It took me a second to comprehend which speaker you were talking about. You don't mean "Monitor 11", but rather "Monitor II". Pronounced "Monitor 2", but written with Roman numerals, two upper case i's. I don't mean to be a stickler, but these designations are important, especially with Infinity's history of wacky naming conventions.
It seems there are far more Monitor II out there than your model, the Monitor 1a. In fact, you're the first person I've heard mention the original monitors. Can you post a picture?
I'm interested in these models, because I own and am quite happy with their cousins, the WTLC (Wave Transmission Line Column) and their successor, the Column II. Both are fantastic speakers, the WTLC sharing the Walsh tweeter with the Monitor series, and then Infinity giving up the Walsh for an excellent pair of Motorola piezos in the Column II. I consider the WTLC to be the speaker capable of greater finesse, with the Walsh tweeter doing lovely things for the very highest end of the specturm, while the Column II is a bigger, tougher, fuller sounding speaker, while at the same time able to produce fine details from the forward and rear facing piezos. I think I prefer the Column II to the WTLC, but I'm glad I own both.
I'd love to compare either of these to the Monitor 1 or II. I've heard from people who own both the Monitor II and Column II. Some say they prefer the Column, others say they prefer the Monitor. Interesting.