SDA modifications: Anyone Near Olympia WA area want to help?

rsxman

Hey guys

since getting my 3.1tls im looking to upgrade the tweeters and do the xover mod too...i have no background to do this correctly and was hoping someone near seattle or portland would guide me through it in person. I can pay with pizza and beer and good tunes.

Thanks

soundfreak1

Hmmmm pizza and beer, might be worth a plane ticket!! What kind of beer?? LOL im sure there are plenty of threads on them but maybe someone close can help. Good luck and have fun!

tophatjohnny

This subject scares the (you know what) out of me! That is except the tweeters, but the crossover thing is so above my head. I would outright pay someone to do it when I get ready to do so, and I have a friend member in my area that may help out when time comes, so I understand what ya mean. Maybe it doesn't scare you, but it does me. Good luck and I hope ya find a brain that loves Pizza.

chandler9a

I believe there are members in your area that are pretty good at this stuff but I can't remember who they are or if they are around anymore.

http://www.gimpod.com/

http://vr3mods.com/Home.html

Check these links out if you have not already.

rsxman

yeah thank you for the links thats where i was originally getting my ideas for the mods but im not skilled enough to do the xover

the tweeter is simple enough though

geoff727

If you are willing to wait until after January, I will be happy to guide you through the crossover work.

Geoff

Oldfatdogs

rsxman,geoff does fantastic work if I were you Id jump on his offer.
Dan

PolkieMan

This here is pretty much a easy way to do it step by step the larger boards makes it a lot easier as they afford you more room. I did 2 sets of speakers with them and I have never done it before then.

http://www.gimpod.com/

rsxman

geoff727 wrote: »

If you are willing to wait until after January, I will be happy to guide you through the crossover work.

Geoff

i am more than happy with willing to wait...thank you for the offer!

geoff727

Sounds good. Just get ahold of me around the end of January; I am up to the neck in projects and an overseas trip until then. Start thinking about which circuit boards you want to use (stock, gimpod's, custom, whatever).

Geoff

rsxman

id like to use the stock boards...i only paid $360 for these and putting in roughly 250 is all id like to do

PolkieMan

You will need to wait for a good sale at Sonic Caps to do that.
I spent $800 total on both pair ($200X4).

rsxman wrote: »

id like to use the stock boards...i only paid $360 for these and putting in roughly 250 is all id like to do

rsxman

JESUS lol how much in total did the xover mod cost you? theres no way id spent $1000 to do this

Fongolio

I can vouch for geoff727, I have a pair of SDA 1C's in my living room that he completely redid (I bought them off of him a couple of years ago) and they sound (and look) fantastic. His work was meticulous and impeccable. And sonically they are awesome. Any advice from him will be very good I'm sure. Thanks Geoff and good luck rsxman!!

Kelvin

rsxman

thats great to have some reference i just need to start gathering up everything

PolkieMan

SDA 2.3 TLS 6 rdo-198 tweeters $300 2 XO boards $100 Sonic Caps & resistors $300 =$700
SDA 1C 4 rdo-194 tweeters $200 2XO boards $100 Sonic Caps & resistors $280 = $580

That's most of it I bought some connectors and sockets from Mouser about $20
Soldering Iron, Solder, Stand etc from Part Express $25


Your lucky you only need two tweeters :cheesygrin:

rsxman wrote: »

JESUS lol how much in total did the xover mod cost you? theres no way id spent $1000 to do this

rsxman

LOL no kidding

$100 for tweeters and im hoping for $150 in the xover parts and thats it

PolkieMan

Please don't skimp on the capacitors. Those speakers deserve it
and so does your ears just consider you got a real good deal on the speakers
and you only need two tweeters and remember you won't need to ever do it again.


http://www.gimpod.com/parts31tl.html

rsxman wrote: »

LOL no kidding

$100 for tweeters and im hoping for $150 in the xover parts and thats it

geoff727

Well, it's nice to know there's still a few folks out there who remember me- thanks, guys!

....although I will be posting more projects in the future, obviously. (There are currently 7 pairs in the "to-do" corner, just very slow-going).

rsxman, if you desire, I can assist in developing a shopping list that will remain within your budget. At that price level, it won't be a 'killer' upgrade, but it will be a modest improvement.

G~

headrott

I recommend the Clarity Cap ESA's instead of Sonicaps (although the Sonicaps are good, please don't get me wrong). The Carity Cap ESA's are definately better than the Sonicaps in terms of imaging, detail, tone, and transparency. I would also recommend getting the Duelund Cast resistors as well. Are these parts more expensive? Yes. Are they worth the expense? Absolutely. For how often you need to change crossover parts, it's definately worth it. You will definately need Gimpod's crossover boards to do it however. Trust me, you will want to spend the extra money to do the Clarity Cap ESA/Durelund combo. You absolutely will not regret it.

teekay0007

rsxman - You've got one of the great ones to help you out there. Some of Geoff's extremely fine work that I've admired quite a bit: http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?98531-Monitor-5B-s-given-a-refurb-amp-upgrade-w-pics

Also, in that thread, check out the link in post #49 of some of his other stellar work.

TK

rsxman

geoff727 wrote: »

Well, it's nice to know there's still a few folks out there who remember me- thanks, guys!

....although I will be posting more projects in the future, obviously. (There are currently 7 pairs in the "to-do" corner, just very slow-going).

rsxman, if you desire, I can assist in developing a shopping list that will remain within your budget. At that price level, it won't be a 'killer' upgrade, but it will be a modest improvement.

G~

G,

How much would i need to stretch the budget to get a killer improvement? Spending close to $300 for a slight one isnt worth it imho but i really cant swing $700 at the moment

rsxman

teekay0007 wrote: »

rsxman - You've got one of the great ones to help you out there. Some of Geoff's extremely fine work that I've admired quite a bit: http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?98531-Monitor-5B-s-given-a-refurb-amp-upgrade-w-pics

Also, in that thread, check out the link in post #49 of some of his other stellar work.

TK

WOW his work is art...that is very impressive

geoff727

rsxman wrote: »

G,

How much would i need to stretch the budget to get a killer improvement?

This is actually kind of a tough question. It might be easier to ask, "What are the speakers worth to me?" and go from there. If you want a very, very good upgrade (a night-and-day "I didn't know they could do that" difference vs. a moderate "that's nice" difference) you will be addressing the speakers on many different levels...the crossovers, material and acoustic resonance control (this is huge), driver mounting, setting them up in your room with precision, lots of stuff. Those Monitor 5's in maple mentioned above (thanks teekay) are mostly a "that's nice" difference, not an all-out effort.

It's all budget-dependent. I find that a lot of times, to do a pretty good upgrade, it is very easy to spend the original MSRP price on the speakers. That's about the cost of what went into Fongolio's SDA-1C's...$1800 in various parts. At the beginning of the year, I did an LSi7 project for my dad, which also had about $800 worth of stuff go into them...that's the original MSRP of a brand new pair of LSi7's. A lot of that is new drivers (Fongolio's had 12), of which you only need 2 (the tweeters), so you are ahead of the game in that respect. But, I think you must consider what they mean 'to you', and consider just how far you're willing to go with the budget, what kind of sound you want, and whether or not you really want to keep them long-term, etc. And then reach for the biggest bang for the buck, and perfect implementation, within that budget. Some people want to stretch it, some don't (or can't); it's a very individual thing. Heck, I'm doing a pair of Infinity's right now...original MSRP in 1982: $1500. What I have into them so far: I'd estimate about 2 grand. Slightly crazy and emberrassing, but they're shaping up to be pretty kool (they'd better!). In other words, they're worth a lot 'to me', and I'm willing to go all-out on them.

Just a few things to think about.

G~

geoff727

These are the LSi7's. This is about what $800 worth of parts and materials looks like (that includes 4 new drivers).

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?129622-LSi7-s-Refurb-ed-and-Upgraded-w-pictures

So, give some thought about how far you want to go- maybe the selling price of your 15tl's (I saw them on CL) can offset some of the 3.1tl upgrade work? Sometimes, that's how I have to do it!

tophatjohnny

PolkieMan wrote: »

You will need to wait for a good sale at Sonic Caps to do that.
I spent $800 total on both pair ($200X4).

That's a lotta loot!!

chandler9a

In my opinion, if you really want to do it right, save up what you can or buy the parts over time when sales are on, or when you have the money. My fathers 1.2TL's have Jantzen caps in them on Gimpods boards and sound great but they will be upgraded again with better caps at some point because I know its worth it.

My 1Cs have Sonicaps in them and to me its worth it (of course, I bought them that way in mint condition for a good price). It costs money for sure and a lot of us are not in the position to spend money on things like this, but it's worth it if you want to make those speakers outperform anything else well above their price range.

good luck, take your time, and you whatever you decide to do, I'm sure you will be happy with it!

rsxman

G

those are very good points...considering i got the speakers for $360 I would be able to spend about $500 on them if I can get a very big improvement.....if its just a nice modest improvement ill spend what I paid for the speakers

geoff727

You have an advantage here, in that the 3.1tl's crossover is not complicated and has relatively few parts (less cost). And those parts are either standard values, or are easy (fairly inexpensive) to produce in a combination with decent components. That leaves more room to do some other, important improvements to the speakers. I think you could do some good stuff here with a $500 budget, if that seems comfortable to you. And there are some very inexpensive mods that will help a lot, if you can put a little time into them.

When you decide on a final budget, I'd be happy to come up with a tentative parts & materials list that will fit within it.

G~

rsxman

Hi G

i decided I would spend $500 on the mods and be happy that I have the chance to own the speakers and experience what they can do. It was merely a matter of timing and help to get them.

I am ready when you are

R

geoff727

I'll send you a Private Message in a few days when I come up with a list.

Geoff