Power needed for Model 10's

[rs2962]

I have some Polk 10's I purchased new in 1980. I need a new receiver to replace the Harman Kardon 680i I purchased in 1980 also. I think it has 60 watts per channel. What should I get now to power the Polk's? Should I get more power? What is the max?

[honda cber]

i know search is hard to use here...

the more the better, as power is concerned. i am currently using an adcom gfa-545 which is "only" 100 wpc. it is a damn sight better with the 10's than the NAD 3155 i was previously using (55 wpc), and leaps and bounds (like tiger woods good) better than the 120 wpc sony receiver i used before that. numbers arent everything---- in fact, numbers are often misleading. the sony actually had a tough time with elevated volumes when driving the 10's, and it was among their better models. there are some here who claim anything less than 200wpc is an exercise in futility, and still others who claim bliss by driving difficult 4 ohm speakers with a standard AV receiver (and countless other zany notions). i am somewhere in the middle, but i definitely subscribe to the "use quality power" argument.
IIRC, max power rating of the early 10's was 150-200 wpc.

welcome to club polk.

a

[ben62670]

Welcome to CP. What are you planning on using your speakers as? Stereo, or HT/stereo dual duty? HK has some real fine 38xx series 2 channel receivers that are real nice on the cheap. Look on Ebay for HKdirect for a cheap refurb from HK.

[Rivrrat]

Almost everything you need to know.

http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/products/monitor10/

[honda cber]

Almost everything you need to know.

http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/products/monitor10/

FWIW, those specs are for series 2 monitors, not the early ones like the OP has.

a

[Rivrrat]

Don't make me drag out my old M10B owners manual....:p (yeah I still have them somewhere)

I'm betting the power handling capabilities didn't change much though. But you're right, a pair that old may be a bit different.

[honda cber]

ooops, only 100 watts on those. still, i wouldnt be afraid to feed them more if it is clean power.
http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=3051

[Lasareath]

Hi rs2962 and Welcome to Club Polk!!!

Does your receiver have pre-outs? If it does I would just buy one of these and you would be set.

http://cgi.ebay.com/CARVER-TFM-35X-POWER-AMPLIFIER-500-WATTS-AMP_W0QQitemZ260238986186QQihZ016QQcategoryZ39783Q QssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Lasareath

[Rivrrat]

I just drug out the manual for my 10b's and they claim 10-200 wpc.

Quite a variation through the models.

I wonder if it has something to do with tweeter fuses vs polyswitch?

[ben62670]

I have spoken with Polk, and the quick way to figure out clean max power is multiply each woofer by 50 watts. This figure can very depending on tweeter, but a good clean 100 watts is pretty much what they can handle without beating them up too bad. Dirty power kills tweeters.