New Polk SDA-2Bs: looking for Polk expert in Seattle area

Moofy
Moofy Posts: 102
edited January 2013 in DIY, Mods & Tweaks
In the ongoing quest for my ultimate champagne life/beer budget system, I just picked up a nice pair of Polks. After reading about the various mods available, I have a mild case of upgrade fever. Unfortunately, I don't know my **** from a soldering iron (or vice versa).

I'm hoping there are some generous (and skilled) Polk gurus in the Seattle area who would consider helping a complete neophyte with some of these mods in exchange for some good beer/scotch, pizza and conversation. I live in Snohomish.

Seth
Post edited by Moofy on
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  • nspindel
    nspindel Posts: 5,343
    edited November 2012
    Now this is my kind of newbie! Welcome to the forum, Moofy. I'm on the other side of the country, in CT. I wish I were close, I'd give you a hand. And drink your scotch! Good luck, hopefully someone will pop up that can give you a hand. 2B's are great speakers, you're in for a nice ride. They're quite similar to CRS+'s, except in a bigger cabinet. Here's what I just got finished doing to a pair of them:

    http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?137026-My-new-4.1TL-s-are-complete!
    Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
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  • ken brydson
    ken brydson Posts: 8,773
    edited November 2012
    There are a bunch of good polkies in Seattle. Zingo, Cambir, Bikerboy will probably catch this and offer assistance. I'm local and would take your booze and pizza but I know nothing about SDA's :lol:
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  • deronb1
    deronb1 Posts: 5,021
    edited November 2012
    Welcome aboard! Send VR3 a PM. He can offer a great quote to have your boards modded and he does excellent work. Really wouldn't cost too much in shipping and one of the local polkies could hook everything up for you. The difference in mods is night and day. Mine are still breaking and in and I love em already. Also, consider the RD0-194 tweeter upgrade. Not sure of your budget, but they sure are silky smooth.
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  • Moofy
    Moofy Posts: 102
    edited November 2012
    Thanks to all for your responses. I sent Trey an email this afternoon. Let's see what happens.

    Great to be part of this community!

    Seth
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  • Moofy
    Moofy Posts: 102
    edited November 2012
    BTW, nspindel, your CRS+'s look awesome. I bet they sound lovely. Nice work.
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  • agfrost
    agfrost Posts: 2,430
    edited November 2012
    deronb1 wrote: »
    Welcome aboard! Send VR3 a PM. He can offer a great quote to have your boards modded and he does excellent work. Really wouldn't cost too much in shipping and one of the local polkies could hook everything up for you. The difference in mods is night and day. Mine are still breaking and in and I love em already. Also, consider the RD0-194 tweeter upgrade. Not sure of your budget, but they sure are silky smooth.

    I'll add my two cents on top of this good advice: VR3 can hook you up, but if you're upgrading the crossovers and tweeters, do the 2BTL mod on them so that you can use the RD0-198 tweeter rather than the RD0-194, for the relatively small cost of an additional capacitor for each crossover. More better.
    Jay
    SDA 2BTL * Musical Fidelity A5cr amp * Oppo BDP-93 * Modded Adcom GDA-600 DAC * Rythmik F8 (x2)
    Micro Seiki DQ-50 * Hagerman Cornet 2 Phono * A hodgepodge of cabling * Belkin PF60
    Preamp rotation: Krell KSL (SCompRacer recapped) * Manley Shrimp * PS Audio 5.0
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  • deronb1
    deronb1 Posts: 5,021
    edited November 2012
    agfrost wrote: »
    I'll add my two cents on top of this good advice: VR3 can hook you up, but if you're upgrading the crossovers and tweeters, do the 2BTL mod on them so that you can use the RD0-198 tweeter rather than the RD0-194, for the relatively small cost of an additional capacitor for each crossover. More better.

    Tru dat! Good advice
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  • zingo
    zingo Posts: 11,258
    edited November 2012
    I'm always willing to help, and have helped many local Polkies mod their speakers. I live in Bothell, so once you get enough posts to send me an email or PM, lets get your mods planned. I can either do them for you, or teach you how to do them; which ever you prefer.

    Looking forward to it.
    Jake
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  • sda2mike
    sda2mike Posts: 3,131
    edited November 2012
    do a search for nspindel's original thread on TLing the 2B..i read it probably 50 times:)
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  • sda2mike
    sda2mike Posts: 3,131
    edited November 2012
    here it is

    http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?62106-Oh-my-something-magical-has-happened-to-my-SDA-s
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  • Moofy
    Moofy Posts: 102
    edited November 2012
    Zingo, I'd definitely like to take you up on your offer. I received the info from Trey and the cost looks doable. As you suggested, I'll PM you when I'm able. Thanks.

    Seth
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  • zingo
    zingo Posts: 11,258
    edited November 2012
    No problem; I can help out whenever you're ready.
    Jake
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  • dudeinaroom
    dudeinaroom Posts: 3,609
    edited November 2012
    Rock on zingo!!
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  • Moofy
    Moofy Posts: 102
    edited November 2012
    Zingo, how can I contact you without breaching Forum etiquette? I'm a lowly 0 pointer!

    Thanks.

    Seth
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,649
    edited November 2012
    Make 5 more posts and you're golden. Tell us about your gear, or whatever. Ask a few more questions about what parts to use. Post a few pics of your speakers.....etc.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • nspindel
    nspindel Posts: 5,343
    edited November 2012
    Moofy wrote: »
    BTW, nspindel, your CRS+'s look awesome. I bet they sound lovely. Nice work.

    Thanks. Hope yours come out just as well!
    Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
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  • Moofy
    Moofy Posts: 102
    edited December 2012
    I've been in touch with Trey at VR3 mods and now know a little more about my speakers. They are a very early pair. Ill post pics of crossovers in a minute. Those pics are what Trey relied on to "age" the speakers. Now I'm in a bit of a quandary, as Trey can't know which mods will work unless he has the crossovers in hand, and I'm not confident in my ability to remove them without causing collateral damage. Zingo, I'm hoping you or others can advise. Thanks.
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  • Moofy
    Moofy Posts: 102
    edited December 2012
    IMG_0414.jpg
    IMG_6567.jpg
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  • Moofy
    Moofy Posts: 102
    edited December 2012
    Apparently, the model number of the woofers matters in terms of "mod-
    IMG_9244.jpg
    ability", so here is a photo. I hope this provides the information the experts need to provide guidance.
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  • nspindel
    nspindel Posts: 5,343
    edited December 2012
    I'm confused. A 2B crossover should have 4 caps, 2 resistors, and 4 inductors including the big 16mH. First of all, I never knew they made split crossovers for the 2B, but is it me or isn't there an inductor missing? I see the 0.4, then there should be a 1.25 and a 2.5. I can't tell which one is in the picture but it definitely seems like one is missing, right?
    Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
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  • Moofy
    Moofy Posts: 102
    edited December 2012
    You've gone over my head. The speakers seem to work fine.
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  • agfrost
    agfrost Posts: 2,430
    edited December 2012
    Just a bit of a mystery as to what model you've got there, Moof. Can you check/list values of some parts?
    *Are the two drivers both MW6510? That would indicate 2A's not 2B's (which had MW6503/MW6511).
    *Can you read off the values of some of the caps on the crossovers? The 2A's had 2 paralleled 130uF caps--I'm curious what the values are on the silver caps from your pics (too blurry to read). I'm guessing they're the 130uF's. No caps of such large values on the 2B's.

    Check out the pictures/discussion from this thread (2A crossover upgrade): LINKY The crossovers there look suspiciously like yours (although 130's are blue rather than silver).
    Jay
    SDA 2BTL * Musical Fidelity A5cr amp * Oppo BDP-93 * Modded Adcom GDA-600 DAC * Rythmik F8 (x2)
    Micro Seiki DQ-50 * Hagerman Cornet 2 Phono * A hodgepodge of cabling * Belkin PF60
    Preamp rotation: Krell KSL (SCompRacer recapped) * Manley Shrimp * PS Audio 5.0
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  • nspindel
    nspindel Posts: 5,343
    edited December 2012
    Moofy wrote: »
    You've gone over my head. The speakers seem to work fine.

    Sorry:lol: that was really a question for some of the experts to ponder. I was going to suggest that these may not be 2B's, as affront is suspecting as well. We'll get to the bottom of this don't worry.
    Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
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  • zingo
    zingo Posts: 11,258
    edited December 2012
    If you are hesitant about what model they are, the best (and safe) upgrade would be simply to swap components one-for-one.
    Jake
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  • seabeerob213
    seabeerob213 Posts: 1,843
    edited December 2012
    moofy, im a snoho boy myself,
    2 Channel(work in progress):DAC: Schiit modi 2 uberAmp:Parasound 1200 MK IISub:RBH 1010-SEP Speakers: Monitor 5A peerlesscurrently running some krk rokit 3g since the HK pre outs died and i need to start breaking everything down to move in a couple monthsHeadphones:Source: tidalDAC: schiit modius epre: schiit sysAmp: AQ dragonfly black/ schiit magni2 Cans: Velodyne V-True, Grado SR225i, sennheiser x drop gaming headsetPC:DAC: schiit modius e(over spdif)pre: schiit sysspeakers: prenous eris 5 xtSub: Earthquake Sound MiniMe-P63most of my comments are passing on of info, im a noob, im just trying to help how i can, if im wrong or out of place to comment, dont hesitate to let me know :)"WITH WILLING HEARTS AND SKILLFUL HANDS, THE DIFFICULT WE DO AT ONCE, THE IMPOSSIBLE TAKES A BIT LONGER, WITH COMPASSION FOR OTHERS. WE BUILD - WE FIGHT FOR PEACE WITH FREEDOM"Seabee Memorial, Arlington, VA
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  • gimpod
    gimpod Posts: 1,793
    edited December 2012
    Moofy, According to the crossover pics you've got SDA 2A's. The two 2.7 Ohm resistors are a dead give away, The 2B's only used one 2.7 Ohm resistor.
    “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” ~ Mark Twain
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  • agfrost
    agfrost Posts: 2,430
    edited December 2012
    nspindel wrote: »
    Sorry:lol: that was really a question for some of the experts to ponder. I was going to suggest that these may not be 2B's, as affront is suspecting as well. We'll get to the bottom of this don't worry.

    Affront? I assume auto-correct spelling is to blame. That's funny right there. :lol: Hopefully no one was affronted by my post!

    Looks like we're getting to the bottom of this all.
    Jay
    SDA 2BTL * Musical Fidelity A5cr amp * Oppo BDP-93 * Modded Adcom GDA-600 DAC * Rythmik F8 (x2)
    Micro Seiki DQ-50 * Hagerman Cornet 2 Phono * A hodgepodge of cabling * Belkin PF60
    Preamp rotation: Krell KSL (SCompRacer recapped) * Manley Shrimp * PS Audio 5.0
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  • nspindel
    nspindel Posts: 5,343
    edited December 2012
    Hahahahah. Yup, that be the autocorrect on my iphone! If you want to see something hilarious, check out www.damnyouautocorrect.com :eek:
    Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
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  • zingo
    zingo Posts: 11,258
    edited December 2012
    Moofy wrote: »
    IMG_0414.jpg
    IMG_6567.jpg

    Do you feel comfortable pulling the crossovers and writing down all the component values? If so, we can get selecting and ordering parts, then set a date for the install.
    Jake
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  • Moofy
    Moofy Posts: 102
    edited December 2012
    Thanks for the input. I've taken a few more photos which I hope are clearer. I hope I didn't get hornswoggled on these. They were advertised by the seller as 2Bs.

    I'm still very interested in making them sound as good as I can within reason.

    I'm not 100% comfortable with specing out the capacitors, etc. If anyone can give me explicit, detailed instructions, I'd welcome it.

    Thanks.

    Seth
    photo(3).jpg
    photo.jpg
    x-over 2.jpg
    x-over 3.jpg
    x-over.jpg
    driver 2.jpg
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