SDA's & Home Theater

audiocr381ve

Is anyone having success with their SDA's in home theater mode? While my SDA-2B TL's are phenomenal for 2 channel music, I feel like they aren't cutting it for home theater especially sitting next to my brothers RT-600i's.

This doesn't bother me at all because of how much joy they bring musically, I'm just curious to see if anybody is having great success with them in the HT department.

leroyjr1

I'm not a big fan of sda's in my HT setup either. I think there's better out there. What else have you tried for HT use?

Toolfan66

I would keep my RTiA9's over the SDA's for HT anyday of the week..

chandler9a

I have always used SDA's for HT but mainly because I don't want to have two separate sets of speakers in the same spot.

They sound good but I'm sure there are better options out there for HT.

The RTiA9's TFLF suggested look like a nice option.

audiocr381ve

When I was watching one of the Harry Potter movies through my bro's RT-600i's, I was floored at how exciting they were, especially in comparison to my SDA's. What I was surprised by was how good the RT-600i's were with music too. Very exciting and crisp sound.

I know this has probably been covered extensively, but why are their good "home theater" speakers and then good "music" speakers? What is the gap between the two?

falconcry72

audiocr381ve wrote: »

...why are their good "home theater" speakers and then good "music" speakers? What is the gap between the two?

My take:

-Good music speakers present information as neutrally and accurately as possible. The name of the game is subtlety, finesse, delicacy, and sophistication.

-Good home theater speakers impart "fun" or exciting tonal characteristics like unnaturally bright highs and powerful lows; think glass shattering or explosions. The name of the game is color, dynamics, and assertion.

Good HT speakers are like the sexy girl with a scandalous outfit you meet at the bar at 3AM, take home, and preform unmentionable acts of hedonism with, the likes of which make Ron Jeremy blush.

Good music speakers are like the conservatively dressed, understatedly beautiful, intelligent, humble girl that doesn't draw attention to herself, but you want to introduce to your family and make her your wife.


There's a time and a place for both.

leroyjr1

falconcry72 wrote: »

My take:

-Good music speakers present information as neutrally and accurately as possible. The name of the game is subtlety, finesse, delicacy, and sophistication.

-Good home theater speakers impart "fun" or exciting tonal characteristics like unnaturally bright highs and powerful lows; think glass shattering or explosions. The name of the game is color, dynamics, and assertion.

Good HT speakers are like the sexy girl with a scandalous outfit you meet at the bar at 3AM, take home, and preform unmentionable acts of hedonism with, the likes of which make Ron Jeremy blush.

Good music speakers are like the conservatively dressed, understatedly beautiful, intelligent, humble girl that doesn't draw attention to herself, but you want to introduce to your family and make her your wife.


There's a time and a place for both.

HT or not I wouldn't want unnatural bright highs.

dhart86

falconcry72 wrote: »

My take:

-Good music speakers present information as neutrally and accurately as possible. The name of the game is subtlety, finesse, delicacy, and sophistication.

-Good home theater speakers impart "fun" or exciting tonal characteristics like unnaturally bright highs and powerful lows; think glass shattering or explosions. The name of the game is color, dynamics, and assertion.

Good HT speakers are like the sexy girl with a scandalous outfit you meet at the bar at 3AM, take home, and preform unmentionable acts of hedonism with, the likes of which make Ron Jeremy blush.

Good music speakers are like the conservatively dressed, understatedly beautiful, intelligent, humble girl that doesn't draw attention to herself, but you want to introduce to your family and make her your wife.


There's a time and a place for both.

Nice analogy!

falconcry72

audiocr381ve wrote: »

Is anyone having success with their SDA's in home theater mode?

I've used SDA-2B's in multiple Home Theater settings and I love them.

The key here is to have a matching center channel. There are modern centers, like the CS-350LS, that do a decent job, but, for me, the front soundstage didn't come together until I actually used a matching vintage center. Matching surrounds help too, but aren't as important.

The best center I've found is a Monitor 10. It's less than convenient size-wise, but damn it sounds good! It handles lows great, and the 2 mid woofers give it enough width to integrate really well. I'm currently using a Monitor 5 center for placement reasons, but I still think it does a better job than my cs-350ls.

My favorite Vintage Polk HT setup was SDA-2B's as fronts, a Monitor 10B as the center, RTA-12C's as sides, and Monitor 5B's as rears. That was in a large space, so I needed the 7.1.

Your 2B's are tl'd, so you'll be more limited in finding a matching center. A RTA-11tl would be awesome, but, again, placement will be difficult.

falconcry72

I will add that I compared the vintage SDA-based system listed above to a more modern system in the same space and on all the same gear etc.

The modern setup consisted of RT-16 fronts, a CS-350LS center, RT-7 sides, and RT-3 rears. I really liked that setup too, and I still regret selling those speakers. There were things about it that I definitely liked better than the vintage setup.

The two setups sounded very different from each other, and I really liked both of them for different reasons.

The point here is that there is no better, just different. You have to decide with your own ears.

quadzilla

falconcry72 wrote: »

Your 2B's are tl'd, so you'll be more limited in finding a matching center. A RTA-11tl would be awesome, but, again, placement will be difficult.

Why not a TL'ed CRS+?

falconcry72

quadzilla wrote: »

Why not a TL'ed CRS+?

That can be perfect; you just have to rewire the drivers so that the normally dimensional one is playing the same info as the stereo one, but if you were TL'ing them anyway, then rewiring them would be the least of your worries.

falconcry72

I will also add that with conventional non-SDA speakers you have a lot more options in terms of placement. You can go super wide and toe them in, which can be cool for HT, but not possible with SDA's. Depending on your room, you may have furniture and stuff to work around. SDA's generally need to be in one spot; other HT speakers can work in many different spots, but if you can get the SDA's in the right spot, I dig them for movies.

chandler9a

This just gave me an idea. My next apartment is not big enough for multiple systems and since I will be setting up my SDA 2a's I will have monitor 10's that wont have a place of their own... May as well use one as a center, they both have 194's in them as well.

Thanks for the suggestion!

falconcry72

chandler9a wrote: »

... I will have monitor 10's that wont have a place of their own... May as well use one as a center, they both have 194's in them as well....

Cool, man! Let us know how it works out.

The midrange on all the vintage Polks is so textural and realistic sounding; that's why I love them as center channels... great for dialogue. On some content, the center can get some serious bass... with a Monitor 10 as your center there is no need to set it as small, that's for sure.:cool:

HTguru1982

Finally got my RTA12C's up and running so I'm able to use my Mon 7 as a center speaker and it works wonderfully. Dialog is very clean and natural.

chandler9a

Well I can't wait to try this. I am mainly a 2 channel music guy but I love movies.
The Monitor 10 will have a dedicated amp...NAD 2100 bridged, this should be enough.

I will have to redesign the entertainment stand however.

Mr. Bubbles

I have also tried using my SDA's in my HT set up but did not like the effects very good. Sonically the speakers were very pleasing with very good detail as they normally have in stereo but they did not allow placement of surround sound effects nearly as good as any of the following. AR5's, DCM TF600's, DCM TF1000's, DCM TFv8.0's, Advent heritage. Klipsch KG-4's, or even my small Polk 5jr's. My favorites for HT are the TFv8.0's and TF 600's for the mains. These have a very focused sound but still have a nice wide presence, I think due to the additional tweeters mounted on the rear corners. Though these do sound great on music as well they are no where near the SDA's for 2 channel listening.

rromeo923

I dismantled my HD 7 channel system and speakers and replaced it with a 2 channel amp and SDA 1C's. Surprisingly, I do not really miss the surround sound while watching tv and movies.

Joe08867

I did 2b's in a HT setup and it was good as long as I didn't have a center. Its real hard to get a Timbre match for those guys imho.

I liked it until I got something dedicated to HT and brought the 2B's back into the 2ch Man Cave.

heiney9

audiocr381ve wrote: »

Is anyone having success with their SDA's in home theater mode?

Yep, I can rattle the windows and hear things all around me. A door slammed (in the background) in the movie was watching and I damn near jumped a foot off teh couch thinking it was my backdoor.

They are great for HT.

H9

P.s. I only use the 1C's in 2.0 mode

Conradicles

I run SDA-2B's in my H/T and they work for me!

cstmar01

I'm using the SRS's right now for HT. While no they are not the same as the A9's I don't mind them. They are not as bright as the A9's and blend pretty well into my HT.

When I move and get more room I'm more likely to return the A9's to the HT and just have a SRS 2 channel as I like them better for that application.

nacam

I was using my 1.2TL's just for music in the basement. I setup a TV down there and am using them on their own for watching movies and TV occasionally and they are exceptional on their own with 5.1 mixing down to 2.0 using the receiver (Onkyo) I have pre-ing the Rotel RB-1090 I have powering them. I have a pair of Monitor 4's for rears but never felt the need to set them up as the SDA's seem to do well on their own. Just my opinion, not a true 5.1 setup, but I can honestly say they do a decent job!

falconcry72

Joe08867 wrote: »

I did 2b's in a HT setup and it was good as long as I didn't have a center. Its real hard to get a Timbre match for those guys imho.

The key here is to have a matching center channel. There are modern centers, like the CS-350LS, that do a decent job, but, for me, the front soundstage didn't come together until I actually used a matching vintage center. Matching surrounds help too, but aren't as important.

The best center I've found is a Monitor 10. It's less than convenient size-wise, but damn it sounds good! It handles lows great, and the 2 mid woofers give it enough width to integrate really well. I'm currently using a Monitor 5 center for placement reasons, but I still think it does a better job than my cs-350ls.

....

Joe08867

falconcry72 wrote: »

....

I used two monitor 5jr's at one point. One above the TV and one under. It worked quite well. I had them placed on there sides to help with the WAF.

I still prefered no center because the SDA covered the center so well and with the added effect of a dedicated center the soundstage got to in the face for me. Great for dialog but effects lost some luster.

I could see how a Monitor 10 would be quite good. Considering the driver counts are identical and the setups are similar.

falconcry72

Joe08867 wrote: »

I still prefered no center because the SDA covered the center so well and with the added effect of a dedicated center the soundstage got to in the face for me. Great for dialog but effects lost some luster.

I agree that SDA's can sound really great without a center.

Thinking back, there were definitely things I liked about running my setup with no center more than with a center, even with the Monitor 10's.

engtaz

At one time I have Monitor 5's center and surrounds, the front left and right were 3.1's.

mole'

i used mt 2.3 TLs for some HT use......

no issues here.

heiney9

My 1C's when run in 2.0 have a great center image, dialog is clear and I have no issues with not having a center. Explosions, or anything with lots of low frequency actually shake the house. I get just enough sounds around me with the SDA that it's enjoyable and doesn't ever sound 2 dimensional. For me, since I don't have a dedicated HT room at the moment, it works very well.

But then I am not a harcore HT enthusiast either so I'm willing to compromise at this point. I'm sure once I get a proper HT room with an HT based system I'll feel differently. But for now, I want for nothing when watching movies or Netflix shows or Palladia shows, etc.

H9

evhudsons

heiney9 wrote: »

Yep, I can rattle the windows and hear things all around me. A door slammed (in the background) in the movie was watching and I damn near jumped a foot off the couch thinking it was my backdoor.

They are great for HT.

H9

Yes, I have found the same thing. I had this question myself earlier, as I had a center channel (mono) for hearing vocals prior to upgrading my tweeters, interconnect cord, then tl'ing my crs+. It was really hard to hear what actors were saying without turning it up. I actually wired my surround backs and center together in order to hear better. After upgrading my speakers, I wondered if I needed the center speaker, and what it did to my SDA experience.

I looked up what historically a center channel was designed for, and it was used in the movie theater for wanting to place voices more directly in the middle of the screen rather than seeming either left or right. If you think about it, if someone in a conversation is slightly to the left or right, or back, or moving back and forth, the voice would be coming from that direction, not from the middle of the screen. For normal surround sound, I think a center channel is necessary, but the unique thing about the SDA is that your front channel and front surrounds are the two SDA speakers, you don't need anything more. When I upgraded the tweeters I also upgraded the interconnect cord. The sound was great, and I then wondered if I really needed the center channel anymore to hear the voices clearly.

I removed the center channel, let my AVR receiver do its calibration, and lo and behold my theory was right (IMHO). The SDA experience negates any need for a center channel, at least in my living room. I can spatially hear where the voices and other effects are coming from. If I close my eyes and hold a drumstick(s) I can point to where the various voices are coming from, not just on a linear level, but up, down, back, forward. The SDA sphere of sound is just incredible. After I did this and watched a movie, I heard sounds that made me jump up and turn on the lights to see what the dogs were getting into and I thought rats were running along the baseboards behind my speakers. After not finding anything, I rewound the movie and sure enough it was the movie not real life. The movie was called Tunnel Rats (2008) in case someone wants to check that out. At one point a soldier is throwing rocks out of the way, and it made a loud clear pop about two feet down and three feet left of my speaker. The rat I had heard was about 4 feet back and 3 feet down behind the speakers, but running from about 3 feet left to the other side another 3 feet right. I can't get that same effect with the center channel. Mine was mono, so I see how a stereo matched speaker would be good, but I really think that I would hate to mess up what I have now. That would be an experiment for someone with the right speaker to try.

I mentioned this effect in another post, and it was commented that the larger SDA cord was probably the reason for the extra spatial experience. Surround only gives you the surround experience, not the front 3d experience you have in real life. The center channel would normally be necessary to in my opinion "fake" the SDA experience, but I am lucky and have a vintage SDA CRS+.

Right now I use the just the front two speakers, then two surrounds at couch level mounted high pointed slightly down, and a separate subwoofer. I was going to experiment further with adding two surround backs, as they would mainly be silent expert certain times during movies with supporting tracks. I am on the fence about it though, as I don't want to waste amp power for speakers rarely used.

I am just now learning about the 2 channel setup. I am going to be around for a long long time apparently, as there is so much to learn. As I read another member comment earlier, welcome to the rabbit hole.

For now, I'm super happy with the present setup which works well for both movies and music.

I think my speakers now tl modded sound just as good as any other speaker I've heard, including a $20,000 system that was being auditioned in a local home theater store.

I do understand too, that I am small fry, and some folks here have really nice large rooms set up just for home theater. I use my living room, for both movies, music, as well as social affairs. I'm sure each person has different layouts, acoustics, as well as other factors to consider.

I would like to add: I was thinking about getting new "home theater" speakers too, until I learned about upgrading the ones I have. If I were to compare the pre-mod to the post-mod versus home theater speakers and center channels, my opinion would be completely different. So if you have older SDA's, but haven't either upgraded the crossovers or speakers, give that a chance first rather than wasting money on other speakers. Bring your old SDA's into the modern age, and I bet you would agree that they make fantastic and superb and even sublime home theater speakers.