New to me SDA-2 's

RR09SS
RR09SS Posts: 32
edited January 2014 in Vintage Speakers
So I just landed a set of SDA-2's I had never heard any sda speaker before. overall they looked to be in really good shape. no leaks that I could tell. they did come with the interconnect which was nice. and wow they sound amazing. only thing that I was curious about was the interconnect cable.. it has 2 pins instead of blade/blade or even blade/pin. after some research I found out that this is a very early transitional model. I pulled one of the sl1000's and the date is 7-7-83.

All the drivers work, and are in excellent condition. there are a couple nicks in the finish but I really cant complain too much considering they 30 years old. best of all I stole them for only $100...

I hat to be one of those guys that's hey just got this is it any good, but not having much experience with sda's im going to have to ask.

also will my receiver power them decently or do I need to get a nice dedicated amp? if I need an amp can someone point me towards one that is sufficient but wont break the bank. I think id like one that can drive 3 channels so I can also use it for my fronts and center. and that brings me to my last question.

how do the sda's fare in a home theater application? use interconnect cable or not, or just keep the ls90's for ht use and dedicate the sda's for music?

thanks in advance
Receiver: Yamaha RX-V667
Fronts: Polk LS90 / Polk SDA-2
Center: Polk CS350-LS
Rear: Polk M3 II
Sub: Polk DSW MP3K / Velodyne DEQ-10R
Amp: Adcom GFA-5500 (Strapped for SDA's)
Interconnect: Kimber Tonik
Speaker Wire: Kimber 4PR
Post edited by RR09SS on
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Comments

  • drumiv
    drumiv Posts: 171
    edited January 2014
    Congats on getting some SDA's. I think the SDA line lends itself more to 2 ch. listening. I could be wrong, but I don't think you can use the i.c. in a surround sound rig, and w/o it, you're not getting what they were designed for. My personal experience with using a receiver is although it will work, it's hard on the unit, and you won't tap into the real beauty of these 'till you get some serious power to them, i.e a dedicated amp, with at least 200 wpc. A Carver m-4.0t, with 500 wpc/4 ohms, would do nicely. I just happen to have one for sale... Good luck, and enjoy
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  • RR09SS
    RR09SS Posts: 32
    edited January 2014
    Well after some more research, it sounds like these are a first gen set of SDA-2's they have the two fuses on the back and the pin/pin ic. Pics attached.
    Receiver: Yamaha RX-V667
    Fronts: Polk LS90 / Polk SDA-2
    Center: Polk CS350-LS
    Rear: Polk M3 II
    Sub: Polk DSW MP3K / Velodyne DEQ-10R
    Amp: Adcom GFA-5500 (Strapped for SDA's)
    Interconnect: Kimber Tonik
    Speaker Wire: Kimber 4PR
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  • drumminman
    drumminman Posts: 3,396
    edited January 2014
    Welcome to CP and congrats on your score! Your questions have been covered several times in the forum - do a search and you should be able to find tons of info. As drumiv said, these are better suited for two channel listening with a dedicated power amp which must be common ground and preferably high current. Lots of owners have reported better imaging when they disconnect one of the tweeters in each cabinet. These are early generation SDA's - on later generations polk stopped having the tweeters in the sda circuit due to phasey effects.
    "Science is suppose to explain observations not dismiss them as impossible" - Norm on AA; 2.3TL's w/sonicaps/mills/jantzen inductors, Gimpod's boards, Lg Solen SDA inductors, RD-0198's, MW's dynamatted, Armaflex speaker gaskets, H-nuts, brass spikes, Cardas CCGR BP's, upgraded IC Cable, Black Hole Damping Sheet strips, interior of cabinets sealed with Loctite Power Grab, AI-1 interface with 1000VA A-L transformer
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  • Summerwind2
    Summerwind2 Posts: 98
    edited January 2014
    Congrats and enjoy
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  • westmassguy
    westmassguy Posts: 6,850
    edited January 2014
    Great score, you'll enjoy them. Receivers rarely have enough power, especially AV Receivers, as they share a common power supply.
    If your receiver has pre-amp outs, then a good power amp for the 2s will fit the bill nicely. SDAs integrate very well as fronts for a home theater. I have 2As up front now, and used CRS+s previously. They do double duty for home theater and for 2 channel. Always leave the interconnect cable plugged in.
    Home Theater/2 Channel:
    Front: SDA-2ATL forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/143984/my-2as-finally-finished-almost/p1
    Center: Custom Built forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/150760/my-center-channel-project/p1
    Surrounds & Rears: Custom Built forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/151647/my-surround-project/p1
    Sonicaps, Mills, RDO-194s-198s, Dynamat, Hurricane Nuts, Blackhole5
    Pioneer Elite VSX-72TXV, Carver PM-600, SVS PB2-Plus Subwoofer

    dhsspeakerservice.com/
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  • leftwinger57
    leftwinger57 Posts: 2,917
    edited January 2014
    Sorry I am late to the party but congrats on your score of the SDA 2s. I also was new to both Polk and SDAand lucked out last year by getting a faiRly pristine pair of '87 2Bs. Before even investigating on modding your speakers if that's your plan you must get a seperate amp to push these speakers. Average receivers and avrs just won't do it and will clip and you will never reach the full potential of these speakers. I was very unhappy w/ my Yamaha avr and went and got an Adcom 555 just to boost the avr way before the Polks became mine. The Adcom is the power and I went totally seperate w/ a pre/amp but still utilize the Yamaha as a source of i-net radio, fm, i-pod and tv all running through the pre getting the best of both worlds. Either strickly 2-chl. or a somewhat convoluted version w/ variety being my motivation. Good luck there are loads to do w/ these speakers and plenty of info on them.
    2chl- Adcom GFA- 555-Onkyo P-3150v pre/amp- JVC-QL-A200 tt- Denon 1940 ci cdp- Adcom GFS-6 -Modded '87 SDA 2Bs - Dynamat Ext.- BH-5- X-Overs VR-3, RDO-194 tweeters, Larry's Rings, Speakon/Neutrik I/C- Cherry stain tops Advent Maestros,Ohm model E

    H/T- Toshiba au40" flat- Yamaha RX- V665 avr- YSD-11 Dock- I-Pod- Klipsch #400HD Speaker set-

    Bdrm- Nikko 6065 receiver- JBL -G-200s--Pioneer 305 headphones--Sony CE375-5 disc
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  • Mr. Bubbles
    Mr. Bubbles Posts: 736
    edited January 2014
    congrats on the score. Like others have already said; better for 2ch but fine for HT if you like them that way (some do not) but the HT receiver is definitely not the way to go. Either pre/ amp or pre outs on the receiver to a separate amp. Always leave the interconnect cable plugged in. Though i have little personal experience with most 1st gen models, many seem to like the ones you have better without the dimensional tweet connected and others seem to like it fine the way it is. Try it both ways and see which you like best. Enjoy!
    If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of Progress?!


    Monitor 5Jr, Monitor 5, RTA12, RTA 15TL, SDA 2A, 1c, SRS 2, 1.2TL, CRS, Atrium.
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  • boston1450
    boston1450 Posts: 7,639
    edited January 2014
    Nice find & unbelievable price. Beautiful speaker. You will enjoy them alot.
    ..
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  • RR09SS
    RR09SS Posts: 32
    edited January 2014
    I have a line on an adcom gfa-5500. how will this run the sda's. the guy is asking $350 is that a fair price for this amp?

    thanks guys.
    Receiver: Yamaha RX-V667
    Fronts: Polk LS90 / Polk SDA-2
    Center: Polk CS350-LS
    Rear: Polk M3 II
    Sub: Polk DSW MP3K / Velodyne DEQ-10R
    Amp: Adcom GFA-5500 (Strapped for SDA's)
    Interconnect: Kimber Tonik
    Speaker Wire: Kimber 4PR
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  • TNHNDYMAN
    TNHNDYMAN Posts: 2,145
    edited January 2014
    Not sure if that is a common ground amp (which you need for SDA or bad things happen). I would dbl check with others and Adcom experts before purchase.
    2-ch System: Parasound P/LD 2000 pre, Parasound HCA-1000 amp, Parasound T/DQ Tuner, Phase Technology PC-100 Tower speakers, Technics SL-1600 Turntable, Denon 2910 SACD/CD player, Peachtree DAC iT and X1asynchorus USB converter, HSU VTF-3 subwoofer.

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  • RR09SS
    RR09SS Posts: 32
    edited January 2014
    It is not a common ground amp. I could pick up the carver m-4.0t from another user, or I could jump the negative terminals to make the adcom a common ground. what would be the better amp in this situation?, because I could have the adcom 5500 tonight. or wait and get the carver.
    Receiver: Yamaha RX-V667
    Fronts: Polk LS90 / Polk SDA-2
    Center: Polk CS350-LS
    Rear: Polk M3 II
    Sub: Polk DSW MP3K / Velodyne DEQ-10R
    Amp: Adcom GFA-5500 (Strapped for SDA's)
    Interconnect: Kimber Tonik
    Speaker Wire: Kimber 4PR
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  • polklifer
    polklifer Posts: 40
    edited January 2014
    NICE score!! I would go with the Adcom, just personal preference. My 5500 performs so well now that I have strapped the negative posts together...Adcoms are also so very reliable, an issue I have had with Carver

    Good Luck!
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  • TennMan
    TennMan Posts: 1,266
    edited January 2014
    Everything I can find says the 5500 is not common ground. I would find our for certain before purchasing it to use with SDAs.
    • SDA 2BTL · Sonicaps · Mills resistors · RDO-198s · New gaskets · H-nuts · Erse inductors · BH5 · Dynamat
    • Crossover upgrades by westmassguy
    • Marantz 1504 AVR (front speaker pre-outs to Adcom 555)
    • Adcom GFA-555 amp · Upgrades & speaker protection added by OldmanSRS
    • Pioneer DV-610AV DVD/CD player
    • SDA CRS+ · Hidden away in the closet
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  • Schurkey
    Schurkey Posts: 2,101
    edited January 2014
    TennMan wrote: »
    Everything I can find says the 5500 is not common ground. I would find our for certain before purchasing it to use with SDAs.
    polklifer wrote: »
    My 5500 performs so well now that I have strapped the negative posts together.
    Like the Aragon 8008, easily fixed with a jumper wire.
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  • RR09SS
    RR09SS Posts: 32
    edited January 2014
    Well, I ended up with the adcom 5500. I ended up only paying $320 for it. I jumped the negative terminals with a spare bit of kimber 4pr. I used all 8 strands together, that should be sufficient shouldn't it?
    Receiver: Yamaha RX-V667
    Fronts: Polk LS90 / Polk SDA-2
    Center: Polk CS350-LS
    Rear: Polk M3 II
    Sub: Polk DSW MP3K / Velodyne DEQ-10R
    Amp: Adcom GFA-5500 (Strapped for SDA's)
    Interconnect: Kimber Tonik
    Speaker Wire: Kimber 4PR
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  • TNHNDYMAN
    TNHNDYMAN Posts: 2,145
    edited January 2014
    Yeah if you just used 7 strands you would be screwed, but now you are golden. Good Luck.




    Being faceitious (can't spell) but really you are probably ok, the experts here can chime in. Personally I would not strap an amp's terminals. Easier to buy common ground or if determined to use an amp that's not, you do have other options that you can learn about by doing some basic searches on the site....
    2-ch System: Parasound P/LD 2000 pre, Parasound HCA-1000 amp, Parasound T/DQ Tuner, Phase Technology PC-100 Tower speakers, Technics SL-1600 Turntable, Denon 2910 SACD/CD player, Peachtree DAC iT and X1asynchorus USB converter, HSU VTF-3 subwoofer.

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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,554
    edited January 2014
    Not to rain on your parade, but strapping the negatives on an amp degrades the sound quality.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • RR09SS
    RR09SS Posts: 32
    edited January 2014
    No no, F1 By all means do. Every bit of information is of great help to me, and I appreciate all the input I can get. But by how much do you think it would degrade. Is there anything I can do to counter the degradation of strapping? I was reading DarqueKnight's AI-1 Dreadnought post and found it very interesting.

    My issue is I doubt I can find an ai-1 cable for the pin/pin setup the first gens had, and I really would hate to modify these speakers. They still sound amazing to me as I dont have a better benchmark for comparison.

    Also, I'm not too worried because I'm sure I'll eventually upgrade and find another use / home for the adcom and get a nice common ground for the sda's.

    Its kind of a disease... Get bit by a vintage polk, and you have to have more...
    Receiver: Yamaha RX-V667
    Fronts: Polk LS90 / Polk SDA-2
    Center: Polk CS350-LS
    Rear: Polk M3 II
    Sub: Polk DSW MP3K / Velodyne DEQ-10R
    Amp: Adcom GFA-5500 (Strapped for SDA's)
    Interconnect: Kimber Tonik
    Speaker Wire: Kimber 4PR
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  • Schurkey
    Schurkey Posts: 2,101
    edited January 2014
    F1nut wrote: »
    Not to rain on your parade, but strapping the negatives on an amp degrades the sound quality.
    If the "sound quality" involves SDA speakers that CANNOT use the AI-1-style isolation transformer, and amplifiers that would be common-ground except for resistors deliberately inserted in the grounding system for the negative terminals...you'd be very wrong.

    Come listen to my 1Bs and 8008 with and without the jumper cable--tell me which way has the more-degraded sound quality.
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,554
    edited January 2014
    RR09SS wrote: »
    No no, F1 By all means do. Every bit of information is of great help to me, and I appreciate all the input I can get. But by how much do you think it would degrade.

    To my ears, the graining/distortion was quite noticeable.
    Is there anything I can do to counter the degradation of strapping?

    Not that I'm aware of.
    My issue is I doubt I can find an ai-1 cable for the pin/pin setup the first gens had, and I really would hate to modify these speakers.

    Your speakers cannot use an isolation transformer, nor can they be modified to use one.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • headrott
    headrott Posts: 5,496
    edited January 2014
    I will say that I strapped the negatives on my Aragon 8008bb before I built an AI-1 and found that the improvement in sound quality after installing the AI-1 (vurses strapping the negative binding posts) was very significant. Every aspect of the audio improved using the AI-1. Soundstage, clarity, detail, tone(s), frequency response, etc., etc., etc.
    Relayer-Big-O-Poster.jpg
    Taken from a recent Audioholics reply regarding "Club Polk" and Polk speakers:
    "I'm yet to hear a Polk speaker that merits more than a sentence and 60 seconds discussion." :\
    My response is: If you need 60 seconds to respond in one sentence, you probably should't be evaluating Polk speakers.....

    "Green leaves reveal the heart spoken Khatru"- Jon Anderson

    "Have A Little Faith! And Everything You'll Face, Will Jump From Out Right On Into Place! Yeah! Take A Little Time! And Everything You'll Find, Will Move From Gloom Right On Into Shine!"- Arthur Lee
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  • RR09SS
    RR09SS Posts: 32
    edited January 2014
    Ok.. so cant modify the speaker, but could I potentially still build an AI-1 for the system and mod the ic cable itself? Since it looks like it is a 2 conductor cable, couldn't it technically be cut it in half and put an AI-1 in between? Obviously I'd hate to ruin an original ic. But is it not as easy as this? Or is there a significant internal difference specific to my sda's.
    Receiver: Yamaha RX-V667
    Fronts: Polk LS90 / Polk SDA-2
    Center: Polk CS350-LS
    Rear: Polk M3 II
    Sub: Polk DSW MP3K / Velodyne DEQ-10R
    Amp: Adcom GFA-5500 (Strapped for SDA's)
    Interconnect: Kimber Tonik
    Speaker Wire: Kimber 4PR
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  • westmassguy
    westmassguy Posts: 6,850
    edited January 2014
    RR09SS wrote: »
    Ok.. so cant modify the speaker, but could I potentially still build an AI-1 for the system and mod the ic cable itself? Since it looks like it is a 2 conductor cable, couldn't it technically be cut it in half and put an AI-1 in between? Obviously I'd hate to ruin an original ic. But is it not as easy as this? Or is there a significant internal difference specific to my sda's.
    Your 2s are 2nd generation SDAs, and are not compatible with the A1-1. You can replace the Interconnect Cable with SpeakON Sockets and Plugs, and use heavier, high quality cable of your choice. This will, in most cases, improve the sound quality, since the cable carries a lot of current in both directions. The SpeakOn Connectors are far superior to the originals both in durability, and conductivity.
    Home Theater/2 Channel:
    Front: SDA-2ATL forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/143984/my-2as-finally-finished-almost/p1
    Center: Custom Built forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/150760/my-center-channel-project/p1
    Surrounds & Rears: Custom Built forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/151647/my-surround-project/p1
    Sonicaps, Mills, RDO-194s-198s, Dynamat, Hurricane Nuts, Blackhole5
    Pioneer Elite VSX-72TXV, Carver PM-600, SVS PB2-Plus Subwoofer

    dhsspeakerservice.com/
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  • RR09SS
    RR09SS Posts: 32
    edited January 2014
    How do you figure they are second gen? From everything I have read second gen did away with the fuses on the back, and had the sl2000 tweeter. Mine has the fuses and the sl1000 and that points towards being first gen. Either way with more research it looks like as you said they aren't compatible with the ai-1. What makes them not compatible? Just curious.
    Receiver: Yamaha RX-V667
    Fronts: Polk LS90 / Polk SDA-2
    Center: Polk CS350-LS
    Rear: Polk M3 II
    Sub: Polk DSW MP3K / Velodyne DEQ-10R
    Amp: Adcom GFA-5500 (Strapped for SDA's)
    Interconnect: Kimber Tonik
    Speaker Wire: Kimber 4PR
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  • westmassguy
    westmassguy Posts: 6,850
    edited January 2014
    RR09SS wrote: »
    How do you figure they are second gen? From everything I have read second gen did away with the fuses on the back, and had the sl2000 tweeter. Mine has the fuses and the sl1000 and that points towards being first gen. Either way with more research it looks like as you said they aren't compatible with the ai-1. What makes them not compatible? Just curious.
    Senior Moment, forgot they had the SL1000s. 4th and 5th Generation SDAs use a single conductor between the two speakers. It carries signal for both speakers. The 1st three generations used two conductors, one fed left to right, the other right to left. The A1-1 is an Isolation Transformer. A single pole Primary, and a single pole Secondary.
    Home Theater/2 Channel:
    Front: SDA-2ATL forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/143984/my-2as-finally-finished-almost/p1
    Center: Custom Built forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/150760/my-center-channel-project/p1
    Surrounds & Rears: Custom Built forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/151647/my-surround-project/p1
    Sonicaps, Mills, RDO-194s-198s, Dynamat, Hurricane Nuts, Blackhole5
    Pioneer Elite VSX-72TXV, Carver PM-600, SVS PB2-Plus Subwoofer

    dhsspeakerservice.com/
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  • RR09SS
    RR09SS Posts: 32
    edited January 2014
    No problem. thanks for the info. Its a shame I cant use an AI-1 interface of any kind. Oh well ill just have to keep my eyes open for some SDA SRS's :P. I have been converted and now must have more SDA's.
    Receiver: Yamaha RX-V667
    Fronts: Polk LS90 / Polk SDA-2
    Center: Polk CS350-LS
    Rear: Polk M3 II
    Sub: Polk DSW MP3K / Velodyne DEQ-10R
    Amp: Adcom GFA-5500 (Strapped for SDA's)
    Interconnect: Kimber Tonik
    Speaker Wire: Kimber 4PR
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  • westmassguy
    westmassguy Posts: 6,850
    edited January 2014
    RR09SS wrote: »
    No problem. thanks for the info. Its a shame I cant use an AI-1 interface of any kind. Oh well ill just have to keep my eyes open for some SDA SRS's :P. I have been converted and now must have more SDA's.
    Why so glum? I just did a pair of 2s for a customer in New Jersey. He drove up, dropped them off, and picked them up a few weeks later. It was a soup to nuts upgrade, crossovers, cabinet work, grill cloth, Dynamatting, and new RDO-194-1 Stereo Tweeters (dimensional tweeters were disconnected). They rival my 2ATLs sound quality. They were superb.
    If you do go with SRSs, be sure they're not the originals, you'll be in the same boat as a far as the AI-1 is concerned.
    Home Theater/2 Channel:
    Front: SDA-2ATL forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/143984/my-2as-finally-finished-almost/p1
    Center: Custom Built forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/150760/my-center-channel-project/p1
    Surrounds & Rears: Custom Built forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/151647/my-surround-project/p1
    Sonicaps, Mills, RDO-194s-198s, Dynamat, Hurricane Nuts, Blackhole5
    Pioneer Elite VSX-72TXV, Carver PM-600, SVS PB2-Plus Subwoofer

    dhsspeakerservice.com/
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  • Toolfan66
    Toolfan66 Posts: 17,243
    edited January 2014
    Isn't there a set of 2.3tl's in UT somewhere? Pick those up and don't look back...
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  • Mike Reeter
    Mike Reeter Posts: 4,315
    edited January 2014
    Toolfan66 wrote: »
    Isn't there a set of 2.3tl's in UT somewhere? Pick those up and don't look back...

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/POLK-AUDIO-SDA-SRS-2-3-TL-UNBELIEVABLY-CLEAN-AMAZING-SPEAKERS-FREE-PICK-UP-UTAH-/221351788698?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item338998409a

    Just relisted, look to be in very condition.
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  • j1mmy
    j1mmy Posts: 95
    edited January 2014
    wow - impressive. Is that a good price?
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