Did you upgrade your SDA crossovers?? (If so I'd like to hear from you)

tophatjohnny

Hey all...I know there are many threads on the subject, but thought maybe to start one to hear a more concentrated take on the before/after result. I picked up my SDA 1B's a while back and still have the crossovers and spiking to complete. Hopefully this summer it will happen. I have done the tweets/dynamat/larry rings, all of which made the sound better. Now to invest in the crossovers will insure these speakers will never leave my home, as I will have more money into them than I could ever recoup if I did decide to sell, (so I already know this will be like a marriage) , It will be great hearing from members that are willing to share their before/after take on the crossover upgrade (even if you have chimed in on previous threads). That's if you feel like sharing. I have consulted with a few different people about doing this upgrade, and am not necessarily asking who did your upgrade, (but feel free to share whatever info you feel comfortable talking about) I have been told I will hear a huge difference, and I like the sound now with 1986 crossovers so if it is to get even better, Yes...I am looking forward to having this done. Honestly ..a little unsure about removing the current crossovers to get it done, but I'm going to do it! Thanks in advance for sharring, or even just reading if that's all you did.

THJ

george daniel

I did them myself--take your time-- they are not very difficult if you can solder-- my first one was paint by the numbers so to speak-- mills and sonicaps--also,look at it this way--you will have a pair of speakers that you would be hard pressed to replace in todays market with the money that you have invested in your! Good luck,,have fun.

cincycat13

Hey THJ!

So you took them off the market? I am not sure how you fit them in your bedroom if I recall correctly, but I was surprised when the got ousted by the 12s. My take on my XO mod was just more of everything. Details here:

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?118701-gimpod-SDA-boards-for-2.3

I don't see the 1Bs on his list so not sure if the new boards could be used. Set your budget, take your time, and yes...do it.

tophatjohnny

cincycat13 wrote: »

Hey THJ!

So you took them off the market? I am not sure how you fit them in your bedroom if I recall correctly, but I was surprised when the got ousted by the 12s. My take on my XO mod was just more of everything. Details here:

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?118701-gimpod-SDA-boards-for-2.3

I don't see the 1Bs on his list so not sure if the new boards could be used. Set your budget, take your time, and yes...do it.

Yes, after a couple days of thinking, I couldn't sell em. They look brand new and I love em! I better..after the upgrades I'll have more in them than I could pick up a pair of LSi 25's for?????

Schurkey

I gave you all this info long ago, but to reinforce:

Rebuilding the crossovers was the second-best thing I ever did to my 1Bs, the single-most important was to put a jumper-wire between the negative terminals of my amplifier because it was not a true "common-ground" amp.

I did all the work myself. I bought what are considered "cheap, third-rate" film capacitors and resistors by some folks on this forum, and I'm still THRILLED with the improvement. I used 1% tolerance Dayton film caps in the HF crossover, and a mix of 5% Dayton and 3% ERSE film caps in the LF crossover. I used a mix of Mills and ERSE resistors, and an ERSE 16-gauge iron-core inductor pair which I unwound to achieve 9.6mH inductance Polk specifies instead of the 10mH inductance ERSE sells. ERSE will do this for you for $10 per inductor. (Contact them to verify.)

You want to keep cost under control? Do the high-frequency crossover with film caps and good resistors, install FRESH electrolytic caps in the LF crossover. Electrolytic caps are dirt-cheap compared to film caps, and the LF crossover uses big ones that cost a lot if you upgrade to film caps. If you like what you hear after working the HF crossover, you can go back into the LF and do it right with film caps and the iron-core inductors.

There is a 2-ohm resistor in each HF crossover, and three 2.7 ohm resistors. Consider installing a 1.5- or 1.75-ohm resistor instead of the 2-ohm. This increases the treble in relation to the midrange/bass. I thought my 1Bs were shy on treble from the day I bought them. Mills resistors are well-regarded, and smaller than the ceramic-block resistors I bought, therefore the Mills are easier to place on the circuit board.

motorstereo

I had my 2.3s done back in the day and it made a very noticeable difference even though the way it was done was frowned upon by many here. My 1.2tl's were already recapped by the po so I didn't get a chance to hear them before and after. As big a difference as the recapping made on my 2.3s I'd have to say that proper set up and spiking was a much better upgrade.

drumminman

Freshening the Xovers makes a huge improvement. I recommend getting the best film caps and resistors you can so you only do this once. I used Sonicaps and Mills, and the improvement was not subtle, though they take a few hours to burn in. I economized on the first go round and re-used the original boards. Later I bought Gimpod's boards, moved all the caps and resistors over and bought new Jantzen inductors from Trey. This took the sound to a higher level still.

The second best upgrade was to replace the SL3000 tweeters with RD-0198's.

As someone said, once you upgrade these you won't be able to be anything as good for what you have in them.

PolkieMan

I did my 2.3tls and 1c. I bought all the specified parts and followed the instructions on the Gimpod website.

tophatjohnny

I'm hearing you did it, but looking to hear your take on the results from a listening review..not just if you did it yourself (which I am not interested in doing) so maybe someone will share their "WoW" results???

bigaltx24

When I first got my 1Bs, I hated the things. To me they sounded like they had a horse blanket thrown over them. They were very muffled with virtually no top end. I did the HF crossover first, using Dayton 1% films and Mills resistors. It really opened up the high end and I could finally hear why people are so passionate about SDAs. A few months later I did the LF crossovers with non polar electrolytics for the shunts, Dayton 1% and Mills. It was not as big as an improvement as doing the HF, but it did smooth out the midrange some and gave the bass better definition.
I was content with them for a while, then grew tried of the response rise in the SL2000 tweets. I went with the unapproved (for 1Bs anyway) TL mod. Popped in a pair of RDO198s in the top slot and changed the 4.7uf Dayton to a Clarity PX 5.6uf. This combo took a while to break in , but once it did it was a great improvement in high end balance and smoothness. I liked what the Clarity caps did with the RDO198s so much I changed out all the Dayton films for Clarity PX caps, and while I was at it I changed out the Mills for Mundorf MOX resistors. The Clarity caps give the 1Bs better depth, definition and balance over their entire range. I'm still undecided about the Mundorfs, they are a tad brighter than the Mills but in the 1Bs that's not always a bad thing.

tophatjohnny

bigaltx24 wrote: »

When I first got my 1Bs, I hated the things. To me they sounded like they had a horse blanket thrown over them. They were very muffled with virtually no top end. I did the HF crossover first, using Dayton 1% films and Mills resistors. It really opened up the high end and I could finally hear why people are so passionate about SDAs. A few months later I did the LF crossovers with non polar electrolytics for the shunts, Dayton 1% and Mills. It was not as big as an improvement as doing the HF, but it did smooth out the midrange some and gave the bass better definition.
I was content with them for a while, then grew tried of the response rise in the SL2000 tweets. I went with the unapproved (for 1Bs anyway) TL mod. Popped in a pair of RDO198s in the top slot and changed the 4.7uf Dayton to a Clarity PX 5.6uf. This combo took a while to break in , but once it did it was a great improvement in high end balance and smoothness. I liked what the Clarity caps did with the RDO198s so much I changed out all the Dayton films for Clarity PX caps, and while I was at it I changed out the Mills for Mundorf MOX resistors. The Clarity caps give the 1Bs better depth, definition and balance over their entire range. I'm still undecided about the Mundorfs, they are a tad brighter than the Mills but in the 1Bs that's not always a bad thing.

My 1 B's have no blanket over them in any shape or form, but are very nice sounding, so when I hear they will sound way better when upgraded, I am in advance excited to hear this. Thanks for sharing .

deronb1

Enjoy the upgrades. Have you upgraded the tweets yet?

tophatjohnny

tophatjohnny wrote: »

Hey all...I know there are many threads on the subject, but thought maybe to start one to hear a more concentrated take on the before/after result. I picked up my SDA 1B's a while back and still have the crossovers and spiking to complete. Hopefully this summer it will happen. I have done the tweets/dynamat/larry rings, all of which made the sound better. Now to invest in the crossovers will insure these speakers will never leave my home, as I will have more money into them than I could ever recoup if I did decide to sell, (so I already know this will be like a marriage) , It will be great hearing from members that are willing to share their before/after take on the crossover upgrade (even if you have chimed in on previous threads). That's if you feel like sharing. I have consulted with a few different people about doing this upgrade, and am not necessarily asking who did your upgrade, (but feel free to share whatever info you feel comfortable talking about) I have been told I will hear a huge difference, and I like the sound now with 1986 crossovers so if it is to get even better, Yes...I am looking forward to having this done. Honestly ..a little unsure about removing the current crossovers to get it done, but I'm going to do it! Thanks in advance for sharring, or even just reading if that's all you did.

THJ

deronb1 wrote: »

Enjoy the upgrades. Have you upgraded the tweets yet?

Yes indeed. RDO 94's I think they are called??

tophatjohnny

Conclusion....if you (or I) do invest in doing these crazy upgrades, ya better really love the speakers you are doing this to.

drumminman

Over thinking leads to inaction. As Nike says, Just do it!