SDA 1B's finally home

halo71

Well I finally made it back to Georgia from Arkansas with the 1B's. I have not had enough time so far (alone) to get a good listen. But so far I am really liking them. Comparing them with my Infinity RSIIIa's today. So far I think I might like the Infinity's a wee bit better. So far that is.

The Polk's are bone stock and I have not built a IC for them so far. The Infinity's have rebuilt XO's. The EMIT's in the Infinity's are very clear and airy sounding. Which I like very much. The bass in the Infinity's I "think" dig a little deeper. But the Polk's bass is much more solid sounding.

I am on the fence right now. But really stoked to finally get a pair of SDA's in my system!


I also acquired a Bottlehead Foreplay II preamp. Can anyone tell me if it will have enough gain to mate with my Onkyo Integra M504 power amp? Kinda scared to try it out for some reason. Since I am a complete tube virgin. lol

Schurkey

There's not a thing wrong with the 1Bs provided you have a common-ground (or common-ground-able) amp.

When you get the crossover rebuilt and the other typical repairs/modifications done, you're gonna LOVE those speakers.

Mystery

Congrats! That's quite a hike.
At least use something for the ic, bare wire, rca etc.
What tweeters do they have?
If sl2000, wait for others' comments to throw them away.
One thing that's given with vintage Polk is crossover update along with many others to make them sound right.
No idea on preamp gain.

halo71

Yeah they have the SL2000 tweets. So I can just run bare wire from both blades to the others for the time being?

Mystery

halo71 wrote: »

Yeah they have the SL2000 tweets. So I can just run bare wire from both blades to the others for the time being?

I don't mind SL2000's as much as some others here who absolutely think they are trash.
I find them harsh at high volumes only.

If IC is blade/blade, connect wider to wider and smaller to smaller with bare ware.
Cram them in so they don't come out or use a piece of ring and twist to fit.

halo71

Gonna try that tomorrow. Yeah I do not mind the SL2000 either. But I will someday go the RDO route.

Conradicles

SDA's rule. Enjoy those classic speakers.

Schurkey

Define "bare wire". I would use insulated multi-stranded wire, and cheap crimp-on blade terminals filed/ground to a suitable width. They'll be loose in the connector on the speaker unless you smack a little curve into the crimp-on wire ends, so there's some friction-fit as the blade slides into the socket.

Polk used 18(???) gauge wire; a little heavier would be better. 16- or perhaps 14-gauge might be nice.

You can, of course, make this as expensive as hell, using boutique wire, and gold-plated copper ends. The sky is the limit.

Mystery

Bare wire is on the ends only. Please don't use bare wire for the entire length.

F1nut

I seriously would not use bare wire ends, just asking for trouble.

F1nut

Gary, excuse my manners.....congrats on your SDA's.

Without the cable you're missing alot, so don't judge them yet. I have no idea what the gain is on your pre amp, but there's no reason to be afraid of using it.

tonyb

F1nut wrote: »

Without the cable you're missing alot, so don't judge them yet.

This ^^^^

Have someone make you the proper cable, don't use bare wire. Plenty of DIY guys here to help you with that. Once you do a few upgrades to those Polks, their gonna leave those Infinity's in the dust.

halo71

Ohh I was not gonna use bare wire the entire length. I was gonna try to rig up something though. I can make a cable myself. Just gotta buy some cable and speak-on connectors. I was on PartsExpress last night looking around.

Mystery

Yes, that was as a temporary hook up.
At least you get sda signal and effect.

gudnoyez

I heard they (Polk) still sell the Blade Blade interconnect unless you plan on going full monty on the upgrades right away. I believe they are $37 or something like that. Oh yeah enjoy those 1B's.

PolkieMan

well here is a good picture of it wow some people think they found gold http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-Polk-Audio-Interconnect-Cable-for-SDA-Series-Speakers-Brand-New-/151536019493?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item2348402825

leftwinger57

Halo , what ever happened to that old gag if no pictures it didn't happen ? Lol Congrats and yes going from Georgia to Arkansas and back for a faccata set speakers is dedication. Don't do an a/b test w/o the i/c cable fully operable to get the full effect. Oh, I still have that Onkyo P3150v pre. I tried it one more time and I would not send it out to anyone, one of the output channels is beat and after taking the cover off it's not even a thing to be fixed by soldering there covered in red plastic. If anyone needs an Onkyo remote I have that also..

halo71

I'll get some pics together soon! lol

Listening to DSOTM on SACD tonight. Very impressed. Even without the IC.

bigaltx24

I upgraded mine to a speakon connection. The connectors were $18, I had a length of 12awg, cheap easy upgrade. The hardest part of the was getting the old glue out of the cab were the original connector was.

F1nut

Apply some denatured alcohol to the glue, give it a few minutes and it will peel right off.

halo71

Hopefully I can put some type of cable together this weekend. I have not gotten enough alone time with the SDA's yet. My wife has been...."help me take down the tree"....."lights outside need taken down"...."come to bed with me". And on and on and on! I've been off work 2 weeks and have not had more than 2 hours with the SDA's so far!

Mystery

halo71 wrote: »

..."come to bed with me".

That's a great excuse to forget speakers.

tophatjohnny

Congrats!! I had fun with my 1B's and they were my favorite of the SDA's I owned. I kinda miss em!! Upgrading the tweets makes a diff. Larry rings were a fun project and dynamatting all the recommended areas sure made a big differences. I was so close to upgrading the xovers, but decided to dive into a whole different arena and let the 1 B's go to a new home ! Have fun with them!