Polk SDA SRS 2 Vintage Oak Speakers - $495 (Tucson)

[BIZILL]

http://tucson.craigslist.org/ele/1007574777.html

good price? no, they are not mine. just wondering if this is a good deal or not.

[Lasareath]

I paid $350 for one pair and $550 for the second pair.

[BIZILL]

not sure i want to spend any dough right now, but being offered in your own city makes it hard to resist.

[inspiredsports]

I have this model (Blade/Blade), but everything I have ever seen about it shows it as a 1986. The speaker was then upgraded in 1987 to use the SW155 (instead of SW150 in 1986) passive radiator, to use half and half 6510/6511 mid-woofers (instead of 6509's in '86), and a more modern crossover network with Pin/Blade. The 1986 crossover is also in 2 parts and has HUGE low pass cap values requiring off board location if you upgrade. IC connection is also separate hole through cabinet. 1986 is 4 ohm. 1987 improved is I believe 6 ohm. There was even a rare latest version that was bi-ampable, but most were not.

The fact the seller states he bought them in 1985 is confusing. I paid $450 Philadelphia last November and have dropped about 1K in mods into them, $400 of that in 4 new 6509's and 4 new RDO194-1's.

The 2.3TL is clearly the best sounding of the SDA SRS 2 series. Mine are darn nice now, but the RDO194-1 (SL2000) replacement will never outshine the RDO198-1.

Here's lots of info: http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=74946

[BIZILL]

that's why i came here...

[bluecomet]

I paid more for mine but it was a local pickup so it was worth it to me. No shipping involved. There are two kind of SDA SRS 2 speakers. There is the blade/blade type that is a 4 ohm speaker and then there is the pin/blade type that is bi-ampable and is 8 ohm. I have both. Make sure what kind of equipment you want to use with them. You are going to need a receiver or amp that can handle the 4 ohm SDA SRS 2's. Both are going to need power in the range of 200 watt a chanel to get them to really sing. Either way $495.00 is a good deal if that is the speaker you want in excellent condition, plus it has the interconnect cable which is a plus. Good luck.

[inspiredsports]

I paid more for mine but it was a local pickup so it was worth it to me. No shipping involved. There are two kind of SDA SRS 2 speakers. There is the blade/blade type that is a 4 ohm speaker and then there is the pin/blade type that is bi-ampable and is 8 ohm. I have both. Make sure what kind of equipment you want to use with them. You are going to need a receiver or amp that can handle the 4 ohm SDA SRS 2's. Both are going to need power in the range of 200 watt a chanel to get them to really sing. Either way $495.00 is a good deal if that is the speaker you want in excellent condition, plus it has the interconnect cable which is a plus. Good luck.

Yours were the "Best of the bunch for this series" before 2.3 and 2.3TL. (Woo-hoo; 400th post!)

[Mike Reeter]

SRS SDA 2= a lota speaker for 5 bills...My first SDA speaker,wish I had em' back.

I liked their sound over the 2.3TL's that I had...the 2's are very easy to drive and easy to listen to .

[Ron Temple]

If they are as stated, in pristine condition, it sounds like a great local deal to me. I'd at least take a look. From what I've read here, better than the 1Cs and some prefer them to the 2.3(tl)s.

[Cardinals-1]

The SRS 2 weighs more than 65 lbs.

I would ask ffor pictures.

[inspiredsports]

The SRS 2 weighs more than 65 lbs.

I would ask ffor pictures.

1986 SDA SRS 2's weigh 135 lbs each, but by driver description and dimensions shown they are absolutely 1986 SDS SRS 2's

Hmmm . . . he bought them a year before they were produced and only half of them at a time . . . :)

[Ron Temple]

If you look at the ad description...2 tweeters, 4 mw's and a 15" passive...these are SRS2s and he's got the rest of it wrong.

[bluecomet]

When I bought both sets of SDA SRS 2's locally from the same guy, I had to have the previous owner with a hand truck help me. It took me and the other guy to pick up the speaker and gently place it in the back of my jeep laying them down. They are easily 135 lbs. a piece. The SDA SRS big boy must really be a beast. You need a big room for either the SDA SRS 2 or the SDA SRS speakers for these bad boys to breathe. The SDA 1C's are a good choice for a normal room. They have plenty of power and sound great and can be moved much easier by yourself. The SDA 1C's do not have the bass of a SDA SRS 2 nor can they handle the input power from amps like a SRS 2 can. They are rated at 750 watts. If you have the room for these speakers you can't go wrong.

[BIZILL]

so am i mistaken or did this fella list this wrong? i have the 1.2tl's already, i just happened upon this whilst up in some craigslist action and thought i'd ask here or at least help dude out with some potention buyer viewage. either way, i think i'll pass...

[I-SIG]

Saw these too. If they are blade/blade then there's no point in me even looking since I have the original SRS. I'm not saying that the SRS 2's are inferior, just that if I can't eventually bi-amp them horizontally, then what's the point for me, especially with som epin/blade 1C Studio's laying around.

Wes

[BIZILL]

ever get those 1c's taken care of wes?

[inspiredsports]

Saw these too. If they are blade/blade then there's no point in me even looking since I have the original SRS. I'm not saying that the SRS 2's are inferior, just that if I can't eventually bi-amp them horizontally, then what's the point for me, especially with some pin/blade 1C Studio's laying around.

Wes

After having them completely apart for rebuild and noting the 1986 version has 2 separate (low pass and high pass) crossover circuit boards, I had the thought of bi-amping. Just a single black and white wire connects the 2 boards. I'm not sure how the SDA effect comes into play, but someone in the group may be able to come up with a circuit topography to make this possible.

The tweak that I think would really make the SDA SRS 2 shine (and make it a truly sought after model) would be a crossover mod to allow for the use of the RDO198-1. That's over my pay grade, but having TL'd my 2B's, and now listened to both the SRS 2 and 2B's for over 300 hours each, I KNOW the SDA SRS 2 would become a top speaker with just a few more natural db's in the 6K to 12K range.

I think it might be a relatively complicated math problem moving from the 4 ohm RDO194-1 to the higher impedance 198.

[bluecomet]

I have the SRS 2 bi-ampable version. The speakers are 8 ohms. Do you think I could just drop in the RDO 198 tweeters. Is that possible.

[Mike Reeter]

I have the SRS 2 bi-ampable version. The speakers are 8 ohms. Do you think I could just drop in the RDO 198 tweeters. Is that possible.

I think the tweeter you want is the RDO 194...that's the replacement for the original SL2000

And yes,you can just drop in new tweeters,they are a great improvement over the 2000's

[bluecomet]

I know the RDO 194 are replacements for the SL2000's. They are a nice improvement. I did the swap on my SDA 2B's. I was just wondering if it is possible to use a RDO 198 tweeter instead. The previous post seemed like the 4 ohm SRS 2 made it a problem to upgrade to a RDO 198. Since my version is the 8 ohm SRS 2, I wondered if a conversion to a RDO 198 could be possible without modification.

[Lasareath]

I wondered if a conversion to a RDO 198 could be possible without modification.

No, You'll need to modifiy the crossover to use RD0198-1's

[inspiredsports]

No, You'll need to modify the crossover to use RD0198-1's

Exactly, and that's where I said it was "above my pay grade".

Even though my speakers1986 SRS 2 are 4 ohm, and bluecomet's are the latest of that series and 8 ohm bi-ampable, the crossover components are what determine the end result which is the use of the RDO194-1.

Someone with a good working knowledge of the impedance, resistance and inductance through the entire circuit would need to determine what combination of capacitor, resistor and inductor would have to be in place to move from the 194 to 198. I'm guessing his and my speakers would require slightly different mods.

My point was that if someone could spec out the changes, I'm positive it would be an improvement. I'm listening to the 198's in my 2B's right next to the 194's in my SRS 2's on a daily basis and the 198's win hands down. The 194's come close when I boost the 6 Khz signal from the preamp by 5 to 6db.

F1 describe the sound of the RDO194-1 as "hollow", and without the 6db boost I'm able to add, I agree.

I know people contacted Ken S. and others at Polk to effect the SDA-2B "TL" mod, and I guess that's what I'm proposing here. The problem is that I'm not an EE and I'm not sure I would understand the steps need to reach the solution.

[bluecomet]

Well, that answered my question. I could live with RDO 194 replacements. These speakers in my opinion sound much better using a EQ. I used my old Sherwood 12 band EQ and the SRS 2's came alive plus you can tailor the sound much better. You might like what you hear.