Overall opinions and fair asking price for SDA 2B

[Dawgfish]

Hi fello CP members,

I have found a mint set of SDA-2Bs within driving distance of me that I am considering. According to the seller and photos, they are in mint condition, come with the original boxes and manuals, and includes the interconnect cable. The seller is asking $350.00. What do you all feel a fair price for these would be? Also, what do you all generally think of the SDA-2Bs? I want to use these in a two channel set-up. I currently own a set of RTA-12Bs that I love and I know the 2Bs have a very similiear driver arrangement to the RTA-12Bs. Would these be a signifigant upgrade to the 12Bs, or am I waisting my time? Thanks in advance for your replies.

Steve

[cnh]

I'm sure the guys will jump in here but I bought some 2Bs myself. Mint condition with all the stuff you have up there! 300? 250 would be a real bargain!

Original boxes and cable is a plus. And while RTAs are good they don't have the SDA effect!

cnh

[Toolfan66]

+1 What cnh said.

But with that said if they are in minty shape . I don't think paying $300 is that bad of a price. keep in mind if it did not come with the interconnect cable the cable would cost you about $30 alone. so if you could at least get them for $300 you would have done good. + you will love them.

Larry.

[george daniel]

You know,, 350.00 for the sound that you will get,,where else are you gonna' find that?Yeah,,a little high,,but if you plan to keep them,,then IMHO,it's worth every penny.Good luck,keep us posted.

[bluecomet]

I agree. If they are mint plus cable, boxes and manual it doesn't get much better than that. If he goes for three hundred dollars great, if not, I would not lose them over fifty bucks. They are excellent speakers and with the right amp and new rdo 194's you will be surprised at the differance in sound over your RTA-12B's.

[MillerLiteScott]

I got mine in OK condition without boxes for $225.00. I think you will be very pleased with the speaker and if you hot rod them to the TL spec you are in for a treat for relatively little money.

Scott

[nspindel]

The 2B's are an awesome sounding speaker. Like Scott said, buy them and start upgrading. Hopefully you can shave a bit off the price, try offering him $300 cash with you picking them up from him.

[zarrdoss]

I would see if he will go for 300 if not hell do it. Like said above you will not find ANYTHING new for 350 that will come close to the way these sound, good luck!

[mmadden28]

I wouldn't pass them up.

[Ethancf]

You should really consider getting these for $200. ;)

[everpress]

You should really consider getting these for $200. ;)

LOL!
ONLY $200?!?

I'd say those are a steal!!!

Do they ROCK THE HOUSE?

[Airplay355]

I have the uglier vinyl wrapped SDA2Bs...The drivers were minty but the cabs certainly weren't. 7/10 at best. Luckily I only paid $50 on ebay. They are certainly worth $300 though, they sound awesome :)

[Dawgfish]

Thank you for the replies everyone! I think I'm going to be making a road trip this weekend. Money is tight right now, but I don't want to pass these up as I've been looking for a while. I think eating Beanie Weenies and ramen noodles for the next two weeks will be a godd trade off for getting a set of SDAs! :-) Oh and Ethancf, thanks for the suggesting for those awesome speakers ;-), but if I bought those I would have to get a new center and rears to have everything "timbre" matched. I don't think I could afford to replace my system with that caliber of speaker yet :-). One day though, one day..........

[Conradicles]

Buy them. I still regret selling my pair that was identical to those. Enjoy them Dawg.

[heiney9]

Offer $300 and see what he says. Don't let 'em go for $350 though. Perhaps not the smoking deal of the century but there is a lot to be said for a minty pair of 2B's. You won;t touch their sound for $350 anywhere else. As George Daniel said, if you plan to keep them it's not a bad price.

H9

[Dawgfish]

Thanks H9,

I definitely plan to keep them. I would eventually like to get a set of 1Cs or some SRSs, 2.3 TL, etc., but these will be fine until then. I'll probably move them to the bedroom if I find and purchase any of the big boy SDAs in the future.

[nooshinjohn]

congrats on the score and enjoy the tunes they put out. The 2b's were my first exposure to Polk Audio. I heard them at the PX at Iwakuni Japan back in 1987 and was hooked.

[cnh]

Thanks H9,

I definitely plan to keep them. I would eventually like to get a set of 1Cs or some SRSs, 2.3 TL, etc., but these will be fine until then. I'll probably move them to the bedroom if I find and purchase any of the big boy SDAs in the future.

I have a ton of rooms in my house but NONE that could handle SRSs...way too BIG...couldn't place them. So I'll stick with the 2Bs for quite some time, you'll enjoy those as well. The main difference as you move up the SDA chain is power, lower end, greater WIDTH and envelopment and staging. But you simply have to have the ROOM!

cnh

[rmaiers]

I got a pair of mint SDA 2Bs a month ago through a friend for $200.00. They came in the original boxes with the interconnect cable, manual, and even the sales receipt.

I also have a set of RTA-12B speakers in a 2 channel system. I am using the SDA 2Bs in my HT system. I really like the sound of both the RTAs and the SDAs and have not yet decided if I like one better than the other. I know there are lots of strong opinions about the SDAs but while there are differences in the sound, I am not going to get rid of my RTAs any time soon.

[Dawgfish]

I have a ton of rooms in my house but NONE that could handle SRSs...way too BIG...couldn't place them. So I'll stick with the 2Bs for quite some time, you'll enjoy those as well. The main difference as you move up the SDA chain is power, lower end, greater WIDTH and envelopment and staging. But you simply have to have the ROOM!

It sounds like some of the larger SDAs will be ideal for my main setup. The living room joins the dining room and kitchen without any partitions (except for bar and countertop in kitchen), so it's one big open area. The area has high, vaulted ceilings also. It sounds like from your description some of the larger SDAs will be idea for this. One day.........Until then I'll enjoy the 2Bs. Thanks to everyone for all of the good advice.

rmaiers, you are not the first person I've heard say that regarding the RTA-12Bs vs. some of the SDAs. That's why I was wandering if it would be much of an upgrade over my 12Bs with the 2Bs and if it would be worth it for me to just wait for some 1Cs, SRSs, 2.3 tls, etc. I won't know which one sounds better for me until I try though, so I think I'm going to pull the trigger on the 2Bs. Hopefully I'm going to be able to talk him down a bit. The seller has had these on the market for a few weeks now, so he may be willing to deal. I'll keep my fingers crossed. Sounds like you got an awesome deal on yours. Congrats on that.

Steve

[svtjoe]

Let us know how you make out. They are right down the road from me. I was looking at another set, but the cost for new amps and the lack of space killed the deal!


I just spent $1100 on the HT Surroundbar 50 + Sub system.


I can't live off noodles..lol

[nspindel]

Hopefully I'm going to be able to talk him down a bit. The seller has had these on the market for a few weeks now, so he may be willing to deal.

If they've been on the market for several weeks, I'd try going in with a low offer. Try $200. He may bite, you never know. If not, go to $250. And then up to $300. I bet you get them for $300, but you may surprise yourself with a great snag.

[maandjojo]

If you need a mediator I'm available. My fee is $300.

[reeltrouble1]

too high, I would pass, about 250.00 is right, besides looks like you really need 1C's or maybe bigger, if you want to hear them let me know. I do agree though that they far outperform the price/cost of them.

RT1

[lightman1]

Buy them. I still regret selling my pair that was identical to those. Enjoy them Dawg.



.heeheehee......

[Conradicles]

I still have another pair heeheehee...

I see you are now lurking in Tom's shrubbery...that is too funny. Enjoy the 2B's bro.