Wonderful highs and mids. Adequate bass.

The boxy cabinet isn't for every room

This is an update on my review of December,2000. I bought the Polk Audio Monitor 10B's in 1986.They continue to be wonderful speakers. I have original silver coil wound tweeters and they are very clear. I now think they sound less analytical, more smooth and in many ways better than my PSB Bronzes on the top end. The bronzes go deeper,though. The PSB Bronzes are in a two channel system. The Monitor 10B's are part of a surround system. I have the Polk RT 35i's as rear speakers. I have placed them up front for comparison with the 10B's, and I think the RT 35i's are excellent sounding speakers in their own right. I use a Polk sub for movies and for the lowest octive with music.

Similar Products Used:

Polk RT 35i, Psb Stratus Bronze and Century 600i

Fullness of sound.

Not heavy on the bass end

I purchased these Monitor 10Bs back in 1989 I believe. They have been rocking the house ever since. I remember when I bought them how much of an improvement they were over my home made ones. These speakers are probably not for you Ozzy fan's, but regular music like maybe the Eagles sounds absolutely superb. I was suprised to so many peole were still interested in this old of a speaker model. I'll tak $200 for the ones I have keil@knology.net ... I just bought Bose Acoustamass 15! Of course those require you to take out a home equity loan. But anyway as a long time user of these Polk Audio Monitor 10 B speakers I'l have to give them an A+ because they continue to sound great

Similar Products Used:

Monitor 4B, Infinity

Tweeters (when working)

That mud others call bass, durability under normal listening conditions.

This review will serve as cold water for the previous reviews stating how wonderful these speakers were/are. I don't want to sound too "off", so I will start by describing the positive attributes to this particular speaker before telling the end result.

1: When they worked (and I went through 6, yes 6 of them) the tweeters do have a wonderful, if somewhat rosy sound. A real liquid feel. The only problem was, they just kept quitting on me. The speakers were originally bought in the summer of 1990; the first one melted 9 months later. I can also tell you 5 of the 6 were in one of the speakers. Change the amp, blow one up. Change the cables, there goes another. And the circus just kept going on... The dealer gave replacements that were remanufactured, not new. You name it, nothing helped.

2: The midrange had some bonus value, but again pitched to sound less than realistic. They do not have enough travel (excursion), so their limits will become readily noticable if you make the home theatre mistake.

3: This was the real downer. That sub bass radiator. I made the mistake of "needing" a pseudo full range speaker and thought I could live with a passive "yin-yang" sub. Couldn't have been more wrong. Once you get past a certain level of equipment (Adcom, NAD, Rotel, Anthem, etc..) their flaws start to shine. Take a minute and listen to your favorite recording (hopefully something live, or in other ways a complex recording)at your local shop. Play it on some truly wonderful equipment. Try a Wadia direct into an amplifier. Skip the Krell's, instead go for the Rowland's, CJ's, even the big Bryston's (They are affordable). Think the Wadia is unfair, go with a CAL, they're relatively cheap and pretty close on sound. Then listen. Listen to all that wonderous background music. All the noises. The crickets, that guy yelling "go wonderman" in the 1999 SCV show. You'll never hear that from those Monitor 10B's. Ever.

I too have a pair of Magnepan's and I can tell you save any money you are about to waste on some used speaker. Buy the Maggie's and hear music the way it truly is.

Similar Products Used:

B&W, Paradigm

Tweeter clearance; bass enforcement at low levels ("feelable")

A LITTLE muddy bass; not Sunfire equivalent low frequency response.

I compared these in 1988 speakers (for days) in the shop, but nothing else could compare to the Large soundstage, "live" feeling and clearance these speakers produced. What else can I say:
a) Clear sound, not sharp and overbright in treble
b) Low bass capable, not at abnormal levels, though
c) Nothing of "I-can-locate-the-boxes-position"; they just FILLED the room with an orchestra, or band. The performing artist were just standing in the room!

Maybe nowdays I'd look att Black Diamond or comparable...

great imaging, clarity and efficiency

not really a weakness, but low end is not "boomy" and may lead some people to think the speaker lacks suffient bass

i bought these speakers back in 1985 beacuse they were clearly the best sounding speakers i could find in the 250.00 to 300.00 a piece price range. there were other speakers that sounded better, but they cost several hundred dollars more. although polk was not a big name speaker company back then, i took a chance on them and have never regretted it. the highs were and still are incredibly clear and detailed, with a tight accurate bottem end that's not boomy. it's hard to beleive these speakers still sound as good as they do even compared to today's models. i just wish polk still made a speaker just like this with updated drivers. i know that one day i will probably have to upgrade but until then i'm still jammin...

I have had these since 1986 and only today did I call Polk and order replacement drivers. $110.00 for two! oh, the sound

Just the size. But the sound is still great

I purchased these while I was in the Airforce in Germany. I was in the barracks in a friend's room and heard his at low levels and was blown away at the clarity of them at such a low level. I mean you could hear all the highs & lows clearly. I was sold. The next day I went to the BX and procured myself a set and have had them ever since. I just upgraded to Definitive Technology's product line and was going to give the ol' monitor 10B's away when I went to Polk's website to see if I could purchase replacement drivers. I COULD! At $48.00/ driver too. So, now what a nice set of speakers for my extra room.

Similar Products Used:

JBL, Pioneer (pre- 1980 HPM Series)

Detail, openess, unfatiguing sound; high sound phenomenal

None I can hear.

This speaker has been pure magic for me over the years. I've owned them since 1986, and have been running them with Perreaux equipment and a CAL CD player with no problems. I have not had ANY tweeter blow on me since I bought them, and i've been listening to them at least a few hours a week EVERY week since then, and at a healthy volume clip! I am amazed at the soundstage these things produce, and their imaging is top notch. As for the sub bass radiator, it works quite well. Bass is very palpable and well balanced, and the overall design of this great classic speaker is evident when you take a listen to a well recorded CD with good electronics driving them. This was one of the speakers that earned Polk Audio much respect in the affordable segment of high end speakers. I don't understand how one of the previous posters had problems with his tweeters. Perhaps he just got a bad model year, which of course should never happen. Nonetheless, A true classic!

Similar Products Used:

KEF, Rogers, Dahlquist (at the time)

Overall balance, build quality, price

slight muddiness in mid-bass

As others said, ignore the 1995 date. I bought mine in the 1980's. I listened to lots of others, including JBL, BOSE, EPI, and some I don't recall. This includes the famous (or infamous) BOSE 901's. I thought the Polk's were easily the best. I bought and have lived with these for quite a few years. I originally had these hooked up to a Sony AX-5 Integrated amp. and a B&O Turntable with MMC2 Cart. I later added an NAD CD player. A Hafler power amp and Rotel Preamp followed, which seemed to clean up some of the mid-bass muddiness. I later shopped for speakers, assuming technology had outdated these Polks. The local dealer said these were classics which were better than the current Polks. My ears agreed. I also felt the newer speakers were aimed at households where space and decor were more important than the presence of large speakers. I still believe this is true and if space and supply allow, anyone might do well to buy a set of these used. I wish Polk had focused on this with later speakers.

Similar Products Used:

Boston Acoustics A-120, others
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Beautiful soundstage and imaging, plenty of bass

early tweeters susceptible to blowing at high volimes

I've had these now for going on 21 years, and they are still my pride and joy. These babies are the core of my system and are the one item I just can't seem to let go of (everything else has been upgraded at least once). At their price point ($550/pr), there wasn't, and possibly still isn't, a better speaker. They handle any kind of music (rock, jazz, classical, etc) exceptionably well. Adding a sub will give you good bass extension for HT, although the Monitor 10's do perfectly well by themselves for good old stereo.

The one issue I've had is with blown tweeters - I've blown 1 in each box, although none for the last 10 years. If I recall, Polk became aware of the tweeter issue and modified them slightly (currently have the newer tweeter version). Since then, I've been driving them with Denon gear (first the AVC-3030, now the AVR-3300), which seems to be a very good combo. Back in the 80's, I drove them with a Sansui AU-717, so you can see they've been put through their paces ;)

My current setup:
Receiver: Denon AVR-3300
DVD: Sony DVP-S530D
CD: Yamaha CDC-735
Mains: Polk Monitor 10's
Center: Polk CS-350-LS
Rears: Polk f/x 500i
Sub: Polk PSW-350

If you find a used pair in good condition, snap them up! Congrats to Polk for a classic speaker

Smooth midrange, very natural bass and nice soft highs.

Loses some (just a little) of the clarity at high volume levels.

This is a very nice sounding speaker. The midrange struck me as being VERY natural sounding at the time of purchase, some 10 years ago. Overall, the 10's still sound very nice today, even compared to modern $1000 range speakers.

The bass is nice and full sounding. Even though a sub would be improvement, I think many people would be satisfied with the bass response as is.

One thing that I would like to mention is that the tweeter dome on one speaker has come unglued a little. I'm a VERY attentive listener, and I've only heard a slight buzzing sound caused by this once or twice. The only time that I notice this problem is when listening to a pure tone like a sine wave from a synthesizer at just the right frequency. I was going to order a replacement tweeter, but since it doesn't cause a problem, I left things as they were.

Similar Products Used:

Mordaunt-Short MS20, 3D Acoustics sub.