headrott
06-05-2011, 02:13 AM
I finally got my recently aquired SDA SRS 2.3TL peakers spiked, back binding post plates switched out (from the 3.1TL's) and hooked up to the following equipment:
Aragon 8008bb amplifier
BAT VK-3i preamp with 4 Amperex 1959 "D-getter" ECC88/6DJ8 tubes and 2 Bendix 5992 tubes
My own built DAC found in this thread: http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=119264
And using a Denon DCD-3000 as a transport and a Denon DVD-5910 as a Super Audio CD player
My own made AI-1 "Dreadnaught" per DK's instructions
Cables between the DAC and preamp are MIT Shotgun S3 balanced and the same for between the preamp and amp
Using my own made Digital cable using VH audio Pulsar AG cable and WBT 154 AG connectors dor S/PDIF ceonnection
Now for the comparison:
I have owned the 3.1TL's for about 2 years now and have done absolutely every mod there is to be done (that people have come up with so far) to them. that is: I've put Dynamat extreme on all drivers and passives, I have installed Larry's rings into them, I have redone the crossovers with Sonicaps on HF and LF as well as Mills resistors, and I have used Mortite to further couple the drivers to the speaker face, I installed RDO-198 tweeters and lastly I have spiked them. The sound that the 3.1TL's produce before the modifications were nice, but not outstanding. There was definately room for improvement and the modifications definately realised that fact. The clarity after installing Larry's rings was a phenominal upgrade to the sound. The overal clarity to the audio produced was outstanding. The lower and midbase were much more clear and focused. Also, the lower and middle midrange was much more clear and focused. After the crossovers were redone, the sound took on a smoothness and had better tone as well as better high end and low end extension. The balance of the audio spectrum was much better from what I heard after the crossovers had been redone. Spikes also helped with the clarity of the bass and with imaging a well. It was much easier to pinpoint where the different instruments and voices were coming from precisely. Finally, the RDO-198 tweeters brought clarity, better imaging and a smoothness to the highs that were not as present with the SL3000 tweeters.
With the equipment I have listed above, the SDA SRS 3.1TL's brought phenomially clear, accurate and relatively "present" sound. I was happy with them. I was thiniing I would not upgrade beyond the 3.1TL's. Then, about 2 weeks ago Bill (bsoko2) had a pair of SDA SRS 2.3TL's for sale in Washington (about 3 hours from me). I ended up going up and looking at them and they were in nice shape, certainly not perfect but pretty nice. I bought them and barely fit (I mean barely) them into my Honda CRX (thanks Bill for the help with loading them:smile:). I drove them home and moved them downstairs and disonnected the 3.1TL's. The 2.3TL's are quite a bit bigger than the 3.1TL's I noticed. Both in width and hight. They are like a 2B on serious steroids.:smile: I could not use the 2.3TL's though because I need the AI-1 cable I made to be able to use them with the Aragon. Unfortunately, the way I have the AI-1 wired, I need an extra binding post for the "pin" connection which the 2.3TL's in their current state did not have. That's the reason I asked about switching the back binding post plates between the 3.1TL's and 2.3TL's. I checked the wires per Jesse's advice and found the wires were interchangable. I switched the binding post plates and wires connecting them to the crossovers, put some spikes on the 2.3TL's and wired them up. Also, in case you're wondering the 2.3TLs' crossovers were already redone with all Sonicaps on HF and LF as well as Mills resistors. Also, the tweeters were replaced with RDO-198's. The only difference between the 3.1TL's and 2.3TL's is the Dynamat extreme and Larry's rings were not installed (yet) on the 2.3TL's.
After double checking to make sure the audio sounded OK comming from the system, I let it warm up for a couple hours. After the warm up I went downstairs to do a listening session.
The first song(s) I played through them was one I knew very well comming froim the 3.1TL's. It was ".....And the Gods Made Love" and "Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland)". One thing I can say is that immediately I noticed more of a presence comming from the 2.3TL's compared to the 3.1TL's. When I asked Jesse if it would be a worthwhile upgrade I asked would there be more bass, SDA "effect", etc. And his response was that "You'll get more of everything." This was exactly correct. Thanks Jesse for the good advice. The amount of sound comming from the 2.3TL's compared to the 3.1TL's was pretty significant. I would say half again more of "everything". I was immediately impressed. The audio comming from the 2.3TL's playing "....And the Gods Made Love" was like being in a "sonic tornado"! Amazing!!
Next, I played "We Have Heaven" and "South Side of the Sky" From the Mobile Fidelity version of "Fragile". The SDA "effect" and presence of these songs are amazing on the 2.3TL's! On a (temporary only) down side of things is that I did notice without Larry's rings the 2.3TL's were not as clear sounding as the 3.1TL's. This, I am sure can be rectified after installing Larry's rings (which I will do after finishing the 3.1TL crossover boards that gimpod (Tony) gave me).
I then contiunued with some SACD. I recently got "Who's Next" on SHM-SACD and put that in the Denon. The sound was the best I'd heard of this album. I do think it is a little lacking on the top end, but just a little. Maybe after a few plays it'll open up on the topend? I know others have said the audio improves the more you play the SHM CD's/SACD's. I definately cranked this one when I played it. Sounded great!:smile:
I then put on Queen's "A Night at the Opera" 30th anniversary CD. I played "You're My Best Friend", "'39", "Sweet Lady", "Seaside Rendevous", "The Prophet's Song" and "Love Of My Life". Very good sound! "The Prophet's Song" vocals by Mercury are phenomial! Imaging is great on the 2.3TL's! And, "Love Of My Life" sounds very nice! This song brings tears to my eyes it's so good.:smile:
I then played "In the Mood" by Robert Plant. This was the remastered "Principle of Moments". Best I've heard it sound so far! Phil Collins' drumming is amazing on here!
Next up was Al Stewart's "On the Border". This was form the Mobile Fidelity version of the CD (silver pressed CD). Very clear, and even sound comming from the 2.3TL's and this song. Still again, need Larry's rings to really make it shine though.
Last, I played Madonna's "Frozen" from her "Ray of Light" CD. If you've not heard this on SDA's go get it and play it. One of the best CD's on SDA's! I played this track because in the last 2/3's of the song there is a point where there is a "thud" of bass that repeats about 7 times. I specifically wanted to compare the amount of bass put out using this song between the 3.1TL's and 2.3TL's. The difference was pretty significant. The 2.3TL's left you quaking in your seat when the "thud" hit, there is a ripple effect that radiates from the speakers outward. It leaves you in your seat rumbling as it passes by you. the 2.3TL's had a very noticable higher amount of the rumble as it passes by compared to the 3.1TL's.
So, there you go. My (somewhat lengthy) observations of the differences between the 3.1TL's and the 2.3TL's. The 2.3TL's are definately a "more present" speaker. Not necessarily a better sounding one, just more "there" with everything. I hope this gives someone trying to decide what size SDA to get a more informed idea, or someone just wanting to know the audio differences bewteen these two great speakers.
Greg
Aragon 8008bb amplifier
BAT VK-3i preamp with 4 Amperex 1959 "D-getter" ECC88/6DJ8 tubes and 2 Bendix 5992 tubes
My own built DAC found in this thread: http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=119264
And using a Denon DCD-3000 as a transport and a Denon DVD-5910 as a Super Audio CD player
My own made AI-1 "Dreadnaught" per DK's instructions
Cables between the DAC and preamp are MIT Shotgun S3 balanced and the same for between the preamp and amp
Using my own made Digital cable using VH audio Pulsar AG cable and WBT 154 AG connectors dor S/PDIF ceonnection
Now for the comparison:
I have owned the 3.1TL's for about 2 years now and have done absolutely every mod there is to be done (that people have come up with so far) to them. that is: I've put Dynamat extreme on all drivers and passives, I have installed Larry's rings into them, I have redone the crossovers with Sonicaps on HF and LF as well as Mills resistors, and I have used Mortite to further couple the drivers to the speaker face, I installed RDO-198 tweeters and lastly I have spiked them. The sound that the 3.1TL's produce before the modifications were nice, but not outstanding. There was definately room for improvement and the modifications definately realised that fact. The clarity after installing Larry's rings was a phenominal upgrade to the sound. The overal clarity to the audio produced was outstanding. The lower and midbase were much more clear and focused. Also, the lower and middle midrange was much more clear and focused. After the crossovers were redone, the sound took on a smoothness and had better tone as well as better high end and low end extension. The balance of the audio spectrum was much better from what I heard after the crossovers had been redone. Spikes also helped with the clarity of the bass and with imaging a well. It was much easier to pinpoint where the different instruments and voices were coming from precisely. Finally, the RDO-198 tweeters brought clarity, better imaging and a smoothness to the highs that were not as present with the SL3000 tweeters.
With the equipment I have listed above, the SDA SRS 3.1TL's brought phenomially clear, accurate and relatively "present" sound. I was happy with them. I was thiniing I would not upgrade beyond the 3.1TL's. Then, about 2 weeks ago Bill (bsoko2) had a pair of SDA SRS 2.3TL's for sale in Washington (about 3 hours from me). I ended up going up and looking at them and they were in nice shape, certainly not perfect but pretty nice. I bought them and barely fit (I mean barely) them into my Honda CRX (thanks Bill for the help with loading them:smile:). I drove them home and moved them downstairs and disonnected the 3.1TL's. The 2.3TL's are quite a bit bigger than the 3.1TL's I noticed. Both in width and hight. They are like a 2B on serious steroids.:smile: I could not use the 2.3TL's though because I need the AI-1 cable I made to be able to use them with the Aragon. Unfortunately, the way I have the AI-1 wired, I need an extra binding post for the "pin" connection which the 2.3TL's in their current state did not have. That's the reason I asked about switching the back binding post plates between the 3.1TL's and 2.3TL's. I checked the wires per Jesse's advice and found the wires were interchangable. I switched the binding post plates and wires connecting them to the crossovers, put some spikes on the 2.3TL's and wired them up. Also, in case you're wondering the 2.3TLs' crossovers were already redone with all Sonicaps on HF and LF as well as Mills resistors. Also, the tweeters were replaced with RDO-198's. The only difference between the 3.1TL's and 2.3TL's is the Dynamat extreme and Larry's rings were not installed (yet) on the 2.3TL's.
After double checking to make sure the audio sounded OK comming from the system, I let it warm up for a couple hours. After the warm up I went downstairs to do a listening session.
The first song(s) I played through them was one I knew very well comming froim the 3.1TL's. It was ".....And the Gods Made Love" and "Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland)". One thing I can say is that immediately I noticed more of a presence comming from the 2.3TL's compared to the 3.1TL's. When I asked Jesse if it would be a worthwhile upgrade I asked would there be more bass, SDA "effect", etc. And his response was that "You'll get more of everything." This was exactly correct. Thanks Jesse for the good advice. The amount of sound comming from the 2.3TL's compared to the 3.1TL's was pretty significant. I would say half again more of "everything". I was immediately impressed. The audio comming from the 2.3TL's playing "....And the Gods Made Love" was like being in a "sonic tornado"! Amazing!!
Next, I played "We Have Heaven" and "South Side of the Sky" From the Mobile Fidelity version of "Fragile". The SDA "effect" and presence of these songs are amazing on the 2.3TL's! On a (temporary only) down side of things is that I did notice without Larry's rings the 2.3TL's were not as clear sounding as the 3.1TL's. This, I am sure can be rectified after installing Larry's rings (which I will do after finishing the 3.1TL crossover boards that gimpod (Tony) gave me).
I then contiunued with some SACD. I recently got "Who's Next" on SHM-SACD and put that in the Denon. The sound was the best I'd heard of this album. I do think it is a little lacking on the top end, but just a little. Maybe after a few plays it'll open up on the topend? I know others have said the audio improves the more you play the SHM CD's/SACD's. I definately cranked this one when I played it. Sounded great!:smile:
I then put on Queen's "A Night at the Opera" 30th anniversary CD. I played "You're My Best Friend", "'39", "Sweet Lady", "Seaside Rendevous", "The Prophet's Song" and "Love Of My Life". Very good sound! "The Prophet's Song" vocals by Mercury are phenomial! Imaging is great on the 2.3TL's! And, "Love Of My Life" sounds very nice! This song brings tears to my eyes it's so good.:smile:
I then played "In the Mood" by Robert Plant. This was the remastered "Principle of Moments". Best I've heard it sound so far! Phil Collins' drumming is amazing on here!
Next up was Al Stewart's "On the Border". This was form the Mobile Fidelity version of the CD (silver pressed CD). Very clear, and even sound comming from the 2.3TL's and this song. Still again, need Larry's rings to really make it shine though.
Last, I played Madonna's "Frozen" from her "Ray of Light" CD. If you've not heard this on SDA's go get it and play it. One of the best CD's on SDA's! I played this track because in the last 2/3's of the song there is a point where there is a "thud" of bass that repeats about 7 times. I specifically wanted to compare the amount of bass put out using this song between the 3.1TL's and 2.3TL's. The difference was pretty significant. The 2.3TL's left you quaking in your seat when the "thud" hit, there is a ripple effect that radiates from the speakers outward. It leaves you in your seat rumbling as it passes by you. the 2.3TL's had a very noticable higher amount of the rumble as it passes by compared to the 3.1TL's.
So, there you go. My (somewhat lengthy) observations of the differences between the 3.1TL's and the 2.3TL's. The 2.3TL's are definately a "more present" speaker. Not necessarily a better sounding one, just more "there" with everything. I hope this gives someone trying to decide what size SDA to get a more informed idea, or someone just wanting to know the audio differences bewteen these two great speakers.
Greg