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Are These The Coveted Polk 7's ?

miltaryman

miltaryman

Active Member
Ive heard about how great the 7's are and have had them on my list for about a good year now, but haven't searched for them in months because my initial hunt was a bust. I just stumbled across these but now Im not so sure there wasnt many versions of the 7s, and Id hate to buy the wrong ones. Thanks
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Not quite. Those have the dreaded SL-2000 tweeter and need to be upgraded to the RD-0194 tweeter. If you like them as is, all good, if not just swap the tweeters. More on that in this thread.

Picked yet another pair of speakers - Polk Monitor 7

Thats right - this is a disease, - as much as I try to not buy new speakers, they just seem to find me. A couple of weekends ago, I spotted these on a local CL. At first I passed, but later in a day I saw that they are still there, so I thought I give them a new home. Plus I never had Polks af...
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If the price is right do not pass them up they are still Sevens and look to be in great shape.

If you wind up getting them and liking them you can always upgrade the tweeter @Blue Shadow mentioned and they should sound even better.

Here's the ones (W/Peerless tweeters) that most folks would be happy to find

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I agree if the price is right, and the tweeters and bass d4ivers are in working order snag them. Even with the SL-2000 tweeters they should sound very good. I have a pair of 5jr's with mylar tweeters, they still sound pretty good.
The monitor 10's I bought had the SL-2000 tweeters also. I liked them well enough I bought them. Later I did replace the tweeters with the RDO-194's and they sound even better. The 7's I have came with the peerless tweeters.
 

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btw, are the Polk 7's "coveted" ? I had a pair for awhile and thought the bass was kind of bloated. My 5's, on the other hand sounded more balanced.
 
Lavane said:
I agree if the price is right, and the tweeters and bass d4ivers are in working order snag them. Even with the SL-2000 tweeters they should sound very good. I have a pair of 5jr's with mylar tweeters, they still sound pretty good.
The monitor 10's I bought had the SL-2000 tweeters also. I liked them well enough I bought them. Later I did replace the tweeters with the RDO-194's and they sound even better. The 7's I have came with the peerless tweeters.
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Hes asking 175, so in todays market that range, for any good vintage speaker, seems good to me.
Questions:
-Is the pic you posted the 10's? Cause they look significantly different from the 7's I found.
-Is the RDO-194 tweeter, also called the Peerless? And how did you go about finding the more desirable, and/or, better sounding RDO-194 tweeter to do the swap?
thanks
 
No the 0194 is new, the peerless is from before Polk was using their own tweeter.

Available…post number 9 in the link I provided gives some good info on where to get the 0194 and some discount info.

The 10s have a tweeter, two midrange sized woofers and a large passive radiator. What is shown is early Polk 7 with the peerless tweeter before the 2000 was introduced. His appear to have the grille frame without cloth on the speaker.

Both the RD-0194 and the vintage peerless are available on the bay.
 
The SL-2000 tweeters aren't horrible.
They're in my little 5jr's and I listen to them connected to a tube amp next to my bench. I sid replace them in my 10's. The RDO-194's are smoother but still very detailed sounding.
The reason for the different grill frames on m y 7's is due to mine coming to me qirhout grills.
I made my own using Parts Express's grill kits. I left the original pegs in place incase I ever find a pair if original grills. But I acually like how the new grills look.
I have a second pair if 10'd, but the cabinets are in pretty sad shape.
Below is pictures of my 7's with the finished grills along with my 10's with the RDO-194 tweeters and smaller 5jr's.
 

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malden said:
btw, are the Polk 7's "coveted" ? I had a pair for awhile and thought the bass was kind of bloated. My 5's, on the other hand sounded more balanced.
Click to expand...

Within in the Polk Audio enthusiast base I would say yes, Matthew Polk was quoted as saying and I'm paraphrasing that these were his favorites.

I had the 5's as well and I've always had a soft spot for them, they're just the right size and sound great with Luxman amplification
 
@F1nut

How long did it take for Polk Audio to realize this? was it a result of consumer complaint? and my apologies but did the SL-1000's come afterwards?

@malden

It wasn't just the 7's, there were iterations in the Model 5 lineup that had the SL-2000's as well as the Model 10's
 
Dswankey said:
@F1nut

How long did it take for Polk Audio to realize this? was it a result of consumer complaint? and my apologies but did the SL-1000's come afterwards?

@malden

It wasn't just the 7's, there were iterations in the Model 5 lineup that had the SL-2000's as well as the Model 10's
Click to expand...
Vintage Polk tweeters for the Monitor and/or SDA models in order;
Peerless
SL1000
SL2000
SL2500
SL3000

Replacement for the SL1000 and SL2000 is the RD0194-1.

Replacement for the SL2500 and SL3000 is the RD0198-1.

There is no replacement from Polk for the Peerless.

It was some time in the early 2000's when Polk came out with the replacements. Polk sold a vast quantity of the vintage models and there was still a demand for replacement tweeters, so they decided to make new improved versions.
 
I just made a swap in my cave system and all I can say is that my 5 Jr's with that dreaded tweeter sounds better than the LE25 of the JBL 4311B when played thru my Adcom GFA 535, they are less hissy than the JBL's. Now, that's just after one album, I'll keep them there for the next couple of weeks until I get the itch to swap them out for something else.
 
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