[Bill Baker]

 Okay, I know what you're thinking. "What does Bill want with Polk Audio speakers?" Well, I have always been a fan of the Monitor series from the 70's and 80's and do have my reasoning for them.

 What I am looking for is the following: Monitor 4a, 5, 5 Jr., 7, 10A, 10B, 12. Any of the SDA series. It doesn't matter if they are working properly or not or condition of cabinet as long as they're priced accordingly.

 So if you have a pair laying around or know of someone who has them, let me know what you have, condition and asking price. Pictures would be nice also.

[RuSsMaN]

Bill, plenty of the classic Monitors show up on Ebay and Audiogon - I'd watch for local offerings you can pick up.  The epoxy/glue that holds the magnet structure in place on the midwoofs can weaken through the years.  Many a shipping 'drop' has occured and done anything from a voicecoil seize to knocking the mag structure clean off the back of the drivers.

I've got a pair of original 7's with the 8 inch passive radiator that will go my grave with me.  You hear some of these older models, and you soon realize how Matt and George made it out of the garage, and so many other speaker builders of that time didn't.

Cheers,
Russ

[Bill Baker]

Thanks for the response Russ. I am very familiar with these speakers and over the years, have seen much of what you mentioned happen to local owners. The other problem with these was how sensitive the tweeters are. It doesn't take much for the coil to burn up. Replacements use to be available from Peerless.

 I just picked up a pair of original 7's this past weekend at a garage sale. One tweeter not working but I didn't pay much for them.

 I have owned quite a few of this series including the 4A, 10A, 10B, SDA-2.

[Zero]

Bill, you've got great taste.    Classic Polk products are still wonderful by any standard.

[RuSsMaN]

Bill, Polk makes a current replacment tweeter for the all the old SL series from the monitor and SDA line.  The new replacement tweeter is a silk dome, and if you are replacing the SL2000 (most common), it's actually a substantial upgrade.  The SL2000 has an almost +5db spike centered around 12-13Khz - the new RD0 tweeters don't, and have a smoother sound overall.

I think the tweeters in the early versions got a bad rap, with the Polk's being forgiving, you could easily drive them with 'sub-par' equipment.  I think the general public didn't (and probably still doesn't) have a grasp of the word 'clipping'.  They added Polyswitches into the crossover networks on the SDA series eventually - although current SDA fanatics usually bypass them anyway.

Cheers,
Russ

[Bill Baker]

Thanks. I eventually would like to have a pair of the granddaddy SDA-SRS or at least the SDA-SRS 2.3 sitting along side my own Response Audio Model 5 towers in my home living room.

 The speakers I have here use the SL2500 and I have heard the new replacement for the SL2000 and it is a noticeable improvement. As mentioned, most Polk owners of the era were using electronics that were not well suited for these speakers. There were also some issues with dual mono designs with the SDA network that most didn't realize. I had to run my SDA's without the "cable" for some time.

 Some day, I want to custom build a pair of hardwood cabinets for a pair of these speakers. I think anything from the 12's up would be a good candidate. I custom built a pair of Cherry cabinets with Walnut baffles (and upgraded x-overs) years ago for a friend that had the 10B's. Wish I still had pictures but I have lost touch with this "friend".