Polk sda1 with ports below tweeters

dkfreebird

Picked up a pair of sda1's with no interconnect cable,these are the rta12 type pins and was wondering how to make my own cable.I have a set of sda 2b that I made my own cable for and it worked great but only one wire was attached on the inside(blue).Tried to make my own for the 1's but didn't go well,any help would be helpful

dkfreebird

Thanks I have a few polk speakers,sda1,sda2b and I think original monitor 10's,the crossovers are mounted on wood and I think the tweeters are peerless with no holes and they sound great.I have alot of other gear and am excited to learn more on my polk's

F1nut

That connector is no longer available. You'll have to open the cabinets, note how the sockets are wired up and replace the original sockets with something else. I suggest one of the SpeakOn connectors.

dkfreebird

Sounds good,I just got a pair of 11t's today too and they sound great,I also have a of pair of klipsch heresy's,kg4's and b&w cdm 1nt's,carver and adcom amps and denon poa 2400 ,just trying to find the right combination

dkfreebird

thanks f1nut,I opened the cabinets,They have both blue and white wires on them,I made the cable to match blue to blue white to white and when I hooked it up to my adcom 555 that my 2b's where on it took out my left channel.I checked everything according to the spec's on my multimeter and they seemed to check within 10 percent of the numbers but it didn't work out.The mid's are mw6600

dkfreebird

The 11's I picked up had no pics,I got hem for 50 bucks,I also got the carver m 1.o and ct-7 preamp for 225.I got real lucky,The carver stuff had original boxes and manuals from Marvin's electronics in Ft.Worth

dkfreebird

No It wasn't me on the on the hales,but I bet he doesn;t live to far from me,I see alot of his stuff on c.l and he has alot of great stuff

westmassguy

dkfreebird wrote: »

thanks f1nut,I opened the cabinets,They have both blue and white wires on them,I made the cable to match blue to blue white to white and when I hooked it up to my adcom 555 that my 2b's where on it took out my left channel.I checked everything according to the spec's on my multimeter and they seemed to check within 10 percent of the numbers but it didn't work out.The mid's are mw6600

Are the blue and white wires from the old sockets connected to the crossovers the same way? Are they connected to the same spade connectors on each?

dkfreebird

I'M pretty sure they are,I will open them back up to make sure,when I got the speakers 3 of the drivers were seized on the right speaker,I replaced with 6502's(I know they aren't correct)They sounded good until I hooked the interconnect up.When I got the speakers at first it seemed as if the left channel clipped out on my adcom at a low volume where as the right channel never did.The outside driver and tweeters are hooked up to the dimensional crossover.

Schurkey

The SDA 1 with the nostril ports are the original 1s. Polk offered instructions and a parts kit to upgrade them to SDA 1As. Some of them were factory-modified to become 1As, others were done "in the field". The SDA 1A "Signature" units are upgraded 1s, with a brass signature plate covering the plugged nostrils.

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=31009&d=1201824729

Seems to me that my 1Bs (which use a different, Blade/blade connector and socket) are wired from blue on one cabinet to white on the other cabinet. I'd expect that's likely the problem with yours...but check the schematics first. My interconnect cable is wired so that both large blades are connected, and both small blades are connected--but the SOCKETS at the opposite speaker are wired backwards.

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=31008&d=1201824729

westmassguy

Schurkey wrote: »

Seems to me that my 1Bs (which use a different, Blade/blade connector and socket) are wired from blue on one cabinet to white on the other cabinet. I'd expect that's likely the problem with yours...but check the schematics first. My interconnect cable is wired so that both large blades are connected, and both small blades are connected--but the SOCKETS at the opposite speaker are wired backwards.

That's why I asked. The B/B cable and sockets are wired with the same polarity. Internally, where they connect to the crossover, one must be reversed. dkfreebird's had the old RTA 12 type connectors. Polarity may have been reversed in the cable, not internally like the typical B/B arrangement. If polarity was the same from one crossover to the other, it would cause a dead short.

westmassguy

dkfreebird wrote: »

I'M pretty sure they are,I will open them back up to make sure,when I got the speakers 3 of the drivers were seized on the right speaker,I replaced with 6502's(I know they aren't correct)They sounded good until I hooked the interconnect up.When I got the speakers at first it seemed as if the left channel clipped out on my adcom at a low volume where as the right channel never did.The outside driver and tweeters are hooked up to the dimensional crossover.

MW6502s are 4 ohm. The MW6500s are 8 ohm. SDA 1s are 4 ohm nominal and probable drop to 3.5 at certain frequencies. With 4 ohm drivers in one cabinet, the overall impedance probably dropped well below 3 ohms, not to mention the crossover frequencies are way off now.

dkfreebird

well I opened up the left speaker and took a pic,the blue wire goes from post to positive then to dimensional crossover,white wire goes directly to same crossover,just took right pr out and it is the same inside it,I marked both white wires on the outside pins so I would know which is which.I realize the specs are off on my drivers but I just wanted to see if they worked before I invested any more money in them.I picked them up for 75 so I thought I would give them a shot.I did measure the 6600 drivers I have and they are 8 ohm

westmassguy

So, just to be clear, the blue and white wires we're talking about, are for the interconnect cable, correct? If that's the case, then the polarity reversal was done by the interconnect cable. Going forward, if you replace the interconnect cable and connectors with SpeakONs for example, the new cable and plugs should be polarized the same. 1+ and 1- on the plugs at both ends connected the same. The back side of the SpeakON Jack or Socket is where the reversal will happen.

dkfreebird

Yes,they are for the interconnect,thanks for the information.I will to make a temporary on and if it works do the speakon jack as you suggested.Thanks

westmassguy

dkfreebird wrote: »

Yes,they are for the interconnect,thanks for the information.I will to make a temporary on and if it works do the speakon jack as you suggested.Thanks

Just remember, you're only reversing one side, not both. Doesn't matter which side.

dkfreebird

Got it,but I am gonna try try find a cheap receiver to try it with,not gonna take a chance on my adcom,it ended up being the fuse from the first try but it did take my preamp left channel out on the lab connection,had to switch it to norm and it all works good now.

dkfreebird

Thanks westmassguy,and everyone else,I forgot I had a kenwood kr-v7060 in a closet,I hooked up the cable the way you said,fired them up and all is good.All drivers operational!Now I just need to get matching mids,it will be a slow process to upgrade them but atleast now I know I have a good starting point.Listeniing to Dire Straights Six Blade Knife and they sound pretty good for now
Thanks all

westmassguy

Great to hear. eBay would be a starting point for the drivers, unless another member has a stash. Are the MW6600X or MW 6500?

dkfreebird

6600x I have 5 good ones

westmassguy

They pop up on eBay periodically. You can do a search, and set it to notify you when any come up for sale

dkfreebird

Thanks,I have been doing that since I got the speakers,I can be patient though,I have plenty of other speakers to listen to until I get these where they need to be,I just put the sda's in the closet and pulled my magnepan smg's out for awhile.I think I need a bigger closet now

dkfreebird

I just wanted to say thanks to all who responded,after reading a lot of every ones post today(I read a lot)I realize I have a lot to learn and I have no doubt I have come to the right place.Thanks again

dkfreebird

I have the A's also,they have a sweet sound to them.It drives my wife nuts when I pull different speakers out all the time but I like the change every once and awhile.

westmassguy

Nuts is one thing, when the china starts flying and bags are packed, that's when you start to worry.

Schurkey

dkfreebird wrote: »

Got it,but I am gonna try try find a cheap receiver to try it with,not gonna take a chance on my adcom,it ended up being the fuse from the first try but it did take my preamp left channel out on the lab connection,had to switch it to norm and it all works good now.

I am completely mystified how a speaker fault can create a preamp problem.

Just to be clear...you've got an Adcom preamp with "Lab" (direct coupled, maybe bypasses tone controls) and "Normal" (which are capacitor-coupled, and allow the tone controls)? And the left-channel "Lab" outputs don't work any more?

I had an Adcom preamp like that--the GFP-565. I liked it very much, sold it when I went 7-channel.

dkfreebird

Yes the pre is a gtp-500,never had a problem with it hooked up to my 2b's,when I hooked the 1's up the speakers were really distorted then the left channel went out' unhooked everything pulled the cover off the 555,left fuse blown,replaced hooked back up still no left channel,unhooked took cover off the 500 and where the lab connection went to the board it was burnt and a metal piece connected to it was loose from the board,sorry I have never worked on electronics,I know just enough to be dangerous:)Looked at the normal connection it looked fine so I hooked it up and everything is working fine.I have the gfp-555 in the closet if I need it but I like the ability to use the remote with 500.As far as the lab not working anymore once I saw the damaged part I never tried to hook it back up

dkfreebird

And good point westmassguy'we have been married 22 years,no kids,I figure it is better to have a hobby at home than to be out running around doing who knows what.

Schurkey

dkfreebird wrote: »

Yes the pre is a gtp-500,never had a problem with it hooked up to my 2b's,when I hooked the 1's up the speakers were really distorted then the left channel went out' unhooked everything pulled the cover off the 555,left fuse blown,replaced hooked back up still no left channel,unhooked took cover off the 500 and where the lab connection went to the board it was burnt and a metal piece connected to it was loose from the board,sorry I have never worked on electronics,I know just enough to be dangerous:)Looked at the normal connection it looked fine so I hooked it up and everything is working fine.I have the gfp-555 in the closet if I need it but I like the ability to use the remote with 500.As far as the lab not working anymore once I saw the damaged part I never tried to hook it back up

NOW I understand!

dkfreebird

Schurkey,if you don't mind could you explain to me how this would happen so I don't repeat the same mistake.Is it because of the preamp I am using?Or my not ever having worked on electronics?

Schurkey

dkfreebird wrote: »

Schurkey,if you don't mind could you explain to me how this would happen so I don't repeat the same mistake.Is it because of the preamp I am using?Or my not ever having worked on electronics?

I originally thought that a speaker problem toasted your preamp without damaging the power amp. You said something about a fuse, and I made the incorrect assumption that you meant a fuse on the back of the speaker.

Since the speaker problem popped a fuse in the power amp, I suppose that the power amp sent a shriek of pain into the preamp which melted the output wires off the circuit board.

In the end, I'm sure all the damage was due to the speaker problem--so if that's fixed, you should be good-to-go once you repair the Lab outputs on the preamp. (or just continue to use the Normal outputs, but I'd be uncomfortable having melted leads inside the preamp.)