My SDA adventure

thejck
thejck Posts: 849
edited January 2012 in Vintage Speakers
So I drove over to south Missouri to pick up my very own set of SDA 1.2's. It was a beautiful journey, south Missouri has some pretty trees and hills. I was a little nervous as I got there because the guy didn't answer his phone the whole morning. However he had forgot to charge it and had gotten my messages and turned it on just when we got to the town so he could direct us to his place. All in all it was a pretty good deal as I purchased them for $1000. I had to borrow the neighbors van and it was a tricky drive over the curves and hills of the Ozarks.
Anyway back home now and I will post pictures later.
I tried the air leak test and I think one of the drivers has a tear in the surround. It would loose pressure faster than the others and I noticed a small tear in in. The bottom board and top board on one of the speakers has a crack in it as well.
He also threw in a pair of spikes with the speakers.
SO EXCITED!!!
Post edited by thejck on
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  • Face
    Face Posts: 14,340
    edited August 2010
    Enjoy!
    "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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  • Toolfan66
    Toolfan66 Posts: 17,243
    edited August 2010
    Nice!!!! Let the upgrades Start...

    Congrats!!
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  • leroyjr1
    leroyjr1 Posts: 8,785
    edited August 2010
    Congrats!!!!!
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  • fishbones
    fishbones Posts: 947
    edited August 2010
    Awesome....congratulations!

    Keep us posted on the transformation...with pics.
    ..... ><////(*>
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  • thejck
    thejck Posts: 849
    edited August 2010
    My Parasound hca-3500 that I was going to use to power this speakers is still at the shop for analysis. I researched over here that they should work with the speakers since they are a common ground amp. Does anyone know if the Parasound Halo A51 is also a common ground amp that will work with these speakers? Wasn't there a test that could be performed with a multimeter to test this?
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  • inspiredsports
    inspiredsports Posts: 5,501
    edited August 2010
    Congrats thejck; Welcome to Club Polk!

    If you have a VOM, set it to the continuity test position and touch the black speaker outputs for the L and R channels. If you have continuity, you have a common ground. Confirming continuity means the grounds of your L & R channels are internally connected (common), so you would be good to go.

    If your amp proves to be non-common ground with the continuity test, you still might be able to connect ("strap") the grounds together yourself with a jumper wire from black to black. YOU MUST CONFIRM it can be strapped with the manufacturer.

    You can use a non-common ground with the SDA Interconnect Cable between the two cabinets DISCONNECTED until you know for sure with no harm (just no SDA effect). Just don't ever plug in the Interconnect Cable unless you are certain you have common ground between your left and right channels.

    I think the HCA-3500 is common ground, but make sure you confirm it elsewhere first.
    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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  • Schurkey
    Schurkey Posts: 2,102
    edited August 2010
    I would not be satisfied with "continuity". Test for the actual amount of resistance between the negative terminals of the amp.

    I know from experience that a mere 20 ohms of resistance between L and R ground terminals of the amplifier will make my SDA 1Bs unenjoyable. Yes, they make semi-musical noise--I knew what song was playing; but it was very distorted in the midrange. I spent a long time with the speaker-to-speaker interconnect cable unplugged before I figured out that the two amplifier channels needed to be strapped.
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  • indyhawg
    indyhawg Posts: 1,642
    edited August 2010
    SW Missouri is a good drive. Congrats and enjoy the speakers.
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  • Toolfan66
    Toolfan66 Posts: 17,243
    edited August 2010
    Where's the pics??? :)
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  • thejck
    thejck Posts: 849
    edited August 2010
    Ok here is a picture of the main setup. There is a Parasound HCA-3500 missing from there that should be back this week
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  • thejck
    thejck Posts: 849
    edited August 2010
    As you can tell the crossover plates are wierd. One is discolored but the other is not. This I read here is normal as some plates tend to oxidize.
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  • thejck
    thejck Posts: 849
    edited August 2010
    A couple of the drivers have some discoloration on the center domes that I am not sure off. Any thoughts? Dont think it could be water damage because its not on all the drivers and the wood does not look like it has any possible water damange.
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  • mole'
    mole' Posts: 3,160
    edited August 2010
    welcome to the SDA Owners club.
    mole'
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  • thejck
    thejck Posts: 849
    edited August 2010
    here is the one driver I am concerned about. It has what appears to be a small nick on the inside of the surround but I dont think it goes through. On the bottom of that driver there is a little roughness that i cannot explain but again it does not look like a tear maybe seperation of the glue? Cannot really display it in the picture. I might try to take the pic when its daylight outside to see if shows better.
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  • leroyjr1
    leroyjr1 Posts: 8,785
    edited August 2010
    Looking good !!!!
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  • thejck
    thejck Posts: 849
    edited August 2010
    After doing the passive radiator leak test again in proper light the drivers all push out to the same extent then start to slowly settle back but do not go back all the way. When I release the passive they all settle further. Is this normal?
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  • leroyjr1
    leroyjr1 Posts: 8,785
    edited August 2010
    Edited.....
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  • thejck
    thejck Posts: 849
    edited August 2010
    FYI on parasound amplifiers. Got this back from Parasound
    We receive this question about 3x a week so evidently there are a lot of loyal SDA fans.



    All of our amps are common ground and will work fine with the SDAs.

    If you use the HCA-3500 be sure to connect both inputs cables to the 3500’s normal polarity input jacks.



    We get reports of incredible sound when SDA-1 or SDA-2 are driven with our bigger amps.



    Kind regards,



    Richard Schram

    President

    Parasound Products, Inc.
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  • thejck
    thejck Posts: 849
    edited August 2010
    I know there was a thread on here talking about the HCA-3500 to be used with the SDA's from a while ago stating that they can produce a lot more than the 350 watts per channel they are rated for.. Anyone cares to commend if they believe this would be an adequate amp to drive these speakers or should I look for a second pair eventually to run them in mono mode.
    from the Parasound website for the hca-3500
    Continuous Power Output - Stereo:
    350 watts RMS x 2, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, 8 Ω, both channels driven;
    500 watts RMS x 2, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, 4 Ω, both channels driven
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  • inspiredsports
    inspiredsports Posts: 5,501
    edited August 2010
    thejck wrote: »
    I know there was a thread on here talking about the HCA-3500 to be used with the SDA's from a while ago stating that they can produce a lot more than the 350 watts per channel they are rated for.. Anyone cares to commend if they believe this would be an adequate amp to drive these speakers or should I look for a second pair eventually to run them in mono mode.
    from the Parasound website for the hca-3500
    Continuous Power Output - Stereo:
    350 watts RMS x 2, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, 8 Ω, both channels driven;
    500 watts RMS x 2, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, 4 Ω, both channels driven

    I've found in my limited experience that bridging an amp designed primarily for stereo use generally degrades the sound quality.

    A true 350 per side into 8 ohms from a quality amp is a bunch, and a lot more goes into the equation than raw wattage unless your only goal is to shake the walls. When you get your amp back and have a chance to do some serious listening, I'm guessing you will enjoy what your Parasound does.
    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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  • thejck
    thejck Posts: 849
    edited August 2010
    I am using my A51 right now and its doing a fairly decent job
    Anyone have any idea what the discoloration on the domes are in post 13?
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  • inspiredsports
    inspiredsports Posts: 5,501
    edited August 2010
    It looks like maybe a previous owner used something to polish the cone that got on the dome. I'm not sure how best to remove it. For the future, we've found Windex and a soft clean lint free cloth to be the ideal cleaner for the cone portion.
    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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  • dcmeigs
    dcmeigs Posts: 708
    edited August 2010
    Thejck,

    If you like the Missouri Ozarks (and you like to read) you gotta check out Daniel Woodrell's books centered on edgy life in the Ozarks. Compelling stories and brilliant writing. He's the best author you've never heard of and I've blasted through his entire bibliography this summer. Now that you've been there and seen the setting, they will come alive for you.

    Amazon
    The world is full of answers, some are right and some are wrong. - Neil Young
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  • domflane
    domflane Posts: 653
    edited August 2010
    Congrats on your great deal, thejck. Those 1.2's look great! Enjoy them,

    Dom
    Home Theater
    RTiA5 - CSiA6 - FXiA6 - PSW650 - Pioneer Elite SC-55 - Carver AV-505 - Sony 46" 120Hz - Monster HP 2400 - Xbox 360 - Playstation 3
    2 Channel
    Polk RTA 15TL - Harman Kardon HK3485 - HK DVD48 - Signal Cable IC's and speaker cables
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  • thejck
    thejck Posts: 849
    edited August 2010
    Hey guys call me Alan...
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  • thejck
    thejck Posts: 849
    edited August 2010
    Reading about cleaning the drivers on this forum.
    Just use a microfiber cloth or paper towels spray windex on it and wipe all drivers except the tweeters right?

    I guess I will have to live with the discoloration on a few of the domes. Is there any way to clean them? Does it effect the sound?
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  • Toolfan66
    Toolfan66 Posts: 17,243
    edited August 2010
    thejck wrote: »
    Reading about cleaning the drivers on this forum.
    Just use a microfiber cloth or paper towels spray windex on it and wipe all drivers except the tweeters right?

    I guess I will have to live with the discoloration on a few of the domes. Is there any way to clean them? Does it effect the sound?

    Correct but don't do the dust caps.. that white stuff you see I have found on a few drivers not sure if its some sort of glue from putting the dust caps in place or not but I would not worry about it..

    :cool:
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  • gimpod
    gimpod Posts: 1,793
    edited August 2010
    thejck wrote: »
    I am using my A51 right now and its doing a fairly decent job
    Anyone have any idea what the discoloration on the domes are in post 13?

    I just wonder if that could be some kind of mold or mildew, If it is i have no idea what you could use to clean it with. Maybe "Tilex" on a cloth ?
    “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” ~ Mark Twain
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  • thejck
    thejck Posts: 849
    edited August 2010
    Are the crossover mods/updates to TL something that can be done easily. I have not heard from Ben and not sure how long he would take. I am guessing he is tied up at the moment and was wondering if there is anyone on here who knows how to do them or can direct me to a schematic on what has to be done for the TL upgrade. Is the schematic that is a sticky on the vintage section the only one we have?
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  • Face
    Face Posts: 14,340
    edited August 2010
    It's the addition of one cap, along with the RDO-198 tweeter: http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=26710&d=1186358580
    "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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