One of those moments with the SDA-2B's

audiocr381ve

I'll try and keep the story short, I promise. And please forgive me, I'm not the best writer and tend to go off on rabbit trails quite often.

Okay, so recently the good Lord blessed me with a baby girl. I got rid of all of my audio equipment to make room for her in our small townhouse. I had NAD separates (C162 pre / C272 amp), the new Magnepan 1.7's and the Monitor Audio RS6's. I absolutely hated the Maggies, but the RS6's were the first speaker I ever sat back and thought "wow". Loved em', although it was more of a "it's crazy how clear this is" more than a "man this song is refreshing the soul" type of love.

But that's besides the point, I got rid of all that stuff. My daughter is now 10 months old and the bug got the best of me recently.

Flashback... My wife bought me a vintage receiver when we were both teenagers. I needed some speakers bad as a teen and it just so happened that a dude from the church we attended donated some to our youth group rummage sale. They were some old Sony's, 3 way, with a 12" woofer and 12" passive radiator. I asked him if I could buy them and he said "You know what, take them home with you right now." So, I got home, plugged them in after searching for scrap speaker wire, and was absolutely floored by the quality. I called my dad and brother in because I was freaking out at how much the system rocked.

Fast forward, now I'm 25 and after the few journeys I've been on with this hobby, I honestly didn't want to start spending thousands and being constantly dissatisfied while isolating myself from my family in one of the most selfish, self-absorbed, self-seeking, downright silly at times hobbies on earth (rant, sorry). My solution, get back to the vintage and call it a day.

Like I said, the bug got me. I went out and bought a vintage classic receiver, the Marantz 2245, and just a few days ago after extensive research and an audition of the Polk Monitor 10's, I picked a pair of pristine condition SDA-2B's 3 days ago.

I had been running them in an awkward position as they would not fit on the designated entertainment wall. I had to position one sideways on a different wall. Well, today I decided to pull them out and position them correctly and seat myself at the correct distance, something I haven't done since I took them home...and...wow...just wow. I absolutely hated that I had one of these classic cliche moments with audio equipment but I literally sat there, closed my eyes, and felt the magic. It was ridiculous how these speakers pull you in and throw sounds at you at angles you didn't know were possible. Made me question if any upgrades were necessary.

Marantz 2245 + Polk SDA-2B's = Smiles.

renowilliams

Congrats on the new speakers. You will have to find a way of keeping them properly positioned but you already new that.

P.S Look into the tweeter upgrade for those, you won't regret it.




Welcome to CP


Tim

audiocr381ve

Thanks Reno. The gentlemen who sold them to me installed the RDO-194's.

On3s&Z3r0s

audiocr381ve wrote: »

... after the few journeys I've been on with this hobby, I honestly didn't want to start spending thousands and being constantly dissatisfied while isolating myself from my family in one of the most selfish, self-absorbed, self-seeking, downright silly at times hobbies on earth (rant, sorry).

ARRRRGH!!!! the guilt! Now I'm going to have to get up at 3am tomorrow and watch that friggin wedding with my wife just to ease my conscience.

audiocr381ve

On3s&Z3r0s wrote: »

ARRRRGH!!!! the guilt! Now I'm going to have to get up at 3am tomorrow and watch that friggin wedding with my wife just to ease my conscience.

Seriously Ones! I hope you do that.

!Warning, possible offensive rant ahead, please turn around if you don't want to hear the truth!

All joking aside though, it honestly breaks my heart to see men put their wives and family's through some of this stuff in the name of "hobby" or "stress relief", as if they were single and could. We are suppose to lead our families but instead most of us spend more time to ourselves, doing what? At the end of the day... listening to freakin' music when we could take our family to a concert and stop making excuses.

It's such an easy way out of reality, and what's sad is the reality is that most of our wives and kids suffer because of it. Many kids and wives will say when we are gone "He sure did love his stereo" and not "He sure did love his family well."

A stress reliever should be a relaxing night out with our wives, or having a daddy date with our kids. I guarantee many of us would be absolutely shocked if we were to add up the hours spent in isolation, research, shopping, upgrading, listening, researching again, selling, shopping, and the wheels go round and round!

Although I'm only 25, I've been through seasons of just wanting to not face reality...my system among other things is where I turned. Honestly, it's still at temptation to isolate, but I'm certainly not the way I used to be.

I think some of us need a loving wake up call. Maybe this is it? If you feel guilt, let it be the good type of guilt that leads to changes. I had to go through it, I've been there. If you get to take that next breath, it's not to late.

kawizx9r

Congrats on the speakers and receiver!

As for the 'guilt', I spend time listening to my 3.1TL's with my girl :biggrin:

audiocr381ve

kawizx9r wrote: »

Congrats on the speakers and receiver!

As for the 'guilt', I spend time listening to my 3.1TL's with my girl :biggrin:

Now THAT'S a cool deal. I wish my wife had the patience!

renowilliams

I spent years raising a family and forgoing audio nirvana, as lets face it, priorities are priorities. I simply could not justify spending money on this hobby then. My youngest girl is in college and I'm getting back into what you aptly call " one of the most selfish, self-absorbed, self-seeking, downright silly at times hobbies on earth". I believe at this stage of my life I've earned the right.
I think that its good that your taking pause and thinking of your family before making decisions on purchases that could potentially affect them.
Unfortuatly, most of us are not born rich, so if we have a family, their best interests have to be of primary importance, in making any financial decisions.

My wife thinks I've lost my mind as in the last month or so I've spent quite a bit of money. As I said earlier though, I've earned the right.

Don't worry, some day you'll be an old **** like me, then you'll be able to self indulge some.

Tim

audiocr381ve

Good share Reno.

I call it those names because of the time spent isolated, so if you're not one of those guys with a listening chair for a party of one, then I apologize for making it seem like such a blanket statement.

I am one of those not born rich, and although that is true I can't tell you how much money was wasted.

I think their are great ways to really enjoy this hobby and the journey of building, creating, upgrading. That is all good and we should absolutely find some joy in it. It's when those things subtly become more than they are intended to be is when we slowly become insane and obsessed and our family's are the ones suffering. Again, I'm only speaking from experience. I could remember entire days going by when I would research stuff, or play with speaker positions for hours, or drive 16 hours to pick up a pair of speakers (true story).

How much effort was I putting into making sure my wife was taken care of? She got left-overs (metaphor, that would be horrible if that were literal). We think because our women are taken care of financially that it should mean they are taken care of emotionally or spiritually. That's ridiculous. If you find your wife acting like a total B towards you, ask yourself how well you've been loving her. If you don't date your wife, someone else will.

Wow, rabbit trails and rants. I need sleep.

renowilliams

Don't get me wrong,I didn't just go nuts and totally disregard my wife's emotioal being. Last week I bought a 54" Panisonic plasma and replaced a 42" tv I bought a year and a half ago. She initially thought I was crazy, until I set it up and we watched a movie together. Luckily for me, my wife likes to listen to music as much as I do. Would she have spent what I have on gear.....lol nota chance. That said, last night I put Pink Floyd pulse dvd in she came into the tv room and cuddled up with me.

Life is good.

audiocr381ve

renowilliams wrote: »

Don't get me wrong,I didn't just go nuts and totally disregard my wife's emotioal being. Last week I bought a 54" Panisonic plasma and replaced a 42" tv I bought a year and a half ago. She initially thought I was crazy, until I set it up and we watched a movie together. Luckily for me, my wife likes to listen to music as much as I do. Would she have spent what I have on gear.....lol nota chance. That said, last night I put Pink Floyd pulse dvd in she came into the tv room and cuddled up with me.

Life is good.

Haha, awesome dude.

Escher

Every night - before he goes to bed - my 21 month old little boy (Izak) asks if he can go into "Papa's Room".

We sit in front of the stereo and put on a random record - lately Dave Brubek.

He swings his head and listens and I try not to tear up... Then he says "Bye Bye" and waves at the stereo and says "geegar" - so I get my Les Paul down and he strums while I play chords... we do this pretty much every night.

I decided to get back into audio about two months ago, as a way to help my kids appreciate music and to teach them about it and spend time with them..

And yes, before you say it - I'm not at all sad that its feeding my audio fetish.

audiocr381ve

Escher wrote: »

Every night - before he goes to bed - my 21 month old little boy (Izak) asks if he can go into "Papa's Room".

We sit in front of the stereo and put on a random record - lately Dave Brubek.

He swings his head and listens and I try not to tear up... Then he says "Bye Bye" and waves at the stereo and says "geegar" - so I get my Les Paul down and he strums while I play chords... we do this pretty much every night.

I decided to get back into audio about two months ago, as a way to help my kids appreciate music and to teach them about it and spend time with them..

And yes, before you say it - I'm not at all sad that its feeding my audio fetish.

Haha, very cool. My daughter said her first words this morning, I can't wait to share some great jazz and blues with her when she's a little older.

I guess if we are keeping the main thing the main thing, which is leading and loving our families well, then it's okay to enjoy these things. It's such a slippery slope and so subtle when it slowly starts to steal our hearts away from our families (could be anything, not just audio), something I have to be careful of.

Anyway, I tried using an Adcom GFA-545 amp on the SDA's, what a horrible experience. It was not subtle how harsh the highs/mid-highs became. Cymbals and open high-hat's were killing my ears. Switched back to the ol' faithful and things were nice and sizzling again.

renowilliams

Hey Guys,I just took this with my webcam but I should have not used a concert to show the picture on the tv. I did think the sound was ok.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rL1GA_RzU5Q

chandler9a

Audiocr381ve, you make a very good point about letting our hobbies become more like "idols," if I may. Its great to see young fathers/husbands caring more about leading and loving their families than what make themselves happy.

Don't forget though, this sounds like its also a passion for you and the last thing we need on this earth is men and women putting their passions to the side. Its what keeps our hearts alive, nothing wrong with that. You seem like you have a healthy handle on this hobby. I thank God every day that my father kept his passion for good audio (SDA's) back in the 80's when he couldn't necessarily afford it in some ways. It has become a hobby for me because of him and its something we share together now.

Best of luck with your journey from here, your family is lucky to have you.

audiocr381ve

chandler9a wrote: »

Audiocr381ve, you make a very good point about letting our hobbies become more like "idols," if I may. Its great to see young fathers/husbands caring more about leading and loving their families than what make themselves happy.

Don't forget though, this sounds like its also a passion for you and the last thing we need on this earth is men and women putting their passions to the side. Its what keeps our hearts alive, nothing wrong with that. You seem like you have a healthy handle on this hobby. I thank God every day that my father kept his passion for good audio (SDA's) back in the 80's when he couldn't necessarily afford it in some ways. It has become a hobby for me because of him and its something we share together now.

Best of luck with your journey from here, your family is lucky to have you.

Hey Chandler, thank you for the kind and wise words. Super interesting that you used the word "idol". I'm glad you did. It was a word I felt was to strong to use on a forum I just became apart of but I sure was thinking it.

Really enjoyed your story too. I wish my dad and I had something to share like you guys do. Actually, we do enjoy the occasional round of golf, so I can't complain.

Wish you well bro.

charley95

On3s&Z3r0s wrote: »

ARRRRGH!!!! the guilt! Now I'm going to have to get up at 3am tomorrow and watch that friggin wedding with my wife just to ease my conscience.

Poor Guy! I heard Elton Johns dress was nicer than the brides dress.
Having my head sewn to the carpet sounds like more fun!

On3s&Z3r0s

charley95 wrote: »

Poor Guy! I heard Elton Johns dress was nicer than the brides dress.
Having my head sewn to the carpet sounds like more fun!

LOL... the guilt wasn't strong enough to get me out of bed. I had an interview at 9am this morning so got to use the "I need my beauty sleep" argument. But I'll listen to some Elton John on my 2-channel timesuck to make up for it.

WGDB

Hey audiocr381ve - My 5 year old daughter asks me to play her favorite Justin Bieber song "Oh Baby" followed by the Black Eyed Peas "Tonight's gonna be a good night" song every night at 8:00 pm just before her bedtime. She listens to all my Texas (alt) Country most often and can sing most of all the words to Pat Green's songs, and Cross Canadian Ragweed. These are the sweetest sounds in the world. That's what life's all about brother.

audiocr381ve

Haha, that is awesome! I always wonder what music my daughters gonna like. I continue have jazz spinning on vinyl to hopefully sway her tastes that way

I might get shot for saying this, but their are a few songs from Beiber that are really good.

*Hiding under a rock*

RuSsMaN

Popped my SDA cherry on 2B's, with 25 watts of class A Bedini power, and I will never forget that listening session. Always will have a soft spot for 2B's, and have been waiting for a pair locally for years just on principle.

WGDB

I won't shoot ya brother - I agree - I can tolerate but only so much "Bubble Gum Rock" Justin "Beaver" as she calls him - She too likes to strum my Les Paul while I switch power chords (E, A, B, G) cranked through my 16 watt "Crate" Tube.

MillerLiteScott

My 2B's put a smile on my face last night also.

Enjoy.

Scott

audiocr381ve

WGDB, Les Paul huh? Man after my own heart. I used to play music with an older guy and he had a wall which had 3 of his beloved Les Paul's hanging (I play the drums). He was a huge fan of Gibson guitars. He played Orange amps and the tone was always just disgustingly good.

He did buy a vintage Strat, (1968?) eventually and it was crazy to see how a different a guitar can pull different styles/emotions out of a person. It's like his playing completely changed.

WGDB

I have a home made Strat - Garage special $25.00 - Took her down to "parade rest" bare wood. Six coats of polished clear lacquer, added SRV Texas Special pickups, a new neck, roller nut, and Schaller locking machine heads. Sweet sounds - I alternate between the LP and the Strat. Yup, nothing like the sweet creamy tone of the paul and the jangle cut of the SRV Strat through 16 watts of Crate/Orange tube......

Joe08867

I have a buddy that has several tube amps for his guitars.(Mostly Strats) A fender Hot Rod Deville, an Orange 30w, a Riviera, and Vox AC30 and a Crate Voodoo.

It is amazing how different each one sounded. I always preferred the Orange or Deville when playing with him. (I am also a Drummer) They just have such warmth and presence. The Vox and Riviera had that Brit sound and the Voodoo had a metal sound to die for. Shame they don't make that monster anymore.