21, 2014, 05:43:47 PM

Rex, what can you tell me about these?

Polk Monitor 10 Series II
http://phoenix.craigslist.org/wvl/ele/4730214349.html

The tweeter doesn't seem to match other pics I've seen, modern retrofit?

Have you ever looked at them or got them? Just curious.

Digging and asking the polks is as confusing as the older akg 240 series....

Looking around there was several different models with few different tweeters and some with bit different midbass and passive radiator drivers.

The Polk you showed me while I thought was newer rdo dome, instead could be the sl3000 tweeters....I mean wtf, right?

Supposedly the sl3000 tweeters are considered more flat in response compared to the sl2000 but people still consider the rdo-194/198 models better for some reason without exact details of why. While the rdo-194 is considered exact drop in replacements for the sl2000 the rdo-198 is same price from polk and supposedly bit better than the rdo-194 but, you will need slightly modify the crossovers to sound right cause the rdo-198 is drop in replacements for the sl2500/sl3000.

I don't know....it's bit confusing and asking around audiokarma and browsing polk audio forums there is the same thing over and over and over and over and over and over again... not much details, reasoning and data. Just same opinions.

Guess only way to know is test it myself. I do love my monitor 10s though and they are definitely one hell of buy since you can find them in like new conditions for under 200 bucks. I paid only 100 for mine locally but for some reason ebay prices are still very high compared what you can get them locally for. There is just not much info on them or their bigger sda line up. Nothing but opinions really which can make it extremely annoying/confusing sometimes.

Author Topic: im really liking these polk monitor 10s (Read 2558 times)

RexAeterna

im really liking these polk monitor 10s

dBel84

Re: im really liking these polk monitor 10s

RexAeterna

Re: im really liking these polk monitor 10s

RexAeterna

Re: im really liking these polk monitor 10s

burnspbesq

Re: im really liking these polk monitor 10s

RexAeterna

Re: im really liking these polk monitor 10s

RexAeterna

Re: im really liking these polk monitor 10s

Mr.Sneis

Re: im really liking these polk monitor 10s

RexAeterna

Re: im really liking these polk monitor 10s

RexAeterna

Re: im really liking these polk monitor 10s

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Author Topic: im really liking these polk monitor 10s (Read 2558 times)