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Polk Monitor 7c

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ScooterMcTav

ScooterMcTav

I know less than I think
Hello all,

So decided the other day that I needed some Polks in my life, with the aim of having two pairs of speakers I can switch between on my tube amp.

I had once had a set of the low quality M20, and was impressed at the time with the bass and clarity of a "cheap" set of speakers. Recently selling my Soliloquy 6.2 also gave me some mad money.

So when I saw a set of Monitor 7 advertised "with original peerless tweeters" on Kijiji I thought I should pick them up, even though the tweeters were clearly SL1000.

Hooked them up briefly to see how they sounded, and did hear much more up top than on my Ohms. Was also impressed with the quantity and depth of bass, though it was a very brief demo.

Regardless, if I was looking for a contrast to the Ohms, I have likely found it.

Although I am away for the weekend right now, I was curious as to what I should expect from the speakers, and if there are any worthwhile tweaks I should pursue? Also considering veneering the god-awful vinyl wrap. Thoughts?
 
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Congrats!! they are a great pair of speakers.

As for worthwhile tweaks you will get a lot of people who will say yes and there are tons of threads here and over at the Club Polk forum detailing said tweaks. Your ears are your ears so only you can make the decision if you like the current tweets or not (most people don't care for them) or if you upgrade to the RDO series of tweets that you can still buy from Polk.

If you go with new tweets then you will be encouraged to redo the crossovers again tons of threads here and over at the Club Polk forum detailing said upgrades.

The vinyl veneer is indeed awful and I've seen some very detailed threads over at Club Polk with great pictures showing before & after shots of reveneering the cabs and how the folks went about doing it. They look like really good.

If you get reply on this thread from "F1nut" be thankful he is extremely knowledgeable about all things Polk Audio both here and over at Club Polk.

He's probably forgotten more things concerning Polk Audio with regards to tweaks, rebuilds and especially working with wood then most of us will ever know.

He's helped me out on several occasions over the years and while I haven't met him personally he seems like a really nice guy.

Best of luck with your 7C's in my book they are keepers, seeing as I have a pair.
 
Johnny_Law said:
Congrats! Yes there are mods worth pursuing, lots of good info over at the Polk forum if you haven't poked around yet http://forum.polkaudio.com/categories/vintage-speakers.
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Do you mean if I haven't polked around there? Haha. But yes, I did spend some time there in making the buy decision, and had read about some of the mods.

Thanks Dswankey - I had read about a number of the mods, but was looking for additional opinion. The only consistency I saw at the Polk forum on the mod opinions was there was no consistency. Lots seem to like the oft criticized SL-1000 and SL-2000, though I'm still unclear if both have the 5db peak in the high kHz range, or just the 2000s.
 
Show me one person there, that having heard the RD0 replacement went back to the SL2000.

The SL1000 doesn't have the same 5dB spike, but it's not a pleasant tweeter.
 
F1nut said:
Show me one person there, that having heard the RD0 replacement went back to the SL2000.

The SL1000 doesn't have the same 5dB spike, but it's not a pleasant tweeter.
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According to the Hirsch review of the SDA-1c, both tweeters of the SDA-1(sl1000) and 1c(SL200) measured the same 5db peak response @ 13k.
 
Everything that I have read about them seems pretty consistent. You should have sl-2000's in your c's. Replace them with rdo-194's and recap the crossovers is the general consensus to get the most out of them. They are very good sounding speakers and only get better after the mods.
 
bryblob said:
Everything that I have read about them seems pretty consistent. You should have sl-2000's in your c's. Replace them with rdo-194's and recap the crossovers is the general consensus to get the most out of them. They are very good sounding speakers and only get better after the mods.
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It is certainly the SL1000 - silver plate with downward angled wires.
 
F1nut said:
Show me one person there, that having heard the RD0 replacement went back to the SL2000.

The SL1000 doesn't have the same 5dB spike, but it's not a pleasant tweeter.
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My mistake - the threads I read where some were defending the SL series in the Monitor 7 were here at AK. Some people seem very passionate about the subject.
 
ScooterMcTav said:
My mistake - the threads I read where some were defending the SL series in the Monitor 7 were here at AK. Some people seem very passionate about the subject.
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They are passionate for lots of reasons, most of which is a manufacturer's willingness to fix an issue with a speaker(s) that has not been made since the early 1990's (?). I purchased my Monitor 5's new in 1988 along with the stands that were designed for them. Having recently completed the upgrades, I can honestly say that they and the Pioneer SX-650 they are hooked up to (also purchased new and recently upgraded) will be with me permanently.
 

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Glad to hear the endorsement of the upgrade, though I was specifically looking for a set of speakers less laid back than my Ohms.

The room is very acoustically inert, and combined with my warmly-tubed tube amp, has a tendency to dull down HF information. Combined with the natural HF roll-off I'm receiving from ageing, possibly the SL1000 could suit me fine.

Although I appreciate the enthusiasm and passion of others, I wasn't looking to buy a set of speakers to immediately begin dismembering them. I opened the thread to more gain an understanding of what others have done to the speakers, and how it has changed the sound.

So far I have gathered that if I find the tweeters shrill, fatiguing, or unpleasant that I may want to consider the new Polk replacements (or possibly even Peerless ones). However, a description of how each changed the sound would be helpful.

Likewise, what changes have some made to the crossovers, have they swapped caps or changed any values of components, and how did it affect sound? More LF? Less LF? More mid-presence? Unfortunately, "improved" is a subjective term, and means different things to different listeners.

I had also read about increasing the polyfill, adding bracing, and am curious if anyone has tried mass loading the speakers or the stands.

Finally, my odds of finding Polk stands are near nil, so I welcome the results of others experiments in height, tilt, and proximity to walls.

Possibly I may end up with the new tweeters, and a rebuilt crossover, but I'd like to work my way there because it improves the sound for me, with my gear, in my room.

Thank you everyone for the feedback so far.
 
ScooterMcTav said:
My mistake - the threads I read where some were defending the SL series in the Monitor 7 were here at AK. Some people seem very passionate about the subject.
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Some folks are knowledgeable about the subject and then there are those who are just being obtuse. o_O
 
Thanks brlybob.

Confirmed the cabinets have flat fronts, and checked their labels. They were marked as 7B, but the B was blacked out and a C was written in. Serials are 60326 and 60368 if that has value to anyone.

Listening to Dire Straits Brothers in Arms right now, and think these modest little guys absolutely destroy a set of Klipsch Forte (with a Crites upgrades) that I recently demoed.

For those who find the SL1000 bright, the tweeters on my Soliloquy 6.2 would make you cry. There is certainly lots of HF there, but is nowhere as fatiguing as my Sols, or the Klipsch (I was fatigued about 60 seconds into the demo).

Never actually noticed the cowbell in "Money for Nothing" until now. Rather impressive.

Possibly they really like the EH KT88 output tubes I'm running. Regardless, on initial listen, I do like them quite a bit. In fact, the sharpness of the tweeter gives cymbals and sax the kind of bite they have when heard live, but not to the detraction of the overall sound.
 
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