SDA mod and restoration. Hook, line and sinker.

ROHfan

It finally happened.

The old Martin Logans just don't put that evil grin on my face like my old SDA 2a's did. So I found a pair of 2B Studios on CL and talked the guy down to $100.

Since I want these speakers to replace my ML's I knew I had to spend some time and money making them worthy of replacing the electrostats.

I'm having Trey upgrade the crossovers with Clarity caps, and he'll also be upgrading the crossover wiring and speaker wiring. I'm going with the TL mod as well, naturally. Internal cabinetry will get treated with Black Hole and drivers will be Dynamatted.

I emailed back and forth with westmassguy and he gave me some valuable input on how to add veneer to tired old cabinets and he sent me a great tutorial with lots of pics.

I have a PM in to Larry for some of his rings. Because I need those.

A new MW6511 driver, two RDO198 tweets, and a blade/blade interconnect cable are on their way from Polk Audio.

Once I start reassembling I'll start adding some pics to this thread. In the meantime, I welcome any input and advice anyone may have for me while I'm on this journey.

So, I plan on listening to these for a while once they're all back together to see if I want to make any further upgrades. I figure absolute worst case scenario I'll be able to sell them to pohlrbear. Probably for a profit.

Dang, next month can't come fast enough!

voltz

If you can't get any rings you can go with Hurricane Nuts instead, that is what I did with my Monitor 10's...

make sure to check out what Faustin did with his 12c's awesome looking on the vinyl he sure made it look easy and awesome

hochpt21

I have some SDA 2A's that has all the cheap mods so far... the 194's, dynamat, Larry's rings, glued magnets, Armacell.

At some point I WILL do the crossovers, binding posts, etc.

Congrats ROH, and keep us updated.

Conradicles

Spikes really help SDA's, but the studio's are a bit tricky to spike. It can be done, and I have seen some good ideas here on the forum to spike them.

Faustin

"make sure to check out what Faustin did with his 12c's awesome looking on the vinyl he sure made it look easy and awesome"

I have to give credit to my friend westmassguy. He gave me very detailed instructions on how to do the veneer. I enjoy working with wood but had not done any re veneering. It really was not very hard to do. Take your time and plan out what you are doing. The one thing I did not think too much about was having the grain of the wood match up from the top and then down the sides. After pondering the project I realized that if the grain did not match up from the sides to the top it would look like p**p. Is that allowed?? Cut your piece of veneer the total length of the sides plus the top and add some extra. Then cut your piece for the left (or right) side, then the top, and finally the last side. You can then match up the grain pretty close so it looks like a continuous piece from one side to the other. It was helpful to have an extra set of hands to help line up and position the larger side pieces in place. Once they touch, they are almost impossible to remove without ruining the veneer. There are also youtube videos available to get some more education. It was very rewarding to see the finished project.

F1nut

Conradicles wrote: »

Spikes really help SDA's, but the studio's are a bit tricky to spike. It can be done, and I have seen some good ideas here on the forum to spike them.

I found it best to remove the platform base, then use 2" tall spikes. This raises them up another inch bringing the tweeters closer to ear level. Be sure to fill the screw holes after removing the platform base.

ROHfan

F1nut wrote: »

Conradicles wrote: »

Spikes really help SDA's, but the studio's are a bit tricky to spike. It can be done, and I have seen some good ideas here on the forum to spike them.

I found it best to remove the platform base, then use 2" tall spikes. This raises them up another inch bringing the tweeters closer to ear level. Be sure to fill the screw holes after removing the platform base.

Is there any glue between the platform and the bottom of the speakers? Would hate to be left with a giant crater to fill after trying to remove the platform.

gudnoyez

Glad to hear you are going full monty on these post plenty of pics on your progress, since all the other informative threads got wiped out with the Vanilla project. I hope it goes well for you I got a couple of pairs to TL. I missed out on Sals RDO 198 sale, but have been putting some coin away for my Studio 2B's and A pair of CRS+s. I had enough but put it into a dual purpose HT rig which turned out awesome no regrets there.

I bought my SDA'S to upgrade to many hobbies that keep getting in the way mine are immaculate so the cabs will stay as is on the 2B's but I want my CRS+s to look like nspindels. Congrats on your studios and I look forward to revisit this thread often.

F1nut

Is there any glue between the platform and the bottom of the speakers?

No glue.

smglbrth

F1nut wrote: »

Conradicles wrote: »

Spikes really help SDA's, but the studio's are a bit tricky to spike. It can be done, and I have seen some good ideas here on the forum to spike them.

I found it best to remove the platform base, then use 2" tall spikes. This raises them up another inch bringing the tweeters closer to ear level. Be sure to fill the screw holes after removing the platform base.

Ditto, this is what I did and it worked out pretty good. Just remember, it's a decent amount of weight for 2" spikes so when you move them around be careful, especially on carpet...

F1nut

smglbrth, what spikes did you end up using?

smglbrth

F1nut wrote: »

smglbrth, what spikes did you end up using?

I went with the 2.15" ones from Madisound, if I remember correctly.

ROHfan

voltz wrote: »

If you can't get any rings you can go with Hurricane Nuts instead, that is what I did with my Monitor 10's...

I was looking at them on Parts Express. I think I like the T-nut's design better. Any reason you'd choose hurricane over t-nuts? It seems hurricane nuts are more susceptible to coming loose during installation.

TennMan

Don't use t-nuts. They won't hold in the particle board material. The H-nuts fit tightly in into the holes and won't let go if you take care in drilling the holes the correct size.

voltz

^^^^^^
And I think you want the #8-32 size, which PE only has in H-nuts or Barbed. I think what Dave had me use, was to start with a 1/8 drill and then a 5/32 and then 13/64 and you dont tap in the H-nuts just let the screw pull them in as they tighten. (Use a couple of washes to bottom/pull them down 1st)

but you have to be steady and carefully not to split out the holes when drilling them out.

F1nut

You will destroy the mounting flange trying to install T-nuts.

You can put a dab of epoxy on the Hurricane nut flange before drawing it into the hole.

ROHfan

Okay, looks like hurricane nuts, it is. Thanks, dudes.

polrbehr

I sent you an email, don't jump off the cliff just yet OK? lol