SDA 2A's...good choice/bad choice for home theater?
Garfield
Posts: 3
Hi Polk fans!
I'm sure there's no simple answer to this question, but any comments from you experienced folk would be really appreciated. I'm very much a nubee at this stuff.
I still have my original SDA 2a's that I bought way back in 1987. They've been in storage for the last 15 years since our last move and I've gotten away from my music (sometimes life just gets in the way, eh?). Anyway, I've recently decided to setup a modest home theater in the living room and was wondering about trying to incorporate the SDA 2a's into the system. My old NAD 7100 receiver gave up to ghost so I picked up a modest Denon 1713 AVR which has fairly sophisticated surround-sound processing, but seems weak in the power department. Call me old-fashioned, but I'm not used to the lack of tone controls on these new-fangled AV equipment!
To be honest, I'm not too impressed with the way the Denon is driving the speakers, though it could be partly due to the relatively poor quality of the source material.
Anyway, I'm not sure whether it makes sense to try make it work with the SDA 2A's by themselves, or whether they need to be supplmented in some way (soundbar etc) or just sell them and buy a more modern 3.1 system.
Suggestions appreciated!
Thanks!
Gary
I'm sure there's no simple answer to this question, but any comments from you experienced folk would be really appreciated. I'm very much a nubee at this stuff.
I still have my original SDA 2a's that I bought way back in 1987. They've been in storage for the last 15 years since our last move and I've gotten away from my music (sometimes life just gets in the way, eh?). Anyway, I've recently decided to setup a modest home theater in the living room and was wondering about trying to incorporate the SDA 2a's into the system. My old NAD 7100 receiver gave up to ghost so I picked up a modest Denon 1713 AVR which has fairly sophisticated surround-sound processing, but seems weak in the power department. Call me old-fashioned, but I'm not used to the lack of tone controls on these new-fangled AV equipment!
To be honest, I'm not too impressed with the way the Denon is driving the speakers, though it could be partly due to the relatively poor quality of the source material.
Anyway, I'm not sure whether it makes sense to try make it work with the SDA 2A's by themselves, or whether they need to be supplmented in some way (soundbar etc) or just sell them and buy a more modern 3.1 system.
Suggestions appreciated!
Thanks!
Gary
Post edited by Garfield on
Comments
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Welcome to the forum Garfield.
Works fine.
I used to drive 2B's with Onkyo 7.1 receiver and then with Marantz 7.1 receiver and never needed more power.
If you have large room and want very high levels, you can use Denon to power other channels (center and side/rear) and use pre-out from Denon to a two channel amp for 2A as fronts.
But you may look for a single vintage Polk monitor like 4, 5 etc... or newer Polk center to use as center so it matches with 2A as fronts.
Klipsch RB81, KG3.5, B&W DM602.5, Polk.
Subwoofers: Klipsch RW10, Triad ProSub Bronze. -
To get the best out of those you will need an amp. SDA2a's are 4ohm speakers the SDA2b's are a 6ohm speaker and a little easier to drive. That Denon is to low in the line to do any real good for those I use a Denon 3805 and it really needed an external amp to keep from shutting down from heat.
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Welcome to the forum Garfield.
Works fine.
I used to drive 2B's with Onkyo 7.1 receiver and then with Marantz 7.1 receiver and never needed more power.
If you have large room and want very high levels, you can use Denon to power other channels (center and side/rear) and use pre-out from Denon to a two channel amp for 2A as fronts.
But you may look for a single vintage Polk monitor like 4, 5 etc... or newer Polk center to use as center so it matches with 2A as fronts.
Thanks Mystery, that's good to know and gives me some hope. As a matter of a fact I was thinking about adding a centre speaker for improved dialogue, but would think it best to steer clear of an SDA sound bar as it might interfere with the 2A's? Or maybe not? I'll give the folks at Polk a call on that.
I'm getting the feeling I need a little more power -- at higher listening volumes the volume indicator is in the 70-80% range, which indicates to me the receiver is working pretty hard and I'd be asking for trouble boosting base/treble a few DB on top of that.
Unfortunately Denon removed the pre-outs on this model, but on the plus side it's returnable. I'll have to look for something more suitable.
Gary -
To get the best out of those you will need an amp. SDA2a's are 4ohm speakers the SDA2b's are a 6ohm speaker and a little easier to drive. That Denon is to low in the line to do any real good for those I use a Denon 3805 and it really needed an external amp to keep from shutting down from heat.
I appreciate the comments pitdogg2, we seem to be in agreement.
Gary
