SDA reviews

[mhw58]

I recently bought a pair of SDA2's and am curious what
the audio magazines said about the SDA's when they
came out. Does anyone have any Stereo Review, High Fidelity or
Audio reviews of the SDA's from the 80's? Were the
SDA's highly rated at the time? Does ayone have the
June 1984 issue of High Fidelity? They reviewed the SDA2's
in that issue and I'm curious what they said.
Thanks, Mike

[RuSsMaN]

Can't help you with a 'pro' review, but for what it's worth, my review is as follows..... and I was VERY skeptical of SDA at the time....

However, now I have heard the truth....

http://clubpolk.polkaudio.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2170&highlight=SDA2b

Cheers,
Russ

[mhw58]

Russ,
Great review! Which Diana Krall cd were you playing?
I have the original 2's with 2 tweeters and 3 drivers.
How did Polk achieve the SDA affect with the 2B's only
having 1 tweeter and 2 drivers?
Thanks, Mike

[RuSsMaN]

Diana - When I look in your eyes.....

SDA effect? only 1 'normal', 1 'SDA' mid needed, if I'm not mistaken....

LOVE those speaks...

Cheers,
Russ

[nascarmann]

Polk found out after your speakers that the SDA effect with tweeters was useless or not audible. With 2 drivers one was the stereo driver and the other was the SDA driver. Did you get yours off eBay?

[F1nut]

King,
What's going on with your 2.3TL's? Did you see what the 1.2TL's on eBay went for?

[mhw58]

I didn't get them off of ebay. I live in Monterey and a guy had put an ad in our local paper that just said 'Polk audio speakers'. I was building a home theatre setup and knew polk were good speakers but had never owned them. The guy I bought them from knew nothing about the SDA technology. He had them facing towards each other and did not have the interconnect cable hooked up. I got them for $200. They are in excellent condition except for 1 corner has a nick in it. The drivers are all in excellent
condition. When I bought them, I had never heard of the SDA
technology either. I found the Polk website/forum and have learned a lot about SDA's and am very happy to have them. Mine
have the SL2000 tweeters instead of the 1000's also. They
sound great. I notice in your review that you had them 5
feet apart. I got an owners manual from Polk and they say
they should be at least 6 feet apart. Did you ever try
moving them further away than 5 feet? I've played around with
different spacings and have mine about 7 feet apart.
Thanks, Mike

[F1nut]

Hey Mike,
So you settled on 7 feet...that's cool. I still don't know about the cd burner....will let you know.

[nascarmann]

What's going on with your 2.3TL's?

Me and momma consumed mass quantities of alcohol and enjoyed them for 4-5 hrs Friday and we are in love. Watched some Peter Frampton and some Eagles and listened to bunch of CD's and we had the "big smile effect" going on. Still need to order new Y cables though. Mine are 1 female 2 male and couldn't make them work. I still think the 1C's are as good as the 2.3's......just in a smaller and not so big a way. The one thing the 2.3's have a lot more of is the lower end. I'm very very HAPPY :D

Did you see what the 1.2TL's on eBay went for?
I saw where the guy ended them.....but in NO way did he sell them for that....:)

[nascarmann]

Oh Mike

I have mine about 8-9' apart.....

[mhw58]

I settled on 7 feet only because it fits my room and tv
setup better than 6 feet. We have a coffee table and
dvd/cd storage shelf that pretty much has to go on the same
wall as my tv and speakers. In order to make it all work,
7 feet was the best I could do. My wife has been cool
about me getting these speakers, a new CS400i center
channel and a POLK 450 sub so I have to make it all look
as good as I can. If the wife wasn't a factor, I'd own some
of the big SDA's and set up my room around THEM!
Mike

[F1nut]

I saw where the guy ended them.....but in NO way did he sell them for that....:)

You think not...hmmm...I was thinking by the look of his house that he probably doesn't need money and the WAF was kicking in big time, so he just wanted to get rid of them. Guess we'll never know for sure.

I agree with the lower end...glad you and your lady are enjoying them! :D

[mhw58]

Nascarman,
Which SDA"s do you own that are 8-9 feet apart? Are you
measuring from the inside of the speakers?
Mike

[mhw58]

Nascarman,
I notice you said the 1-C's are as good as the 2.3's?
I hope to someday get some 1-C's. I've read some say
they are the most audiophile of the SDA's. I've only heard
my 2's so have nothing to compare them to. Would it be
a major upgrade for me to get 1-C's someday? I could
move my SDA2's to my rear speakers. From what I've read
the 1-C's are fantastic and they are not much bigger than
my 2's.
Mike

[nascarmann]

2.3 in front and 1's in rear. I didn't measure....that's a guess center to center...

[mhw58]

Nascarman,
Sounds like an awesome setup! What are you using for
your Center channel? You probably don't need a sub
with that setup but are you using a sub?
Mike

[F1nut]

Mike,
From my take the 2's are best at 6 or 7 feet while the 2.3's are better at 7 to 8 feet measured inside to inside.

[nascarmann]

What are you using for

No center....Running in Phantom Center....I think that's what they call it. I use my setup 90% of the time in 2 channel. I do have a PSW450....

[F1nut]

Mike,
To answer your original question....from Stereo Review.."The Polk SDA 2A is right up there at the top of the class in every way. It has the ability to make your previous favorite speaker sound almost second-rate. Listen at your own risk!"

[DarqueKnight]

Originally posted by mhw58
Does anyone have any Stereo Review, High Fidelity or Audio reviews of the SDA's from the 80's? Were the SDA's highly rated at the time? Does ayone have the June 1984 issue of High Fidelity? They reviewed the SDA2's in that issue and I'm curious what they said.
Thanks, Mike

Roger Russell provides copies of equipment reviews from Audio, High Fidelity, and Stereo Review magazines for $4.00 each.

You can order a copy of the June 1984 issue of SDA 2 review from here: Roger Russell Website (http://www.sundial.net/~rogerr/magrevhf.htm)

Five other SDA review you may find of interest: (1)The SDA 1C was reviewed in the November 1987 issue of Stereo Review. (2)The SDA-SRS 2.3 was reviewed in the November 1988 issue of Stereo Review. (3) The SDA 1 was reviewed in the November 1984 issue of Stereo Review. (4)The SDA 2A was reviewed in the December 1986 issue of Stereo Review. (5) The SDA-SRS 2 was reviewed in the November 1986 issue of High Fidelity.

[DarqueKnight]

Originally posted by mhw58
Did you ever try moving them further away than 5 feet?

My 1.2TL's are 7 feet apart. I sit back 14 feet, all the while with a big grin.:D

[DarqueKnight]

Originally posted by mhw58
Did you ever try moving them further away than 5 feet?

My 1C's are 8 feet apart. I sit back 15 feet. The size of my grin depends more on whats on the TV than the sound coming out of the 1C's.:D

[mhw58]

Thanks for the info about reviews from Roger Russell.
I'll order them from him.
Mike

[nascarmann]

I got the tape measure out.....6' inside to inside apart. Sitting in the fatboy recliner my head is 9' back from center line...

[mhw58]

Last night I watched the Diana Krall live in Paris dvd and
Steely Dan's Two against nature dvd. It is very interesting
to play them in surround sound, then switch to stereo.
The imaging of the SDA's makes you think you have a
center channel as the vocals come straight out of the
tv. Diana Kralls piano comes from outside the speakers
and the guitar and bass have their own space. I love
the SDA's but it makes me wonder why Polk quit making
them and why noone else ever tried to use the SDA
technology.
Mike

[nascarmann]

Those are very good questions......:confused:

[har_navalta]

raife,

Whats on the left side of the other speaker (1C's) behind... is that
a Sub? it looks like other speaker to me...

Anyway, I recently moved to my new house but I don't have enough space for my SDA's. I'd squeeze them only at 4 to 5
feet apart and it sounded not too good as compared to 7 feet apart plus 3 feet on the wall. My set-up was only for 2-channel rig. I will build a room for my SDA's sometimes to give them space to breath.
..............No more Home theater... only 2 channel set-up.


:mad: ,
Har

[DarqueKnight]

Originally posted by mhw58 I love the SDA's but it makes me wonder why Polk quit making them and why no one else ever tried to use the SDA technology.

Here are my random thoughts:

The short answer is $$$$. For a while, Polk decided to move away from the "audiophile" market and strictly go the "mass market" audio route. Can't blame them. There is certainly more money to be made there. They have recently returned to their high-end, audiophile roots with the LSi line. It is interesting to note that the marketing brochures for the LSi line states that LSi's are for "serious, critical listeners". Is that a tacit admission that the other speakers in their current product line are not for the "critical listener"?:lol:

SDA's are very finicky speakers. For proper setup and to get a good SDA presentation requires a large room, a good, high-current, high-power amp, and well-recorded source material. A lot of people became disenchanted with their SDA's because of they did not understand how to, or didn't want to set them up properly. I have bought a few pairs from some of them.

SDA's came out in the mid-80's just as small satellite speaker+subwoofwer systems were becoming the rage. Big boxy speakers like SDA's tend to have a very low WAF (wife acceptance factor). I have seen a lot of ads on Ebay and Audiogon where the seller was unloading his SDA's because the "wife said they had to go".

I find it surprising that these speakers are still in demand some 20 years after their entry into the market. Even more surprising is that Polk still cheerfully provides customer support and reasonably priced replacement parts for speakers that they stopped making 11 years ago. :)

There may very well be more demand now for SDA's than when they were originally in production. However, if Polk resurrected the SDA line, I do not think they would generate enough cash to make them a financially attractive investment. :(

[DarqueKnight]

Originally posted by har_navalta
raife, Whats on the left side of the other speaker (1C's) behind... is that
a Sub? it looks like other speaker to me...


Har,

Heres some better views:

http://home.att.net/~saxman1/HTRight.jpg http://home.att.net/~saxman1/SVS-CS-Ultras.jpg

I just moved also. I'm still unpacking boxes. What do you think were the first boxes I unpacked?:lol:

[nascarmann]

raife1

To quote the "not worth a she-at playing rock B&W owners" of the forum.....Ed Zackary

[DarqueKnight]

Originally posted by mhw58
Did you ever try moving them further away than 5 feet?

Home office. These are 5 feet apart. I sit 8 feet back.:D

[marvelous]

Raife1,

Are the center speakers in this picture sda/crs?

[DarqueKnight]

Originally posted by marvelous Raife1,
Are the center speakers in this picture sda/crs?


Yes they are.:)

Here are the home theater rears: