Sda's For Home Theater?

[racer4551]

I have really been considering finding a pair of sda's for my mains that would replace my rti70's. I just have alot of questions regarding if this would be a good move or not. First thing,would any of the sda's blend with my current spekers(fx500i side surr,rti6 rear surround)for home theater and music? Second i am a little confused as to what amp can you use with the sda's,i currently have a 3 channel sherbourn 200w x 3 at 8ohms,300w x 3 into 4 ohms minimum sine wave continuous output per channel, whatever sinewave means.The manual also states 8 or 4 ohms in normal mode or 8 ohm for bridged mode?Ihave heard that you would need a common ground amp, is this true?So would above amp do the job? what about the speaker cables,what would i need there?One last question for now ,how reliable would some of the oldest sda drivers be, being 15 to 20 years old, can you get replacement stuff for sda"s ?I really have never heard any sda's, but have heard they are a great speaker,it would be nice to have a pair of mains that would sound great with pure direct stereo and double for home theater .I realize that there are a lot veribles and questions here but if anyone could give me some feedback i would greatly be apprecative.

[Tour2ma]

Originally posted by racer4551
First thing,would any of the sda's blend with my current spekers(fx500i side surr,rti6 rear surround)for home theater and music? Most critical match is with your center channel, which you have not listed.

Second i am a little confused as to what amp can you use with the sda's,i currently have a 3 channel sherbourn 200w x 3 at 8ohms,300w x 3 into 4 ohms minimum sine wave continuous output per channel, whatever sinewave means.The manual also states 8 or 4 ohms in normal mode or 8 ohm for bridged mode?Ihave heard that you would need a common ground amp, is this true?So would above amp do the job? what about the speaker cables,what would i need there? Yes must be common ground for the original SDA's. With later generations, e.g., 1,2 tl's, non-common ground is acceptable if you use the modified SDA interconnect. Otherwise your amp looks to be hearty enough. SAme speaker wire should work just fine.

One last question for now ,how reliable would some of the oldest sda drivers be, being 15 to 20 years old, can you get replacement stuff for sda"s ? Only reported issues have been with ferro fluid degredation in the SL3000 tweeter used in the tl generation, and it is far from being a universal problem. Original replacements are avaialble used. New replacements are avaialble, but not necessarily identical. SDA owners geberally consider replacement availability a non-issue.

[racer4551]

Thanks for the input Tour, my center is a csi40,being my rear surrounds have different tweeters than the sda's,would they really stand out differently in multichannel recordings and movies or would it not be that noticable?How would you know which sda's would require the special interconnect and which ones could use standard speaker connections?Is it just the models that are labled sda?:confused: Can you tell by which style connection the speaker uses?

[F1nut]

Racer,

All SDA speakers use the special interconnect cable.

[Vr3MxStyler2k3]

the CS400i and CS400 are the match for the SDA line....

The RTi6 should do fine.... FX500i? should do fine as well

[I-SIG]

Originally posted by F1nut
Racer,

All SDA speakers use the special interconnect cable.

I think what was meant was that with non-common ground amps, the SDA interconnect with the special little transformer built into the cable must be used over and above the standard, wire-to-wire SDA cable.

Wes

[Tour2ma]

The original SDA's use a blade-blade SDA IC termination. With these models you must use a common ground amp.

Later SDA used a pin-blade SDA IC. With these you may use a non-common ground amp if you have the special SDA IC.

Sid,
I think that the surround speakers that sound best depend on which generation SDA you own.

[acdds]

I just got a pair of the SDA-1B's. They sound fantastic, musically and for home theater. I unfortunately passed on an chance to buy a set of 1.2's from a fellow member because I was hesitant to spend that kind of money without ever hearing the SDA sound. I wish now that I would have just bought them. My advice would be to get the biggest pair you can find and enjoy!!

[PolkWannabie]

With regards to the interconnect for SDA's ...

Is this true of the SRT's as well ? or do they some how connect through the control center differently ?

[racer4551]

So lets see if i got this straight,if the sda speaker has a blade-blade connection,i could not use a non-common ground amp, if the sds speaker has a pin-blade connection i can use a non-common ground amp(such as the one i have now)? When did the sda's quit using the blade-blade connection(what year)Because if i do find a pair i would like to use my current amp and not have to purchase another amp right now.

[F1nut]

Racer,

You got the first part right, but not the second. With the pin/blade type you can use a non-common ground amp, BUT you must use the AI-1 interconnect cable. The pin/blade was used starting in 1987. You can not buy the AI-1 anymore, but one can be made. Ken Swauger at Polk can provide that info.

PW,

The SRT's use an electronic control box for the SDA effect.

[disneyjoe7]

just what is a common ground amp ?

how is it different then other amps, tech here so lets get deep ok.

[F1nut]

A common ground amp shares a ground between the two negative outputs. Example of a non-common ground amp would be mono blocks or dual mono amps, they have completely seperate right and left channels, hence no comon ground.

[racer4551]

So in regard to the AI-1 CABLE was that a cable that came with the sda speakers or was it something designed so you could use a non-common ground amp?So if i was to buy any sda or sda-srs speaker i would, in order to use my amp,have to have this cable to connect to speakers.

[racer4551]

So do i have a non-common ground amp ?How do you know?:confused:

[F1nut]

Last time.....

With any blade/blade type SDA speaker you CAN NOT use non-common ground amps, period!

With pin/blade type SDA speakers you can only use non-common ground amps with a AI-1 interconnect cable, which was optional. You had to buy it seperate, so if you buy a pair of SDA's and it doesn't come with the AI-1 cable you will have to make one or buy a common ground amp.

[racer4551]

So basically i figured out i must have common ground amp and there for you would not need any special cables for connection to any sda or sda-srs speaker? Thanks f1 and others for your patience in trying to explain this to my thick head:D

[Tour2ma]

Correct, if your Sherwood is in fact a common ground amp.

Most are, but it is usually wise to consult your amp's manufacturer for confirmation.

[F1nut]

Originally posted by racer4551
So basically i figured out i must have common ground amp and there for you would not need any special cables for connection to any sda or sda-srs speaker?

But you will still need the standard interconnect cable that runs between the left and right speakers.

[racer4551]

So if i was to add a set of sda speakers to my current setup i would wire them just like i have the rti70's and connect the interconnect between the two sda's to aquire the sda effect ,right?again thanks for your patience on this matter i am really trying to understand this:)

[Tour2ma]

Yup...

[racer4551]

Also am i correct in assuming that all sda's used either a blade-blade or a pin-blade connection between the speakers?

[Tour2ma]

Yup #2...

[racer4551]

Thanks Tour now i can get some sleep, i just had to understand this,its been driving me up the wall:D . Now if i could just find some speakers!

[Tour2ma]

LOl... By the way I think they make great mains in an HT imaging-wise...

[F1nut]

In a thick British accent......

By George, I think he's got it! :D

[racer4551]

I really hope to find out , as soon as i find something.

[racer4551]

Took me awhile:o must have been all that stuff i did back in my school days taking affect!

[00p225]

I purchased a pair of SDA-1C's from Aaron, who is another member of this forum, and thought I'd share my findings with you concerning sda's for home theatre.

I originally purchased these to run on my vintage basement system which consists of the preamp portion of an HK 730 vintage receiver, technics sl-b5 turntable with denon dl160 cartridge and a McIntosh MC2100 100 wpc amp. While they soundstage quite well, the confines of my basement really didn't let them breath. Though they sounded nice, they don't have the accuracy, detail and above all bass below 50hz that my other vintage Pioneer hpm-100's have. I'll come to the bass issue a bit later.......

I decided to try them on my avr system which consists of an HK AVR 500 80wpc surround receiver and a panasonic rv-26 dvd player using tosslink and the HK's internal dac. What I found with the sda's is if you have enough room on either side of the speakers (3ft or more) they work well for home theatre. Well enough in fact that you could get away without rear surrounds if need be. Also, if your main listening area is the same distance from your tv as the speakers are apart from each other (equalateral triangle) you don't even need a center channel as the speakers almost disappear. If the dialogue is coming from the exact center, that is where the sda's will reproduce it. If your listening position is to one side or the other, a center channel is a must have as the dialogue coming from the left or right can be distracting. The lack of bass is really evident in this setup though, but I have them paired with a 12" powered sub with the crossover set at 60hz and this adds the "punch" needed for ht.

I don't like eq's, but tried one with this setup, and found I needed to boost the 36hz range a full 6dbs to even get close to the bass that my original main speakers will produce. These are PSB Century 500i's which are 2 way with just an 8" vifa woofer in a ported enclosure! A 6 db boost is just way too much and eats up all the headroom my meager 80wpc can deliver, hence the powered sub is a must have. The bass that is there is very good though, they don't sound boxy and sound very "tight". They are just down to many dbs below 50hz that a ported enclosure that I'm used to will deliver.

Also I'd like to mention that natural sounds like hand claps, doors shutting, or even horses running sound, well, very natural with the sda's. Probabally the best of any speakers Iv'e owned. As far as surround effects, they do the left to right panning very well, but don't do the sda imaging quite as well as 2 channel audio. The could be from the compression/mixing of the movie soundtracks though. Sometimes effects do enter into the the listening area, but not as often as many audio recordings. The bottom line is I like these very much for ht and they will be staying where they are at.

In 2 channel mode strangely enough the detail and accuracy are better in this location. It could be room acoustics etc, but I have'nt had time to move them around yet. I do miss the bottom end for classic rock, but these do classical, jazz and blues extremely well with very little fatigue. I hope my findings are of some help to you. Regards.

Zane

[acdds]

I agree with 00p25. In my set-up the SDA's are about 4 feet from the back wall and 3 feet from each side wall. The bass just isn't there in my opinion. I am used to a little punch when I listen to music (accurate bass or not I don't know). I have it paired with a s***** Sony subwoofer and the combination sounds fantastic to me. I have no other reference to base my opinion though. Movies are great and I can't tell any difference b/w the RTi's and the SDA's when sound is moving across the front stage.

[F1nut]

Try putting them very close to the back wall, I have mine at 5.5" using the Bass Brace. Your 1C's don't have that, so use floor spikes.

[00p225]

Hi F1nut,

I'm running mine 6" from the wall, but they are on carpet with thick padding. I'll have to pick up some spikes. On my Psb's I had them on stands and screwed them through the carpet to my subfloor so my 3 year old wouldn't knock them over. The increase in bass was substantial.

Zane

[F1nut]

Zane,

After you spike them, report back with the results. I've got to say this also, the SDA's like power. At least 200 wpc of the high current type. Maybe a friend or local hi-fi shop will let you try out that kind of power. I think you'll find the bass to be much improved.

Jesse

[00p225]

I competly agree power wise. The old mac helps out alot in this respect, but it still isn;t quite enough in my opinion. A friend is running his sda srs's with a single hafler dh 500 which runs 250 wpc. These used mosfet output transistors, and the bass is phenominal. I'm talking the kind of bass that sounds like a very clean live performance. The kind that moves your insides and cleans out your sinus's......cleanly lol:)

Zane

[racer4551]

I might have just purchased a set of 1b's in super condition with original boxes and interconnect cable for 800.00 shipped:D

[racer4551]

What should i do,i know i am paying top dollar for this pair of sda 1b's, should i purchase these or pass? The deal is 800.00 shipped(100 shipping) so 700 for the pair .The pictures below are the sda's i am looking at.

[madmax]

That is for sure top dollar. I personally would keep an eye out for some 1C's for less. (I have no idea what the differences are other than looks).
madmax

[racer4551]

If you had to chose between sda 1a,1b,or 1c which model would be better and why? Or does it really matter?I would really like to have the big boys,1.2tl's, but really right now out of my price range with shipping and all when you do see a pair.I think to have the best of both worlds(home theater and 2 channel music)one of the three sda model listed above should satisfy mmy search for this combo based on there smaller footprint and their full range(musically) capabilities.I am hoping that these would take the place of my rti70's and fill the void for a better front soundstage,thats what i am after.Thanks for listening to my ramblings on here.

[racer4551]

One other thing,i just spoke to someone at sherbourn and they were unable to tell me if my amp was a common ground amp,so if i was to purchase the sda 1b's listed above ,they are probably the blade-blade connection so they cant be used with a non-common ground amp right?I really need to know what amp style i have here to know if i can use a blade-blade sda speaker .Are all the sda1a,1b,and 1c's blade-blade?And what would happen if connected to a non common ground amp ?

[Tour2ma]

The last 1C's I saw on ebay sold for $825, so I'm not sure what top dollar is for 1's.

[F1nut]

The 1A and 1B are blade/blade. The 1C is pin/blade.

"And what would happen if connected to a non common ground amp?"

KA-BOOM comes to mind.

Those 1B's sure look minty :D

[racer4551]

Just one thing comes to mind, KABOOM! I really need to find out whether my amp is a common or non-common ground before i purchase these speakers because i dont want to hurt anything.From what i"ve read it probably is acommon ground amp but really need to make sure?

[madmax]

I have no experience with the 1A or 1B's. I have a lot of experience with the 1C's. The 1C's are the type of speaker that is worth keeping even after you have the bigger boys. I have written several threads about it so I won't go into it again. One thing that turns me off about the ones in your pic is that the slightest crush on one of the corners will turn your $800 investment into a $300 investment. If you look closely at the 1C's they are very different in build. (separate wood top and bottom with the rest covered by cloth). Also, it just seems like a lot for that model.

Look at the MX thread, his dad just bought perfect 1.2TL's and an amp worth maybe $750 for $1800. That would make the TL's go for maybe $250 more than your $800. Seems a little disproportionate to me.

madmax

[285exp]

Appreciate the help you guys gave me with my questions on the SDA SRS. I picked them up (with some help) a couple of weeks ago and used them to replace the 10B's in my home theater. The 90 wpc Denon seems to drive them pretty well, but I'll be on the hunt for a 200 wpc or more amp. Thanks again.

http://tht.sunfx.net/285exp/HT2.jpg

[acdds]

Are you sure those 1.2's VX just bought are tl's? I emailed him and I thought they were non-tl's.

[racer4551]

So come on all you sda hording mo fo's make me a deal on a pair of sda1b's or 1c's, I am ready to buy:D

[disneyjoe7]

Racer4551

Looks good I like to also work my 2 channel music up some, so still thinking I should buy speakers or amp ???

But for you to see if your reciever is common ground, I thinking this (do this low volume OK if this doesn't sound good) your speaker are Left - / +, Right -/+ now, so rewire your speakers like this Left + but move the - to the Right -, Right + but move the - to the Left. You are moving the - on both speakers if you reciever is common ground then there should not hear anything different.

The other way you check this is with a OHM meter the - on Left, and - Right should be low resistor less then .5 ohm or so.

Hope this helps you.





Originally posted by racer4551
I really need to find out whether my amp is a common or non-common ground before i purchase these speakers because i dont want to hurt anything.From what i"ve read it probably is acommon ground amp but really need to make sure?

[racer4551]

My new to me sda 1c speakers, yahooooooooo hope i made the right choice, cant wait to hear these!

[racer4551]

Another pic.......................spots are from his camera, not present in other pics

[racer4551]

My new to me sda1c's should finally after a delay be here on monday, cant wait to hear these speakers, i have never heard sda speakers before and am really eager to see how they are going to fit in as home theater and music speakers.The guy kinda pulled a fast one on me about shipping, he quoted me a shipping price of 200 through a shipping company that svs uses(bax globel) and said it was a little more expensive but safer but when he went there to ship they said that you had to be a registered business account so instead he shipped through fedex which costed only about a hundred, so i guess he made out.I had thought about emailing him about the difference but didnt know if it would be the best thing.,just hope speakers arrive ok and in good shape, dont need no problems right now.

[disneyjoe7]

Racer,

Hope your new speakers make it ok.

I but Fedex over UPS any day so let's hope for the best.

[racer4551]

Thanks disney, i hope they arrive intact too.I am also worried about amp causing problems, never could get a straight answer whether it is common ground or not,I am hoping it is a common ground.I am only getting a standard pin-blade sda interconnect with the speakers.I plan on just connecting to amp first without sda cable then using sda cable on very low volume to check compatability, Does anyone recommend a method or a way to connect so i dont damage anything just in case my amp is not common ground?And if needed does anyone have the modded interconnect to use with a non-common ground amp?

[00p225]

Hey Racer,

If you can get access to a multimeter, you can check continuity between the left and right channels on your amp. If they are common ground the meter will show a dead short, just like touching the - and + meter leads together. Go ahead and pm me for more detailed instructions, especially if you don't know how to use a multimeter.

Btw, Iv'e had my sda-1c's running for about 2 weeks in my home theatre setup and enjoy them very much, so much so in fact this is where they will be staying. I'm just watching movies in 2 channel mode on my HK Avr 500 and though it doesn't quite fill the room at normal volumes like having the rear/ side channels, the sound quality is so much better. Bump up the volume on the sda's though and they fill the room very well. I also ran them for a while on my old McIntosh 100 wpc amp on my vintage system and tried it out with a portable dvd player and the sound was extremely impressive, but the wife won't let me fill the living room with stereo equipment :-( Good luck and enjoy your new speakers!

[disneyjoe7]

Hello OOp225,

I think I need to thank you for your offer to Racer. Your help with his Common Ground checking using a meter even if he doesn't have or know how to use, has to be safer then my no meter checking above. Thanks again for you PM offer to Racer.




Originally posted by 00p225
Hey Racer,

If you can get access to a multimeter, you can check continuity between the left and right channels on your amp. If they are common ground the meter will show a dead short, just like touching the - and + meter leads together. Go ahead and pm me for more detailed instructions, especially if you don't know how to use a multimeter.

Btw, Iv'e had my sda-1c's running for about 2 weeks in my home theatre setup and enjoy them very much, so much so in fact this is where they will be staying. I'm just watching movies in 2 channel mode on my HK Avr 500 and though it doesn't quite fill the room at normal volumes like having the rear/ side channels, the sound quality is so much better. Bump up the volume on the sda's though and they fill the room very well. I also ran them for a while on my old McIntosh 100 wpc amp on my vintage system and tried it out with a portable dvd player and the sound was extremely impressive, but the wife won't let me fill the living room with stereo equipment :-( Good luck and enjoy your new speakers!

[dorokusai]

I bet those speakers sound pretty good :D

[madmax]

Good luck with the 1C's and yes, TELL him to refund the extra hundred HE talked you into!
madmax

[PolkWannabie]

Can someone please explain the differences between the 1's, 1A's, 1B's & 1C's?

[racer4551]

Well they made it finally, just got them home,had them delivered to work, havent got them out of the boxes yet, but the boxes are intact so thats a good thing. Thanks for the replys and the help on this purchase everyone, found out my amp is common ground so thats good, now if these speakers sound good i will be happy as a pig in shi......................:D Will post after i get them out of the boxes and fired up.

[00p225]

As far as I can tell, the sda-1's had the tweeters horizontaly mounted in the cabinets and used different 6.5" drivers than the later models. I also think one of the tweeters was also used in crosstalk cancelation. The sda-1b had the tweeters moved to vertical, but still had the crosstalk accross a wider frequency range. By the time the 1c's came out, Polk had found that just a narrow frequency range of crosstalk cancelation was needed.

Iv'e never heard the earlier models but the 1c's are supposed to sound the best. I will say compared to the original sda-srs, the 1c's seem to be less veiled, seem to be less touchy on listening postition, and have a very smooth polite sound. At first they seem really layed back, but they have less fatigue than one would think and can be listened to for hours. They will rip up the floor boards if you would want them to though!

One thing I do feel, it seems best to pair these with an amp with a very high dampening factor if sheer volume is your forte'. The drivers will flutter and even bottom out if your amp has poor bass control.

Oh, almost forgot, do get some spikes under these! I don't have them under mine yet, and have some pretty good padding under my carpet. Just after 2 weeks of settling into the carpet the bass has improved. I think spikes will really help the bass response!

[racer4551]

Well finally got the sda 1c's setup and in place.I have been listening to them in two channel and am kinda confused on their sound.They dont have a lot of bass response or am i spoiled by by the svs sub.I dont think they sound bad but am really disappointed in bass response.I went back to using the outlaw icbm for all bass management , placed inbetween the pre and the amp, and set the sda's xover at 40hz and the rest of the speakers to 80xover.This really did improve the bass response, but still sounds weak to me.In two channel direct,i have to bump up the bass control to +6 and the treble to +4 to get some dynamics out of the speakers(this is with the sub off and the icbm set to recombine). Maybe its a placement problem with where i have speakers,they are located alongside the ent. center ,out about two inches.Ihave included some pics showing their placement.Maybe not enough power..............?

[F1nut]

Just a quick observation, you're not going to get the kinda bass from the 1C's that you'll get from a sub, but you will get decent bass. Placement always matters, try playing around with that. How much and what kind of power is driving them?

[racer4551]

Ihave a sherbourne 3 channel amp that i am using to power the sda's and the center speaker, it is rated at 200w at 8ohms,300 at 4 ohms,1.25db dynamic headroom, 5hz to 75khz power bandwidth,gain 30db,signal to noise ratio 10db/wide band, 110db/a weighted,1.10 volts high level sensitivity.Idont expect svs sub quality bass but really have to force the tone controls to get decent bass.

[racer4551]

Here are pics......................(yeah i like showin them off)

[racer4551]

Another...........................

[racer4551]

Last one.......................

[racer4551]

Do you think it matters that these speakers are 28 in away from back wall and the same from the side wall.

[Zero]

Racer,

I helped a neighbor set up the SDA 2B's in his listening area. It was very simular to yours. We found that about 1 foot from the wall, with the speakers about 4 and a half feet away yeilded the best results.

Unfortunately due to some shelves he had, we ended up putting them in the corners, like your gettup. It wasnt bad - it just wasnt the nearfield positioning that the speakers seemed to favor.

Moving the speakers foward ever so slightly so the large center is an inch or two behind the speaker should yeild great results as well.

[racer4551]

I would think my amp is healthy enough but wonder what a different amp would do............., looking at a amp on audiogon, a carver m 4.0t silver 7, anyone know anything about this amp, good or bad?

[F1nut]

I would try placing the speakers next to the TV if at all possible. 28 inches is too far away from the back wall, you can also improve the bass by installing spikes. I also think you would benefit from a high current amp.

[racer4551]

I am going to try a set spikes and see what that does since the floor has a extra thick carpet pad, could be absorbing too much bass?IT would be hard to put the speakers beside the tv, audio cables are just long enough now............would hate to buy longer cables.What would moving them beside the tv do for their performance?

[F1nut]

Ok, extra thick padding will definitely kill the bass. I don't know exactly what would happen by placing the SDA's next to the TV, but room acoustics play a large part and thought it might be worth trying. IMO, the speakers are to far out from the wall and too close on the sides, but Russman has his in the corners and gets tons of bass. You just have to play around with them and get a high current amp.

[disneyjoe7]

Racer,

Don't forget you have replaced 2 6.5" speakers per side for a total of 4 6.5" with double that. So yes your amp may not have the balls to move all those drivers on the low end, killing bass response at the speakers.

Also I do think carpet spikes could help also with the bass issue, but you may find the above to be true.


BTW, like your picture with ESPN / Drag racing in it ;)

[00p225]

Ok, I decided to rearrange my living room. I originally had the sda-1c's 2.5 feet from the left and right wall and 5.5" from the rear wall. I now moved them to the long wall to get the distance between the speakers and my listening position close to the same distance apart. The sda's are now 6 feet from the left side wall and 8 feet from the right side wall. They are also 3" from the rear wall. I have electrical outlets behind each speaker so I couldn't get any closer. Bass was much improved closer to the wall. Soundstage opened up big time! Since I don't like moving heavy speakers with spikes, I cut two pieces of 3/4" mdf the same size as the speaker bottoms and screwed them down through the subfloor using a bubble level. I also put 4 rubber stick on furniture pads on each panel and set the sda's on these. Bass is way better now, it can be felt as well as heard. I lucked out on this as there's no noticable subfloor resonance. The best thing is the midrange detail improved greatly. Just keeping the speakers from rocking slightly on the thick padding and carpet really helps here. I also have a powered 12" sub and find it is not needed anymore with this layout for music. I guess if I worried about wowing visitors while watching movies the sub would be usefull, but I really can't see myself using it unless someone comments to "turn up the bass".

Racer, you really need to get those sda's closer to your rear wall. 28" is killing any bass you would have. If they are close to the side walls, you will lose some of the soundstage beyond the speakers. Keep experimenting and see if you can borrow someone elses amp if moving the speakers closer to the rear wall doesn't help. The toughest adjusment for me was going to the sealed boxes with passive radiators that polk uses. Iv'e always used ported boxes, and while they may give more bass for the same driver size, it may not be better, just boxier in some types. Regards.

[racer4551]

Thanks oop25,i really cant move them around too much, if i move them back closer to the wall i cant get behind the entertainment center to do anything,i am going to try some spikes and maybe another amp,looking at a carver amp, but am unsure of there performance,have never heard any of their amps,just hard to beleive that they make any power being small and lightweight?

[Tour2ma]

The M-4.0t is a very nice amp, maybe the best of the 2 ch Carvers and should mate nicely with your 1C's.

Carpet spikes are a good next move.

While your 1C's could benefit from being nearer the back wall, I think they would benefit more from moving closer together as F1 suggested a few posts above...

[dorokusai]

Racer - Spikes galore from www.oregondv.com , very well made, and he is a Polk Forum supporter.

SDA spikes are 1/4 20

[racer4551]

Thanks doro for the info, paul hooked me up with a piece of granite with spikes for my svs that worked out super.Thanks tour for the info on the carver,looks like a done deal so will see.Do you know if that amp is common ground?

[Tour2ma]

Yes, the 4.0 is common ground.

[kelley]

I just looked at this thread after it had been going quite a bit. I was rather worried as I read on and saw that we were going to test the common/non-common ground theory at low levels. Let me tell you from experience that if you have a non-common ground amp and hook it to the SDA's without using the interface cable or, as some models of amps including mine respond to just connecting a jumper to the negative terminals between the different channels on the amp. Low volume or high will result in the same violent reaction in your system. You must figure the grounding type of your amp some other way than just giving it a try. My Denon mono amps, and 3.1tl's survived 2 instances of of non-common ground hookup. Someone else on this board had their amp burn up fairly quickly. You roll the dice if you want to try it the "connect it and see what happens way". I am glad it worked out for you since your amp must've been common ground.

[racer4551]

I am kinda dissapointed with my new to me sda1c's.There is very little bass output,i even went as far as taking the passive radiator out and checking for loose wires or anything .I am glad i did that though, i found the crossover assembly had come loose and was hanging by one plastic clip that holds them to the winding assembly and in the same speaker, the passive radiator had come apart where it is glued together in the back of the speaker(super glued it back together,looks like new,cant even tell)Tightened all the screws on all the speakers while i was at it,even installed some speaker spikes.They did sound a little better.I am just confused ,i know these speakers have to sound better than they do now.Iam going to try another amp, a carver m4.0t silver seven(375 watts per channel).I have been listening to these in two channel by themselves,with some good sacd stuff that should have some good bass, but hardly any bass output until i turn on the sub.The only thing i havent tried is moving them up against the back wall,which is kinda hard the way everything is put together in my entertainment center,but if this would make them sound better i will try to move them.I just dont understand how this helps bass output,someone please educate me...........Maybe i am expecting too much with these speakers,i am only used to the way a traditional 3 way speaker sounds with that good low bass before subs became popular.Can or should the passive radiator put out this kind of bass?Maybe i am just confused on how the passive radiator works,does the bass output come from the mids only?:confused: