Polk Signature Reference any good

Jhayman
Jhayman Posts: 1,548
edited February 2014 in Speakers
How are these Polk's compared to the SDA line's?
is this a good price?
I was trying to acquire a set of SDA's but after several e-mails still no response..

http://www.canuckaudiomart.com/details/649104114-polk_audio_signature_reference_system/
ATC SCM40's,VTL TL 2.5 Preamp,PSB Stratus Goldi's,McCormack DNA 500,McCormack MAP-1 Preamp,Pro-Ject Xtension 10 TT,Ortofon Cadenza Red/Nordost RedDawn LS Speaker cables, Bryston BDP-2, Bryston BDA-2,PS Audio AC-3 power cables
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  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 25,661
    edited January 2014
    get your learn on ...those are sda 3.1 the last of the sda line
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  • Jhayman
    Jhayman Posts: 1,548
    edited January 2014
    Sorry his ad says that and the back of the speaker says it as well..?
    I'm still trying to get a Good PR of SDA's but just not sure which one's are the best to have and can be upgraded to another level as so many have done..
    pitdogg2 wrote: »
    get your learn on ...those are sda 3.1 the last of the sda line
    ATC SCM40's,VTL TL 2.5 Preamp,PSB Stratus Goldi's,McCormack DNA 500,McCormack MAP-1 Preamp,Pro-Ject Xtension 10 TT,Ortofon Cadenza Red/Nordost RedDawn LS Speaker cables, Bryston BDP-2, Bryston BDA-2,PS Audio AC-3 power cables
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  • agfrost
    agfrost Posts: 2,430
    edited January 2014
    Methinks Pitdogg is trying to say that the 3.1TLs are as good as the SDA line gets, in terms of technological implementation. They're not "the big boys", but they should do well in most any size room. You can upgrade them to the hilt; start by peeking at gimpod.com to see the boards, schematics, and suggestions.

    If they're in good shape, it's hard to find fault with the price. You won't be stealing them, but to channel my inner Jesse I'll say that "they aren't making any more, and you'd be hard pressed to do better for $700."

    I've got 2BTL's, and a pair of 3.1TLs is about all that would have me considering replacing them with respect to my budget and listening room's limitations.
    Jay
    SDA 2BTL * Musical Fidelity A5cr amp * Oppo BDP-93 * Modded Adcom GDA-600 DAC * Rythmik F8 (x2)
    Micro Seiki DQ-50 * Hagerman Cornet 2 Phono * A hodgepodge of cabling * Belkin PF60
    Preamp rotation: Krell KSL (SCompRacer recapped) * Manley Shrimp * PS Audio 5.0
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  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 25,661
    edited January 2014
    agfrost wrote: »
    Methinks Pitdogg is trying to say that the 3.1TLs are as good as the SDA line gets, in terms of technological implementation. They're not "the big boys", but they should do well in most any size room. You can upgrade them to the hilt; start by peeking at gimpod.com to see the boards, schematics, and suggestions.

    If they're in good shape, it's hard to find fault with the price. You won't be stealing them, but to channel my inner Jesse I'll say that "they aren't making any more, and you'd be hard pressed to do better for $700."

    I've got 2BTL's, and a pair of 3.1TLs is about all that would have me considering replacing them with respect to my budget and listening room's limitations.


    Yep methinks that what I meant^^^^:biggrin: The best SDA are the ones closest and in your price range....

    buy'em
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,734
    edited January 2014
    I was trying to acquire a set of SDA's but after several e-mails still no response..

    Call the man at 416-930-0192 and get those SDA SRS 3.1TL's before someone else does.
    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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  • Jhayman
    Jhayman Posts: 1,548
    edited January 2014
    One more question would my McCormack be sufficient to run them or do I need a common ground amp which I'm not sure if mine is or not, lol
    ATC SCM40's,VTL TL 2.5 Preamp,PSB Stratus Goldi's,McCormack DNA 500,McCormack MAP-1 Preamp,Pro-Ject Xtension 10 TT,Ortofon Cadenza Red/Nordost RedDawn LS Speaker cables, Bryston BDP-2, Bryston BDA-2,PS Audio AC-3 power cables
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,734
    edited January 2014
    You will need a common ground amp or the AI-1/Dreadnaught if the amp is not. The AI-1/Dreadnaught is an excellent idea anyway as it sounds better than the standard SDA cable.

    If you have a VOM you can check your amp. If not, call McCormack.
    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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  • PolkieMan
    PolkieMan Posts: 2,446
    edited January 2014
    Looks like the tops were painted black, to hide a stain?
    POLK SDA 2.3 TLS BOUGHT NEW IN 1990, Gimpod/Sonic Caps/Mills RDO-198
    POLK CSI-A6 POLK MONITOR 70'S ONKYO TX NR-808 SONY CDP-333ES
    PIONEER PL-510A SONY BDP S5100
    POLK SDA 1C BOUGHT USED 2011,Gimpod/Sonic Caps/Mills RDO-194
    ONKYO HT RC-360 SONY BDP S590 TECHNICS SL BD-1
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,734
    edited January 2014
    It was an option from Polk.
    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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  • Mike Reeter
    Mike Reeter Posts: 4,315
    edited January 2014
    This seems like a fair price considering it's Canadian dollars (I'm sure he would listen to any reasonable offers) The 3.1's are a prime example of the SDA line.
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  • Jhayman
    Jhayman Posts: 1,548
    edited January 2014
    I did, picked them up a little while ago..barely fit in my back seat if they were an inch taller no go..
    Thanks for the info on checking them out that test worked perfectly and they were bang on..
    Pics to follow once I figure it out..
    Did they change pic size allowed because I used to be able to take a pic on my iPad and post it, now it says they are to big..
    F1nut wrote: »
    Call the man at 416-930-0192 and get those SDA SRS 3.1TL's before someone else does.
    ATC SCM40's,VTL TL 2.5 Preamp,PSB Stratus Goldi's,McCormack DNA 500,McCormack MAP-1 Preamp,Pro-Ject Xtension 10 TT,Ortofon Cadenza Red/Nordost RedDawn LS Speaker cables, Bryston BDP-2, Bryston BDA-2,PS Audio AC-3 power cables
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,734
    edited January 2014
    Excellent!

    No idea on the pic stuff, sorry.
    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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  • SCompRacer
    SCompRacer Posts: 8,511
    edited January 2014
    Jhayman wrote: »
    Did they change pic size allowed because I used to be able to take a pic on my iPad and post it, now it says they are to big..

    Congrats on your new speakers!

    There is a 512KB limit on uploaded pics here.
    Salk SoundScape 8's * Audio Research Reference 3 * Bottlehead Eros Phono * Park's Audio Budgie SUT * Krell KSA-250 * Harmonic Technology Pro 9+ * Signature Series Sonore Music Server w/Deux PS * Roon * Gustard R26 DAC / Singxer SU-6 DDC * Heavy Plinth Lenco L75 Idler Drive * AA MG-1 Linear Air Bearing Arm * AT33PTG/II & Denon 103R * Richard Gray 600S * NHT B-12d subs * GIK Acoustic Treatments * Sennheiser HD650 *
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  • Dawgfish
    Dawgfish Posts: 2,554
    edited January 2014
    Congrats JHayman! You are going to love them. Check out the vintage audio section to get the 411 on properly placing these. It's super critical with SDAs. That's not a bad price at all (I think $700 Canadian works out to around $600 U.S.). Can't wait to hear your impressions of them!
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  • polk500
    polk500 Posts: 1,171
    edited January 2014
    Congrats on the speakers.
    Cheers
    Roger
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  • Jhayman
    Jhayman Posts: 1,548
    edited January 2014
    Thanks guys for all the warmth as I'm now in the SDA family...lol
    One thing I did notice yesterday after I got them home is the right SL3000 has been replaced with the RDO198 tweet but the previous owner failed to do the left which still had the SL3000 in it..
    Which I will be replacing ASAP once I find out where to buy it..
    I guess from Polk or do I prefer older parts somewhere else?
    In case your wondering how I know the tweet has been replaced, I've been doing a lot of reading on the forum and the SL3000 used, what I think are torx screws and is silver, and the RDO198 used Philips screws and is black, woohoo
    I've had a few wobbly pops so I'm in no pain tonight..
    I will be doing some upgrades but I'm not sure where to start the process, I can change a tweeter myself and dynamat the driver baskets but the crossovers are another story..
    ATC SCM40's,VTL TL 2.5 Preamp,PSB Stratus Goldi's,McCormack DNA 500,McCormack MAP-1 Preamp,Pro-Ject Xtension 10 TT,Ortofon Cadenza Red/Nordost RedDawn LS Speaker cables, Bryston BDP-2, Bryston BDA-2,PS Audio AC-3 power cables
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,734
    edited January 2014
    Order the RD0198-1 from Polk.

    Have you played them yet?
    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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  • Mike Reeter
    Mike Reeter Posts: 4,315
    edited January 2014
    This ^^^^^and tell them you are a Club Polk member and get a bit of a discount also. There a some members here who can perform any x-overs mods you could ever want.
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  • gudnoyez
    gudnoyez Posts: 8,132
    edited January 2014
    Congratulations enjoy, just wondering how you fit both of them in your backseat, lot of head room in that ride of yours. Have fun with them.
    Home Theater
    Parasound Halo A 31 OnkyoTX-NR838 Sony XBR55X850B 55" 4K RtiA9 Fronts CsiA6 Center RtiA3 Rears FxiA6 Side Surrounds Dual Psw 111's Oppo 105D Signal Ultra Speaker Cables & IC's Signal Magic Power Cable Technics SL Q300 Panamax MR4300 Audioquest Chocolate HDMI Cables Audioquest Forest USB Cable

    2 Channel
    Adcom 555II Vincent SA-T1 Marantz SA 15S2 Denon DR-M11 Clearaudio Bluemotion SDA 2.3tl's (Z) edition MIT Terminator II Speaker Cables & IC's Adcom 545II Adcom Gtp-450 Marantz CD5004 Technics M245X SDA 2B's, SDA CRS+

    Stuff for the Head
    JD LABS C5 Headphone Amplifier, Sennheiser HD 598, Polk Audio Buckle, Polk Audio Hinge, Velodyne vPulse, Bose IE2, Sennheiser CX 200 Street II, Sennheiser MX 365

    Shower & Off the beaten path Rigs
    Polk Audio Boom Swimmer, Polk Audio Urchin B)
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  • Jhayman
    Jhayman Posts: 1,548
    edited January 2014
    Yup I will order it next week..
    I've been listening to them for most of the day yesterday I like them although I had to disconnect my MIT SC as i could not plug in the IC due to the MIT's being spades and too long to fit properly on the terminals.
    I still have to play around with placement and clearing out my room got to much crap hanging around interfering with everything else audio..
    So I had to use the factory jumpers and switch to my Emo SC with bananas.
    I also picked up a Tokyo PE100 SE phono pre and that really made them sound like crap so I hooked back up my Phono box s bad all is well again, returning the Tokyo tomorrow/ today..
    F1nut wrote: »
    Order the RD0198-1 from Polk.

    Have you played them yet?
    ATC SCM40's,VTL TL 2.5 Preamp,PSB Stratus Goldi's,McCormack DNA 500,McCormack MAP-1 Preamp,Pro-Ject Xtension 10 TT,Ortofon Cadenza Red/Nordost RedDawn LS Speaker cables, Bryston BDP-2, Bryston BDA-2,PS Audio AC-3 power cables
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  • Jhayman
    Jhayman Posts: 1,548
    edited January 2014
    Thanks, I drive a 2012 Malibu I laid them on their backs onto of eachother just barely fit, were talking millimetres here.
    2 blankets and a couple of pieces of cardboard between them.
    gudnoyez wrote: »
    Congratulations enjoy, just wondering how you fit both of them in your backseat, lot of head room in that ride of yours. Have fun with them.
    ATC SCM40's,VTL TL 2.5 Preamp,PSB Stratus Goldi's,McCormack DNA 500,McCormack MAP-1 Preamp,Pro-Ject Xtension 10 TT,Ortofon Cadenza Red/Nordost RedDawn LS Speaker cables, Bryston BDP-2, Bryston BDA-2,PS Audio AC-3 power cables
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  • Jhayman
    Jhayman Posts: 1,548
    edited January 2014
    Just a test photo of my 3.1 that I cropped to see if it would now fit forum limitations..

    image.jpg
    ATC SCM40's,VTL TL 2.5 Preamp,PSB Stratus Goldi's,McCormack DNA 500,McCormack MAP-1 Preamp,Pro-Ject Xtension 10 TT,Ortofon Cadenza Red/Nordost RedDawn LS Speaker cables, Bryston BDP-2, Bryston BDA-2,PS Audio AC-3 power cables
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,734
    edited January 2014
    although I had to disconnect my MIT SC as i could not plug in the IC due to the MIT's being spades and too long to fit properly on the terminals.

    I've read that a few times and it still doesn't make sense to me....help me out here.
    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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  • Jhayman
    Jhayman Posts: 1,548
    edited January 2014
    Sorry for the confusion..
    I was using my MIT bi-wire speaker cables that have spades, but I can't use them on these speakers because I can't get the low output ends on the bottom binding posts because they are to long to fit into the resessed area..
    So I had to pull out my Emotiva speaker cables that use bananas and I used the original included 3.1 jumpers, now I can also plug in the SDA interconnect cable as well..
    I listened to PInk Floyd The Wall on vinyl and it sounded very nice..
    F1nut wrote: »
    I've read that a few times and it still doesn't make sense to me....help me out here.
    ATC SCM40's,VTL TL 2.5 Preamp,PSB Stratus Goldi's,McCormack DNA 500,McCormack MAP-1 Preamp,Pro-Ject Xtension 10 TT,Ortofon Cadenza Red/Nordost RedDawn LS Speaker cables, Bryston BDP-2, Bryston BDA-2,PS Audio AC-3 power cables
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,734
    edited February 2014
    Got it, thanks. Which MIT's do you have? Do they not have ICONN ends? If not, you can bend the ends somewhat to angle the cable out from the binding post cup.
    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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  • Jhayman
    Jhayman Posts: 1,548
    edited February 2014
    I have the Terminator 2 bi-wire I bought from George Daniels a while back..
    While they do bend at the ends unfortunately it's still not enough to fit on the terminal..
    I guess I would have to order the bananas screw on ends..
    F1nut wrote: »
    Got it, thanks. Which MIT's do you have? Do they not have ICONN ends? If not, you can bend the ends somewhat to angle the cable out from the binding post cup.
    ATC SCM40's,VTL TL 2.5 Preamp,PSB Stratus Goldi's,McCormack DNA 500,McCormack MAP-1 Preamp,Pro-Ject Xtension 10 TT,Ortofon Cadenza Red/Nordost RedDawn LS Speaker cables, Bryston BDP-2, Bryston BDA-2,PS Audio AC-3 power cables
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  • Jhayman
    Jhayman Posts: 1,548
    edited February 2014
    Sorry Jesse , yes they do have the iconns on them making them to big to fit..
    ATC SCM40's,VTL TL 2.5 Preamp,PSB Stratus Goldi's,McCormack DNA 500,McCormack MAP-1 Preamp,Pro-Ject Xtension 10 TT,Ortofon Cadenza Red/Nordost RedDawn LS Speaker cables, Bryston BDP-2, Bryston BDA-2,PS Audio AC-3 power cables
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,734
    edited February 2014
    Jamie, I just pulled out some MIT spades from my stash, screwed them onto an MIT speaker cable I had laying around and attached them to the bottom posts of an SDA binding post plate with Cardas posts without an issue. The spades I have are slightly bent.

    Do you have flat spades or are they slightly bent? If yours are flat I can see where it would be a problem. If they are the slightly bent version I can't see the problem. If yours are flat you can put the "forks" into a bench vise. You want to create the bend 1/8" past the bottom of the U cut out. Tap the stud part with a hammer until you achieve about a 25 degree angle.
    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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  • Jhayman
    Jhayman Posts: 1,548
    edited February 2014
    Yes mine are the flat ones..
    I will remove the ends and use my vice to put the 1/8" bend on the bottoms..
    Thanks for the suggestion Jesse
    ATC SCM40's,VTL TL 2.5 Preamp,PSB Stratus Goldi's,McCormack DNA 500,McCormack MAP-1 Preamp,Pro-Ject Xtension 10 TT,Ortofon Cadenza Red/Nordost RedDawn LS Speaker cables, Bryston BDP-2, Bryston BDA-2,PS Audio AC-3 power cables
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,734
    edited February 2014
    Sure thing, I'm sure that'll do the trick and it won't cost a dime either.
    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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