Not a good day with my SDA 2A speakers!

helipilotdoug

Oh Boy! Well, i went to put in the new tweeters I got from Polk audio, and found some things I was not expecting. Thinking these were SDA 2B speakers, Plans were to do the TL mod so I ordered RDO-198 Tweeters.

First of all, the tweeters I got from Polk have no markings on them whatever. No model number, production date or anything. I ordered the RDO-198's and have to assume that's what I got. Anyone else get these tweets with no markings?


Second, and this is the real kicker! I found the outside MW on the LH speaker has the surround ripped at two of the mounting holes. From the looks of it, the surround was deformed when manufactured. I had replaced this MW 2-3 years ago, and just found this. It's a 6503, and the date of manufacture shows 01 March, 2004.

And third, as if that did not make my day enough, I decided to remove the inside MW from the left speaker, and found the magnet slipped off to one side! How this speaker was putting out any sound is a mystery to me! Also, I found out these are apparently SDA 2A's not 2B's. I pulled all the MW's and found all the rest to be 6510's. Sooooo, my plans to upgrade this set may be messed up. The other set of speakers are 2B's, but I don't have them yet. I bought them on Audiogon from a guy up in the Dallas area, and he's supposed to be bringing them down soon. The speakers I have now are not doing well, and I've unhooked them. I need some speakers!

OK Guys I need some suggestions. What should I do with these SDA 2A's? Can they be upgraded to the 2B TL mod or not? From what I've read they can not. What do you recommend?

nadams

When you replace mid drivers, you have to ensure that the screw head is not going to grab the surround and twist it, which is exactly what happened here. Sometimes you have to cut a little bit out with an xacto knife to let the screw head clear.

The magnet shift is quite common... I would recommend applying JB Weld to the rest of the driver magnets before they shift as well.

As for the TL mod, I'll let that info come from someone more experienced.

heiney9

None of the RD0's have ever had markings on them. The only way to tell the difference is connector prongs. One model has a large and small connector the other model has two large connectors. I forget which is which.

helipilotdoug

heiney9 wrote: »

None of the RD0's have ever had markings on them. The only way to tell the difference is connector prongs. One model has a large and small connector the other model has two large connectors. I forget which is which.

These have 1 large and 1 small connector.

helipilotdoug

nadams wrote: »

When you replace mid drivers, you have to ensure that the screw head is not going to grab the surround and twist it, which is exactly what happened here. Sometimes you have to cut a little bit out with an xacto knife to let the screw head clear.

The magnet shift is quite common... I would recommend applying JB Weld to the rest of the driver magnets before they shift as well.

As for the TL mod, I'll let that info come from someone more experienced.

Thanks, I imagine that's what happened with the surround. I'll know to be a lot more careful about that from now on!

And I'll make sure to do the JB weld mod to the rest of the MW's before I put them back together.

Conradicles

helipilotdoug wrote: »

These have 1 large and 1 small connector.

That would be the 198 tweeter.

Toolfan66

The RDO 194's have two small connectors.

heiney9

I think Polk with stand behind the defective driver (the one with the bad surround) just email customer service and explain what happened. When you get the next one be sure to inspect and cut the excess rubber from the mounting hole if this is still an issue.

H9

gimpod

As far as pic #4 go's that's exactly what happened to one of my 6511's in my 1C's (The dreaded shipping fubar) i didn't notice it till i started to crank it and then it would make a sticky **** sound:eek:

If you want to try and fix it check out these two links.

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=130808
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=202963

The first thing to do before trying this is check the voice coil with an ohm meter it should read around 8 ohms for a 6510, if it reads 0 Ohms don't bother it's toast. also check it visually make sure there's no lose or stray wire that could come in contact with the slug inside the magnet if so just glue them down with super glue and a small paint brush.

Believe it or not this does work, but if you decide to part them out i know geppy1 is looking for a pair of 6510's. if not you should try and replace that 6503 with an original 6510.

Any way you decide to go good luck.

stubby

Hey Doug, I just bought a 2B crossover from leroy and was just going to use it as a spare. Sounds like you could get better use of it. Let me know if you want it. Then you could slam it in your 2A cabinets and do the TL upgrade.

stubby

helipilotdoug

stubby wrote: »

Hey Doug, I just bought a 2B crossover from leroy and was just going to use it as a spare. Sounds like you could get better use of it. Let me know if you want it. Then you could slam it in your 2A cabinets and do the TL upgrade.

stubby

Thanks Stubby. How much do you want for them? I might be very interested in trying that route with these 2A's. It's either that, or order a set of RDO-194's, and upgrade the X overs. I'm not sure what other changes might have to be made to turn these into 2B's.

stubby

I'm in $35 for them.

stubby

Looks like you would also have to swap out the 6510 MW's for a 6511 and 6503, in each cabinet, to make them true "b"'s. You already have the RDO's

helipilotdoug

stubby wrote: »

Looks like you would also have to swap out the 6510 MW's for a 6511 and 6503, in each cabinet, to make them true "b"'s. You already have the RDO's

I know the wiring is different, so I might have to re wire them too. As an example the interconnect cable uses both wires on the 2A's but only 1 wire on the 2B's. I'll have to do some more research and see what needs to be done. I'm very interested in your 2B X overs. If I can go with the upgrade to 2B's I will want to take you up on that.

Schurkey

TOOLFORLIFEFAN wrote: »

The RDO 194's have two small connectors.

Wouldn't that be two LARGE connectors? That's what the SL2000 has; and the 194 is supposedly a direct replacement.

The 198 has one large, one small, and required the wiring harness to be modified with one smaller connector per tweeter when I converted my 1Bs to '198s. I never did find a wiring harness connector with an exact fit.

My 198s had no markings on them; and no country-of-origin labeling, either. I thought all imported consumer products had to have country-of-origin labeling either on the product or on the packaging.

hearingimpared

helipilotdoug wrote: »

These have 1 large and 1 small connector.

They are RD0198s.

WHoops sorry I just noticed this question was answered. . . carry on!

JPSmario

This was discussed in quite some depth in this thread:

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=97536&highlight=RDO198

I hope this adds an option for you.

JIm

helipilotdoug

Thanks JPSmarino. That was a good read. For now, I'll keep these as 2A's. Talked to Polk Customer Service this morning. He gave me a special price of $30 each for the two 6510's and I also ordered two RDO-194 tweeters. While I'm at it, I'll do the dynamat and Mortite mods, plus install the new hardware rings I got from TOOLFORLIFEFAN. I should end up with a really good set of SDA 2A speakers!

hearingimpared

JPSmario wrote: »

This was discussed in quite some depth in this thread:

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=97536&highlight=RDO198

I hope this adds an option for you.

JIm

Great link Jim, it clears up a lot of misconceptions.

george daniel

helipilotdoug wrote: »

Thanks JPSmarino. That was a good read. For now, I'll keep these as 2A's. Talked to Polk Customer Service this morning. He gave me a special price of $30 each for the two 6510's and I also ordered two RDO-194 tweeters. While I'm at it, I'll do the dynamat and Mortite mods, plus install the new hardware rings I got from TOOLFORLIFEFAN. I should end up with a really good set of SDA 2A speakers!

Yes sir you will have a very good set of speakers.I'm glad that you got it squared away--I think your decision to keep them as 2A's is to be commended--stay in the boat.:)

hearingimpared

george daniel wrote: »

Yes sir you will have a very good set of speakers.I'm glad that you got it squared away--I think your decision to keep them as 2A's is to be commended--stay in the boat.:)

Hear, hear!

helipilotdoug

I got the 194's and 6510's from Polk. Yesterday I installed the tweeters, installed the 2 new 6510's as the main driver in both cabinets, dynamated both new 6510's and the PR in the left cabinet. I ran out of time, and did not finish dynamating the right PR or the SDA drivers. Will get around to that soon, as well as mortite. On first impression of the new tweeters, they are not as "bright" harsh as the 2000's but still pretty bright. I'll give them some play time to break in before making any judgments. I'm very happy so far. I have a question on the mortite installation. Do you remove the old driver/PR seals when installing with mortite, or leave them in place?

hearingimpared

helipilotdoug wrote: »

I got the 194's and 6510's from Polk. Yesterday I installed the tweeters, installed the 2 new 6510's as the main driver in both cabinets, dynamated both new 6510's and the PR in the left cabinet. I ran out of time, and did not finish dynamating the right PR or the SDA drivers. Will get around to that soon, as well as mortite. On first impression of the new tweeters, they are not as "bright" harsh as the 2000's but still pretty bright. I'll give them some play time to break in before making any judgments. I'm very happy so far. I have a question on the mortite installation. Do you remove the old driver/PR seals when installing with mortite, or leave them in place?

If you are going to use Mortite then yes you need to remove the gaskets at least I did when I used Parts Express Speaker Seal which I think is a better bet than Mortite. That is just my opinion as I've not used Mortite but I have heard that it can be a real PITA to apply and remove if necessary be a few members here.

heiney9

helipilotdoug wrote: »

I got the 194's and 6510's from Polk. Yesterday I installed the tweeters, installed the 2 new 6510's as the main driver in both cabinets, dynamated both new 6510's and the PR in the left cabinet. I ran out of time, and did not finish dynamating the right PR or the SDA drivers. Will get around to that soon, as well as mortite. On first impression of the new tweeters, they are not as "bright" harsh as the 2000's but still pretty bright. I'll give them some play time to break in before making any judgments. I'm very happy so far. I have a question on the mortite installation. Do you remove the old driver/PR seals when installing with mortite, or leave them in place?

After about 300 hours the RD0's will sound about right. They are anything but bright in my experience.

hearingimpared

heiney9 wrote: »

After about 300 hours the RD0's will sound about right. They are anything but bright in my experience.

Ditto & ditto!:)

dhart86

Doug.........how much do the RDO's sell for? Thinking about upgrading my tweets

helipilotdoug

dhart86 wrote: »

Doug.........how much do the RDO's sell for? Thinking about upgrading my tweets

As a Club Polk member, $48. each. Make sure you tell them you are a member. Free shipping too!

helipilotdoug

After about 24 hours of play I've noticed a big difference already. Much smoother sound from the 194's now. Far superior to the 2000's. It's worth the price all right!

Driver_King

Hey Doug.:D With the replacement 194's, could you go into detail about the differences compared to the 2000's? I have the original SDA II's with the dual SL2000's, so I'd really have to know if the difference is worth the cash since I'd be replacing four tweeters.:eek::p One thing I heard may not be so great about the 194's is the sound of cymbals or brass instruments compared to the SL2000 and I was wondering if that's what you found to be true or not.

JPSmario

Driver_King wrote: »

One thing I heard may not be so great about the 194's is the sound of cymbals or brass instruments compared to the SL2000 and I was wondering if that's what you found to be true or not.

This is going to be a personal call/gamble. I'm one that found the SL2000's had a 'bite' (some say around 12Kz) that I couldn't listen to for more than an hour or so at a time on my SDA 2A's:( It particularly bothered me with cymbals and orchestral brass and otherwise seemed to add an unnatural high frequency 'liveness' to the stage. Once the RDO194's burned in, they are much more natural to my ears than the 2000's with a 'blackness' that enhances space on the stage. and I can listen to them all day:D

Of course, your ears and your system are different, so good luck with whatever you decide.

helipilotdoug

Driver_King wrote: »

Hey Doug.:D With the replacement 194's, could you go into detail about the differences compared to the 2000's? I have the original SDA II's with the dual SL2000's, so I'd really have to know if the difference is worth the cash since I'd be replacing four tweeters.:eek::p One thing I heard may not be so great about the 194's is the sound of cymbals or brass instruments compared to the SL2000 and I was wondering if that's what you found to be true or not.

Driver_King, I have found the 194's to be very good so far with the cymbals and brass. I agree with what JPSmario said. I had a hard time listening to my 2A's for a extended amount of time, because of the harshness, bite, or un-natural brightness, at higher listening levels. These new 194 tweeters have not been fully broken in yet. I listened to quite a few random selections yesterday, and can say so far I'm very pleased with the sound of the Cymbals and Brass. I do not consider myself a audiophile, and I'm not good with explaining what I'm hearing like a lot of folks on here. The best I can tell you is IMHO, so far, the 194's are WELL WORTH the money.

The SDA2's have one tweeter for the stereo side and another for the SDA side. You might think about getting 2 194's and replacing the stereo tweeter in each cabinet at first, to give you an idea if it's worth it to your ears. From what I understand, the stereo drivers are dominant, which should give you a good indication if they will sound good to you. If they don't I'm sure you can sell the 194's on here. Someone else chime in here on this.