SDA purchase and in need of rebuild

custopper30

Look what I picked up today :cheesygrin:

He had the grills. There is no cuts in the fabric but there is some type of stain on the edge and they are also peeling off. So I am just going to say heck with those black ones and replace them (color in the paragraph below)

And so the rebuild starts.... Being a poor college student, I don't have the funds for buying new drivers from polk or from ebay currently. However, in the mean time I thought I could start repairing the cabinets. I started off with rough sanding with a heavy grit paper so get through the vinyl of the speaker. Then I followed it up with 240 grit to smooth it out and give it a nice finish before I go out and buy some bondo to reshape the edges and fill in the gap. Before you all start to freak out about me sanding through the woodgrain vinyl, it was so heavily chipped that it wasn't even worth trying to say it. As for my "modification" of the speakers, I really want to make these special and stand out so I have the idea of purchasing some white carbon fiber vinyl to wrap the cabinets in, rebuilding the base around the existing base with brushed aluminum, and then finally getting white speaker cloth for the grills as those also need to be replaced. It will be a really cool looking pair of SDAs or so my imagine is telling me so haha. If anyone wants to help out a bud and send me drivers they may have extras of or helping upgrading the tweeters, it will be greatly appreciated! If not, I'll just have to wait and see what I can do down the road since this college funding is ridiculously expensive considering I want to go into medicine too. I am also missing the interconnect cable, but am hoping to either make one on my own and order the connectors, or buy one down the road... Well I know you all are waiting for pictures at the start of this rebuild, so here you go!!

drumminman

It'd be a lot quicker and easier to remove the vinyl veneer using a heat gun. If you search the forum there are some "how to" threads.

ZLTFUL

White carbon fiber, brushed aluminum and white grille cloth? I guess to each their own.

Personally, I think exotic hardwoods with classic black will make them stand out more than making them look like the Honda Civic of the speaker world.

EndersShadow

ZLTFUL wrote: »

.....making them look like the Honda Civic of the speaker world.

Unpimp de SDA
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westmassguy

ZLTFUL wrote: »

White carbon fiber, brushed aluminum and white grille cloth? I guess to each their own.

Personally, I think exotic hardwoods with classic black will make them stand out more than making them look like the Honda Civic of the speaker world.

Not everyone can afford exotic hardwood veneer. Maybe that's what his other gear looks like. Maybe that's the theme of his apartment. They're his babies, if he wants to paint them purple with pink elephant decals, so be it.

ZLTFUL

I never said he could or couldn't do whatever the eff he wants to do with his speakers.

In fact, using the quantifier "personally", I was pretty sure I made it abundantly clear that I was expressing my opinion.

But let's try it again so that your feathers are less ruffled.

PERSONALLY *I* find the combination of white carbon fiber look vinyl, brushed aluminum and white grille cloth to be reminiscent of the Honda Civics you see the local high school drop outs "pimping out" and even though THEY think it looks cool and all that, it is not my tastes and therefore, I find it visually offensive.

But then I also look at every mod, update or change to anything as how it is going to effect the resale value of said item. And I am pretty sure, judging from what I have read from the various SDA owners on this forum that my opinion is shared as most seem to either get back to their original look or a similar variation of the same.

As an aside, a roll of white carbon fiber look vinyl from a quality manufacturer such as 3M actually costs 2 to 3 times as much as a common real wood paper back or self adhesive veneer such as maple, cherry, oak or walnut.

(Also, not to get all technical but carbon fiber...real carbon fiber is by nature, black. There is no such thing as white carbon fiber.)

F1nut

He had the grills.

Great, I'm pleased to have been wrong about that one.

They're his babies, if he wants to paint them purple with pink elephant decals, so be it.

On the other hand, you can't beat a classic. :cool:

westmassguy

ZLTFUL wrote: »

I never said he could or couldn't do whatever the eff he wants to do with his speakers.

In fact, using the quantifier "personally", I was pretty sure I made it abundantly clear that I was expressing my opinion.

But let's try it again so that your feathers are less ruffled.

PERSONALLY *I* find the combination of white carbon fiber look vinyl, brushed aluminum and white grille cloth to be reminiscent of the Honda Civics you see the local high school drop outs "pimping out" and even though THEY think it looks cool and all that, it is not my tastes and therefore, I find it visually offensive.

But then I also look at every mod, update or change to anything as how it is going to effect the resale value of said item. And I am pretty sure, judging from what I have read from the various SDA owners on this forum that my opinion is shared as most seem to either get back to their original look or a similar variation of the same.

As an aside, a roll of white carbon fiber look vinyl from a quality manufacturer such as 3M actually costs 2 to 3 times as much as a common real wood paper back or self adhesive veneer such as maple, cherry, oak or walnut.

(Also, not to get all technical but carbon fiber...real carbon fiber is by nature, black. There is no such thing as white carbon fiber.)

I can assure you my feathers weren't ruffled in the slightest, but apparently yours eff'n were. Shouting with all caps, and psuedo cursing.
I was simply expressing my opinion as well

pitdogg2

I have an after market interconnect cable if you want it. It's 13' long.
your call

ZLTFUL

westmassguy wrote: »

I can assure you my feathers weren't ruffled in the slightest, but apparently yours eff'n were. Shouting with all caps, and psuedo cursing.
I was simply expressing my opinion as well

*shrug* You felt the need to **** on my opinion. Turnabout is fair play. :loneranger:

Bear in mind, I only hold this opinion for the white carbon "faux"ber idea. Done right, a white finish can look well done. But in a smaller speaker that isn't going to be the dominant feature of a room.

pitdogg2

you two take it outside:surprised:

westmassguy

pitdogg2 wrote: »

you two take it outside:surprised:

Oh I'm done, no worries there.
To the OP, feel free to continue PMing me. I'll help you as much as I can

pitdogg2

OP
MW6510's are on Ebay all the time you just need patients to get a good price. Last week there was passive radiators for a good price just keep looking and be patient. I've got some SDA2a's with all mods done very good but you'll need a good amp to get all you can out of them. They ate up my Yamaha 992 so i do not recommend any receiver except maybe a newer pioneer elite ice amp.
YMMV

warren

A RCA cable will work for the interconnect cable. That's what I use, and it works just fine.

ZLTFUL

warren wrote: »

A RCA cable will work for the interconnect cable. That's what I use, and it works just fine.

He doesn't have the pin/blade plug, in which case, you would be correct. He has the blade/blade plug.

custopper30

No worries I don't hate all of your opinions!! That is what I asked for. I want everyone's opinions because I want to do a good job modding these.

warren

Thank you ZLTFUL, I stand corrected.

custopper30

How much is the wood grain veneer would be to redo both of the speakers? I would do black if anything. That was my other choice

hertz9753

custopper30 wrote: »

How much is the wood grain veneer would be to redo both of the speakers? I would do black if anything. That was my other choice

http://www.parts-express.com/term/veneers?c=310,630

PolkieMan

MW 6510 Make offer of $25.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/POLK-AUDIO-WOOFERS-MW6510-Excellent-CONDITION-MONITOR-8T-11T-SDA-CRS-SDAII-/221230912439?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item338263d3b7

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?147091-My-new-speaker-jig&highlight=speaker+magnet

custopper30

Just did, what price would you say go for them if I was able to buy two of them?

custopper30

Also, I noticed that when I was turning knobs on the receiver to increase the bass/treble balance, the speakers produced a crackling noise. Does anyone know what that is?

custopper30

ports you mean? I was hoping it was the amp not going to lie.... It is a super old technics from my parents and it was just there to use with these speakers till I get a better receiver that I can power it up with and use for my HT.

TennMan

custopper30 wrote: »

ports you mean? I was hoping it was the amp not going to lie.... It is a super old technics from my parents and it was just there to use with these speakers till I get a better receiver that I can power it up with and use for my HT.

POTentiometers

ZLTFUL

I do apologize for my comparison to a Honda Civic. It was a bit harsh.

But, I do stand by my opinion that it isn't a great combo to go with.
PSB Image towers are available in white and look good. But still sport a black grille.
A lot of Audioengines are available in white and look decent.
But those are all solid white. It's the carbon look vinyl that I think would kill the overall look. Not to mention, these are huge speakers comparatively that would immediately draw the eye and not necessarily in a good way.

Maybe do a maple veneer if you want a lighter color. I am a big fan of maple speakers.

Like Skip said (and me as well...albeit a in far more rude manner), think about how they are going to look to you in 5 years...or even to a potential buyer a few years down the road when you decide to upgrade.

nspindel

ZLTFUL wrote: »

Maybe do a maple veneer if you want a lighter color. I am a big fan of maple speakers.

I did maple on my sda's and they're beautiful. I agree with the notion that it's your money, and you can do whatever you want with it. But my advice when doing these big refurb jobs is always that you shouldn't wander too far off the reservation. These are classic speakers, I personally like them looking that way. As DSkip said, you don't want to do something here that you'll grow tired of in a few years, and you don't want to hurt your potential resale value. Have a look at how my 4.1TL's came out in maple:

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?137026-My-new-4.1TL-s-are-complete!

custopper30

I have taken that into account. I thought the white look would be really cool but looking at it with the rest of my speakers, it just isn't right to do. Nspindel, where did you find the veener? I really am thinking about doing a black stained wood as I like the black aspect. I wanted to keep the grills black too but then what I am sticking with is the idea of shaping aluminum to the bottom portion of the speaker cabinet where it sits on the ground (the smaller box it sits on). From there, I am going to fabricate my own speaker spikes/legs to mount on the bottom to finish off the speakers.

custopper30

Oh I forgot to ask but I know people have replaced the tweeters and upgraded them in the SDA2A, what tweeters would I want to upgrade to and would it be as simple as swapping them out or?

westmassguy

custopper30 wrote: »

Oh I forgot to ask but I know people have replaced the tweeters and upgraded them in the SDA2A, what tweeters would I want to upgrade to and would it be as simple as swapping them out or?

The drop-in replacement is the RDO-194-1, however, the 2As can be modified to accept the better RDO-198-1 (AKA the TL Mod)

nspindel

custopper30 wrote: »

I have taken that into account. I thought the white look would be really cool but looking at it with the rest of my speakers, it just isn't right to do. Nspindel, where did you find the veener? I really am thinking about doing a black stained wood as I like the black aspect. I wanted to keep the grills black too but then what I am sticking with is the idea of shaping aluminum to the bottom portion of the speaker cabinet where it sits on the ground (the smaller box it sits on). From there, I am going to fabricate my own speaker spikes/legs to mount on the bottom to finish off the speakers.

I got the veneer from a local woodworking shop, not 10 miles from my house. Should be very easy to find.