Mcintosh MC203 or MC452 with Cary slp-89

VCoak

Hello everyone, just found the forums on Polk! and joined yesterday. I own a pair of SDA SRS 1.2 not the tl's

I bought them in 1990 in San Diego from what I remember was called the sound company??? They are still completely stock and survived SIX moves. They still sound great! I have been out of the high end audio for years so here goes...

First ? The SDA SRS 1.2, Should I swap out the sl2000 for RDO 194 or 198's? I listen to jazz, classical, country and blues.

Second ?, MODS??? Vr3 seems very interesting. Was thinking the Gimpod upgrade. Many choices from Vr3 and need advice on this one.

Third ? Amps/Preamps, Can I pair a Mcintosh MC 302 or MC452 with Cary SLP-89?

My system is currently a Adcom GFA 5500 amp, pre/amp Adcom GFP 750, Monster AVS-2000. No Tuner, Vinyl or CD. SAT Radio and kids ipods for know. Interconnects and speaker wire are by monster.

I know this a lot to ask but really enjoy learning and reading. Budget is around 1000 a month to upgrade till done. So the upgrades will be completed in steps.

Thanks everyone in advance!!!

MCO

zane77

The RDO-194 is a better replacement tweeter for the sl2000. Here is a link for all the mod's for these fantastic speakers http://vr3mods.com/LCSDAUpgrade.php. Trey at VR3 mods is a fantastic resource for mods and info. Good luck if decide to start the upgrade process that a lot have done and others (like me) are in the process of doing. And welcome to the forum.

VCoak

THX Z. I feel like it it Christmas!

tonyb

VR3 is your man for mods, period. Also, the 750 pre amp is pretty decent, your not doing any favors by pumping an Ipod straight into it. Get yourself a decent dac and your world will widen.

leftwinger57

VCoak, welcome to the club. As many here will tell you I thought my stock 2Bs were the best vintage speakers I heard in a long time. Now I was a member of the forum but never owned the product until I got the set of 2Bs. My logic said these (this was my case against mods) were in a coma for like 20 years why did they need anything done to them. Well I heard it and it was loud and clear. 1st you have no idea how many seasonal changes those speakers went through and even if temp controled it's still a detrement. 2.Technology changes and mostly for the better in the Polk universe. 3.The RDO-194s are way better than the SL2000 silver domes by leaps and bounds,the x-overs and work Trey does @ VR-3 is legdendary and then finally there are so many inexpensive mechanical mods you can do to improve what you ,you'll be astounded.Just look at my sig and people do way more than what I did.
They do like an amp w/ a good 200 wpc to get the best out of them.

drumminman

VCoak wrote: »

First ? The SDA SRS 1.2, Should I swap out the sl2000 for RDO 194 or 198's? I listen to jazz, classical, country and blues.

Second ?, MODS??? Vr3 seems very interesting. Was thinking the Gimpod upgrade. Many choices from Vr3 and need advice on this one.

Third ? Amps/Preamps, Can I pair a Mcintosh MC 302 or MC452 with Cary SLP-89?

My system is currently a Adcom GFA 5500 amp, pre/amp Adcom GFP 750, Monster AVS-2000. No Tuner, Vinyl or CD. SAT Radio and kids ipods for know. Interconnects and speaker wire are by monster.

Both the RD0 194 and 198 are better than the SL 2000's in there now. The 194 is a drop in replacement. If you perform the TL mod you can use the 198, which is better than the 194.

VR3 has a great reputation for quality work and no doubt would be a good choice. However, many here have done the Xover mods themselves. All you need is a little soldering skills, a minimum 40 watt iron, and an eye for detail - your choice. Search the forum for diy threads on modding 1.2's and you can find reliable info.

You can pair any common ground amp with your speakers. If you're not sure if what you have is common ground contact the manufacturer and ask. You can also pair most any non common ground amp if you build a Dreadnought AI-1 interface, which is a Polk approved mod. Very easy to build and improves the sound of even common ground amps.

You have lots of options. Be sure to post questions or issues - lots of knowledgeable folks here on the forum.

And welcome to CP!

VCoak

Thanks everyone! NUB ? what is a DAC??? I have no clue. I will call Polk and see if they have the RDO's in stock and then it is off to Vr3 land

erniejade

A single 301 will drive them fine. No need for a pair.

erniejade

302. Sorry. Not 301. Btw. A used 352 or 402 would be a better buy if your talking new for McIntosh.

drumminman

VCoak wrote: »

Thanks everyone! NUB ? what is a DAC??? I have no clue. I will call Polk and see if they have the RDO's in stock and then it is off to Vr3 land

DAC = digital to analog converter.

schwarcw

Welcome to Club Polk! Good to have a long time Polk owner just find this Forum.

The RDO-194 tweeters are the best place to start. Another inexpensive upgrade is the interconnect cable. I believe you have the pin/blade cable. Only the pin connector carries the signal. Using a high quality speaker wire instead of the original Polk cable is a relatively inexpensive upgrade.

Crossover mods, there is a lot of info on this Forum.

Rings for the woofer, tweeters and passive radiator is also a very worthy mod.

Good luck and welcome to the Forum.

VCoak

I was just looking at a used mcintosh 402. Wow does that have power. Plus I love the look but I never heard a one through the sda's. My current amp is the adcom gfa 5500. I have pushed it to were it "blinks". Not often but just to see what it could do. I began the polk mods by adding "weather" striping to the bell housing of the speakers and many of the hex bolts were loss. Plus a simple cleaning of the binding posts and jumpers made a difference. Again, Thank you guys for helping. Keep it coming.

schwarcw

Also, I suggest that you download the SDA Manual in the link provided in a previous post. Here it is: http://vr3mods.com/LCSDAUpgrade.php

Regards,

michaeljhsda2

Welcome to the forum.

First things first...as you look at the back of the speakers, are the red binding post nuts (2 per speaker) on the left or the right? They are supposed to be on the left for the 1.2's and 1.2TL's. Even if the label on the back shows red on the right, ignore it because the sticker pertains to the original SRS's which had them on the right (during the manufacturing process, Polk used up old stock to get rid of it and installed it on the newer models). This error is a fairly common one when it comes to the 1.2's. The nuts unscrew all the way out. Simply swap places with the black ones and your speakers are now in phase. The bass should markedly improve as a result.

Are you interested in converting them to 1.2 TL's? If so, the RD-0198's are the tweeters you'll need in addition to upgrading and making changes to the crossovers. (or have someone else upgrade the crossovers for you). There are a couple of additional changes that need to be made at each tweeter and at the molex connector that plugs into the crossover board.

VCoak

I will check it out. Without looking i think the red I have the red connect on the right. Be back in a minute....

VCoak

Mike! You R the MAN!. All these years I have had them on wrong. BASS!!! Amazing. Thank you very much. The stickers on the back do show the red on right and I just followed that.

VCoak

Miles Davis never sounded so good.

zane77

First mod completed, good job!

michaeljhsda2

VCoak wrote: »

Mike! You R the MAN!. All these years I have had them on wrong. BASS!!! Amazing. Thank you very much. The stickers on the back do show the red on right and I just followed that.

Cool! You're welcome.

VCoak

Todays MODS will be the SDA cable and a call to polk for tweeter upgrades. BTW please tell me about the dreadnought (sp). Looking for a new amp and most amps in the 200 to 400 range are not common ground.

michaeljhsda2

Are you going to do the TL mod in the future and just swap out the SL2000 with the RD-0194's in the meantime?

Buy a Avel-Lindberg torroidal transformer (model I can't recall at the moment) for the dreadnought. There are links showing how to make it. Use google instead of the search feature in this forum.

VCoak

I just bought the 198's from Helen. Very nice lady. As for the dreadnought I sure would like to avoid buying one. Building one maybe a tough one for me. No soldering gun currently. I e-mailed Vr3 about upgrades and looking at caps, sda cable and new board.
Any thoughts on common ground amps verse non common ground?

michaeljhsda2

Hate to be the bearer of bad news but the 198's are not a drop in replacement for the SL2000 (the 194's are). The 198's are for the TL upgrade. Is that what you plan on doing? The negative wire at each tweeter has to be changed to a wider connector in order to use the 198's and even then, unless you change the crossover values to the TL, it may not sound quite right. In addition to changing the connector to a wider one, the 8 wires on the molex connector at the crossover need to be swapped so that negative is on the positive and positive is on the negative.

VCoak

Thx Mike, I am planning on upgrading to tl version from Vr3. Was looking at the gimpod upgrade. As for the negative being wider do I just add wider spade correct. Should I crimp or solder?

michaeljhsda2

Yes a wider spade. Not sure of the size. The answer is somewhere here on the forum.
Crimping it is fine, IMO.
You'll need a pin removal tool in order to swap the wires on the Molex connector. Something like this.
http://www.parts-express.com/molex-connector-pin-extractor-tool-093--092-582?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=pla

tratliff

Welcome to the forum.

I've got a set of original SDA SRS's running a Prasound Halo A21 (250 wpc). Very impressive. Worth looking into.

Good luck.

VCoak

tratliff, Do you need AI-1 or a dreadnaught for the amp?

michaeljhsda2

His amp is common ground so an AI-1 is not needed.

The 1.2's are an easy load to drive. Have you considered a tube amp? I run my 1.2 TL's with a 50 watt Yaqin and they sound great. Hard to believe but it's true.

VCoak

Never looked towards tube amps. If I may, here is my listening. My system is on almost everyday for 12 hrs or more. Music genre is jazz, classical, and 60/70's rock. Volumes are from the low level for conversation to take place to loud while working in and around the home. I have been known to leave everything on for a day or two. I do enjoy tinkering and adjusting/upgrading.

So with that being said, will tube amps be a good fit? and if so should a tube pre go with it?

Current system is Adcom gfa 5500, gfp-750, SRS 1.2 being mod to tl's. No vinyl but tuner and SAT radio input and ipods.

michaeljhsda2

Since you leave the system on for a day or two, I wouldn't recommend a tube amp. You have a really good preamp, perhaps upgrade the amp to an Adcom 5802?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Adcom-GFA-5802-Power-Amp-Amplifier-300-watt-channel-with-org-Box-/321307634378?pt=US_Home_Audio_Amplifiers_Preamps&hash=item4acf6d6aca

VCoak

Funny you mentioned the 5802. I have been looking at that one and found one on ebay for 800. Just the issue of common ground is killing me. Would like to have more power for those special days of higher volumes.