2A upgrades - advice needed

tripleguy

Hi, I have a nice pair of SDA 2a and I'd like to tweak the sound. I've read where the RDO-194 tweeter is a superior replacement. My question - since all of my tweets are fine, should I just order 2 of the RDOs and replace the inner tweets with those and leave the originals in the outermost position? Or, would I be better off removing the leads on the outermost tweets and sealing things back up?

Are there any other mods worth doing here (x-over)? Thanks in advance!

JPSmario

so you have 2 tweeters in each cabinet? that sounds like you have SDA 2's, then, not SDA 2A's. my 2A's have 1 tweeter per cabinet.

the reason most people change to the RDO194 is that the original SL2000 has a 'bite' (some say at 12K). I found I couldn't listen to mine for more than an hour until I installed the RDO194's. there are others that are not bothered, so let your ears be your guide.

That being said, I would think you'd need to replace all 4 tweeters in order to be consistant and really hear the change. There does seem to be a constant market for both SL2000's and RDO194's, so which ever way you go you should recover a good portion of the cost.

Good Luck!

nadams

If you have two tweeters per cabinet, then you have the original SDA2's. 2a and 2b went to a single tweeter design.

My recommendation would be to disconnect the outer tweeter on both speakers, and replace the inner ones with RDO's if you want. I found my SDA 2's to be much more listenable with the original SL2000's after disconnecting two of them

Joe08867

First I would try disconnecting the outer tweeter in each cab and see how that sounds to you.

I would also suggest updating the crossovers with newer better parts like Sonicap or Clarity Cap.

Next I would suggest the RD-0194 replacement tweeter.

Next would be Larry's rings.

The list goes on and on. Do some searching and you will find all the answers you need.

ShadesPG

personally, i really like the SL2000's...between my 1c's and my 2's, i have 8 of them...and when my crs's arrive ill have 12

chandler9a

Joe08867 wrote: »

First I would try disconnecting the outer tweeter in each cab and see how that sounds to you.

I would also suggest updating the crossovers with newer better parts like Sonicap or Clarity Cap.

Next I would suggest the RD-0194 replacement tweeter.

Next would be Larry's rings.

The list goes on and on. Do some searching and you will find all the answers you need.

great advice. I would do the same

tripleguy

Thanks all. Yes, I have SDA 2s, not 2A. My brain knew this but my fingers apparently didn't. I guess I will experiment for now. I don't mind the sound, but the tweets can be a bit shrill I guess. I don't have a lot of listening hours logged with them so hard to say. As for the caps, I'll have to look into that. The original caps probably don't need replacement so much as better components may have an effect on the overall frequency response. I've recapped older AR speakers but they needed it as the old ones were going on 40 years old. These speakers aren't nearly as old so it's not something to consider out of necessity but rather as an upgrade to the original components. Anyone ever do these with inexpensive poly caps of other origins and what were the results?

ShadesPG

newb question: do the sda 2's use the mw6511's and are they the same as whats on the sda 1c's and sda crs's?

thanks

Joe08867

Tripleguy, the shrill sound is from both the SL2000 and the dimensional tweeter setup. Actually it could be worse if you have the Silver faced SL1000 tweeter which my SDA's had. That tweeter is the worst in all the series.

The dimensional side tweeter was discarded in later revisions to the SDA's because of the shrill artifact it added to the sound. Making them very fatiguing and almost to bright. Disconnecting the dimensional tweeter would be my first step. Replacing the stereo side tweeter with the RD-0194 would be my next step for sure. The replacement tweeter is leaps and bounds better in every way to the SL2000.

Shades, no the original SDA2 used the 6501 driver in all three spots. There is a list of drivers used at the top of this section in the crossovers for SDA's thread. It will give you a list of the tweeters and drivers used in all the SDA's.

ShadesPG

thanks