SDA SRS 1.2TL Placement Suggestions!!!

locnguyen26

Hi, I have been reading these forums many times after recently purchasing my first pair of SDA srs 1.2tl. I've been struggling with these speakers not producing the bass response that I anticipated. Thanks to forum (especially darqueknight, gimpod, ricardo, lasareth, etc, etc (thank you very much!!!), I've learned to upgrade my crossover, Armacell all my drivers and tweeters and pr. I am currently pretty happy with the way the bass response is after these work, but I am having some trouble with the placement of these speakers. My room is 12x20 and I am trying to place these speakers against the 12' side and that means that I would only have these speakers only 2' 3 inches from the side walls (that's the most due to the TV being in the middle). I know that on the manual it said that minimum is 3' from side walls. Can anyone let me know how this may affect the way these sound? I can place these against the 20' side but prefer not because the furnitures don't work out too well (and also I'll be sitting too close the the TV and speakers). I am currently running these w/ a Yamaha mx-1000 amp, cx-1000 preamp and a dbx 120x-ds. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Also, I am looking for some sl3000 tweeters as well as some of mine are dead. Thanks in advance.

erniejade

When i had mine, i found in one room, on the short side 1 foot from the corner and 6" from the back wall worked better, in a different room i found 3 feet from the side wall, and 6" from the back wall worked good. In another room, one side was 4 feet from the side wall / corner, and the other side was 10 feet from the side wall or corner, and 3.5 feet from the back wall worked best. every room is different.

you can do a bass crawl... put one of the speakers where your chair is, walk around the room or crouch down as if it was your sitting level and slowly go around the room. you will hear where it peaks, where it sounds tubby, where it completely drops out and so on. Mark the sopt. keep going for the other speaker. now there is the issue, sometimes where the bass is best doesnt give you the best imaing. Thats where a sub comes in handy. In my living room where the speaker sounds best and the sound stage it right on, the bass disapears so I added a sub in a different spot and i get the best of both worlds.

Room acoustics no matter how good or how bad a speaker is always plays a huge roll on how its going to sound. Every room even if it has the same or close to the same dimentions, will sound different. Manufactures can suggest placement and its always a good start but, you need to play around with the placement on what suits your room.

locnguyen26

Thanks so much. I will try to move it around again later today when I get home from work. Because the room is kind of small for these speakers I am kind of limited to how I can move them around. It seemed like the farther I moved it away from the corner sidewall, the better the sound was. The problem is that I can't move it any farther than 2' 3inches or else the speakers are then too close together. Thanks again for the quick response. I appreciate it.

newrival

try out that wide wall too, you can always get new furniture :biggrin:

Face

I would look into a more capable amp, it's not even rated for 4ohm operation.

locnguyen26

I believe that this amp is capable of driving low loads. I'm not too knowledgable about this amp though, however it was recommended to me by a friend who has used it before. I'm pretty happy with it for now. Any other amp you'd recommend for these speakers? Thanks.

MX-1000 Specs
•260 Watts (8 ohms) from 20 to 20,000 Hz at no more than 0.003% Total Harmonic Distortion.
•295 Watts (6 ohms) from 20 to 20,000 Hz at no more than 0.007% Total Harmonic Distortion
•330 Watts (4 ohms) from 20 to 20,000 Hz at no more than 0.02% Total Harmonic Distortion
•Dynamic Power per channel (by IHF Dynamic Headroom measuring method)
•8 ohms/6 ohms/4 ohms/2 ohms/1 ohms 450W/560W/740W/960W/1000W
•DIN Standard Output Power Per Channel: 1kHz 1% THD 4 ohms, 450W.
•Power Band Width: 0.03% THD 130W, 8ohms, 10Hz~60kHz.
•Damping Factor: 1kHz, 8 ohms, 130.
•Input Sensitivity/Impedance:MAIN IN, 1.62v/60 kOhms
•Frequency Response (20Hz~20kHz), +0, -0.2dB
•Total Harmohic Distortions (20Hz~20kHz), MAIN IN to Sp Out, 130W/8 ohms, 0.003%.
•Intermodulation Distortion: Rated Output/8 ohms, 0.003%

newrival

That's a nice amp, It should have no issues. Are there better? Of course, but that will have no issues running your speakers. I would look at upgrading your preamp, sources, etc. before I would look at upgrading your amp, given that it is of good quality, and not knowing what's in the rest of your system.

nooshinjohn

Your amp is just fine... those speakers need to see the long wall to sound their best.

locnguyen26

Thanks guys!! I think I will keep it to see the long wall as well. I will move some furnitures around later today and see how it goes. I guess I don't really have a choice as the farthest I can move them from the side walls are 2 feet 3 inches. When I first bought these, I was running it with a carver tfm-35x and a ct-23 preamp. When I was not getting the bass response that I anticipated, I upgraded it to the yamaha mx-1000 amp. As far as the preamp goes, I bought a cx-1000 preamp to match my amp. I heard good things about this preamp as well. I do have a carver c16 preamp that I can hook it up to although it don't have the remote capability so I'm hesitant to use it. Any preamp that you guys would recommend to use w/ my mx-1000 amp? I went through the speakers and resealed everything, that's what made a big difference for my bass. I guess maybe there was an air leak. I am just now trying to tweak the placement of these speakers and was shocked how the sound changes as I move these speakers around. Thanks again for all your guys' help.

pitdogg2

locnguyen26 wrote: »

I was running it with a carver tfm-35x and a ct-23 preamp. As far as the preamp goes, I bought a cx-1000 preamp to match my amp. I heard good things about this preamp as well. I do have a carver c16 preamp that I can hook it up to although it don't have the remote capability so I'm hesitant to use it. Thanks again for all your guys' help.

Well if it were me I'd hook up that C16pre as well as the TFM35 those two are a very good combination. I use a C16 with a TFM45 and also have a TFM25 both have been rebuilt by Roland at Hitech audio ltd. and both with my SDA1's produce more than enough bass. If you are wanting the BOOM BOOM BOOM like say from a cerwin vega party speaker those aren't going to do it. This will be a better more articulate bass.
my .02
Ivan

newrival

the yamaha will be much better than the carver, in my opinion. But if you still have them it doesn't hurt to experiment.

locnguyen26

I have tried the tfm-35x with these speakers and when I compared it to the Yamaha, the sound and bass response was better with the Yamaha mx-1000. The Yamaha hits the bass with so much more authority and clean. In my opinion. Anyways, I am happy with the bass response now and the bass that it's hitting is nice and tight. I didn't try it with the c16 preamp yet but I will try it later today. Thanks again for all your help and suggestions.

gimpod

Here's a suggestion on placement for those bad boys, crate them up and send them to me I'm sure I could find a proper placement for them. :cheesygrin:



Sorry I can't help it. :redface:

JayCee

locnguyen26, welcome to Club Polk.

Good suggestions above. I have 1.2tl's and have changed my room configuration many times trying to find the best sweet spot. I have a tricky room and have found the imaging is best w/the speakers 8" from the back wall, which most folks don't do. I have no walls close to the sides...doorways on each, so my bass response isn't what it should be. I have an Epik sub placed in the room to compensate and it sounds really good. Your best bet is to move things around. We're moving soon and I joke w/my wife's that our next house has to be Polk friendly.

locnguyen26 wrote: »

... I am looking for some sl3000 tweeters as well as some of mine are dead. Thanks in advance.

How many do you need?

John

locnguyen26

I need four if possible but will take whatever I can get

F1nut

How far out from the back wall are your speakers? Are they spiked?

locnguyen26

My floor is porcelain and currently I have it sitting in front of my entertainment center I have to wait till this weekend to move my furniture out when I get some help. I'll try to keep it maybe 6" from back wall maybe a foot. They're currently on the original flat pegs its round on the bottom. I think they're call glides. Thanks

erniejade

The actual polk recommendation is against the back wall if possible. They actually had a wall brace for them. Again every room is different that's for sure!!

F1nut

locnguyen26 wrote: »

My floor is porcelain and currently I have it sitting in front of my entertainment center I have to wait till this weekend to move my furniture out when I get some help. I'll try to keep it maybe 6" from back wall maybe a foot. They're currently on the original flat pegs its round on the bottom. I think they're call glides. Thanks

If you don't already, get some area rugs or one large one on the floor. I think you'll find they sound better after you rearrange your room. Spikes are always a good idea.

JayCee

locnguyen26 wrote: »

I need four if possible but will take whatever I can get

I have 2 complete sets in excellent condition. No problem offering up 4. I did a quick search and $25 each, plus shipping, seems to be a fair price. They'll be packed extremely well and will make it to you safe-and-sound. If you'd like to see them I can post pictures. Otherwise, let me know and I can private message (PM) you with PayPal details. You'll need 10 posts before you're able to PM me back (Don't post any personal information in this thread). I'm heading to bed in a few minutes, so if you don't hear back from me tonight I'll respond in the morning.

JayCee

JayCee wrote: »

I have 2 complete sets in excellent condition. No problem offering up 4. I did a quick search and $25 each, plus shipping, seems to be a fair price. They'll be packed extremely well and will make it to you safe-and-sound. If you'd like to see them I can post pictures. Otherwise, let me know and I can private message (PM) you with PayPal details. You'll need 10 posts before you're able to PM me back (Don't post any personal information in this thread). I'm heading to bed in a few minutes, so if you don't hear back from me tonight I'll respond in the morning.

Just a quick thought. Do you know why your tweets are blown? Were they sold to you this way or did something happen after you set them up?

locnguyen26

Honestly, I couldn't even tell they were not working until I checked every one of the drivers and tweeters with a multimeter. The mids and highs sounded good to me. But now, I'm curious to see what it would sound like with all tweeters working. I purchased these from a very nice seller out of Virginia and they are in mint condition. After I upgraded the crossovers and resealed all drivers, tweeters and pr, the bass improved significantly. I've always ran these with clean power amp and preamps. I honestly don't know and couldn't tell neither. Now that I know, I just know that I would like to change them so I can hear them to their fullest potential. I'm hoping I can move some furnitures around later today. JayCee pls PM me your contact and we can talk. Thanks so much again for all your advices. I will keep you posted once I move my speakers around. I will also go and purchase a area rug as well, the previous seller had recommended this to me and I think it will definately help. Thanks again guys!!