Why is it that we spend so much $$$ upgrading SDA's???

nspindel

I've been working on all the mods for the ultimate pair of CRS+'s. Between the RD-0198's, Sonicaps, Dueland Resistors, Jantzen and Solen inductors, Cardas binding posts, Gimpod's boards, Larry's rings, Dynamat extreme, and the wood veneer, I'm going to be approaching $1500 worth of mods to these little speakers, and that's before the cost of the DreadNought. Once I've finished with all of this work, here is what will be left from the original CRS+'s as well as genuine Polk replacement parts:

- Stripped down pressboard boxes
- RD-0198 tweeters, replacement cost $48/each
- MW-6510/6511 drivers, replacement cost $48/each
- Passive radiator
- Polyfill
- Wiring harnesses
- Binding post cup (highly modified)

It's interesting that so many of us are willing to spend so much money on upgrading these speakers, when what is remaining from the original Polk speakers after all our mods are done is a bunch of $48 parts. So what exactly is it that motivates us to do this? Did Polk master the art of making $50 drivers and tweeters in the 1980's? Are they able to make pressboard boxes better than anyone else? Best polyfill in the business? No.....

For me, the reason I've spent so much money (for the third time, this is the third pair of SDA's I've hot-rodded) is not because any of the remaining parts justifies all of these expensive electronic replacements. Better tweeters and drivers have been built than these that we use. But the whole is much greater than the sum of the parts here. I think it is the science behind the SDA technology itself, this one-of-a-kind crosstalk network and the theory behind having the left crossover powering a driver in the right speaker and vice versa, that keeps us interested in constantly improving these speakers.

It's interesting, because I get asked a lot why I would spend so much money doing modifications to an old beat up pair of speakers. "What's so special about those speakers?" Well, give them a listen and you'll see....

Conradicles

The same reason folks restore hot rods...something special about them.:biggrin:

PolkieMan

I bought my 2.3tls in 89 new. I have tried newer speakers they become surrounds or are sold to friends or given away. The Sda effect once they are set up right is the main difference but also the smoothness of the entire sound. I guess if something happened to these I couldn't find any I would try to figure out how to make some or like bolt two pair of regular speakers together and wire them to recreate the Sda array

OldmanSRS

Happens in all hobbies. There is a point of diminishing return but who cares? The next owner will be the beneficiary of your hard work and $$$.

drumminman

Because we can ? It keeps us off the streets? Idle hands are the devil's workshop - or is that minds.

I've done my 2.3TL's, and a pair of RTA 12C's. Trying to resist acquiring any more.

Oh yeah, also modded a pair of Definitive Technology BP 30's.

Something about taking a decent speaker and making it better.

Polkersince85

It's like taking an already beautiful woman and applying makeup, a new hairdo and slick dress. Takes her from Wow to Yowzer!

Toolfan66

I have modded my last pair of Polk's, well I won't buy another pair and mod them anyways not saying I won't do something else to the ones I own..

Next for me when I get things in order is to build a set of speakers!!

nspindel

I'm fairly certain that this will be my last pair of Polks that I will rebuild as well. The Mrs. and I are really looking forward to shedding ourselves of the large house and de-cluttering. I don't know that I'll have the luxury of a man cave again where I could get away with big speakers. It's interesting because I've come full circle with SDA's. I bought my first pair, CRS+'s, in 1989. I later upgraded those to 2B's, and then moved up to the 1C's. But now that I'm building these TL CRS+'s, I'm pretty certain that I'll be ecstatic with them. If I hit the lottery and build a mansion, maybe I'll get another man-cave going. Otherwise, I'm all-in TL'ed CRS+

nspindel

I'll tell you one thing Larry, your thread about preferring the CRS+ to the 1C has me so psyched to get these finished. Gotta wait for the Duelands and the Jantzens though.

motorstereo

Maybe because everything else is just a speaker? As great sounding as some of them are they still don't have the sda magic.

nspindel

Well that's just it, isn't it. Even with all the stock components still in place, these speakers sounded great. So we had a bunch of $50 drivers/tweeters/passives in a pressboard box with caps/resistors/inductors that were nothing special, yet we loved the sound. And now e just keep making them sound better with better and better components to support the basic science behind SDA. I'm still amazed that I'm coming back to the speakers I bought almost 23 years ago.

cnh

That's a lot of change. Frankly, I've "never" heard a fully modded set of SDAs and probably won't sink the money or time into mine. But I am "curious" to see just how much the mods do?

Will I be blown away or just say, like I often do when I hear vintage speakers that have been modded, "Yeah, I can hear that that's a little cleaner."

In any case. So much is subjective in this hobby. And I don't even trust my own judgment some of the time.

Sounds like you're having fun regardless of the cost!

cnh

nspindel

I TL'ed a pair of SDA 2B's, which is basically the CRS+ in a bigger cabinet. Did it with Sonicaps and Mills, and obviously the 198's. The difference was astounding. I sold those to a fellow Polkie, who pm'ed me regularly about how astounded he was by them. He then moved up the food chain, and the 2B-TL's went to someone else, who apparently was astounded by them. And that was on the stock inductors and before the DreadNaught. I owned unmodded CRS+'s for about 15 years before I sold them, so I was very familiar with what they did, and the modded 2B's blew the unmodded CRS+'s away, when in stock form they should sound quite similar. These CRS+'s that I'm doing now are going to be the bees knees.

One other thing I'm going to be doing for these is to order some custom boxes for them. I'm certain they will be moved many times as the years move on, and I want to have some good protection for them. You can order foam corners and boxes to your exact size. It'll probably be silly expensive, but it'll be good to have them for the long term.

RickTfromAZ

Toolfan66 wrote: »

I have modded my last pair of Polk's, well I won't buy another pair and mod them anyways not saying I won't do something else to the ones I own..

Next for me when I get things in order is to build a set of speakers!!

Good Luck with that endeavor. That would scare me to death! I would become a victim of "Analysis Paralysis", and it would never get off of the drawing board. Part of that comes from being part of a corporate culture for far too long.

helipilotdoug

Why do we do this you ask??? Many excellent reasons have been covered in posts prior to mine. We listened to our speakers for many years, and enjoyed them. After these many years, we want to do just as Conradicles mentioned early on in this thread about rebuilding our beloved automobiles. Polks are legendary like that one automobile you either owned, or wanted to own. The speakers are classics just like those automobiles, and we relive our good old days with these cherished speakers. I'm working on the third set of Polk speakers to be upgraded. To me what it all boils down to is the sound these Polks had to start with, and the improvements we can make by upgrading them. It's just like with those automobiles, we all want to have that classic original, but we also want to make them even better, and make them last forever. Just my 2 pennies worth.