What speakers did you move back to SDAs from and why?

Dawgfish

I remember a thread that asked which speakers did you move from SDAs to so I figured I would start a thread about doing the opposite. This is something that I have been going through lately so I figured I would share my experience with y'all and see if anybody else has done the same and what it was that brought you back to SDAs. Ok here goes......Lately I have been experimenting with a pair of ZU Audio Omen Standard speakers. I found a pair of these for sale locally on Craigs list and I figured I would read up on them and see what they were about. They are a very efficient speakers (98 db/m), but doe not use horn drivers. I have always wanted to try high efficiency speakers especially since I am running a 40 wpc tube amp (which actually has plenty of muscle), but I do not like horns. These being highly efficient and not using horn loaded drivers like most highly efficient speakers intrigued me. Another thing that intrigued me about these is they use for all practical purposes a single driver. They do use a tweeter, but the tweeters are crossed over to not kick in till 12,000 HZ, so they are not seing very much of the "business end" of the signal. A single 10" driver handles everything from 30-12,000HZ. I have always read about the coherentness and great timing of single driver speakers so this intrigued me also.

To make a long story short, I picked the Zu's up. After playing around with them for the last couple of weeks I have decided they are not my thing. They are very dynamic, have surprisingly good bass, are pretty detailed, have great timing and pace, rock solid imaging, and a very wide soundstage. They do many, many things well and in fact I like them listening to classical better than any SDA I have ever owned. There is just something about vocals however with these that I don't like and there is virtually no depth to the soundstage. It's like I'm listening to a cardboard cut-out of the music, the soundstage is wide and has height, but no depth. Because of this vocals sound thin to me. They just don't have the richness and depth that I am used to with SDAs.

Last night after having the ZUs hooked up to the system for the last couple of weeks, I hooked the SRS 2s back up. There was just no denying that I enjoyed listening to the SDAs much, much more. The 3d soundstage of the SDAs imparts a realness and intimacy with the music that I don't get with a lot of other speakers. Not only that but the bass with the SDAs is so much more impactful and deep. I actually think the ZUs had better definition in the bass, but had no impact. I have owned many other speakers than SDAs and some I have really enjoyed, in fact I enjoy the set of LSiM-703s I have in my home system just as much as my SDAs. There is just something hypnotic about that SDA soundstage however that keeps bringing me back.

Any others out there have similiar experiences?

tonyb

Can't say I've had the same experience but have always held a soft spot for that SDA sound. While I do dig it, and the SQ to price ratio is out of the ballpark, there are still better out there. I've become attached to ribbons, like Maggies, Quads, and so forth but just can't deal with a full ribbon speaker as my environment won't accomadate them well. My Legacy's have a ribbon tweet and that seems to give me some of both worlds. Ribbons, or electrostats seem to do well with voices, tone,weight, and space of the music, to my ears anyway.

SDA's have probably become one of the most pleasing sounds to so many different ears which is hard to do for any speaker maker at any price point. A testament to their longevity and still being sought after today. Happy listening.

drumminman

I moved to the SDA's from Definitive Technology BP 30's, with rebuilt Xovers (Mills, Sonicaps, Copper ribbon inductors). The Def Techs were really nice, accurate and one of their strong points is imaging.

My 2.3TL's convey the emotion in the music a little better, which is maybe another way of describing the 3D soundstage. I hear detail I simply did not hear with the Def Techs.

Timothy Smith

I have owned 4 sets of Polk SDA's: 2's, CRS, CRS+, and 3.1 TL and loved them all.

Eventually sold them all and have been primarily using Dahlquist DQ-10's and DQ-20's since.

Dawgfish

I tried electrostatics for a little bit with some Martin Logan Sequal IIs. I loved the voices and imaging with them. I didn't like the narrow sweet spot, integration (or more precisely lack thereoff) between the woofers and the electrostatic panels, and the extra maintanance. At the time I had them, my listening room was less than ideal and it was impossible to keep a lot of dust away from them. I would like to try another electrostatic now that I have a more controlled listening environment.

Spiffyfast

Moved from Klipsch to my SDA 2Bs and don't think I could ever go back.