SDA 2 Vs Monitor 12

[Braddles]

Well its nearly been 20 years since i first got into this bloody stuff but i finally got the speakers i wanted in the first place but couldnt afford.

Found some 2a's on ebay and the guy only lived 30 mins from me.
Got them home and did some interesting back to back with my mon 12's.

The 12's are a great speaker i dicovered. I stuffed around for a couple of hours trying different set ups and the 2a's have great sound stage but the 12's have a fuller sound. The 2a's are more musical but the 12's have more grunt.

I was very surprised. I thought the SDA's would blow the 12's away but they hold their own very well.

I suspect when i get some more wpc behind them ( the luxman only 70wpc ) i may see a greater difference.

I am bringing home a new Quad 99/909 pre/power combo home to try tomorrow (140 wpc into 8) so that may stir things a bit.

Will report. Will put up photos.

For now though at least i can say i've got some SDA's at last!:)

[Braddles]

What sort of power sould i be looking at to get the best out of the 2a's?

Is 150wpc into 8 enough?

I got the owners man with them and set them up as they instucted.

The man said use 16 guage cables. I have 12. Is it worth looking at getting bigger cables or have things changed a bit since then?

What type of RDO tweeter do i need to use in these?

Cheers guys.

[F1nut]

That should be a good start. :)

It's always worth getting quality cables. Look beyond the gauge factor, look into real cables.

You want the RD0194-1 tweeters to replace your SL2000's.

[Braddles]

Well ive had a bit of a win.

I sweet talked some dealers and have some new amps to play with for the weeked.

Quad 99/909

Rotel RB-1080

Bel Canto S300i

So thats me for the weekend. Have some serious compo's to do.

Keep you posted..........

[Lasareath]

I was very surprised. I thought the SDA's would blow the 12's away but they hold their own very well.

Braddles,

SDA is only another technology. You are not comparing apples to apples.

The 12's have (4) 6.5" drivers, you need to compare the 12's against a pair of SDA 1C's

Lasareath

[Braddles]

Braddles,

SDA is only another technology. You are not comparing apples to apples.

The 12's have (4) 6.5" drivers, you need to compare the 12's against a pair of SDA 1C's

Lasareath

I aggree with you but i still thought there would be more of a difference than there was. There was over 1K price difference here when new.

Sucks to be me hey! I have both now!

I am about to unpack the new amps to try so we will see what that brings.

[HB27]

Being new to the SDA world I can report the majority of my knowledge in a short time.
Placement is extremely critical with the SDA. More so than the M12 which IMHO is a killer speaker also. The tweeter alignment with the SDA is more crucial than I ever imagined for the SDA effect to be fully realized. Spacing from the wall is also critical for proper bass reproduction. You'll also need a couple of feet (meter) of side clearance on the cabinets to utilize the bass properly also. Keep the space betweet the cabinets as clear as possible.
Your room is a lot of the sound with the SDA also. All the "neat little tricks" you've surely read about over the last few years are going to come in handy now that you've got your SDAs.
Your amplification is going to be another area of "tweaking" as are good cables and wires. YES, they definitely do make a difference.
I've found the SDA is another technology and it takes a bit of learning to maximize it's potential.
Congrats on the new speakers.
Harry

[Braddles]

OK.

Unpacked the Quad and Rotel amps and set them up. I could only get a quad 99 pre as the rotel dealer didnt have a pre to give me but i didnt mind as i can run both amps through 99 and see the difference.

They are both brand new so neither run-in. Just turned them on for 30 mins to warm up.

The Quad gear is compact and sold contruction (cast finish).

Im no reveiwer but the quad sounded a little more forward sounding and a tad more musical. I could hear a little more detail in the music and the instruments sounded a little more real. Soundstage a little wider as well.

I played Sting "Englishmen in new york" a few times and changed between the two amps. Not the best way to do things i know but i got good at changing ic's and cables pretty quick.
Anyway with the quad i could hear more of the little things in the music clearer and sharper. I keep saying "little" because there isn't alot in it.

One thing that made the quad sound a little better is on the same volume setting it was louder than the rotel. Every time i hooked up the rotel i had to up the volume 2 point to get a similar level. Why would that be?

The Rotel is a little more punchy in the lowend and a bit warmer sounding.
I suppose the extra wpc would explain why it also seems a bit more grunty.
The sound was a bit further back too.

I only got to play for a couple of hours tonite. Will do more serious stuffing around tomorrow. I think i will hook up the monitor 12's to do the rest of my testing as im used to how they sound. I want to concetrate on how the amps sound.

Not much of a review guys im affraid but will do more later.

[zingo]

Finding a high quality amp is important, but like Las was saying, you are comparing two speakers which really don't have too much in common. You would be better with Mon12 vs 1C or SRS2, or 2A vs Mon10. That way you can more correctly test the SDA vs non-SDA speakers, if that is truly what you are trying to compare.

[Braddles]

Here's some shots for ya.

[zingo]

I always forget how hot the 12s are. Nice pictures and nice amps.

[Braddles]

To be honest im not sure i like the SDA effect at this stage. (am i allowed to say that here?) It is very 3 dementional but a bit hollow or thin sounding. I disconnected the SDA cable and i think i prefer it that way. They remind me of my first pair of monitor 10's. I set them up buy the manual. They are 9ft apart and i sit 13ft from them. They are pointing straight ahead.
Should i pull them a bit forward so there is less things inbetween them?
Any other tips to what i could try?

[F1nut]

Set them up 6 to 8 feet apart, 6 inches from the back wall, no toe in and at least 3 feet from any side wall. You want to be sitting about equal to the distance between the speakers. Make sure that the amps you are trying are common ground. You'll know it's right when you hear a wide soundstage with everything in it's own space instead of being jumbled up in between like conventional speakers.

[HB27]

Keep the space/area between the tweeters clear. Important on mine. Aligning the cabinets was a really big help on the SDA effect. I used a laser to align mine. The difference is astounding when aligned. They have a very remarkable "sweet spot" when aligned.
Nice gear and set up.
Harry

[Braddles]

I just went a measured them. They are 6ft8" appart. 8" off the back wall. More than 3ft from the side walls.

[zingo]

The set-up looks OK, but is your amp common ground like Jesse said?

[Ron Temple]

I've done side by side with my 1Cs and 2Bs. Your comments about a hollow midrange are probably related to alignment. The 2Bs midrange in my room is extremely wide, but narrower top to bottom than the 1Cs...maybe that's what you're noticing vs. the 4 driver alignment of the M12s. I wouldn't give up on the dimensional drivers just yet. Without them I'd think the 2As would be at a serious disadvantage over the M12s.

[tx_polkhead]

Damn those M12 look HOT! Now I'm really sorry I didn't have the cash to pick up the pair listed in the local CL.
Abel

[Braddles]

The set-up looks OK, but is your amp common ground like Jesse said?

How do i tell if the amps are common ground? (read above for which amps i have)

[ben62670]

Take a multi meter across the ground terminals on the amps you should have near zero ohms.

[Lasareath]

How do i tell if the amps are common ground? (read above for which amps i have)

Here's the Manual in PDF format if somebody can figure out if it's a dual mono design.

http://www.quad-hifi.co.uk/downloads...20Manual_3.pdf

[Braddles]

So are dual mono's a no no for sda's? Im trying a Belcanto S300i class D tomorrow which is a dual mono intergrated amp.

[thsmith]

Here's some shots for ya.

What kind of stand are under the M12s?

Nice setup.

[Braddles]

No stands just 2 angled bits of wood to give the speaker a bit of tilt backwards. That is what they came with new.

Cheers

[thsmith]

No stands just 2 angled bits of wood to give the speaker a bit of tilt backwards. That is what they came with new.

Cheers

Thanks, can you share the measurements ?

[ben62670]

So are dual mono's a no no for sda's? Im trying a Belcanto S300i class D tomorrow which is a dual mono intergrated amp.

It depends on the design of the amp. Some mono's are based on a bridged topology. These are a no no. You need to call them manufacture, and find out if you can tie the speaker grounds together on the amp.
Ben

[Braddles]

Well after 3 days of much stuffing around with cables, amps and speakers we finally have a outcome we are happy with.

I decided to hook my Mon 12's back up while i was changing between amps because i was doing my head in trying hear the difference between amps as well as getting used to the SDA effect. It certainly helped. Almost like putting your fav pair of jeans on.

I got a freind to bring his Bel Canto S300i amp over to try out. I was really looking forward to this as i have read plenty of good things about them and besides that they look pretty cool.
Well to say i was dissaponted would be a understament. Dry, dry and bone bloody dry would be the best way i could describe the sound. It was all there mind you. Great highs , good tight bass with acceptable mids. Just dry as a nuns >>>..........
It prob wouldnt have been as noticable if i just heard it by itself but compared to the Quad it seemed rather thin and not as involving.

I am keeping the Quad 99/909 combo. Great mids, good sound stage both wide and deep, vocals are alive and clear, bass is nice and tight without there being gobs of it.

I like to listen to almost any type of music and the i found the Quad gave me the best results when listening to Christopher Cross or AC/DC.

All i can say is thank god thats all over with and i can now get on with working on getting the best out of these SDA 2's

Thanks for listening and for your help.

Brad

[Braddles]

Hey here is another one for ya. Im thinking of swapping the PR's on the 2a's and the 12's and see what changes. Any bets on what the result will be?

[F1nut]

Do NOT do that, period.

[Braddles]

Ok then.