the need for this wire

leftwinger57

Hi guys,
I've been hearing a lot lately about how good these SDA speakers really were. When hearing this is mostly when people try to sell them and say oh and they come w/ the connector cable. SO what's upw/ this, you have to bond these speakers to each other and then run your wires to the amp. I f this is true then I know tons of houses where this could not be run. Even in my own apt where I have no crawl space or attic just running my 2nd set of wires was a hassel and I'm a former alarm installer so I know most of the snaking wire tricks and pulling moulding and the like. So getting back to these greatly talked about speakers do you in fact need a wire between them or was I given some wrong info.LW

chandler9a

you do need the wire in order for them to work properly but it just goes from one speaker to the other, then the speakers get connected to your amp like usual. there should be no need to go behind any walls or anything.

Fongolio

Just a single "wire" connects SDA speakers together. Yes, it is necessary if you want the SDA effect. The SDA effect works by sending part of the right channel signal to the left speaker and vice versa. Some of the drivers in all SDA speakers are dedicated solely to this signal. Remove the cable and not all the drivers will work. Yes, the speakers will still produce sound without the cable but you will not get the SDA effect. What is wrong with running the cable (wire) on the floor? That's how mine are connected and most everyone else who own them. By the way, they sound spectacular when set up correctly. I own highly modified 1C's.

Kelvin

halo71

LW, did someone tell you that ya had to run the inter connect under the floor or in the wall? If they did don't listen to them anymore. :biggrin: The cable just lays on the floor behind the speakers.

OldmanSRS

Fongolio wrote: »

Some of the drivers in all SDA speakers are dedicated solely to this signal. Remove the cable and not all the drivers will work.
Kelvin

Not quite true. Some SDA speakers may have drivers dedicated solely to this signal but if so, it's not many. Most have drivers dedicated solely to the stereo signal and other drivers that produce the stereo signal AND the dimensional signal but only over a limited frequency range. Removing the IC cable will remove the dimensional signal but all drivers will continue to produce the stereo signal.

leftwinger57

Thanks guys, So the question was answered and you do need this wire to go to speaker to speaker. The rub here is if some of you think just laying wire on the floor is ok ,well no. Most wives would freak it's an eye sore and the whole idea usually is to hide as much as possible. Again thanks for the info I really had no idead how these speakers really worked and why they're so prized.....LW

pitdogg2

OldmanSRS wrote: »

Not quite true. Removing the IC cable will remove the dimensional signal but all drivers will continue to produce the stereo signal.

wrong

civilian

leftwinger57 wrote: »

The rub here is if some of you think just laying wire on the floor is ok ,well no. Most wives would freak it's an eye sore and the whole idea usually is to hide as much as possible.

While SDA's and wives aren't mutually exclusive, you usually have to make a choice. Of course when I rolled in a pair of 5 foot tall speakers my wife didn't notice a little wire on the ground.

OldmanSRS

pitdogg2 wrote: »

wrong

That was informative. I'm not from MO but show me. What speaker or schematic are you referring to.

pitdogg2

the dimensional drivers only work if the cable is plugged in. without the inter-connect cable the dimensional drivers will look as if their operating but really the only sound from them is sound from the stereo drivers that is inside the cabinets. they are not reproducing any sound they are acting just like the passive radiator. It works the same way on all SDA's

heiney9

pitdogg2 wrote: »

the dimensional drivers only work if the cable is plugged in. without the inter-connect cable the dimensional drivers will look as if their operating but really the only sound from them is sound from the stereo drivers that is inside the cabinets. they are not reproducing any sound they are acting just like the passive radiator. It works the same way on all SDA's

Wrong

Read this - page 42 middle column

http://www.polksda.com/sda1creview.shtml

Early SDA's operated at you state, later SDA's still have some sound coming out of the dimensional drivers even if the cable isn't connected.

H9

pitdogg2

heiney9 wrote: »

Wrong

Read this - page 42 middle column

http://www.polksda.com/sda1creview.shtml

Early SDA's operated at you state, later SDA's still have some sound coming out of the dimensional drivers even if the cable isn't connected.

H9

I stand corrected Thanks Brock. I guess i need to get my ears on more. The SDA 1'signature and SDA2'a are not a broad enough spectrum and my recollection from the 80's on the SRS that i auditioned.

my sda2'a still seem to me have just cabinet resonance when unplugged and using the old paper towel tube test. oh well it is what it is

sorry oldman :redface:

comfortablycurt

leftwinger57 wrote: »

Thanks guys, So the question was answered and you do need this wire to go to speaker to speaker. The rub here is if some of you think just laying wire on the floor is ok ,well no. Most wives would freak it's an eye sore and the whole idea usually is to hide as much as possible. Again thanks for the info I really had no idead how these speakers really worked and why they're so prized.....LW

I really don't think that most wives would "freak out" about one little wire laying across the floor. Butt it up against the wall and you'd barely even notice it unless you were looking for it. Just hook it up and don't mention it to her.

I'd think that most wives would be able to look past this "eye sore" if they knew that it was a great hobby of yours. If your wife is unwilling to look past one single little wire...then damn. Sounds like you need to put some pants on.

gdb

5/8" drill & fishtape=worth it! (maybe 11/16"):biggrin:

On3s&Z3r0s

comfortablycurt wrote: »

I really don't think that most wives would "freak out" about one little wire laying across the floor. Butt it up against the wall and you'd barely even notice it unless you were looking for it. Just hook it up and don't mention it to her.

I'd think that most wives would be able to look past this "eye sore" if they knew that it was a great hobby of yours. If your wife is unwilling to look past one single little wire...then damn. Sounds like you need to put some pants on.

This one gets a +1. I guess it depends somewhat where you would have to run the wire. My SDA's are on either side of a hutch... the dust bunnies that congregate back there are the much bigger eyesore than a little black cable.

Downstairs in my home theater it's a slightly different story. Most of the wires are buried in the walls, but we hadn't decided exactly where the sub would go when the wires were run, so that wire snakes along the very edge of the carpet around a fireplace hearth and is held down with a few nail-in cable stays. It's visible, but my wife likes that the sub is in a convenient position and she likes the sound when we're watching movies. But I guess if your wife doesn't like movies and/or music then you'll have to decide how much you do.

heiney9

pitdogg2 wrote: »

I stand corrected Thanks Brock. I guess i need to get my ears on more. The SDA 1'signature and SDA2'a are not a broad enough spectrum and my recollection from the 80's on the SRS that i auditioned.

my sda2'a still seem to me have just cabinet resonance when unplugged and using the old paper towel tube test. oh well it is what it is

sorry oldman :redface:

No problem pitdogg2, SDA's vary a lot over the entire lifecycle.

H9

Toolfan66

What is the big deal of the wire going from speaker to speaker?? If the wife is going to freak out because of that then what about the speaker cables/wires to hook them up? Good thing I didn't ask my wife "I just did it" She likes to sit in front of them now and listen to music...

OldmanSRS

The wife is astute enough to realize the 3rd wire is unconventional and therefore should not be seen.

civilian

OldmanSRS wrote: »

the 3rd wire is unconventional

I believe SDA's are very unconventional, part of the reason I like them.
Just like keeping the valves adjusted on a classic 427 or 302.

OP: Can you post some pics of how your speakers are situated, and maybe we can give some direct advice.

On3s&Z3r0s

I have a friend who has little telegraph poles for his speaker wires, and that's the most conventional part of his system. I think if you're a person who tries for better sound than what comes out of a Bose iPod dock, you're unconventional by definition. I get that the WAF threshold varies from wife to wife, but one extra wire where you have to run other wires anyway is pretty damn low. If that's the level you're shooting for then don't drill holes in your walls and buy big, old speakers. The LSi's sound pretty good and look pretty too. Just don't get the LSi 25's... they have extra wires you'd have to hide.

madmax

SDA's suck without the cable connected, wouldn't want to listen to them.

sda2mike

disconnecting it reminds us how the rest of the world listens

inspiredsports

OldmanSRS wrote: »

Not quite true. Some SDA speakers may have drivers dedicated solely to this signal but if so, it's not many. Most have drivers dedicated solely to the stereo signal and other drivers that produce the stereo signal AND the dimensional signal but only over a limited frequency range. Removing the IC cable will remove the dimensional signal but all drivers will continue to produce the stereo signal.

pitdogg2 wrote: »

wrong

OldmanSRS wrote: »

That was informative. I'm not from MO but show me. What speaker or schematic are you referring to.

pitdogg2 wrote: »

the dimensional drivers only work if the cable is plugged in. without the inter-connect cable the dimensional drivers will look as if their operating but really the only sound from them is sound from the stereo drivers that is inside the cabinets. they are not reproducing any sound they are acting just like the passive radiator. It works the same way on all SDA's

Both statements are true. Older SDA's used to absolutely cut signal to the Dimensional Drivers to where they vibrated in concert with the Stereo Drivers, but were un-powered if the interconnect cable was unplugged.

Somewhere in the late '80's the architecture changed and Polk engineers fed the stereo signal to all drivers if the interconnect was disconnected.

In either case, the SDA effect is absent when the interconnect is absent.

Thanks to DK's hard work, posts # 2, 3, 4 and 5 at . . .

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=55888

. . . display the SDA schematics to prove it.

heiney9

inspiredsports wrote: »

Both statements are true. Older SDA's used to absolutely cut signal to the Dimensional Drivers to where they vibrated in concert with the Stereo Drivers, but were un-powered if the interconnect cable was unplugged.

Somewhere in the late '80's the architecture changed and Polk engineers fed the stereo signal to all drivers if the interconnect was disconnected.
In either case, the SDA effect is absent when the interconnect is absent.

Thanks to DK's hard work, posts # 2, 3, 4 and 5 at . . .

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=55888

. . . display the SDA schematics to prove it.

That's what I said in post #11...........only much less verbiage :biggrin: One minor correction to the bold part........it wasnt a "full" stereo signal only a narrow band of the full signal, IIRC.

OldmanSRS

And that's why I stated "Not quite true. Some SDA speakers may have drivers dedicated solely to this signal but if so, it's not many."

This is what I was correcting. "Some of the drivers in all SDA speakers are dedicated solely to this signal."

There is nothing true about the above statement.

inspiredsports

heiney9 wrote: »

That's what I said in post #11...........only much less verbiage :biggrin: One minor correction to the bold part........it wasnt a "full" stereo signal only a narrow band of the full signal, IIRC.

Correct!

Bottom line, in reference to OP's questions/comments, I'd suggest you buy another brand of speaker if you don't want to use the interconnect cable because the sound quality is compromised without it in place.