Scored some SDA1Cs

rombot

I've had a set of monitor 12Cs for a couple of decades. Great speakers. Then by accident I stumble across a pair of 1Cs on Craigslist. I starting researching and wound up in this forum. The rest, as they say, is history. I had to have some SDA action.

Once you start down the SDArk path, forever will it dominate your destiny.

Thanks everyone here for corrupting me.

I finally found a pair about two weeks ago. They need some work, but are functional.

I had never heard SDA before. Wow. Unbelievable.

I can't wait to start fixing/modding them. My inner Modzilla has been released. Again, thanks to you guys, spreading the fever.

audio_alan

Congrats! I recently joined the SDA club myself.

But, as others have said.... Post some pictures or it didn't happen.

thsmith

Welcome to CP. We need pics and what are you powering them with.

Hold on to your wallet tightly !

Just to get your DIY fix on,

Caps/resisters on XO
Dynamat speaker baskets
SOme people like mortile for speaker gasket
Myesound spikes
Larry's steel rings
and many more ideas here at CP on 1Cs

Polkersince85

Welcome to the club.

fishbones

Nice! I am currently on a quest for the same speaker. Enjoy

Outfitter03

Welcome to Club Polk. Looking forward to seeing some pics.

rombot

Thanks all.

Some pics:

Two tweeters are dimpled. I was planning on the RDO upgrade anyway.

Man it looks like I just missed Larry's mounting brackets by a couple weeks. I'll be all over that if he ever does another run.

I started out using a Kenwood Basic M2a in stereo mode. I then drove them with one M2a for each speaker in bridged mode for testing purposes, leaving the interconnect disconnected obviously. They sound great - now I've got to build the interconnect transformer circuit. I'll be following DarqueKnight's footsteps on the AI-1 Dreadnought Project at some point. In the meantime it's back to stereo mode with SDA.

leroyjr1

Congrats !!!!!

xj4094dg

fishbones wrote: »

Nice! I am currently on a quest for the same speaker. Enjoy

Who isn't? Nice speaks. Where are you/they?

fishbones

xj4094dg wrote: »

Who isn't? Nice speaks. Where are you/they?

I'm in Florida

Toolfan66

I will make you a set of rings if you want them..

Let me know..:cool:

rombot wrote: »

Thanks all.

Some pics:

Two tweeters are dimpled. I was planning on the RDO upgrade anyway.

Man it looks like I just missed Larry's mounting brackets by a couple weeks. I'll be all over that if he ever does another run.

I started out using a Kenwood Basic M2a in stereo mode. I then drove them with one M2a for each speaker in bridged mode for testing purposes, leaving the interconnect disconnected obviously. They sound great - now I've got to build the interconnect transformer circuit. I'll be following DarqueKnight's footsteps on the AI-1 Dreadnought Project at some point. In the meantime it's back to stereo mode with SDA.

rombot

Larry,

Awesome man. I'll take a full set - tweets, midwoofers and passives. Let me know how to proceed.

Thanks!

inspiredsports

Very nice. Welcome to CP, rombat.

Upgrades will make a big difference in your satisfaction, and you'll keep the economy moving in the right direction too!

reeltrouble1

no doubt one of the SDA sets.

Rock on.

RT1

heiney9

rombot wrote: »

Thanks all.

Some pics:

Two tweeters are dimpled. I was planning on the RDO upgrade anyway.

Man it looks like I just missed Larry's mounting brackets by a couple weeks. I'll be all over that if he ever does another run.

I started out using a Kenwood Basic M2a in stereo mode. I then drove them with one M2a for each speaker in bridged mode for testing purposes, leaving the interconnect disconnected obviously. They sound great - now I've got to build the interconnect transformer circuit. I'll be following DarqueKnight's footsteps on the AI-1 Dreadnought Project at some point. In the meantime it's back to stereo mode with SDA.

I would not recommend running the Kenwood's bridged with the AI-1 or on SDA's. Not a good idea, the sound will suffer and having owned some Kenwood Basic stuff (that amp in particular), it's not beefy enough because when you bridge an amp it halves the impedence it see's and running SDA's on bridged amps usually is too much for the amp unless it's a beefier design.

Of course you can do what you want but all the effort and expense to build the AI-1 really isn't worth the advantage you think you are getting running the Kenwoods in bridged mode.

H9

Pauly

fishbones wrote: »

I'm in Florida

Where abouts?

zingo

Nice grab on the speakers, and they look in reasonable shape too. The 1Cs should be a fun upgrade from the Monitor 12C.

rombot wrote: »

Once you start down the SDArk path, forever will it dominate your destiny.

Disagree. They are nice speakers with a hard to match sound stage, but not dominating. This on the other hand is the dark side of audio:

fishbones

Pauly wrote: »

Where abouts?

SW area (Cape Coral)

Pauly

fishbones wrote: »

SW area (Cape Coral)

Cool. Im in Tampa.

Pretty nice out today. Not that humid!

Congrats on your SDA's


Pauly

fishbones

Pauly wrote: »

Cool. Im in Tampa.

Pretty nice out today. Not that humid!

Congrats on your SDA's


Pauly

It was pretty nice this morning. Even had the windows down while driving my son to school.
I'm not the one who got the SDA's....it was the OP, I'm just in pursuit of some - after I sell some HT equipment.
Nice to meet a fellow Polkie in Florida!

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming...

Pauly

Oops

Congrats rombot for SDA's.

Pauly

chandler9a

congrats and welcome to the forum! it only gets better from here, pricier but better.

If you do decided to get a different amp (which I suggest you do as well) I have had really good luck with my Adcom gfa-555 and my brother in law has also had luck with his gfa-545 on his SDA II's. I know certain NAD amps can be really good as well but research around and ask questions and you'll have a great time with those speakers!

Good luck

rombot

H9,
I've had the M2As on the bench. Bridged they do about 610 watts RMS into a 4 ohm load at clipping. BUT, that's a purely resistive load.

I am concerned about the complex impedance of the 1Cs. They seem to do okay without the interconnect, but adding the AI-1 makes for an even more complex load. I'd hate to spend the money and build it and have crappy results.

For now I'll hang with one M2a in stereo. Looks like I've got some research to do. What do you guys think about chandler9a's suggestion on the Adcom gfa-555?

heiney9

Watts don't mean anything, especially into a purely resistive load. I just wouldn;t run most stereo amps bridged into mono with the AI-1 on SDA's. A bridged stereo amp isn't really designed to gracefully handle the complex loads SDA's can present. A true mono block amp is a different story.

The 555 would be a nice amp, perhaps a small step up, and if it hasn't been abused that is one amp that could be run in bridged mono without an issue, but it's still not recommended because generally a stereo amp bridged to mono degrades the overall sound.

Why are you so stuck on running them bridged? You looking for ear bleeding SPL's? What are you trying to accomplish? If you want max spl then you do need watts, no getting around that. I run my 1C's in a smaller room with 30wpc and at an SPL of about 90-92dB at 6 feet away I have yet to reach the limit of my amp. This is plenty loud for me, plus I have all the dynamics I need, etc, etc.

Funny thing is this amps sounds better, performs better, has better dynamics than my previous 125wpc amp. Watts really don't mean much all by them self.

Anyway, have fun, do your own experiments, but I'd think long and hard about the AI-1 investment just because you want (not need) to run a couple of stereo amps bridged.

H9

george daniel

Why not try a 40-50 watt tube amp? Brock is right--they don't need a ton of power--and I've tried them with bridged ,,Adcom 555's--- nasty --good luck and enjoy them,, there are quite a few tweaks that can be performed on those speaks that will take them to a whole new level as well.

rombot

heiney9 wrote: »

Watts don't mean anything, especially into a purely resistive load. I just wouldn;t run most stereo amps bridged into mono with the AI-1 on SDA's. A bridged stereo amp isn't really designed to gracefully handle the complex loads SDA's can present. A true mono block amp is a different story.

The 555 would be a nice amp, perhaps a small step up, and if it hasn't been abused that is one amp that could be run in bridged mono without an issue, but it's still not recommended because generally a stereo amp bridged to mono degrades the overall sound.

Why are you so stuck on running them bridged? You looking for ear bleeding SPL's? What are you trying to accomplish? If you want max spl then you do need watts, no getting around that. I run my 1C's in a smaller room with 30wpc and at an SPL of about 90-92dB at 6 feet away I have yet to reach the limit of my amp. This is plenty loud for me, plus I have all the dynamics I need, etc, etc.

Funny thing is this amps sounds better, performs better, has better dynamics than my previous 125wpc amp. Watts really don't mean much all by them self.

Anyway, have fun, do your own experiments, but I'd think long and hard about the AI-1 investment just because you want (not need) to run a couple of stereo amps bridged.

H9

I'm with ya, watts don't mean much all by them self. That's why I pointed out that's into a resistive load. It doesn't mean you'll get the same result into something as complex as a 1C.

I'm not stuck on bridged amps, it's just the way I've been doing the stereo thing up to this point. My previous setup had one M2A driving a pair of Monitor 12Cs. One bridged M2A for one 4 ohm 15" sub (X2). I built the bridging adapters and the 24/db octave active crossover myself. The bridged M2As were happy driving a single 4 ohm speaker with no passive crossover. BUT, the 1Cs are a whole different animal.

So I've gone back to one M2A in stereo, driving the 1Cs, interconnect connected, with no subs. And listening real hard. And liking it. ALOT.

Anyway, it's the equipment I have to work with for now. My goal has always been great sound, on a budget. I do like it loud occasionally. Having played in rock bands most of my life has definitely given me a perspective on what a bass drum, or an open B on a five string electric bass should sound and feel like. It takes alot of power to achieve that realism, even a moderate volume levels.

At this point I'm going to hold off on the AI-1 and concentrate on modding the 1Cs. Like you said, experiment and have fun. To me, experimenting is at least half the fun.

Thanks for the input.