My New Set-up (SDA-SRS)

Bugstyvy

Ok so I started looking about a year ago for these knowing nothing about them other than how sweet they looked in the magazines back in the day. I was only about 10 and always looked through my older brothers mags(just the Stereo ones!). Anyways Ive always wanted a pair so I finally found a somewhat local set in awesome shape so I called him and told him I'm on my way. He suggested I wait til the next day for the weather to clear but I declined. I wasnt losing these.

I had some Monitor 10B's to get by until I found these puppies. I thought the 10's were actually pretty good, until I hooked up these!!! My God, I couldnt believe it. My eyes swelled up like a 3 year old that got his ice cream taken away. My brother was with me to help move them and he was blown away as well!! I owe it to him, he taught me the ways of quality and I am forever gratefull for that.

Since 2 months ago when I first got them I have listened to all my music(cd's and vinyl) over and over again and it sounds completely different. These will NEVER be for sale so you can put another mark next to the "rarely for sale" box(I may let the 10's go however!).

And thanks to you guys on here who have helped me with my questions, you have been very helpful and I appretiate every answer good or bad!!


New(Old)Polk Fan

Steve

gudnoyez

Sweet nice set up. Congratulations, what did you give for them? If wanting a pair after seeing them in your older brothers mags, I'am sure you didn't need much convincing after you joined Club Polk! Enjoy

Dabutcher

Good on ya ! Enjoy all they have to offer.i would recommend the steel rings upgrade and Dynamatt and JB Weld upgrades to get you started down the rabbit hole. They r all easy and fairly cheap upgrades. Next you could consider the RDO tweeter upgrade. If you have good feedback on Ebay you might get half the money you spent on the RDO,s selling your old SL2000 tweeters. Good luck, Darryl

Bugstyvy

Paid $1700. Too much? yeah whatever!!!....


I dont want to upgrade them, short of floor spikes I wont touch them. If I ever find another set I may upgrade just for fun.

nikonik

I think you did good. Some would say too much. I paid a bit more but very content. A member noticed mine had rings installed and I still haven't opened them up to see what else has been done. I need to just for fun. I know your happy so Enjoy!

Bugstyvy

The guy I bought them off was the original owner and he has babied them. It shows. Maybe one day I will upgrade but I like my stuff original, how many originals will be left in 20 years from now?

Toolfan66

How many originals will sound worth a crap without some upgrades in 20 years? Funny how most of the upgrades are Matt Polk approved, and recommended...



Just sayin..

Indyaudio2

Congrats! I've had my SRS 1.2TLs now for several years, a journey to get there, agree, keepers. Original owner acquisition, no mods, like new condition.

Not the best picture, but you can see they are in good company with my Carver Amazing ALiii and JBL Sovereigns. They all sound distinctly sublime:)

GospelTruth

Toolfan66 wrote: »

How many originals will sound worth a crap without some upgrades in 20 years? Funny how most of the upgrades are Matt Polk approved, and recommended...
Just sayin..

+1.

I would have to agree. I know you want to keep everything stock - I'm the same way. However, I got some 2Bs about a year ago and after listening to them awhile I decided to do the simple upgrades of Dynamat, JB Weld, Armacell gaskets and Larry's rings (thanks again!). The sound after was definitely improved upon in the bass and mid-range. I thought they sounded good before, but I couldn't believe that they actually sounded better after. Now JB Weld may not be a "sound" enhancement but it is a good insurance policy on your drivers to insure that they last a long while.

Take your time and enjoy them and someday start with these upgrades in a year or so. No one here is recommending you do these things to possibly ruin them - they just know how much better the speakers you got can sound with some simple upgrades. You'll not be sorry and it's not going to hurt any value.

Glad you are enjoying them!

teekay0007

Bugstyvy wrote: »

These will NEVER be for sale...

You say they will remain original in a way that indicates you might be feeling that they'll be less valuable if mods/upgrades are done to them. However, whether that's right or wrong, if you're NEVER going to sell them, what does their "value" matter? Might as well make them sound their best for your added enjoyment. You can make significant SQ improvements with some relatively inexpensive modifications.

motorstereo

Congrats on your new SRS's and I see you're using an MC2300 on them. Big polk speakers and big Mac amps are an excellent combination:biggrin:.
I'd have to agree with what the other posters suggested about modding them. If you think they sound good now wait till you hear what they sound like with a few simple mods.

Mr. Bubbles

Congrats, in a big way! I remember when i found my SRS's... I had just gottn home from a 3 hour round trip purchasing a pair of RTA 12's. Unloaded and sat down to rest at the computer and check CL. BAM! There they were, 5 hours driving time away. I sent an e-mail got a response in 5 min. told the guy I could leave tonight he said wait till morn and call he had one other guy asking about them. I told him I had the cash and was ready, but I did not want to set out on a 5+ hour drive and the other guy get there before me if he was closer and get them. He understood. The next am he said come on. he would give me 8 hours to get there or call if trouble. i left at noon, got back at midnight. Jacked up on Monster energy and honey buns plust the excitement of now owning a pair of SRS's i couldn't sleep. I hadn't slept much the night before either thinking about them. Hell, i had pretty much forgot i owned a pair of RTA 12's for a few days. Congrats again and enjoy that high. It does eventually come back down but I still love my SRS's.

I also paid a little more for my SRS's than seemed to be the norm here. But I wanted them REAL bad. By the time I had the 12 hour trip in them I didn't want to figure the total cost even before any upgrades. My daddy always told me something is worth what somebody is willing to give for it.

Mr. Bubbles

I understand liking things original. I am the same way in many respects because a lot of my passion is for the vintage gear and if you modernize it too much, you take away some of the vintage attraction. However, these guys are right; many of the mods make tremendous improvements in sound. There are some that can be done that are normal to electronics and effect the vintageness or value none at all. the crossovers would be the main one here. Caps are replaced in most all vintage gear. Take your Mac for example. to keep it running top notch the old electrolytic caps and some others will need replaced. if not one could go out, leak, etc and ruin much more of the amp than just the caps. mac does this themsleves to this vintage gear. No different on the crossovers of these. Plus you can keep the old parts and put them back if you ever wanted to for any reason. new driver, x-over, PR gaskets are another. this is done in automobile restoration to improve the value, not detract from it. Hurricane nuts (rings are great, but they do require some slight modifications if that is what you are trying to stay away from), resealing the cabinets. Even the updated tweeters can be switched back if you like but hese to detract from the vintageness of the speakers when you see them.

Either way congrats, enjoy.

Steven

Mr. Bubbles

Indyaudio2 wrote: »

Congrats! I've had my SRS 1.2TLs now for several years, a journey to get there, agree, keepers. Original owner acquisition, no mods, like new condition.

Not the best picture, but you can see they are in good company with my Carver Amazing ALiii and JBL Sovereigns. They all sound distinctly sublime:)

Dude, it would seem that your HT system would feel neglegted. All that awesome 2 ch gear andd those little bitty bose double cubes ( I think) for the HT.:cheesygrin:

In all seriousness, sweet gear man. A lot of sweet gear. I imagine though that much of it interacts with others in the room to prevent any of it from sounding it's absolute best. I understand. I have a lot of different gear and it's hard to find places for a good bit of it.

tophatjohnny

The Speaks look great. congrats!

nspindel

Congrats on getting those big beauties. They are yours, you paid for them, so only you have a say in whether or not to do any of these upgrades. However, I do want to echo some of the sentiments you've been hearing here. Many of the upgrades that have been deployed to these speakers were done so with the recommendation and blessing of Matthew Polk himself. Take, for example, the cap upgrades. First of all, the electrolytic caps in the stock crossovers have a finite lifespan. They deteriorate over time, degrading performance, and when they die they can cause damage to other components besides just the caps. But also, Matthew Polk stated to this forum that he wished he could have used the sorts of caps and resistors we have used for upgrades, but the crossover components were chosen in order to meet specific retail price points. Use of better (more expensive) components would have required that Polk price these speakers higher than they felt they could. Also the upgrade of the inductors that many of us have done were specifically endorsed by MP.

If these speakers are going to be keepers, you really should be most interested in making them sound as good as you possibly can. But again, your money paid for them, it's your choice what to do with them.

Mike Reeter

Congrats on your new SDA's!!!! Nothing else quite like them, n'joy!

Bugstyvy

Ok, well I think I will mod them, but not for a while. When my hapiness wears off I will crack them open and upgrade. You guys win!!!!

Just picked up a set of RT12's. what do I do with them?? stack them on top of the 10B's?

Im running out of spots to put stereo's in my house!!!

michaeljhsda2

Congrats on the SRS's. IMHO, changing out the tweeters to the brand new RD-0194's would yield immediate improvements over the stock SL-2000 tweeters. You can resell the SL2000's and recoup half of the money spent on the new tweeters. It's an upgrade you won't regret. Be sure to mention you're a Club Polk member so you can get the CP discount.

F1nut

Waiting to mod them will result in you kicking yourself really hard once you do.

PolkieMan

oh yea, another one of those easy to please, but hard to satisfy folks :razz:

Bugstyvy wrote: »

Ok, well I think I will mod them, but not for a while. When my hapiness wears off I will crack them open and upgrade. You guys win!!!!

Just picked up a set of RT12's. what do I do with them?? stack them on top of the 10B's?

Im running out of spots to put stereo's in my house!!!

bigaltx24

Gorgeous speakers for sure, I just wish my wife would get on board so I could get a pair of SRS. She barely puts up with my 1Bs, keeps trying to push them out into the garage.

Mr. Bubbles

Bugstyvy wrote: »

Ok, well I think I will mod them, but not for a while. When my hapiness wears off I will crack them open and upgrade. You guys win!!!!

Just picked up a set of RT12's. what do I do with them?? stack them on top of the 10B's?

Im running out of spots to put stereo's in my house!!!

You'll end up the winner when you do some simple mods to these bad boys. But don't do it just be cause everyone here thinks it's best for you. Like a previous poster said; they are yours and you spent your money on them. But like another said once you do them you will wish you had done them earlier. however, with that said, i would wait a while as well just so you have an ingrained sensation of what the speakers sound like unmodded. Get extrememly familiar with them before you mod so you can appreciate the mods eeven more. Plus you'll be able to tell better if, by the off chance, you do mess something up.

Once you start running out of spaces you will need to be creative and figure out how to put a system in each and every room; Living room/ den, bedroom/s, kitchen, bathroom/s, dining room (?), computuer room (?), etc. or you could always get rid of some (But I am definately not preaching on that one) or store them etc. Good luck with this problem. I personally am not good at resolving this one.

ratster

Very nice.....just a few more things to take care of around here and I'm gonna get me a pair.

tophatjohnny

Bugstyvy wrote: »

Ok so I started looking about a year ago for these knowing nothing about them other than how sweet they looked in the magazines back in the day. I was only about 10 and always looked through my older brothers mags(just the Stereo ones!). Anyways Ive always wanted a pair so I finally found a somewhat local set in awesome shape so I called him and told him I'm on my way. He suggested I wait til the next day for the weather to clear but I declined. I wasnt losing these.

I had some Monitor 10B's to get by until I found these puppies. I thought the 10's were actually pretty good, until I hooked up these!!! My God, I couldnt believe it. My eyes swelled up like a 3 year old that got his ice cream taken away. My brother was with me to help move them and he was blown away as well!! I owe it to him, he taught me the ways of quality and I am forever gratefull for that.

Since 2 months ago when I first got them I have listened to all my music(cd's and vinyl) over and over again and it sounds completely different. These will NEVER be for sale so you can put another mark next to the "rarely for sale" box(I may let the 10's go however!).

And thanks to you guys on here who have helped me with my questions, you have been very helpful and I appretiate every answer good or bad!!


New(Old)Polk Fan

Steve

Wow...Steve, when I first looked at the pic yesterday, I didn't even see the TV on the wall. Lot of stuff going on in front of the TV, that would drive me nuts. Still looks cool, just a lot going on in front of the TV.

F1nut

Just picked up a set of RT12's. what do I do with them?? stack them on top of the 10B's?

Sell them and use that money for the mods.

ZLTFUL

There's also a saltwater aquarium addiction there too...at least that is what I see in the background behind your reflection in the TV. And a good sized yellow tang I believe...

Drenis

ZLTFUL wrote: »

There's also a saltwater aquarium addiction there too...at least that is what I see in the background behind your reflection in the TV. And a good sized yellow tang I believe...

I too, saw the tank in the reflection and definitely wanna see more of it! Nice set-up!

Bugstyvy

ZLTFUL wrote: »

There's also a saltwater aquarium addiction there too...at least that is what I see in the background behind your reflection in the TV. And a good sized yellow tang I believe...

Was wondering when someone was gonna say that!! 180G in wall, yes a yellow tang, blonde naso, a couple clowns and some damsel. mixed with some hammers and soft leathers. Tank is now my 2nd hobby.

Bugstyvy

The only pic I can find on this computer, I also have an old car audio addiction that Im working on treating.

teekay0007

You sure that ^^^ isn't just a pic of your TV screen? It looks like one of the scenes on my 'Aquarium' blue-ray disc. Very nice.