SDA 1 & 2's

[eliminator1970]

I realized I posted this is someone's else thread by mistake (sorry). I think I have finally found my speakers to replace my SDA 2's the ex destroyed. Although I have always loved the SDA's I truly am not as experienced in them as most of you are, so I am reaching out for alittle help. I found a pair of SDA 1's and SDA 2's in Baltimore. I am heading down on Sunday to hear them and possibly be bringing all 4 back. He is asking $500 for all 4, and mentioned that maybe 4 of the 6.5 drivers may need to be replaced. Other than condition is there anything else I should be looking or listening for? Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

[dpowell]

Do the passive radiator test. Push it in and see if all of the mid drivers push out and then slowly recede. That'll show you if the cabinets or drivers are leaking air or not.

[eliminator1970]

Will do..Any thoughts on the cost?

[Bobsama]

Depends on the models of SDA-1 and -2. 1C's seem most sought-after and, in half-decent condition, may well command $500. A pair of SDA-1's, 1A's, or 1B's seem to command $250-400.

[Joe08867]

If you are going to have to replace 4 drivers that cost should be taken in to account. So does the series. Like Bobsama said, certain models are more sought than others. I wouldn't pay more than 400-450 max for both if they are first series or series A's. But 500 is good for series b's or series c's, especially series c's

Your looking at about 150.00 for driver replacement.

Good luck,

[Bobsama]

Check them out at least. One possibility is that the seller has a pair of SDA-1's and, when loud, the bottom two woofers (driving the passive radiator) will have a lot more driver movement than the top two woofers (stereo & dimensional mids). Et cetera; the seller could be 100% incorrect about what's wrong with them or he could be spot-on. Perhaps offer $400 or $450 if they're not 1C's or 2B's.

[eliminator1970]

Thank you for all the help. From what he has described the 1's are woood caps and the 2's are exactly like the ones I had. If I bring them home I will post some pictures.

[Bobsama]

So then in all likelihood 1C's; I'd think worth $500 for both pairs would be a fair deal. At least in my area, I'd jump on that like white on rice. There haven't been that many pairs of SDA's up on Craigslist since I bought my 1984 SDA-1's like a year ago this month. Monitors pop up pretty often, but SDA's are rarely seen.

[lightman1]

If you don't get both sets for that price, I will be glad to drive up and snag them out from under you. I'm about 550 miles away. Think about it.;)

[eliminator1970]

Well he will be back tomorrow, and unless the speakers are toast all 4 will be finding there way back. If something does happen though lightman, I will let you know. Thank s for all the help, and I am sure I will have mare questions once I have them back.

[eliminator1970]

I would like to once again thank all of you for yor help. I am now the new owner of both pair of speakers. I will post pictures in a few days once I get them hooked up.

[Polkersince85]

Congrats.

The cable connection could cause issues with the drivers. They all may be good.

[eliminator1970]

Well I just did a quick hook up of the 1's, and they sound great. Still need some bananna clips, but good enough for a test run. They person I got them from was great to do business with. He played them while I was there, and only 1 of the 6.5 drivers popped/cracked in the one 2 twice through 4 songs. Although the 2's I got have the wood caps and bases (just like the 1's) I have not seen those before. Both have the pi.blade interconnect cable. Can anyone let me know which 2's they are?

[Bobsama]

Good choice picking both up. Take pictures (without grilles) so that we might see precisely what you're working with. (audio porn--nsfw :p)

If memory serves (don't quote me--ask someone else as well), the pins need to be connected. The blades are inactive.

[eliminator1970]

I seem to be having a little bit of a issue with loading pictures. As soon as I have it figured out I will load pictures of both sets.

[Bobsama]

imageshack.us

Copy the "direct link" section and just stick it here. Don't use their forum codes or anything since it adds a bunch of BS and tends to bring you to a useless page.

[eliminator1970]

I am sure most people would be able to figure that out, but I am not sure how to use that. I am definatley not a computer person.

[Bobsama]

Eh--I've been surprised before. A lot of techies I know don't know about the "direct link" bit so it's very annoying to look at their links.

[eliminator1970]

Well I think I have imagesshack figured out and going to give it a try as soon as I get home tonight. So if all goes well I will be able to share pictures of both sets of speakers, and then let the fun begin.

[eliminator1970]

I hope this works

[eliminator1970]

[img=http://a.imageshack.us/img507/4021/polkb.th.jpg]
Lets try this

[eliminator1970]

[img=http://a.imageshack.us/img828/5306/polk2.th.jpg]

And the 2nd pair I picked up from the same person.

[Bobsama]

Very nice 1C's and 2B's.

[Joe08867]

Like Bobsama said nice 1C's and 2B's. Hope it's something silly with the drivers.

Have fun.

[eliminator1970]

Well I have only heard 1 pop in the 2B's. But it only does it once in awhile, maybe once in 5 songs. The 2B's are not going to be the ones that are hooked up though. Still deciding what to do with them. The 1C's have performed perfectly so far, even without the best connections (that will be done this weekend). Overall I would say that for the price I could not have done better. The condition other than the fabric on the side panels coming lose from the edges are in my opinion 8/10.

[helipilotdoug]

Congrats! Sounds like you got a good deal.

[Bobsama]

Well I have only heard 1 pop in the 2B's. But it only does it once in awhile, maybe once in 5 songs. The 2B's are not going to be the ones that are hooked up though. Still deciding what to do with them. The 1C's have performed perfectly so far, even without the best connections (that will be done this weekend). Overall I would say that for the price I could not have done better. The condition other than the fabric on the side panels coming lose from the edges are in my opinion 8/10.

Check the connections and perhaps try different connections. If there's an Output A and Output B, try the other output. You should (eventually) remove the passive radiator and take a look at the crossover: bulging caps are of course bad. I'd also suggest that you take a look at where the Poly-Fil is sitting in each; try to make it as uniform as possible. The amount of poly-fil is at least a major part of the speaker's tuning.

Until you have a more permanent solution for the SDA cables, run them without the cable. You lose power handling capabilities without the SDA cable--I've heard that it's halved or so. A pair of SDA-1's are rated for 50-500W power, so without the SDA cable it'd be =<250W.

[eliminator1970]

Thank you for the help, and as soon as I can a few free minutes I will start on the 2B's (but will probably be not till the winter), until then they will be sitting. I have the SDA cables, my speaker cable is what I was referring to as not having a good connection. I just have 12 gauge wire without any ends. So the copper is just sorta crunched in there. I will be picking up some bananna clips on Saturday.