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Help: Polk Monitor 7s sound issues

Natasha Bell

Natasha Bell

The Adcom Girl
Subscriber
Hi everyone,

I have a pair of vintage Polk Monitor 7s I love very much. Had them forever (well about 5 years) and these speakers themselves, I believe were manufactured in the late 1980s. I really love the things, especially their warm sound. Unfortunately, recently the left one has been sounding rather odd. So I switched them around to make sure that it's not my amp, and it was the speaker. I was told that the electronic components in the crossover might have become compromised with time. I'm not comfortable in doing such repair work myself. Does anyone know anyone in the Dallas / Fort Worth area that does such repairs for a reasonable price? I have recently been looking at the Elac B6 speakers (or similar) as a possible replacement as my listening room is relatively small (12x14 feet). Should I just replace the Polks all together, rather than finding someone to repair them?

I would be interested in viewpoints as I am a bit stuck due primarily to limited budget

Tasha :)
 
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Can you describe the odd sound? These have a issue where the magnet on the large driver can shift causing voice coil rub or worse.

Rob
 
Robisme said:
Can you describe the odd sound? These have a issue where the magnet on the large driver can shift causing voice coil rub or worse.

Rob
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Hi Rob,
The speaker is functioning properly as such. It is just that the tone has changed somewhat. I asked my husband if he can hear the difference, and he just shrugged after trying for a half and hour. I hear it, and rather clearly. It seems to be in the upper mid-range. I'm not sure if this makes any sense at all. There is no static or other noises, just a sudden shift in tone.
 
Natasha Bell said:
Hi Rob,
The speaker is functioning properly as such. It is just that the tone has changed somewhat. I asked my husband if he can hear the difference, and he just shrugged after trying for a half and hour. I hear it, and rather clearly. It seems to be in the upper mid-range. I'm not sure if this makes any sense at all. There is no static or other noises, just a sudden shift in tone.
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Try pushing on the woofer, the 6 1/2 speaker in the middle, gently. Does it move freely without a rubbing feeling? The woofers are prone to magnets slipping due to aged glue. A hard bump or dropping the speaker could cause this. Just a wild guess. It could just as easily be something in the crossover.
 
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Also, put your ear close to each driver and each tweeter as it's playing to confirm that they are all working.
 
BeerLegs said:
Also, put your ear close to each driver and each tweeter as it's playing to confirm that they are all working.
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That's what I was thinking. I have a pair and had to buy a new tweeter for it. A cardboard tube like the inside of a toilet paper roll might help you isolate the bad driver if that's what it is.
 
BeerLegs said:
Also, put your ear close to each driver and each tweeter as it's playing to confirm that they are all working.
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danrclem said:
That's what I was thinking. I have a pair and had to buy a new tweeter for it. A cardboard tube like the inside of a toilet paper roll might help you isolate the bad driver if that's what it is.
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Hi Beerlegs and Danrclem...
All the drivers are working (at least it appears so). I actually tried that TP tissue tube idea. It worked great. :) How hard would it be to install a crossover into one of these as it seems, that this, considering that the drivers are working, is perhaps the issue. I did contact one of the few electronics repair people around here, and he told me that he would be happy to look at the speaker, for $100. I thought that was pretty steep, because he said to fix it, if it is the crossover, he would charge around $300.
 
All you need is 4 capacitors, a solder sucker, and some solder. get (2) 12uf Sonicaps and 2 Mundorf cheap ones from the same place.
 
Smallies said:
All you need is 4 capacitors, a solder sucker, and some solder. get (2) 12uf Sonicaps and 2 Mundorf cheap ones from the same place.
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So I take it, the guy was trying to rip me off :( Thank you for letting me know. I really appreciate it.
 
$300.00 to rebuild those crossovers is insane unless the guy was planning to use premium parts.

The caps used by the factory can drift over time as can the sand cast resistors. If you can solder it is simple to replace the parts.

Before moving the speakers you need to pull the mid woofers and glue the magnets to prevent shifting. After all these years all it takes is a bump to shift a magnet.
 
SteveBB said:
$300.00 to rebuild those crossovers is insane unless the guy was planning to use premium parts.

The caps used by the factory can drift over time as can the sand cast resistors. If you can solder it is simple to replace the parts.

Before moving the speakers you need to pull the mid woofers and glue the magnets to prevent shifting. After all these years all it takes is a bump to shift a magnet.
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Thanks Steve :)
That is exactly what I was thinking. $300 to do the crossovers, when I could spend just a little more to replace both speakers with a pair of Whaferdale, Elac, or a newer Polk product. As far as my soldering abilities... :( Lets just say I am much better at baking brownies - which are generally eatable. Me trying to solder would be a disaster waiting to happen.
 
$300 is not insane to pay someone to do the work, but if you can solder you can recap the crossovers yourself for Much Less. Labor costs and $100/hr is not unreasonable for anything skilled. If all your drivers are good however it's a fair bet that your issue is either degraded crossover caps or dirty tone controls (if you have them.) My advice would be to get new caps, some Deoxit, and some Faderlube and do it all at once. Good luck!
 
IIRC those Polks don't have any controls on the rear - just a fuse and the speaker connections.

It's time to see beyond societally dictated gender roles!
You can solder - you just haven't learned how to yet.
Really - if you can sew or bake you can certainly recap s pair of Polks.
Think of it as a craft project - read up a bit on folks who have done it previously.
Perhaps there is an AKer in your area who can mentor you on this.

I have the Polk monitor 12's and 10's - they are wonderful speakers and well worth saving.
 
Put the amp in mono & swing the balance control. You don't really know if there's a problem. I see much of this this crossover recapping as unnecessary. Owned Polk 10a for over 20 yrs. Heard no recapping issues on spkrs used daily > 6 hrs.
 
w1jim said:
IIRC those Polks don't have any controls on the rear - just a fuse and the speaker connections.

It's time to see beyond societally dictated gender roles!
You can solder - you just haven't learned how to yet.
Really - if you can sew or bake you can certainly recap s pair of Polks.
Think of it as a craft project - read up a bit on folks who have done it previously.
Perhaps there is an AKer in your area who can mentor you on this.

I have the Polk monitor 12's and 10's - they are wonderful speakers and well worth saving.
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That is good advice Jim. It is just that I have never done it before, and it's just a bit daunting for me. I totally agree with you, Polks of this vintage are wonderful speakers. :) Another alternative, I was actually thinking about, is purchasing another speaker itself as I see them from time to time. :)

Thank you again for the help!! :D


Lesterbest said:
Put the amp in mono & swing the balance control. You don't really know if there's a problem. I see much of this this crossover recapping as unnecessary. Owned Polk 10a for over 20 yrs. Heard no recapping issues on spkrs used daily > 6 hrs.
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Lesterbest... let me see what happens. I haven't tried this. I will see what happens :)
 
If you can remove and reinstall the crossovers send them to me and I will do the job for the cost of the parts and return shipping. I have also owned numerous sets of vintage Polk's and my experience is ALL of them will benefit from a crossover refresh.

I need to know which series you have so we can look up the parts needed. Photos of the front and back would be helpful.
 
SteveBB said:
If you can remove and reinstall the crossovers send them to me and I will do the job for the cost of the parts and return shipping. I have also owned numerous sets of vintage Polk's and my experience is ALL of them will benefit from a crossover refresh.

I need to know which series you have so we can look up the parts needed. Photos of the front and back would be helpful.
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That is so sweet of you. Let me see what I can do!!!! :hug: I should get you enough for a case of your favorite beer too.
 
Do you have silver dome tweeters (SL-2000) or black, silk dome tweeters (SL-2500)? If we know which tweeter you have then the parts list can be consulted.
 
SteveBB said:
Do you have silver dome tweeters (SL-2000) or black, silk dome tweeters (SL-2500)? If we know which tweeter you have then the parts list can be consulted.
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The silver dome tweeters. Which is one of the reasons of the phenomenal sound :D Thank you so much again for helping me out

Question for you though... I had always been curious since I bought these second hand (or third, fourth, or fifth hand), as there is no indication on the speaker, do you know during what period they were manufactured? I know it was some time in the 1980s... but when?
 
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