Polk Audio SDA 1C Speakers

[hanick]

New to the forum with SDA 1C speakers new to me.
Interestingly when I hooked up the Polks and connect them to my Niles Audio SV-6 speaker connector all is fine until I connected the crossover wire. When I do music plays whether the speaker switch for thr Polk's is "on" or "off". Plays better and louder when on but plays when off. Have you heard of such a thing? Niles tech support says "off" is a complete break.
Hanick

[F1nut]

You mean a Niles Audio SSVC-6?

Separate Left And Right Ground Paths For Compatibility With All Amplifiers

It appears that the unit is not common ground and you can't use it with the 1C's.

[hanick]

It is the SVC-6. Sorry to be ignorant but what is "common ground" and what does it have to do with it?
H

[rromeo923]

Dont really understand it either but stop doing it. I understand that damage can occur. Others will chime in.

[bmbguy]

"Common ground" means that one side of each channel's speaker terminals (usually the black or 'minus') are tied together and also tied to the ground of the amplifier/receiver (or switch, in this case). That common connection is required for the normal SDA Interconnect cable to work correctly. As F1 noted, that switch has separate ground paths for each channel.

That said, the 1Cs should work normally without the SDA cable connected, or would possibly work with the SDA cable if they were connected directly to your receiver/amp (if IT is common ground) . To get an SDA signal connection on equipment without a common ground, the "A-1" type of cable is required, with an isolation transformer.

[F1nut]

It is the SVC-6. Sorry to be ignorant but what is "common ground" and what does it have to do with it?
H

The SSVC-6? http://www.nilesaudio.com/product.ph...rdcdID=FG01044

Yeah, it's not common ground either.

bmbguy did a nice job of explaining it. SDA's are not like other speakers, even the set up is completely different. They should be parallel to the back wall, 6" to 8" away from the back wall, at least 3' from each side wall and 6' to 8' apart.

Personally, I'd ditch the selector. Just more junk in the signal path.

[hanick]

Actually, it is the SVC-6 but probably similar enough anyway. You are correct it works fine without the SDA cable and works fine with the cable on my Pioneer SA 9500II direct to the outputs. Any opinions on the Nikko Alpha 440. Would it be an improvement. I have a line on an Acurus which sound like it is well regarded. No one seems to talk about Yamaha much?
H

[Joe08867]

hanick, hate to be the bearer of bad news but F1 is right. It is the Ssvc-6. Niles never made an SV-6. There is a SS-6 but no SV-6.

Nikko is good, I would shoot for something much newer myself though. That Alpha is 30years old. Who knows how long it might work before you need to get it serviced if it hasn't been already.

Look for a nice Adcom, B&K, Rotel or Parasound amplifier.

[heiney9]

Acurus over Yamaha and Nikko by a wide margin, IMO. You will want to confirm the Acurus is common ground or you will have the same issue you are having with the Niles unit.

H9

[Schurkey]

Acurus is a TERRIFIC amplifier brand, especially if you have one local so you can inspect and listen before purchase. The premier model has been the A-250, but any of 'em are good--just less powerful.
http://www.hbassociates.us/Acurus_FanPage.html

Be aware that any Acurus amp, if arrangements are made before April 30, when traded-in is worth 30% off of a NEW Acurus A-2000 series amplifier (two to seven channels) Call 866-589-1661 for details.
http://www.acurusav.com/acurus%20product%20page.html

[FTGV]

To clarify your using the Pioneer amp and when wired directly to it (without the switch) works fine?If so ditch the switch or if you really want it simply try tieing the L&R grounds of the switch together and see if that helps..They have separated the grounds in the switch so it will also function with amplifers having bridged output stages( non common ground).

[hanick]

It is a SVC-6. I realize it is not on the website and I am not sure why. (I had a lot of trouble ordering the plugs on the back) I like the idea of tieing in the grounds if it will not harm anything. I picked up the Acurus A250 (hope it is common ground) and will see the Nikko Alpha 440 tomorrow. Could always get both. The Nikko has two speaker switches which would solve one problem.
H

[FTGV]

I picked up the Acurus A250 (hope it is common ground) ...

Nice .According to the schematic it is.
Disregard my previous post ,when used with a common ground amp the left and right grounds of the selector switch would automatically be joined( common.)

[motorstereo]

The Nikko is 200wpc into 8ohm and 400 into 4ohms. I'm wondering how the Acurus might beat those numbers by a "wide margin"? I'm sure the Acurus is a great amp but the 440 by all accounts seems like a very fine performer as well.

[heiney9]

The Nikko is 200wpc into 8ohm and 400 into 4ohms. I'm wondering how the Acurus might beat those numbers by a "wide margin"? I'm sure the Acurus is a great amp but the 440 by all accounts seems like a very fine performer as well.

I wasn't talking about manufacturer specs, which are pretty much uesless in determining how something actually sounds. I was talking about the actual sound coming from the amplifier. The Acurus is a nice amp, don't know about TERRIFIC. But the OP should get both and decide which one THEY like best.

If you spend your life making comparisons based on manufacturer specs you are going to pass up a lot great gear and might get stuck with a LOT of mediocre gear.

Just like horsepower in a car, that's not the singular thing that makes a great performing car a great performing car. If you are after the best straight line performance then HP certainly counts, just like if in audio all you care about is maximum SPL then watts is certainly the number to consider.

H9

[motorstereo]

Doubling down in 4ohms is one of the very few manufacturers specs that I do pay attention to h9

So Hal; Did you end up with the Nikko?

[hanick]

Got both and my Sonos zp90came in as well. Listening to the Acurus/ Nad 1600 and SDAs. Will hook up the Nikko (beast) tomorrow. Because the Beast has two speaker switches it solves my speaker controller problem. I can hook up the Polks to speaker A and the Niles that has the other speakers in the house to speaker B. Not sure how I do this using the Acurus. Is there another controller that works with SDAs?
H

[motorstereo]

Good for you in picking up both of them. What are your thoughts on the newest set up? Another thought is you could run 2 amps; the Acurus to the sda's and the beast to the Heresys. I'm thinking the 1600 has 2 pre outs or you could run a splitter.
What is the Sonos you mentioned?