How much money can you throw into SDA's?

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  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,577
    edited May 2010
    tonyb wrote: »
    Lets face it, Sda's are only worth so much,regardless of what upgrades you've done to them. Once the cost starts climbing more than said worth,it's time to move on. As good a speaker as they are, there are plenty more fish in the sea equally as good if not better.

    I completely agree.
    CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
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  • reeltrouble1
    reeltrouble1 Posts: 9,312
    edited May 2010
    SDA and upgrades to them are an individual decision. If you decide they are your speaker then I say have at them with all you can.

    RT1
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  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,577
    edited May 2010
    I agree with that as well. Audio is personal and there's no limit to what you can do, spend or enjoy within this hobby....or obsession.
    CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
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  • DarqueKnight
    DarqueKnight Posts: 6,765
    edited May 2010
    Ted, were you using large SDA's prior to the Soundlabs? I seem to recall such, but I may have you confused with someone else.
    Proud and loyal citizen of the Digital Domain and Solid State Country!
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  • Mike Kozak
    Mike Kozak Posts: 931
    edited May 2010
    As soon as I get the new job, I will be replacing all the drivers in my SDAs, should cost about 400.00 or so. 2 tweeters, 4 mids and a PR per speaker.
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  • inspiredsports
    inspiredsports Posts: 5,501
    edited May 2010
    The concept of diminishing returns certainly comes into play, but it seems a lot of components in the $4,000 each (new) range provide about as much as can be appreciated.

    Extending that out at $4K each for a Preamp, Amp, SACD Player, Turntable and Cables/IC's and you have the cost of your modded SDA speaker of choice plus a cool $20K for a dream system.

    Buying those great components a few years old where someone else has taken the depreciation can probably get you into the $9,000 range.

    You can probably build a lesser used component system for around $4,500 that most listeners couldn't discern from the $9,000 used component system.

    Below this threshold you are probably missing out on some of the subtleties a great system reproduces.
    VTL ST50 w/mods / RCA6L6GC / TlfnknECC801S
    Conrad Johnson PV-5 w/mods
    TT Conrad Johnson Sonographe SG3 Oak / Sumiko LMT / Grado Woodbody Platinum / Sumiko PIB2 / The Clamp
    Musical Fidelity A1 CDPro/ Bada DD-22 Tube CDP / Conrad Johnson SD-22 CDP
    Tuners w/mods Kenwood KT5020 / Fisher KM60
    MF x-DAC V8, HAInfo NG27
    Herbies Ti-9 / Vibrapods / MIT Shotgun AC1 IEC's / MIT Shotgun 2 IC's / MIT Shotgun 2 Speaker Cables
    PS Audio Cryo / PowerPort Premium Outlets / Exact Power EP15A Conditioner
    Walnut SDA 2B TL /Oak SDA SRS II TL (Sonicaps/Mills/Cardas/Custom SDA ICs / Dynamat Extreme / Larry's Rings/ FSB-2 Spikes
    NAD SS rigs w/mods
    GIK panels
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  • reeltrouble1
    reeltrouble1 Posts: 9,312
    edited May 2010
    DarqueKnight wrote: »
    Ted, were you using large SDA's prior to the Soundlabs? I seem to recall such, but I may have you confused with someone else.

    Yes I had original SRS, then at the same time I had Carver Amazings, both sets were featured at PF07, along with some 1C's, then I moved to just the Amazings, then the Sound Lab, I am definetly in the big speaker big power camp.......there are mods for the SL but I have yet to travel that path, hard to imagine they could sound better but.......

    RT1
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  • hearingimpared
    hearingimpared Posts: 21,137
    edited May 2010
    reeltrouble1 wrote: »
    Yes I had original SRS, then at the same time I had Carver Amazings, both sets were featured at PF07, along with some 1C's, then I moved to just the Amazings, then the Sound Lab, I am definetly in the big speaker big power camp.......there are mods for the SL but I have yet to travel that path, hard to imagine they could sound better but.......

    RT1

    . . . you'll find a way I'm sure after the honeymoon is over!:D
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  • reeltrouble1
    reeltrouble1 Posts: 9,312
    edited May 2010
    ok well actually mine have been modded to px standards....so they are bumped up already.......look I have found my speaker in the SL, BDT in the Quads, Max in the Avante's, others here seek their sound like a New York taxi driver on crack, if SDA is your rock then smoke your bad-selves till you bang your head, they are still a great speaker.

    RT1
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  • Face
    Face Posts: 14,340
    edited May 2010
    reeltrouble1 wrote: »
    SDA and upgrades to them are an individual decision. If you decide they are your speaker then I say have at them with all you can.

    RT1

    Well said Ted.
    "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
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  • Des Moines
    Des Moines Posts: 115
    edited May 2010
    drselect wrote: »
    I realize a car analogy have been used before and I am not trying to derail this thread but I know several people who have spent a lot more money on restoring a car than what they are worth than I have read about people hear spending on restoring SDAs. The point to me is that it is not always about the money leaving your hand or the value that someone else places on it but what it is worth to me.

    Agree. I have friend that restored a vintage Taylorcraft (sport plane) to mint condition and 2x national champion in its class. He invested over 70k (time not included) and is selling it for 60k.

    How much can you spend on SDA upgrades? Many would say double (or more) what you paid for the used / depreciated speakers. How much could you sell them for when / if you decide to upgrade? The highest price I've seen for a pair of upgraded 1Cs is $750. Has anyone seen them sell for more?

    What you would have to spend to acheive significantly better SQ? Let's hear from the pros.
    HT in Progress
    Receiver - Harmon Kardon AVR520 5.1
    Fronts - Polk SDA 1C
    Center - Polk CS350
    Monitor - Sharp Aquos LCD
    NMT - Mede8er500x
    Cables - Signal Ultra
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  • madmax
    madmax Posts: 12,434
    edited May 2010
    As good as other speakers sound no one will ever pry the 1.2 SDA's out of my hands! Sure, I love the Avantgardes but then again their MSRP is 7 times more than the SDA's. I can enjoy either set in different ways. The SDA's are certainly worth putting $1K-$2K into the RDO upgrade tweeters and crossover.
    madmax
    Vinyl, the final frontier...

    Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want... :D
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  • hearingimpared
    hearingimpared Posts: 21,137
    edited May 2010
    Des Moines wrote: »
    Agree. I have friend that restored a vintage Taylorcraft (sport plane) to mint condition and 2x national champion in its class. He invested over 70k (time not included) and is selling it for 60k.

    How much can you spend on SDA upgrades? Many would say double (or more) what you paid for the used / depreciated speakers. How much could you sell them for when / if you decide to upgrade? The highest price I've seen for a pair of upgraded 1Cs is $750. Has anyone seen them sell for more?

    What you would have to spend to acheive significantly better SQ? Let's hear from the pros.

    Aside from the tweeter upgrades & crossover upgrades all the rest are culmulative upgrades in SQ. Each of the other tweaks on their own don't make a major improvement in most cases but as I said the tweaks are cumulative.
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,179
    edited May 2010
    Mike Kozak wrote: »
    As soon as I get the new job, I will be replacing all the drivers in my SDAs, should cost about 400.00 or so. 2 tweeters, 4 mids and a PR per speaker.

    Why? Is every single driver trashed?
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • Conradicles
    Conradicles Posts: 6,082
    edited May 2010
    I think I have around $800 in my SDA-1C's. Plan on putting more into them a little at a time.
    Can I sell them for that? No.

    It's an SDA thing. Those who know, know. Those who don't...they want to know.
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  • madmax
    madmax Posts: 12,434
    edited May 2010
    Mike Kozak wrote: »
    As soon as I get the new job, I will be replacing all the drivers in my SDAs, should cost about 400.00 or so. 2 tweeters, 4 mids and a PR per speaker.

    That is a good idea because of the upgraded tweeters available and the age of the midrange drivers given how the glue is breaking loose and letting the magnets move if jarred. I wouldn't worry about the PR though.
    madmax
    Vinyl, the final frontier...

    Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want... :D
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