SDA cabinet design/construction
Schurkey
Posts: 2,101
This got my attention in another thread. I didn't want to muck-up his thread, so I'm starting this one.I guess all 1C's sort of started as Studio models and some got upgraded with fabric side panels and wood tops.
First off, is this true? Are the regular 1C cabinets just "studio" cabinets with added-on trim?
Second, is the construction of the 1C cabinet significantly different in concept from the SRS cabinets? (Original SRS, not the monocoque 1.2/1.2TL)
Are any of the other SRS models (SRS 2, 2.3/2.3TL, 3.1) monocoque?
Comments
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I think the 1C's all started as studios, so to speak. When I refurbished mine, I removed the tops, bottoms and side panels. What was left was a vinyl covered studio model.Main-Carver TFM35(2),Carver C11 ,Carver SD/A 360 CD,Carver TX11 ,Grace Digital Tuner, Pioneer PL707 TT,Polk SDA1C
Downstairs -Carver M1.5t, Carver C1 Pre, Carver TX10 Tuner, Carver TL3200 CD Player, Dual 1009 TT,Polk SDA SRS 2.3tl
Study - Carver AV634 Amp, Carver CT7 Pre, Carver DTL50 CD Player, Polk RTA12c -
[quote=Are any of the other SRS models (SRS 2, 2.3/2.3TL, 3.1) monocoque?[/quote]
What is monocoque mean?
Main-Carver TFM35(2),Carver C11 ,Carver SD/A 360 CD,Carver TX11 ,Grace Digital Tuner, Pioneer PL707 TT,Polk SDA1C
Downstairs -Carver M1.5t, Carver C1 Pre, Carver TX10 Tuner, Carver TL3200 CD Player, Dual 1009 TT,Polk SDA SRS 2.3tl
Study - Carver AV634 Amp, Carver CT7 Pre, Carver DTL50 CD Player, Polk RTA12c -
Pleas excuse the typo....what does monocoque mean?Main-Carver TFM35(2),Carver C11 ,Carver SD/A 360 CD,Carver TX11 ,Grace Digital Tuner, Pioneer PL707 TT,Polk SDA1C
Downstairs -Carver M1.5t, Carver C1 Pre, Carver TX10 Tuner, Carver TL3200 CD Player, Dual 1009 TT,Polk SDA SRS 2.3tl
Study - Carver AV634 Amp, Carver CT7 Pre, Carver DTL50 CD Player, Polk RTA12c -
In this case, monocoque means "no internal bracing". All the structural loads are carried in the external shell.
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First off, is this true? Are the regular 1C cabinets just "studio" cabinets with added-on trim?
Yep, same for the 2B's.
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 -
This got my attention in another thread. I didn't want to muck-up his thread, so I'm starting this one.I guess all 1C's sort of started as Studio models and some got upgraded with fabric side panels and wood tops.
First off, is this true? Are the regular 1C cabinets just "studio" cabinets with added-on trim?
They are close. but not quite the same.
The grill doesn't quite extend to the bottom, it has about a 4" wide board below it and they also have a raised open base on the bottom.
You can see the differences in theses pictures, Both are 1C's
Post edited by TNTsTunes on"Make a man a fire and he'll be warm for a day. Light
a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life." -
First off, is this true? Are the regular 1C cabinets just "studio" cabinets with added-on trim?
Yep, same for the 2B's.
No. 2B's studio's have the same differences I mentioned above.
Both pictures are 2B's
"Make a man a fire and he'll be warm for a day. Light
a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life." -
It's the basic shell we're taking about. No other SDA's have the black vinyl shell under the wood end caps/cloth sides.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 -
This got my attention in another thread. I didn't want to muck-up his thread, so I'm starting this one.I guess all 1C's sort of started as Studio models and some got upgraded with fabric side panels and wood tops.
First off, is this true? Are the regular 1C cabinets just "studio" cabinets with added-on trim?It's the basic shell we're taking about. No other SDA's have the black vinyl shell under the wood end caps/cloth sides.
It sounds like he was asking if the regular 1C cabinets are just "studio" cabinets with added-on trim? Which they aren't.
The basic shells are the same less the studio's lower trim board and removable base. You can't just add sides and end caps to turn studio's into "Real wood" 1B's or 2B's.
1C & 2B studio's appear to share the same cabinets that 1B's & 2A's used except the vinyl is black on the 1C's and 2B's. I have had both of the 1C and 2B speaker variations and still have a pair of 2A's.
"Make a man a fire and he'll be warm for a day. Light
a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life." -
That's exactly my question.
This got my attention in another thread. I didn't want to muck-up his thread, so I'm starting this one.I guess all 1C's sort of started as Studio models and some got upgraded with fabric side panels and wood tops.
First off, is this true? Are the regular 1C cabinets just "studio" cabinets with added-on trim?It's the basic shell we're taking about. No other SDA's have the black vinyl shell under the wood end caps/cloth sides.
It sounds like he was asking if the regular 1C cabinets are just "studio" cabinets with added-on trim? Which they aren't.
But I could remove the lower trim board and short base, add fabric sides and wood end caps, and have the "real wood" version??? I'm still confused about how similar the cabinets are between the "real wood" version and the "studio version".The basic shells are the same less the studio's lower trim board and removable base. You can't just add sides and end caps to turn studio's into "Real wood" 1B's or 2B's.
I previously thought that the "real wood" version of the 1C had more interior volume, different bracing (the cabinet was more rigid), and was "totally different" from the Studio/1B cabinet--but now I'm not so sure.
That is what I thought--the 1C and 2B studios used the 1B and 2A cabinets, but with different-color vinyl.1C & 2B studio's appear to share the same cabinets that 1B's & 2A's used except the vinyl is black on the 1C's and 2B's. I have had both of the 1C and 2B speaker variations and still have a pair of 2A's.
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The basic shells are the same less the studio's lower trim board and removable base. You can't just add sides and end caps to turn studio's into "Real wood" 1B's or 2B's.
That's true.1C & 2B studio's appear to share the same cabinets that 1B's & 2A's used except the vinyl is black on the 1C's and 2B's.
There are slight differences, but the same basic design.I previously thought that the "real wood" version of the 1C had more interior volume, different bracing (the cabinet was more rigid), and was "totally different" from the Studio/1B cabinet--but now I'm not so sure.
Same interior volume, same bracing, same sound specs.
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 -
I have thought about making my 2A's look like "real wood" 2B's to match my SRS 2.3's.
To change studio's to "real wood" versions you would need to remove the lower trim board, repaint the face, get 2B "real wood grills, relocate the grill mounting pins and wrap vinyl around the edges where the trim is removed at the bottom. Then all that would be left is to add the side trim and end caps.
Here's a link that shows both with dimensions and weights.
gimpod.com/sda-id.html
I'm not sure if the volume is the same, but it has to be very close. The divider brace might be slightly different. I never looked that close.
"Make a man a fire and he'll be warm for a day. Light
a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life." -
Well, there's something I didn't notice before. The PR in the Studio 1C is mounted higher up than the regular version.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 -
Good eye, I missed that.
According to that link the real wood ones are 11/16" wider , but the added side trim isn't that thick if I recall correctly. The 15# difference might suggest the cabinet is slightly wider too. I don't know how much the caps and side trim weighs, 15# seems kinda heavy for them.
The overall height difference seems about right though."Make a man a fire and he'll be warm for a day. Light
a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life." -
Split that 11/16's in half for each side and you're there. I've had end caps and side panels off before, 15 lbs. for all seems right to me.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 -
Well, there's something I didn't notice before. The PR in the Studio 1C is mounted higher up than the regular version.
That makes sense Jesse. The studio 1C's and 2B's have an extra (2.5"??) on the bottom, making it necessary to raise the PR up a little. The extra "padding" on the bottom probably messes with the PR output (in frequency response), so they raised it up to compensate.
By the way Jesse. I'm awake right now; call me if you want.
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."![:\](https://forum.polkaudio.com/resources/emoji/confused.png ":\")
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 -
Me too.Well, there's something I didn't notice before. The PR in the Studio 1C is mounted higher up than the regular version.
So...vinyl-covered boxes with internal bracing come down the Polk SDA 1C assembly line. Some boxes get a front baffle with the passive radiator location the same as the 1B. Those boxes and baffles get the lower-front trim board and a shorter grille to match, they get the short 1B-style base, and they're sold as 1C Studios in their vinyl-covered glory. (I thought all 1C Studios were black, but that link shows some in brown, identical to the 1B.)
Another of the same vinyl-covered boxes comes down the assembly line, this time a front baffle that has the PR opening located a little lower is installed. With the lower PR, there's no room for the lower-front trim board so the grill is also a little longer, and grille mounting post locations are a little different. Somebody attaches a wood top, and a matching wood bottom instead of the 1B-style base, and adds fabric panels to the sides. This is a 1C "Real Wood" version. The overall dimensions are a touch larger side-to-side, and top-to-bottom, giving the illusion of a "bigger" box with more interior space.
The 1C box is the same right down to vinyl covering and bracing--but the front baffle and exterior trim including grille are different; and maybe depending on when the speakers are made:
1. the crossover is either the two-round-board version, (early) or the single rectangular board version (later)--but the crossover components have the same values, so the crossovers have no intentional electrical differences, it's just form-factor, and
2. Early units got blade-blade SDA sockets and were packaged with blade-blade interconnect cables. These could be (at or soon after the time of sale) converted on customer request to pin-blade sockets by adding the newer-style sockets along with a short length of wire to connect the remaining blade to the negative binding post, and then they required a pin/blade interconnect cable which could include the Polk AI-1.
Something similar is done with the 2B--box is the same, front baffle, grille, and trim is different between the "Studio" and the "Real Wood" versions.
A "Studio" 1C (or a 1B) could be converted to look like a "Real Wood" version by removing the existing lower-front trim board and cabinet base, adding a wood top and bottom, adding the fabric side panels, and fabricating a longer grille. If the grille were removed, the higher location of the PR would be a tell-tale; unless whoever "converted" the speakers also replaced the front baffle so as to lower the PR and relocate the pins for grille retention.
Is the above correct, and if not, what am I missing? -
I think you've got it. What's missing? It would be cheaper to buy a pair of regular versions than convert a pair of Studio versions, IMO.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 -
Some of these guys know the 1 series better than myself. I am not a real fan. However i do know that I have seen 3 different cabinets for the 1 C's. All three had different driver/ passive spaceing on the baffle. I have posted pics here in a thread before on this. This in itself would mean that the basic shells are not the same given the different baffle spacing for each style. Just for the record I have only seen one style of the 1C with real wood top and bottom caps. I have seen two different styles of the studio 1 C, both black vinyl, differentr baffle spaceing, diffent grilles, one with added trim peice to top of baffle that somewhat emulated the real wood shape. Again differnces in baffle spacing as well as any other trim added to the cabinets. I don't know if there are any other versions out there that may be the same basic cabinet as one of these styles I mention with differnt trim only. If there is I haven't seen them, but am not actively searching anything "1" series related unless I can get some passives for a pair of SRS 2's, then I could convert a pair of 1C's to SRS 2's and (I believe) be much happier.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. -
found the link to my old thred; http://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/143266/what-kind-of-1c-is-this#latest.
Pictures are still there.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. -
Frickin' WOW. There's no end to Polk Surprises.
