SDA for me?

Hawkeye
Hawkeye Posts: 1,313
edited June 2010 in Vintage Speakers
I've been reading about the SDA around here for ages. I've been thinking it over and found that pair of SDA SRS 1.2's on ebay. I'm sure you've all seen them by now.

The seller is about two hours from me and am wondering if this speaker is a good choice for getting into the SDA line up and is it a reasonable price?

Gordon
2 Channel -
Martin Logan Spire, 2 JL Audio F112 subs
McIntosh C1000 Controller with Tube pre amp, 2 MC501 amplifiers, MD1K Transport & DAC, MR-88 Tuner
WireWorld Eclipse 6.0 speaker wire and jumpers, Eclipse 5^2 Squared Balanced IC's. Silver Eclipse PCs (5)
Symposium Rollerblocks 2+ (16)Black Diamond Racing Mk 3 pits (8)
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  • nooshinjohn
    nooshinjohn Posts: 25,464
    edited June 2010
    The SDA-SRS is always a great way to get into them. Nothing like starting off on top if you have the room for them and the approval of the higher authority.
    The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD

    “When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson
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  • mdaudioguy
    mdaudioguy Posts: 5,165
    edited June 2010
    Go for it Gordon! If you don't care for them, just set them out at the end of your driveway... won't take me more than a couple of hours to get there... ;)
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,217
    edited June 2010
    Go for it!!!! Remember you can't run them with mono's unless you have an AI-1 cable. I see in your sig you have plural amp(s). I assume they are mono's unless you bi-amp.

    H9
    "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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  • Hawkeye
    Hawkeye Posts: 1,313
    edited June 2010
    Yes, my amps are mono's. The add says an interconnect is included, does that meet the definition of an AI-1 or is the AI-1 something different?

    Gordon
    2 Channel -
    Martin Logan Spire, 2 JL Audio F112 subs
    McIntosh C1000 Controller with Tube pre amp, 2 MC501 amplifiers, MD1K Transport & DAC, MR-88 Tuner
    WireWorld Eclipse 6.0 speaker wire and jumpers, Eclipse 5^2 Squared Balanced IC's. Silver Eclipse PCs (5)
    Symposium Rollerblocks 2+ (16)Black Diamond Racing Mk 3 pits (8)
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,217
    edited June 2010
    Hawkeye wrote: »
    Yes, my amps are mono's. The add says an interconnect is included, does that meet the definition of an AI-1 or is the AI-1 something different?

    Gordon

    Something different. The AI-1 has an isolation transformer so mono's and non-common ground stereo amps can be used with SDA's. They can be built fairly easily as Darqueknight and Ben have a couple of detailed DIY threads. Occasionally they come up forsale on ebay but not too often.

    H9

    P.s. Don;t let this discourage you.
    "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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  • nooshinjohn
    nooshinjohn Posts: 25,464
    edited June 2010
    You may also be able to strap the negative outputs of the amps together
    The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD

    “When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson
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  • FTGV
    FTGV Posts: 3,649
    edited June 2010
    Some mono blocs can have their negative outputs strapped,it's those that use a bridged output config. that can't.Check with Mac on your models and to see if they are sutable for strapping.
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  • Hawkeye
    Hawkeye Posts: 1,313
    edited June 2010
    So, just to get this straight, I'll need either the AI-1 to use my mono's or, another common ground amp.

    Could I use the mono's without the interconnect for a period of time while putting together an AI-1?

    I'm sure these are dumb questions which have been asked before but my search abilities are lacking!

    Gordon
    2 Channel -
    Martin Logan Spire, 2 JL Audio F112 subs
    McIntosh C1000 Controller with Tube pre amp, 2 MC501 amplifiers, MD1K Transport & DAC, MR-88 Tuner
    WireWorld Eclipse 6.0 speaker wire and jumpers, Eclipse 5^2 Squared Balanced IC's. Silver Eclipse PCs (5)
    Symposium Rollerblocks 2+ (16)Black Diamond Racing Mk 3 pits (8)
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,217
    edited June 2010
    nooshinjohn wrote: »
    You may also be able to strap the negative outputs of the amps together

    Might be possible. It's rare you can do it with some mono's, but call someone very familiar with Mac gear to be sure or you and/or amps will go out in a blaze of glory :p

    Make sure you explain what you are doing and that you have SDA's. There are some L and R channel schematics available. When I was researching my Pass Labs Aleph 30 amp I sent the full SDA schematics to Nelson Pass and asked if the Aleph was common ground for the purpose of running SDA's.

    There are different interpretations of the phrase "common ground" so if you know a competent Mac tech or can contact Mac themselves send along the schematics.

    See schematics here:

    http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showpost.php?p=677959&postcount=5

    See AI-1 build tutorial here:

    http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showpost.php?p=677960&postcount=6

    H9
    "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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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,217
    edited June 2010
    Hawkeye wrote: »
    So, just to get this straight, I'll need either the AI-1 to use my mono's or, another common ground amp.

    Could I use the mono's without the interconnect for a period of time while putting together an AI-1?

    I'm sure these are dumb questions which have been asked before but my search abilities are lacking!

    Gordon

    1) follow suggestions already given to use mono's

    2) yes, but you some loose output and no SDA. To me they don;t sound good w/o the cable..........but you won't hurt anything

    3) I provided a couple links, but DK and his build thread is like 10-15 pages.
    "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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  • hearingimpared
    hearingimpared Posts: 21,136
    edited June 2010
    Go for it Gordon. You can take care of all the other issues later.

    One suggestion though, call Mac and ask if the two monos can be strapped together i.e., the negative speaker posts of each mono wired to each other also it might be helpful to find out of the chasis can be strapped also. I did this when I had my Adcom 565 monos and it worked out really well.
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  • Hawkeye
    Hawkeye Posts: 1,313
    edited June 2010
    I'll bid on them and see what happens. In the mean time, I'll do a little more reading about this AI-1 cable.

    Thanks for the info guys.

    Gordon
    2 Channel -
    Martin Logan Spire, 2 JL Audio F112 subs
    McIntosh C1000 Controller with Tube pre amp, 2 MC501 amplifiers, MD1K Transport & DAC, MR-88 Tuner
    WireWorld Eclipse 6.0 speaker wire and jumpers, Eclipse 5^2 Squared Balanced IC's. Silver Eclipse PCs (5)
    Symposium Rollerblocks 2+ (16)Black Diamond Racing Mk 3 pits (8)
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  • hearingimpared
    hearingimpared Posts: 21,136
    edited June 2010
    For all you know Gordon it may come with the AI-1 cable. Mine did! How's their condition?
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  • Hawkeye
    Hawkeye Posts: 1,313
    edited June 2010
    Guy says he is original owner and there is a snag in part of the fabric.

    I've read over the Dreadnaught thread a couple times and I'm confused. Not hard for me! Where in the world does this thing go? Between the amps and speaker? Does one still use the interconnect cable in addition to the AI-1?

    I want to get these in the house and see what it's all about. I feel like such a newb :D

    Gordon
    2 Channel -
    Martin Logan Spire, 2 JL Audio F112 subs
    McIntosh C1000 Controller with Tube pre amp, 2 MC501 amplifiers, MD1K Transport & DAC, MR-88 Tuner
    WireWorld Eclipse 6.0 speaker wire and jumpers, Eclipse 5^2 Squared Balanced IC's. Silver Eclipse PCs (5)
    Symposium Rollerblocks 2+ (16)Black Diamond Racing Mk 3 pits (8)
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,217
    edited June 2010
    hearingimpared wrote: »
    For all you know Gordon it may come with the AI-1 cable. Mine did! How's their condition?

    Some later 1.2 and 2.3's came with the AI-1 and some of the TL models came with AI-1's but mostly they were sold as an accessory.

    Gordon, the AI-1 IS the interconnect it just has an isolation transformer in between the speakers as part of the interconnect cord. So no, if you get an AI-1 use that instead of the standard interconnect cord.

    H9
    "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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  • hearingimpared
    hearingimpared Posts: 21,136
    edited June 2010
    Hawkeye wrote: »
    Guy says he is original owner and there is a snag in part of the fabric.

    I've read over the Dreadnaught thread a couple times and I'm confused. Not hard for me! Where in the world does this thing go? Between the amps and speaker? Does one still use the interconnect cable in addition to the AI-1?

    I want to get these in the house and see what it's all about. I feel like such a newb :D

    Gordon

    Snags are nothing to worry about. If you need to go the Dreadnaught route, we'll get you through, so no worries.
    heiney9 wrote: »
    Some later 1.2 and 2.3's came with the AI-1 and some of the TL models came with AI-1's but mostly they were sold as an accessory.

    Gordon, the AI-1 IS the interconnect it just has an isolation transformer in between the speakers as part of the interconnect cord. So no, if you get an AI-1 use that instead of the standard interconnect cord.

    H9

    ^^^^^^ What he said! Yeah I guess I lucked out with me getting and AI-1with a set that just had 50 hours on them and in super mint condition.
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  • eeagle
    eeagle Posts: 226
    edited June 2010
    Wow, an original owner, local set....go for it!

    Be prepared to see the bids go over $2K in the final moments of bidding if prior auctions are any example.
    SDA SRS 1.2
    Adcom GFA-5802
    Adcom GFP-750
    Sony DVP-NS999ES
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  • toucanet
    toucanet Posts: 580
    edited June 2010
    Good luck with the bidding Gordon.
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  • headrott
    headrott Posts: 5,496
    edited June 2010
    I would suggest using the AI-1 "Dreadnaught" opposed to strapping the amps. Much, much better SDA effect and better sound quality overall. Just my thoughts, but do what fits better for you.

    Greg
    Relayer-Big-O-Poster.jpg
    Taken from a recent Audioholics reply regarding "Club Polk" and Polk speakers:
    "I'm yet to hear a Polk speaker that merits more than a sentence and 60 seconds discussion." :\
    My response is: If you need 60 seconds to respond in one sentence, you probably should't be evaluating Polk speakers.....

    "Green leaves reveal the heart spoken Khatru"- Jon Anderson

    "Have A Little Faith! And Everything You'll Face, Will Jump From Out Right On Into Place! Yeah! Take A Little Time! And Everything You'll Find, Will Move From Gloom Right On Into Shine!"- Arthur Lee
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  • madmax
    madmax Posts: 12,434
    edited June 2010
    Go for it, you won't be disappointed. I drove 1200 miles once to pick up a pair of these and it was totally worth it.
    madmax
    Vinyl, the final frontier...

    Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want... :D
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  • Tony M
    Tony M Posts: 11,192
    edited June 2010
    You need to hear a pair that are properly set up sometime. If you get these your biding on, your in for a treat! I just know you need great components for these to really sing their best.
    Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them.
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  • hearingimpared
    hearingimpared Posts: 21,136
    edited June 2010
    madmax wrote: »
    Go for it, you won't be disappointed. I drove 1200 miles once to pick up a pair of these and it was totally worth it.
    madmax

    Yep, I drove from Philly to Medford MA (just north of Boston), 18 hours round trip. Worth every mile.;)
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  • Hawkeye
    Hawkeye Posts: 1,313
    edited June 2010
    Well, if I win these, the drive is only about two hours one way. Driving the beltway around DC is a hit or miss. Sometimes it moves, sometimes not.

    Showed my wife these and she noted that they will blend in with all the room treatments :D Gotta love a woman who is into the hobby!

    Gordon
    2 Channel -
    Martin Logan Spire, 2 JL Audio F112 subs
    McIntosh C1000 Controller with Tube pre amp, 2 MC501 amplifiers, MD1K Transport & DAC, MR-88 Tuner
    WireWorld Eclipse 6.0 speaker wire and jumpers, Eclipse 5^2 Squared Balanced IC's. Silver Eclipse PCs (5)
    Symposium Rollerblocks 2+ (16)Black Diamond Racing Mk 3 pits (8)
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  • hearingimpared
    hearingimpared Posts: 21,136
    edited June 2010
    Hawkeye wrote: »
    Well, if I win these, the drive is only about two hours one way. Driving the beltway around DC is a hit or miss. Sometimes it moves, sometimes not.

    Showed my wife these and she noted that they will blend in with all the room treatments :D Gotta love a woman who is into the hobby!

    Gordon

    WAAAAAAAAAAAA! When my son and I pulled up and started to unload them around midnight that night, my wife took one look at them and said, "they are scaring me!":eek:
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  • nooshinjohn
    nooshinjohn Posts: 25,464
    edited June 2010
    hearingimpared wrote: »
    WAAAAAAAAAAAA! When my son and I pulled up and started to unload them around midnight that night, my wife took one look at them and said, "YOU are scaring me!":eek:

    Fixed it for ya!;):D
    The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD

    “When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson
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  • hearingimpared
    hearingimpared Posts: 21,136
    edited June 2010
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hearingimpared
    WAAAAAAAAAAAA! When my son and I pulled up and started to unload them around midnight that night, my wife took one look at them and said, "YOU are scaring me!"
    nooshinjohn wrote: »
    Fixed it for ya!;):D

    HEHEHE! That happens almost every night!:eek::eek::D:p;)
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  • Hamatym
    Hamatym Posts: 269
    edited June 2010
    Hawkeye, the 1.2's are up to the $1800 mark on ebay with an hour to go. If you are not the highest bidder, then "if I were you" it's a good time to throttle down. You can have 1.2TL's for this price, so there are becoming overpriced. I know they are close by and that pulls a lot of weight, but deals pop up on craigslist more often than you think. Just my 2 cents if your looking for advice.

    There is also a set of SDA-CRS's on ebay going for $500+....good day for SDA's:)
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  • Hawkeye
    Hawkeye Posts: 1,313
    edited June 2010
    Wow! that was interesting. I've never bid on anything on ebay before so I guess that is why somebody else got them!

    Thanks for all the info guys, especially Joe. I don't give up that easily, I'll keep looking!

    Gordon
    2 Channel -
    Martin Logan Spire, 2 JL Audio F112 subs
    McIntosh C1000 Controller with Tube pre amp, 2 MC501 amplifiers, MD1K Transport & DAC, MR-88 Tuner
    WireWorld Eclipse 6.0 speaker wire and jumpers, Eclipse 5^2 Squared Balanced IC's. Silver Eclipse PCs (5)
    Symposium Rollerblocks 2+ (16)Black Diamond Racing Mk 3 pits (8)
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  • Vette C6.r
    Vette C6.r Posts: 1,560
    edited June 2010
    What was the final price ?????
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  • Hawkeye
    Hawkeye Posts: 1,313
    edited June 2010
    $1985.12

    Gordon
    2 Channel -
    Martin Logan Spire, 2 JL Audio F112 subs
    McIntosh C1000 Controller with Tube pre amp, 2 MC501 amplifiers, MD1K Transport & DAC, MR-88 Tuner
    WireWorld Eclipse 6.0 speaker wire and jumpers, Eclipse 5^2 Squared Balanced IC's. Silver Eclipse PCs (5)
    Symposium Rollerblocks 2+ (16)Black Diamond Racing Mk 3 pits (8)
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