SDA SRS 2nd Gen Original owner checking in

Grizwald

Hello first of all wow what a wealth of information about Polk SDA speakers. I bought a set of SDA SRS in 1985 at the Pearl Harbor Hawaii Exchange. I still use them and they have never been touched opened or molested in any way. I still have the original shipping boxes. I started reading about the mods and upgrades people are doing on here and kind of wondering if I should up grade them or leave them as is and completely original. Things that make you go hummm. Anyway I have a lot of reading do to catch up with most of you but I do have one question for the experts. What does everyone use to clean the actual drivers and tweeters with? I mean the rubber around the drivers and the clear plastic domes on the tweeters. I have never cleaned them and after 28 years I don’t want to screw them up. I know rubber gets old and brittle. Is there a rubber dressing to use to prolong the life. Thanks in advance.

Mystery

Welcome!
Original Windex is recommended to clean Polk drivers.
Magnet epoxy and crossover upgrade will be the first things to do as they are close to 30 years old now.

pitdogg2

use just windex on a lint free cloth. Spray a little windex on cloth and rub gently. I have never heard of anyone cleaning the domes of the tweeters. NEVER use any rubber dressing most have silicone in them and that may loosen the rubber surround from the glue...

welcome to club Polk

Grizwald

Thanks for your comments guys, I had know Idea there were such a following of the Vintage Polk's. I feel like I got in on the ground floor lol.

pitdogg2

well just so you know Polk has a new tweeter for those called the RDO-194. It's vastly superior to the SL2000. Now that you're a CP member you get a discount they are 48.00ea. As of now Polk is out but in the future it is a worth while investment. Show me another company that is still upgrading a 30yo speaker and supporting it to boot....

Mr. Bubbles

welcome to the forum.

westmassguy

Welcome to Club Polk. As mentioned Real Windex, not Glass Plus, or some generic cleaner, and a lint free cloth. I use microfiber cloths instead of cotton. They clean better and leave no lint what-so -ever. Use a circular motion, and keep the cone wet by re-applying Windex to the cloth. I find it easier to clean the rubber surrounds first, to get all the brown oxidized rubber off, then use a fresh cloth for the cones. Be aware that the cones are supposed to be tacky, that's the special coating Polk applied to them. It's the reason the cloth must be kept wet until the cones are fully cleaned. The clear domes on the SL2000 tweeters can be cleaned with Windex and Q-Tips. Pour some Windex in a small cap or similar, dip the Q-Tip in, and GENTLY clean the dome. Don't apply too much pressure, just run the wet Q-Tip over the dome.

gimpod

^ That's the right way to clean the drivers, tweeters and Passive Radiators.

And Welcome to Club Polk but be warned we'll help you spend your money on these puppy's faster than an oval eyed honey in Saigon circa 1969-70.

dcoil

Yes, welcome. And seriously, the mods that I have done have in my opinion increased the musicality and my listening pleasure by at least 150%, maybe more. You will not believe what those speakers can sound like. I remember when I first got my SRS's I was thinking "It just can't get better than this...". Then after each upgrade I did, it was BETTER. See my sig below for what I've done so far - almost done.

Grizwald

Once again thank you guys for welcoming me to the forums. The way you have described cleaning the drivers and tweeters is the way I was thinking in the first place so you all just confirmed I was on the right path. I just had no idea what chemical to use. Windex it is then. About spending some money to upgrade the components I’m sure all get hooked after reading what all you guys have done to yours lol. I have wondered for 28 years what it looked like inside those things and now I know after seeing the upgrade thread pics, amazing! They have always worked so I’ve never had a reason to go inside them. Mine are as virgin as they come at this point.

zane77

Welcome to the forum, pop those open and get started, a lot of the mod's aren't expensive but some of them can get "how much money can you afford?" But they sure offer alot of enjoyment for the dollars spent.

Grizwald

My bad, after reading http://www.gimpod.com/sda-id.html I guess I have the "Third Gen" Witch is the first SDA SRS made in 1985. Does that sound right guys?

nooshinjohn

DSkip wrote: »

Welcome to the forum. Mods are a must on sda's. I could never be happy with a stock pair, but modded ones can definitely raise an eyebrow when you consider their age. The transformation is not a subtle one by any means.

Modded ones are every bit as good as any speaker that could be had for less than 10K IMHO...

Upgrading these speakers is far cheaper than buying new ones that still won't come close to what you already have. We are here to help you spend your money to do just that!


Welcome aboard sir.

schwarcw

Welcome to Club Polk! It's hard to find better sounding speakers than those 28 year old Polks. Except to do some upgrades that have been done by many of our members. Thanks for joining the Forum!

Grizwald

I've been bouncing around for a day now.....My head is spinning. I had now idea. I cant wait to upgrade. I'm going to have to keep it on the down low. Wife has hated the speakers since we got married in 1990. They have moved with us from Montana to Japan.....and back again, and since they were part of me before we got married she will never get them out of the living room!

drumiv

I'm in the same boat as you; mod, or not to mod. It is hard to believe that these baby's could get better, but after hearing about it from so many different sources, how can you not be a believer. I just got my tweeters, but am waiting to install 'till after I sort through the amp/ preamp combo's. Right now, the Parasound / Holman combo sounds awful sweet.

westmassguy

Grizwald wrote: »

I've been bouncing around for a day now.....My head is spinning. I had now idea. I cant wait to upgrade. I'm going to have to keep it on the down low. Wife has hated the speakers since we got married in 1990. They have moved with us from Montana to Japan.....and back again, and since they were part of me before we got married she will never get them out of the living room!

Keep in mind, the upgrades don't have to be done all at once. Their affects are cumulative however. Some upgrades, like the new Tweeters, and Crossover Rebuilds will be rather dramatic, others not as much. The end result will be, as others have pointed out, one of the finest sounding loudspeaker systems ever produced, and I would say even higher than systems costing 10K in current dollars. SDAs were, and still are unique.

drumminman

To get started on mods do a search for posts by Darqueknight. He is the jedi master of SDA mods and does great write ups with pics as well. All of them are easy to do.

If you're not comfortable with rebuilding Xovers, there are people here on the forum who are willing to help out. As others have said, if you like your SRS now you're gonna be blown away after the mods.

Welcome to CP!

Your first name wouldn't be Clark would it :biggrin:

westmassguy

drumminman wrote: »

Your first name wouldn't be Clark would it :biggrin:

LOL, I need a "Vacation"

Schurkey

Grizwald wrote: »

kind of wondering if I should up grade them or leave them as is and completely original.

Grizwald wrote: »

They have always worked so I’ve never had a reason to go inside them. Mine are as virgin as they come at this point.

There is NO reason to not repair/modify those speakers, they are not "more valuable" in the original state versus the better-sounding modified condition.

Grizwald wrote: »

I guess I have the "Third Gen" Witch is the first SDA SRS made in 1985. Does that sound right guys?

Might be third-generation SDA, but as you said, they'd be the first version of the SRS. Not the SRS 1.2, or the SRS 1.2TL.

Grizwald

I wish the threads had a like button lol. It's hard to thank everybody as the thread continues! so thanks again to all who have posted since my last post. To drumminman and everybody else, a little about myself. Spent 30 years as a US Marine, that's how a got these speakers I went on float in 1984 and bought 3 Yamaha M-80's the C80 and all the other component's in the Philippine's. Still have it all in the garage. One M-80 took a **** (blows fuses and I have not got around to fixing it. Now a days I have the Kef KHT3005SE surround system, the Polk's as my fronts or 2 ch when rocking the house and Klipsch KSW-12 as a second Sub all powered by a Yamaha RX-A3030. When I'm done with the mods on these speakers and the wife figures out what we are doing with new furniture in the living room I will bring back the two working M-80's Two things I really miss are my dbx 120X and dbx 3bx sound processers. wish someone would update them with HDMI in's and out's...that would be cool! anyway to answer drumminman question if I'm capable of soldering the answer is yes, I worked in Marine Corps Aviation electronics and although at 54 I have forget or been left behind in todays electronics I still remember how to solder and even have my own electronics tool box with a powered extractor. So preforming the work should be fun for me. I have a complete seperate system in the den so I won't be without tunes or surround while I tear apart the SDA's Now its just getting to know you guys so I can lay out all the parts, see what different costs are and decide when to do it.

westmassguy

DSKip, Wasn't attempting to go over the top, I was speaking of SDA vs conventional speakers. I have yet to hear a pair of conventional speakers that do what the SDAs do. The only thing I've heard that does anything close, is Carvers Sonic Hologram Generator, but those units have their own problems, not the least of which is keeping your head in a vise or else the illusion collapses. I like the SDA effect, and am spoiled by it now.