Check out my new SDA-1C's

[davidfmartin]

Hello again!

Purchased this pair of sda-1c's today for 100.00 off of craigslist! Holy crap were they hard to move by myself! They are in great shape, I would say 7 out of 10. There is some slight peeling of the laminate on the right speaker edge on the right channel and some associated sun fading of the right side cloth. There is also a busted neg. binding post on the left channel that I am hoping someone here may read this and offer one up for sale (pm me if you have one).

I have them hooked up to a Pioneer SA-7500II amp on the B channel so that I can A/B them against my RTA11TL's (also purchased from craigslist a few months ago, search this forum for the other post).

The jury is still out on which I think sounds better. Based on lurking in this forum for a few months now I expected the SDA's would blow me away and they haven't yet. The bass is WAY deeper on the SDA's but I think I like the sl3000 tweets better on the RTA's. The SDA's may be a candidate for the tweet upgrade but that would cost 200.00 more so I need to think about it.

The wife likes the RTA's better, hands down. The RTA's sound louder.

I am going to have some friends over soon for a more extensive a/b test. I will post the results here then.

[Lasareath]

Wow Great find David!!!, Only $100, that's amazing!!!!

[Lasareath]

I have extra binding posts, PM me your address and I will send you a couple.

Sal

[dcmeigs]

Nice find. You are very fortunate.

Do you have the interconnect cable hooked up? Are all of the tweeters and drivers producing? How are you powering the one with the broken post?

[BSUfbfan]

Thats a heckuva find! Nice job.

Now do yourself a favor and buy the RDO tweeters (you'll only be into the whole deal $300) and the 1C's will eat the 11TL's for lunch. Put the 1C's on the "A" speaker output and see if you have any change in sound. Amps with the A/B function make me leary, I had an old Kenwood 100x2 with the A/B speaker selector and the "B" output was nothing close to the "A" output.

[davidfmartin]

Nice find. You are very fortunate.

Do you have the interconnect cable hooked up? Are all of the tweeters and drivers producing? How are you powering the one with the broken post?

I do have the interconnect cable hooked up. As far as I know everything is working. I can feel movement in all mid drivers and hear sound from the tweets. I also did a left/right test to see if sound was still coming out of the opposite speaker and that passed too. The guy I bought them from was sing a simple nut on the broken post, it looks ugly but I did make a connection.

[davidfmartin]

I was wondering the same thing about the B channel. I will swap tomorrow and post results if they change.

Thats a heckuva find! Nice job.

Now do yourself a favor and buy the RDO tweeters (you'll only be into the whole deal $300) and the 1C's will eat the 11TL's for lunch. Put the 1C's on the "A" speaker output and see if you have any change in sound. Amps with the A/B function make me leary, I had an old Kenwood 100x2 with the A/B speaker selector and the "B" output was nothing close to the "A" output.

[dcmeigs]

Now do yourself a favor and buy the RDO tweeters (you'll only be into the whole deal $300) and the 1C's will eat the 11TL's for lunch.

+1

I just did the Sonicap mod and installed RD0194 in a set of 1As. The transformation is way beyond my expectations.

[heiney9]

I owned RTA 11's and now a pair of 1C's. There should be no comparison; the SDA's should sound a whole lot better. Also your SDA's in the picture are not set-up to get the best they have to offer. I bet that's the big thing holding you back

[danger boy]

nice score for a hundred bucks... you really got a great deal.. the silver Pioneer you are using may not be enough power for those though.. if you have another amp, they would really benefit from more power.

congrats though.. they look nice. for $100, you did right by snagging them. :)

[shadowofnight]

Nice score :)

[F1nut]

Yeah, I wouldn't call them in great shape, but congrats none the less. I also agree that your Pioneer doesn't have what it takes to drive the SDA's and the set up is all wrong. Not to worry though, we'll get you straightened out.

[davidfmartin]

Just did the RD0194-1 upgrade yesterday and all I can say is WOW! The silk domes are way mellower than the sl2000 tweets to my ear. I liked them right out of the box and have about 6-8 hours on them so far. Also fixed the busted binding post thanks to Lazareath! I am chomping at the bit to replace the 45wpc Pioneer sa-7500ii that I am powering these behemoths with. I'm lurking on craigslist for any hidden amp bargain's but I am considering the following new equipment (opinions from all welcome):

Parasound - 2250 250-Watt THX Ultra2 Two-Channel Amplifier
Parasound - Classic 2100 Stereo Preamp
Parasounds Halo line is gorgeous but I'm nut sure worth the extra dollars.

I have seen lot's of talk here and around about "Emotiva". I'm considering them and like the specs on the XPA-2, but the RSP-1 isn't that much less that the Parasound pre with half the warranty.

Anyway I'm a changed man and love these SDA's!

[BSUfbfan]

I would agree that Parasound is probably the best bang for the buck out there. Get a used HCA-1500 (designed by John Curl) on Audiogon for $600.... forget Craigslist.

Glad you like the new tweets!

[davidfmartin]

forget Craigslist.

Dude, craigslist is where I obtained these SDA's as well as my RTA11TL's!

I agree that actually finding a Parasound on craigslist is probably next to impossible, but there glory in the hunt my friend :D

[Roy Munson]

Parasounds Halo line is gorgeous but I'm nut sure worth the extra dollars.

It's worth it!

[schwarcw]

I like the Parasound amps, but I recommend that you go the extra bucks and get a Halo!!!:D

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p97/schwarcw/HaloA23.jpg

[davidfmartin]

OK Halo owners help me understand,

Can you describe what you think is the 800.00 difference? The specs are identical except:

Model 2250
385 watts x 2, 4 Ω
Frequency Response
20 Hz - 50 kHz, +0/-3 dB, 1 watt
Total Harmonic Distortion
0.02% at full rated output
0.015% at average listening levels

A21
400 watts RMS x 2, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, 4 Ω, all channels driven
Power bandwidth: (same as frequency response?)
5 Hz - 100 kHz, +0/-3 dB at 1 watt
Total harmonic distortion:
< 0.2 % at full power


The SDA-1C's are 15Hz-26000Khz so am I potentially cutting off the "inaudible highs and lows", but loosing the "feeling" of < 20Hz?

[schwarcw]

You could look at the Parasound website and check out the tech specs. The Halo is a Class A, A/B amp, 60 amp peak per channel compared to the 45 apc. Bottom line is that it's much more dynamic, smoother, more headroom. The soundstage is more detailed, deeper. It will open up the SDA's to their full ability. The 2250 Classic is a very nice amp, the Halo A21 is better. Try to demo them in a show room somewhere if you can. You can always call Parasound also. They will go into much more detail about the differences.

Good luck!

Carl

[dbnh]

Not a Halo owner. However, I use Odyssey Extreme Monos (with a DIY between-speaker IC) with my 1Cs that works wonders. YMMV. Enjoy the trail re: discovering what works with your ears/ system. FI - I use the upgraded tweets to great effect, as well as diffractionbegone.com felt tweeter tweeks.

Peace,

Dave B.

OK Halo owners help me understand,

Can you describe what you think is the 800.00 difference? The specs are identical except:

Model 2250
385 watts x 2, 4 Ω
Frequency Response
20 Hz - 50 kHz, +0/-3 dB, 1 watt
Total Harmonic Distortion
0.02% at full rated output
0.015% at average listening levels

A21
400 watts RMS x 2, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, 4 Ω, all channels driven
Power bandwidth: (same as frequency response?)
5 Hz - 100 kHz, +0/-3 dB at 1 watt
Total harmonic distortion:
< 0.2 % at full power


The SDA-1C's are 15Hz-26000Khz so am I potentially cutting off the "inaudible highs and lows", but loosing the "feeling" of < 20Hz?