Wires to connect Vintage Monitor Towers?

[Hylas]

Hello I just inherited a pair of Vintage Polk Monitor Series tower speakers. I can't figure out what wires I need to connect them to my amp. They have jacks that look like RCA jacks but which are slightly wider than my RCA speaker cables.
I can't find a model number on the speakers, unless it is 11T? They are 38.5" tall, with a vertical array (from bottom up) of 3 woofers, then a Tweeter, then a 4th woofer. the 4 woofers are the same size. (they may not be "woofers", they are just bigger than the thing I am calling a "tweeter").
Can anyone tell me what kind of wires I need to connect them and where I might obtain them?
Thanks

[thsmith]

Welcome to club polk. The speaker lugs should unscrew so you can place spades or bare wire under them them retighten. SOmeone may have changed out the connectors so take some pics so we can better help you.

[seeclear]

FWIW, the bottom two are most likely passive radiators, then a midwoofer/tweeter/midwoofer array (MTM, or D'Appolito (sp?) array). That would be way the drivers are arranged on an RTA11T.

Welcome to the club!

Pics would be helpful, but the standard connectors could take bare wires or spades, as Mr Smith has indicated, or you could terminate with banana plugs and jam those right in to the "RCA-lookin' " jack. I use the 12 gauge speaker wire from monoprice here-->

http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

And the banana plugs are available here-->

http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

And there is also a tutorial on that page that shows how to terminate the speaker wire with the nanners. You don't have to solder.

Oh, and those should be some sweet speakers, I think you'll enjoy them. Did you say what you are driving them with? Are they black or woodgrain? Like they say, pics or it didn't happen! ;)

Good luck.

[nadams]

Sounds like they're RTA 11t's. - http://polksda.com/rta11t.shtml

The jacks you're talking about are binding posts. Simply unscrew them a bit and holes should appear to be able to slip normal speaker wire into. No need to go buy banana plugs or any of that.

What equipment are you running?

Welcome to the Club!

[comfortablycurt]

Sounds like they're RTA 11t's. - http://polksda.com/rta11t.shtml

The jacks you're talking about are binding posts. Simply unscrew them a bit and holes should appear to be able to slip normal speaker wire into. No need to go buy banana plugs or any of that.

What equipment are you running?

Welcome to the Club!

+1

Banana plugs will provide you with a slightly firmer connection(IMO), plus make it easier to swap speakers in and out.


Also, the bottom two "woofers", are actually Passive Radiators. They don't have magnets, and aren't powered. They run off of the mid-woofers back pressure basically, and work in the same way as a bass port would.

[Hylas]

Wow, what a great response after only one day. Thank you everyone, this is all really helpful. After some more research I had confirmed what you all have told me too, that these are indeed T11's. The label on the back is so modest, it didn't say "Model No." or anything like that, but it simply says T11 followed by numbers & I thought the whole thing was just a serial #.

I've attached a picture, not of mine, but of something I found on the Web that looks exactly like it. I can't give you a picture of the plug/posts yet because we're still "analog" camera owners. But it seems like these are just simply metal contacts for the speaker wire. the hole in the middle threw me off -- it LOOKS just like an RCA jack. It sounds like you're saying the speaker wire can go right in there & the plastic caps hold it in place, so I'll give that a try.

You've asked about my system. Again thanks for your interest. These speakers far outclass anything I've ever owned. I'm somewhat embarassed to say I'm going to try to run them with a "consumer" grade 100W per side receiver. Is that going to be enough power to do these justice? I have 2 receivers I can choose from. a Sony STR-DE615 or an Aiwa AV-S17, both picked up years ago at outlet close-outs. I am a musician and all my discretionary $ has gone into musical gear - keyboards, recorders, etc. - & have always gotten by with a functional stereo system. I would be an audiophile but for the fact that I only have room for one money-eating hobby in my budget. But I've read about equipment for years & knew enough to grab these immediately when offered to me. Thanks everyone, I'll let you know how I do with setting them up.

[hearingimpared]

Nice speakers. I have found that banana plugs are best in that it is almost impossible to tighten/torque the plastic nuts down firmly enough to keep spade or bare wire in place. I've found it necessary in those instances to have to keep going back and torquing down the nuts. Bananas are just plug 'n play especially spring loaded or spreading bananas.

[Hylas]

Sounds like they're RTA 11t's. - http://polksda.com/rta11t.shtml

The jacks you're talking about are binding posts. Simply unscrew them a bit and holes should appear to be able to slip normal speaker wire into. No need to go buy banana plugs or any of that.

What equipment are you running?

Welcome to the Club!

That's exactly what they are. Thanks for the pics & specs. Interesing to see how low the ebay prices are. People don't seem to value stereo sound anymore. I got these from someone who was replacing them with one of those IPOD Boom Boxes. I'm thrilled to have them. Based on these specs, it appears that my 100 W may be enough to drive them. I had never seen 6 Ohm speakers before. Haven't set them up yet. need to find a couple of hours to be alone with my equipment & wires...I'll let everyone know how it works out. thanks for the assistance.

[NJPOLKER]

Nice speakers. I have found that banana plugs are best in that it is almost impossible to tighten/torque the plastic nuts down firmly enough to keep spade or bare wire in place. I've found it necessary in those instances to have to keep going back and torquing down the nuts. Bananas are just plug 'n play especially spring loaded or spreading bananas.

I HATE spades. Yeah yeah I use them but are a pain in the ass.

[warlocks1]

I think Al would be very happy with these responses. This is what Club Polk is really all about. Nice!!

[seeclear]

This pic shows speaker wire terminated with banana plugs attached to the speaker. If you use bare wire, you would unscrew the red and black top of the jack and there will be a hole through the post which the wire will thread through, then screw the tops back down.

[joelll]

Running them with "consumer grade" 100 watt per channel amplification should work just fine....

... to start. :D


I prefer vintage audio gear, and even Polk's larger speakers (like my old RTA-12's) will sound good even with as low as 20wpc at modest listening volumes, like with my ancient and beat-up NAD 3020A integrated amp.