$80 for Polk M7?

Assuming that you mean Monitor 7, I'd say that $80 is fair for them, and you should definitely go back for the pair. I picked mine up for $50 and spent about $90 on replacement mid-woofers to make them all Polk components, and I think they're a very good little speaker.

Supposedly there are a few great mods to put them through to improve them as well. So go get em, and report back!
 
These are great speakers and are a steal at $80. I just sold a pair for quite a bit more than that. Drivers look all original. They will benefit with a stand that puts the tweeters at ear level. They are easy to position and it is very easy to set them up so the speakers disappear! :thumbsup:
 
Can't wait to audition them. If all goes well, I'm sure they will sound fantastic with a soon-to-be-in-my-posession Nakamichi SR-4A receiver.
 
I just got them hooked up on my humble system...


So far, I'm not too sure what to think. I think they sound brighter than my Stupid SonysTM, but kinda 'tinny'... not a lot of mid or bass. Maybe that has something to do with the fact that they're 4 ohms and my Sherwood isn't playing well with it? Or maybe I need to replace the caps on the cross-overs? :dunno:
 
The Polk's efficiency is rated at 89 dB, so it's gonna take a relatively powerful amp to drive them to sing. The Sherwood is a bit underpowered for the Polks at 27 wpc @ 4 ohms. As you noted, they probably should be recapped and you should see an improvement in sound.
 
I can't tell if the caps need to be replaced (they are out of range on my multimeter, as I think they are on the order of 8 megafarads), but the manufacture date is 1990, so it's at least as old as my Sonys... so maybe it is the receiver? I'm going to try it with my NAD to see if it makes a difference.
 
I've got mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, the sound reproduction is incredible... there were actually a few times where it startled me and I had to look behind me because I thought it was my roommate whistling or singing behind me.

On the other hand, if I understand this correctly, it won't sound as good at lower listening volumes compared with an 8 ohm speaker? Piano sounded pretty wooden to me at a lower listening volume, to the point where I felt disappointed. And in general, the bass doesn't seem as loud, but maybe this is because my Sonys are unforgivably bassy (as was the style at the time)?

Does it make any sense, by the way, to keep the volume high but the line level low (e.g. lower the volume on my computer output) to get better sound at lower volumes?
 
How far are they from the wall in back of them?
Looks like it may be good for imaging but not so good for bass.
Have you been using the Sonys on the floor? Maybe they are getting bass reinforcement from the floor.
If so, maybe try the Polks on the floor to see if the bass improves. You know, apples to apples.
Corner placement also would reinforce the bass at possible loss of imaging.
As mentioned, they might not be the best match with your Sherwood.
 
How far are they from the wall in back of them?
Looks like it may be good for imaging but not so good for bass.
Have you been using the Sonys on the floor? Maybe they are getting bass reinforcement from the floor.
If so, maybe try the Polks on the floor to see if the bass improves. You know, apples to apples.
Corner placement also would reinforce the bass at possible loss of imaging.
As mentioned, they might not be the best match with your Sherwood.
Well I placed them on top of the Sonys so that they would be in the same lateral position for imaging, etc. They are just as far from the back of the wall as the Sonys. The Sonys are on the floor but they are on carpet.
 
So were the Sonys previously elevated or were they on the floor?
If they were on the floor then try the Polks on the floor.
If not never mind.

On the carpet means on the floor.
To me at least. It's not rocket surgery.
You did ask about stands so it makes me think they were on the floo....errrrr carpet before.
 
Remove the Sonys completely from the picture, and place the Polks where the Sonys once sat. You'll get an accurate comparison then. I find it hard to believe the Sonys outperform the Polks, so its either speaker positioning or caps. It also may be that you'll need to get used to the Polk sound, especially after listening to the Sony for so long. Listen to them over a few days before judgement, you may warm up to them.
I can't tell if the caps need to be replaced (they are out of range on my multimeter, as I think they are on the order of 8 megafarads)
You've got serious issues if the caps are measured in megafarads. I believe they're measured in microfarads, so check again. The symbol for micro is a "μ", where mega is a "M". Either way, the caps are 27 years old and you have no idea how hard they've been driven. They may be due for a replacement.
 
The symbol on the caps was definitely an 'm', but I've been googling around and it seems the caps should have very small values indeed (8uF, e.g.). So it looks like a replacement might be in order, then.
 
8uF is 8 microfarads. The letter "u" is used in place of "μ" because most keyboards don't support that letter. 8μF = 8uF = 8mFd
 
Turns out there's nothing wrong with the caps. I'm not sure how the crossover circuit is connected, but I suspected the inductors might affect the capacitance values so I clipped the leads of one capacitor to measure. Well within spec. Might replace them anyways just to see the difference...
 
Because the caps measure 8μF doesn't necessarily mean they're good. You would need an ESR meter to truly check the viability of the cap. Equivalent series resistance (ESR) measurement measures resistance of the cap leads and electrodes and losses in the cap dielectric material. Its better to just replace the caps if you don't have that meter handy.
 
Your Monitor 7's already have the updated tweeter. So, that's good. Replacing capacitors seem to make a nice difference, on the Polks. It's not hard to do. Maybe that should be next? Also, make sure all the driver mounting screws are tight. The Polk's use a passive radiator, and that needs a good seal, to produce proper bass.
 
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