Monitor 7B score

[B3Nut]

Heya,

I scored a nice pair of Monitor 7B's tonight from a friend for $60. They're in really nice shape except for a busted neg post on one speaker, there's a bare wire soldered to the stub. No biggie, plays fine...I'll look for a replacement part later. The drivers are well-nigh perfect and the cabinets are nice, with just a few nicks in the vinyl. The tweets are the holey-Peerless tweets...my gosh are they ever nice.

Conected to my Luxman M-02 power amp, they throw one of the nicest soundstages I've ever had in my house. The top is silky smooth, no harshess at all...open mids without any honk, and amazing bass extension. So far I've thrown jazz, celtic, and George Winston at them and I'm amazed. No wonder these have a rep as one of Polk's all-time greats...now I know why. Keepers IMHO...I'm geeked. :D A heck of a toe-tapping speaker...I was sitting in my sweet spot with a big grin. :)

Todd in Beerbratistan

[F1nut]

Todd, nice to see over here and congrats on your buy. I've got a bunch of spare Polk binding posts, so if you want one let me know.

[B3Nut]

Thanks a bunch, I'll let ya know when I'm ready to nab one. Boy, these things are just growing on me. Killer mate to my Luxman electronics, too...so smooth and listenable. I could stay up all night listening to this...that would go over like a lead balloon though. :D Got Miles Davis "Kind Of Blue" on now, the newest Columbia reissue, remastered with the old 3-track Presto machines like Columbia used back in the day. Classis jazz...and the 7's sure deliver the goods with it...I'm lovin' it. :)

TP

[F1nut]

Ok, let me know, it's free.

[RuSsMaN]

You think they deliver now, get them on some factory stands (or suitable replacements), angled back so they are time aligned.

Like F1 said, nice to see you on this side of the fence! The grass may not be greener, but it does taste different.

Cheers,
Russ

[dorokusai]

Great score, post more.

[danger boy]

B3Nut,

welcome to club Polk !

I too love my Monitor 7b's. one of the best sounding speakers i've ever heard and owned. They just do everything well for 2 channel listening.

Oh yeah. congrats on a good score. $60. nice catch bud

[B3Nut]

Originally posted by RuSsMaN
You think they deliver now, get them on some factory stands (or suitable replacements), angled back so they are time aligned.

Like F1 said, nice to see you on this side of the fence! The grass may not be greener, but it does taste different.

Cheers,
Russ

Hehehe...I like the taste of the grass here. :D I've had Monitor 4 Series 2 since '92, got 'em new. Love 'em. Got a set of 6.5's in my car, I think they were the db series, nice 1" silk dome tweet. I've always liked Polks...the friend I got these 7B's from has a pair of 5's he'll let me have for $30, prolly gonna nab em. I'd be nuts not to I think....

TP

[okiepolkie]

Yeah, get the 5's too. If nothing else, sell them to someone here on the forum who has not been fortunate enough to here some vintage Polks.

Enjoy your "new" find.

[BlueMDPicker]

Hi B3nut,

I don't know which esoteric fence you've vaulted, but I'm glad you had a safe landing. ;)

Congrats on the vintage Polk snag - great looking and sounding speakers, indeed.

BTW - are you perhaps a Hammond B3 nut? B3's, guitars, and now this #!@*^ audio gear are my active diseases. No cure in sight.

Mike

[B3Nut]

I am indeed a B-3, keys, bass, and guitar player. I'm sick too. :D I do a little remote session work for a jingle studio I used to work for in MI...I get a cue mix, lay down B-3 in Sonar, then export the .wav and ftp it back to him. Going to get back into home recording more heavily....and use my trusty Monitor 4's as nearfields again. :)

Yeah, it's a sickness indeed. B-3 and Leslie in the foyer/music room...L-100 in the dining room...hi-fi in the living room...yoiks.... :)

TP

[BlueMDPicker]

LOL!

I'm down to only one B3 Leslie combo at the moment ('56 B3 and Leslie 122A) - I've owned and played B3's for three decades. There have been times when there were up to 3 Hammond rigs in the house :eek:

Guitars! Ouch.... I have 22 in the vault (or on display) at the moment. I played bass with a west coast style jazz band years ago then switched to lead in a blues combo, now it's just a stress reliever.

Nice, nice, very nice - so many people in the same device....

Take care,

Mike

[B3Nut]

Coolness, my B-3 is a '63 that my late great aunt bought new. I've got a jalopy 45 Leslie with 147 amp and 2-speed motor stacks stuffed in it, ugly but sounds pretty good.

I do have some racket at http://theatreorgans.com/b3nut , live cuts with my old B-2 and one home cut with the -3. Some links are dead though, and some stuff is out of date, haven't updated that page in 2.5 years! :D

TP

[BlueMDPicker]

Thanks for the link, Todd! I enjoyed the tunes (especially "Wait a Minnit!") and your L project pics.

We need to hook you up with the seller in Indiana who has the SDA SRS's (B3 music sounds great on them.) We can always use another SDA junkie around here.

Mike

[B3Nut]

I can't afford SRS's...I'd LOVE 'em if I could though. My wife would strangle me if I dragged SRS's into the living room! :D :D :D

Todd in Beerbratistan, digging George Benson, Miles Davis, and Dave Brubeck on his 7B's

[Tour2ma]

Must have left the gate open over at AK... ;)

Congrats Todd... $60 for Mon 7's is a nice haul... and you gotta love those Peerless.

Grab the 5's also. Can't go wrong for $30.

And if you need the space, I'll be happy to store those L100's for you for a decade or two...

[B3Nut]

Actually, my L-100 is the Hammond L-100 spinet organ, the organ Keith Emerson stabs and tosses around. I wish I had JBL L-100's.. :D I do have Pioneer HPM-100's in my basement cave though....Bart Locanthi's update of the L100 Century design. Similar West-Coast sound, really punchy.

Yeah, someone left the AK gate open. Great places, there and here both.

:)

TP

[TroyD]

Nice score on the 7's!

SRS's would be cool however, I'm of the opinion that if you can bag a pair of 2b's.....you are getting a HUGE slice of SDA goodness at a bargain price.


BDT

[B3Nut]

I remember listening to the SDA series back in the day...gosh could they ever throw a soundstage. I'd love a pair of about any SDA speaker. But boy...these 7B's absofreakinglutely sing. Haven't had this kind of treble smoothness since the unfortunate demise of my old Maggie SMG's. Really good bass extension too...they just do so much right. I spent hours yesterday listening to them...digging out stuff I hadn't heard in ages from rock to jazz to classical piano and symphonic works. They handled it all with aplomb, getting out of the way of the music.

TP

[Tour2ma]

Oh, an organ... Sorry in that case I have to rescind my L100(s) offer.

Yup, 2b's, 1c's, CRS's or 3.1tl's are all more space conscious SDA's that'll fill the bill.

What happened to the Maggie's???

[B3Nut]

The Maggies perished in an unfortunate home studio accident. I forgot to disarm the tracks I had been recording acoustic guitar on, the mic preamps were cranked up. I went to play the tracks back through the mains (the Maggies)...I cranked the control room volume on the console up....SQQWWWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! The tweeter element in one blew to protect the 50-cent fuse. :\ I didn't think one would be rebuildable without being mismatched to the other one, so both would have to be rebuilt...so out they went. :( I brought my old faithful Monitor 4 Series 2's out, and paid much closer attention to armed tracks and open mics after that.... :eek: :rolleyes:

TP

[Tour2ma]

The tweeter element in one blew to protect the 50-cent fuse. Ouch... I hate it when that happens...

[BlueMDPicker]

Originally posted by B3Nut
I didn't think one would be rebuildable without being mismatched to the other one, so both would have to be rebuilt...so out they went. :(

Did you pull the socks and look at the tweet section. Sometimes what is perceived to be a "blown" tweeter section is simply a matter of the adhesive separating from the mylar - but, the aluminum magnet wire is still intact and can be re-adhered quite easily. I've done this successfully to one in a pair and notice no difference between them.

If the tweeter section wiring is in fact damaged (usually caused by reactance with the adhesive due to ozone - sunlight - rather than over driving), a tweeter repair kit (enough wire, terminals, and ozone protectant to do two speakers) is $49 from Magnepan. I have a pair of MG-1 Improved I'm redoing now. Someone with your talent could easily repair a pair in a weekend. If you stil have your Maggies and think you'd like to repair them, I can do a photo shoot when I do this rebuild if that would help you.

[B3Nut]

Crap - I wish I had known about that 3 years ago when it happened...I was still in Michigan and getting ready to move, so I had to leave 'em on the curb, figuring it'd be too expensive to repair them. Dammit. :(

Oh well....

TP

[B3Nut]

Woohoo...

Thanks to F1Nut my 7B with the busted post is now fixed! Thanks man, you rock. :D He sent me a replacement post. Got it together this afternoon. Now I can connect them with banana plugs...sweet. :)

Still enjoying them...very nice. Even after having heard a $4100 pair of B&W 805 Signatures....oy oy oy...amazing how well old Polks hang with more expensive speakers. Can't wait to get that really good jazz CD they were playing at the high-end salon when I wandered in...nice place to hear good music to buy. :)

Yeah, I'd love a really high-end pair of speakers...but these'll do me well, besides, I'd rather spend $$ on more music right now.

TP

[F1nut]

Damn, that got there fast! Glad it worked out for you and that you're enjoying them.

[RayChuang]

They're actually fairly good-sounding speakers, though I do have one gripe about them: the deep bass on the Monitor 7B sounds a bit exaggerated and isn't "tight."

I wonder how much can I get for selling the pair? :D

[dorokusai]

There are not many traditional loudspeakers designed for "deep" bass....welcome to speaker design honcho.

[RayChuang]

Originally posted by dorokusai
There are not many traditional loudspeakers designed for "deep" bass....welcome to speaker design honcho.

Actually, my brother gave me his old pair of Polk RTA-11t's and the bass on this speaker is a little stronger and definitely a lot "tighter" then the Monitor 7B, especially playing back drums.

I wonder is the RTA-11t considered a collector's item. :)

[F1nut]

Seeing as the Monitor, RTA and SDA lines are out of production, one could call them collector items, but I'd bet the 7B's would sell faster than the 11T's

[dorokusai]

I'm very familiar with the Polk lineup....and the comparison is moot. They are totally different speakers in design and application.

More bass? No ****...more drivers.

The Original Monitor 7 is a giant slayer. I don't know which model you own exactly, but it's a good series to keep, not sell.

[RayChuang]

Originally posted by dorokusai
The Original Monitor 7 is a giant slayer. I don't know which model you own exactly, but it's a good series to keep, not sell.

I have the 7B, since I just checked the serial number on the speakers. :)

Actually, I'm thinking of setting up a surround-sound setup with the RTA-11t's as the left front and right front speakers and the Monitor 7B's as the rear speakers. Any suggestions for a Polk center speaker and subwoofer in this setup? :D

[dorokusai]

Subwoofer? Generic. The only subwoofer I would personally pick up from Polk would be a PSW505(New) or a PSW1200(Old). The rest are non-threatening. HSU and SVS are some real popular brands here and elsewhere for subwoofer duty.

Center channel? Ugh, tough call. A single SDA CRS(+) would be perfect, a pair even better. They aren't common however, and a center channel suggestion for the RTA series, I'll leave for another Polkie.

You have a later version, not as extraordinary, but still a great speaker nonetheless. Don't sell them, pass them on.

[danger boy]

what distinguishes a Monitor 7 from a 7B, 7C ?

is the difference only slight? I love my 7B's to death. my grills don't look like anyone elses that i've seen. But i'm sure they are pretty common for a 7B.

[nadams]

Check the parts list by model-> http://clubpolk.polkaudio.com/service/models/modelpartslist.php3?model=monitor

You can see some differences in what drivers were use depending on the different revisions. This was pretty much the case with all of Polks "A,b,c,series 2" numbering.

And, from what I see, the farther in the alphabet you go, the newer the speaker is, with Series 2 being the newest. I was very surprised to find that my Monitor 10 Series 2 speakers were made in 1991! I thought that they would've been older than that, but I must've gotten some of the last of the last of the 10's.

[B3Nut]

I bought my Series 2 Monitor 4's in '92, they have a '92 date IIRC (been awhile since I had 'em apart). I seem to recall them being around at least one more year after that....

One of these days I'll get to ordering new grills for them, I always listened and mixed on them with the grills off, and got lazy leaving the grills off, leading the grills to become dog toys... :eek:

TP

[DAGLJAM6]

B3Nut, check your PM's

Dave

[BlueMDPicker]

Originally posted by B3Nut
I can't afford SRS's...I'd LOVE 'em if I could though. My wife would strangle me if I dragged SRS's into the living room! :D :D :D

Todd in Beerbratistan, digging George Benson, Miles Davis, and Dave Brubeck on his 7B's

Todd,

Here's a forum member in Indiana with 2Bs

Indiana 2Bs (http://clubpolk.polkaudio.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=24060)

Mike