Finally...Joined the SDA club

[Texas42]

I lusted after the SDA series back in the 80's but always seemed to go off in another direction. I've owned Theils, KEFs, Maggies, Legacy Focus, Carvers, Klipsch, Eminent Technology, Energy, etc...but still never a Polk SDA. Mainly due to them being discontinued and not being able to find a pair locally...til now. I just purchased a pair of vintage SDA-1B's in decent condition WITH the SDA interconnect. I have them set about 5 feet apart and approximately 6' to me in a relatively small room (my 'mancave' with a very comfortable listening chair). They are about 2' from the side walls and about 2.5' from the rear wall.

First impressions: nice, solid bass, with smooth high and articulate mids. The SDA effect definitely stands out with some music and not so much with others. I'm still at a loss to figure out why Polk discontinued this series as I think it would still be their best seller if they brought it back. I've had discussions with others in the past and the only conclusion we could come to was this was discontinued about the time home theater starting evolving with smaller satellites and 'cube type' (you know who I'm referring to) speakers which were touted as being more 'room friendly' and/or visually appealing. I'm also guessing that dolby digital and dts which provide their own means of recreating a spacious soundstage didn't help either. As to the size of the speaker; personally I think a bigger speaker 'sounds' bigger and fuller; which I prefer. Hopefully this isn't the kind of sound one grows tired of (as I've heard others say in the past). For now, I'll just enjoy it...

[madmax]

SDA's are the best speakers polk ever made!
madmax

[xsmi]

Period!

[MillerLiteScott]

Good for you. Enjoy.

[george daniel]

Congratulations,,I'm sure that you will enjoy them.

[chuck13]

I've had my SDA SRS's for twenty years and still love to listen to their "sound"

[SDA SRS 1.2]

I've had my SDA SRS's for twenty years and still love to listen to their "sound"

Same here! :)

Robbie

[Mike Reeter]

Hello,welcome to the SDA Club...and Club Polk:D

BTW,You might get a little better bass response if you could move you new jems a little bit closer to the back wall.

N'joy

[snow]

Hopefully this isn't the kind of sound one grows tired of (as I've heard others say in the past). For now, I'll just enjoy it...

Congrats on your find. Actually I think it will be the other way around, once you have listened to the SDAs it will be hard to listen to anything less than. And you will remember how they sounded and miss it.

I know periodically I purchase another set of speakers try them out and decide that they are not as good, Perhaps someday when I find something better, the SDAs will take second place but it hasnt happened yet, they are that good.

REGARDS SNOW

[woofiepaws]

Another convert to "Size (of soundstage) Matters"

[F1nut]

If at all possible they should be 6' apart, 3' from the side walls, about 5 or 6 inches from the back wall and NO toe in.

Enjoy!

[danger boy]

6 feet apart minimum i think.. but I realize that's not always possible for a lot of people.

[Refefer]

6 feet apart minimum i think.. but I realize that's not always possible for a lot of people.

Yeah, I can only have mine about 4' apart, but they still sound phenomenal. Can't wait till I can give them proper breathing space!

Congrats tex, I have those exact same speakers and I love em!:)

[Stew]

Congratulations!

I've had my SDA SRS's for twenty years and still love to listen to their "sound"

Only 18 years for my SDA 2B's:D

Hopefully this isn't the kind of sound one grows tired of

I can't imagine why anyone would ever tire of the SDA soundstage. Spend a little time on this forum and you'll never run out of ways to improve your SDA's and/or your gear. For starters, you'll be amazed at what happens if you can place them per above advice. Lovin' mine more than ever!

[Texas42]

Thanks all for the comments and suggestions. Unfortunately, the size of the room limits placement. I could get them a bit further apart but then they would be maybe a foot from the side walls (room is 10' wide, speakers are 16" wide). Right now I have them 14" from the back wall and 17" from the side wall (to be exact). I could put them closer to the back wall but then my stereo rack (which is between them) would be forward of the speakers which has always been a 'no no' for set up considering imaging and diffraction (perhaps the SDA effect would counter that better than other speakers; I don't know). At any rate, the Polk owner's manual says to have them at least 4' apart which I am able to do and they do sound great. Not as articulate as my Energy Veritas 2.3i's (which are $3000 speakers) but they do have that famous soundstage, which I love.

[hearingimpared]

Welcome to the club Texas42 and glad to see you joined the dark side.

F1Nut's measurements are ideal but if you need some leeway the user manual says that 3' minimum from the side walls is necessary but the speakers can be as close as 4' apart from each other. That SDA effect will collapse if the speakers are too close to the side walls. Write to Lasareath, he has his too close to the side walls out of necessity; he'll explain what he hears with his SDAs.

[Refefer]

You might also want to shoot a PM to DarqueKnight; he has put together this fantastic compilation of everything Polk SDA and is an excellent read.

[Sami]

Congrats on the SDA's. I have a pair of 1C's myself. What part of Texas are you in?

[Texas42]

Congrats on the SDA's. I have a pair of 1C's myself. What part of Texas are you in?

I'm down here in a little town called San Antonio...

By the way, is there a way to figure out the date of the speaker via Serial number or model? Since these are the SDA-1B's and I'm guessing the 1C's replaced them and I know the 1C's were selling in 1988; I'm 'guessing' these are circa !986-87. Would this be correct?

[snow]

I'm down here in a little town called San Antonio...

By the way, is there a way to figure out the date of the speaker via Serial number or model? Since these are the SDA-1B's and I'm guessing the 1C's replaced them and I know the 1C's were selling in 1988; I'm 'guessing' these are circa !986-87. Would this be correct?

Yes 1Bs 86-87. 1Cs were made from 87-90

REGARDS SNOW

[BobMcG]

Welcome to the Club, enjoy your SDAs, and don't be afraid to check out some of the other models if you can.

[Polkersince85]

Welcome to the club, enjoy that classic Polk sound.

[starchaser]

Congrats on the SDA's and welcome to CP.