Starting from scratch on SDA 1c's

strokin

So far I have sealed the inside of the cabinets, dynomatted the drivers and passives, and glued the magnets( thanks westmassguy for the photos on that). I would like to have the crossovers done. Don't think that's a job for me. I have seen all of the choices of what to do, I just need to know, who can do them, how much, for how far, I can afford to go. Please speak to me old great ones.

Sea

When I did my 1c's I started with zero soldering experience. I scoured the threads here for advice and ordered the parts. It took me a long Sunday afternoon to build them but it was not too hard.

strokin

The good thing is I can solder I just have never rebuilt a crossover. I did watch a couple of videos on how to install and remove old caps, that looked alot easier than I thought it would.

Sea

If you can solder already then you will have no trouble. Good luck.

MrBuhl

strokin wrote: »

how much, for how far, I can afford to go. Please speak to me old great ones.

That's a loaded question on this site my friend! I have yet to find the bottom of that there hole...

Hofy

If you do them yourself take pictures of every step as you take them apart. Also, only do one at a time so you have something to refer to.

MrBuhl

DSkip wrote: »

You could always let WestMass do it for you. You know, really show him how much you appreciate him?

David did mine and if you go that route, you won't be sorry. Eazy peezy.

BTW - congrats on the 1c's - don't forget to spike them - easy and inexpensive upgrade!

strokin

Who is David? Like I said this is all new to me. Please forgive my ignorance, but I am very new to this forum and how to navigate in it. Heck, I'm even a search and peck for the keys kind of guy. I thought I had started a thread, is that what I did?

MrBuhl

Sorry - totally understandable. DHS Speaker Service - a.k.a. Wessmassguy here on the forums = David is his first name. Yes, you started this thread. You're starting out strong, hitting a lot of the highly recommended mods right away - you'll be happy with the results.

Faustin

Welcome to Club Polk. Westmassguy has done a couple of crossovers for me. He is knowledgeable and has a quick turn around. If you can solder and decide to do them yourself, the biggest challenge (in my opinion) is to get all of the much larger components on the boards. You can also buy the Gimpod circuit boards that will make the job of fitting everything on the boards much easier. There are many knowledgeable members here that are more than willing to answer questions and help.

PolkieMan

Gimpod circuit boards make it a whole lot easier. It's not delicate miniature soldering quite easy to do.

MrBuhl

^^ dated your boards so you'd know when the caps were last done?^^ Smart idea!

voltz

I upgrade my Monitor 4's myself, but had Dave (wessmassguy) do my Monitor 10's cause I wanted them done really nice and that he did. and I'm going to have him do my SDA CRS+. He work is excellent and he is awesome about helping everyone who ask and he's always helping people here on this forum with question about their crossovers or driver or whatever he can help with.

strokin

Finally able to get back here, I'm seeing some great tips and advice from everyone. This is exactly what I was hoping for when I started this thread. I think a call to MMG is in order!
I had 1 right side grill coming off, so I slid it off with a putty knife and glued it back on with the loctite that Mmg suggested and reattached it last night. Also missing the left side grill of the left speaker so waiting on some grill cloth from PE and got some MDF from HD. I'm going to refinish the wood tops to a dark rosewood, did a set of Timeframes that way and still miss those.
"PokieMan", lookin good man, nice photo, very helpful for me. I will need to see how many chips this is gonna cost for the crossovers, cord, connectors and so on before I can see how far I can go. A breakdown basically. I want to use the Sonicaps like you did.
If you don't mind sharing that information, drop me a message.

Thanks again everyone and keep those hints and tips coming....
Cheers

strokin

anonymouse wrote: »

Sonicaps for the highs, Dayton's for the lows. Mills resistors. You will be very happy. Yes, Gimpod's boards look awesome. But you will need to desolder the connectors from the original boards, and that is a pain. You should be fine with the original boards. Just take your time. Also, make sure you use a higher wattage iron (50W should do). Work quick when soldering. The problem with a 25W iron is that it takes ages to heat up the large pads on the boards and could result in a dry solder. You want to do each joint quickly and for the solder to flow well.

I think I have decided to let David do it. I think I could pull it off in the long run but I just don't have that kinda time( too many race cars). Those are the resistors I was considering. How did they change your sound with all crossover changes together?

drumminman

I would use Sonicaps throughout if you have the coin. Also, don't forget to upgrade the SDA inductor. It will improve the bass. WMG (Dave) has some cost effective options.

Faustin

^^^^^^^^^^. Ditto what drumminman said.

Sea

strokin wrote: »

I'm going to refinish the wood tops to a dark rosewood, did a set of Timeframes that way and still miss those.

I just bought a 4x8 sheet of rosewood veneer for a pair of RTA12c. I am sure I will have some left. PM me if you are interested. No charge.

strokin

Thanks Sea, the offer is really tempting however Im' kinda feelin that real wood feeling. Would love to see a picture of your 12c's. I have a pair of B&W DM640's downstairs in my HT with the Rosewood veneer, and they are gorgeous. and they had the crossovers already done when I got em.

strokin

Faustin wrote: »

^^^^^^^^^^. Ditto what drumminman said.

drumminman wrote: »

I would use Sonicaps throughout if you have the coin. Also, don't forget to upgrade the SDA inductor. It will improve the bass. WMG (Dave) has some cost effective options.

Sounds like a new inductor is in order , I'm all for more bass. Even though after all of the mods I have made so far, they have awesome bass. What are the inductors exactly?

Sea

strokin wrote: »

Thanks Sea, the offer is really tempting however Im' kinda feelin that real wood feeling. Would love to see a picture of your 12c's. I have a pair of B&W DM640's downstairs in my HT with the Rosewood veneer, and they are gorgeous. and they had the crossovers already done when I got em.

When I did my 1C's I was planning to use solid walnut and decided against based on the advice of Jesse (F1nut). I have attached a link to the thread but you will have drill down a bit.

forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/comment/2060730#Comment_2060730

drumminman

Inductors pass only lower frequencies. When Matt Polk and team designed SDA speakers they had to keep in mind the stability of then available amps and receivers. Large SDA Inductors that are too efficient would cause instability so they used inductors that had a higher resistance. Nowadays that's not so much an issue, unless your amp is not up to the task.

Using a much larger than stock SDA inductor is one of the Matt Polk recommended mods.

What are you planning to drive your 1C's with?

strokin

Where are the inductors located at? I will be running these with an Adcom GFA 5500 amp, 200 watts per channel @ 8 ohms, 350 @ 4ohms. Adcom GFP565 preamp, AdcomGCD700 cd player. Morrow Audio speaker and IC cables. Panamax Line conditioner, SAE tuner(don't remember the model).

strokin

F1nut has some good points, but I probably should have made my self clearer on what I meant, I want to revive whats there, kind of like restoring an old car.

strokin

Sea wrote: »

strokin wrote: »

Thanks Sea, the offer is really tempting however Im' kinda feelin that real wood feeling. Would love to see a picture of your 12c's. I have a pair of B&W DM640's downstairs in my HT with the Rosewood veneer, and they are gorgeous. and they had the crossovers already done when I got em.

When I did my 1C's I was planning to use solid walnut and decided against based on the advice of Jesse (F1nut). I have attached a link to the thread but you will have drill down a bit.

forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/comment/2060730#Comment_2060730

I thought these were solid oak, but after closer inspection, is that veneer? I'm seeing the grain go around the corner.

Faustin

It is veneer

westmassguy

strokin wrote: »

Faustin wrote: »

^^^^^^^^^^. Ditto what drumminman said.

drumminman wrote: »

I would use Sonicaps throughout if you have the coin. Also, don't forget to upgrade the SDA inductor. It will improve the bass. WMG (Dave) has some cost effective options.

Sounds like a new inductor is in order , I'm all for more bass. Even though after all of the mods I have made so far, they have awesome bass. What are the inductors exactly?

The Inductors in question, are part of the "Full Compliment Sub-Bass Drive" circuit.
I refer to them as the Dimensional or Sub-Base Inductors for short. On the 1Cs, the large spool Inductor the crossover mounts to, is the one that get's replaced. The existing Inductor is 16mh, # 18 gauge, and is approximately 2.5-2.6 ohms DCR. There are several options for replacing it with a lower resistance inductor. Some opt for large gauge air core inductors, which are normally special order and expensive. Jantzen makes a C-Coil #14 gauge Toroid, which is also special order and relatively expensive. The least expensive, option, is the #16 gauge Erse SuperQ Laminated Steel Inductor.
The Erse SuperQ has a DCR of .5 ohms. That's a five fold decrease in resistance.
The Jantzen C-Coil has a DCR of .16 ohms. That's a 15 fold decrease in resistance.
The caveat is, your 1Cs will no longer be 6 ohm nominal. They will be 4 ohm, and will drop well below that at certain frequencies. Your amp must be able to handle <4 ohm loads safely.

Sea

Someone may correct me but I am pretty sure all were done in real wood veneer not solid. I know both pairs of mine are veneer.

Sea

Red and white oak veneer are very reasonably priced.

westmassguy

Some early SRSs were done with solid wood. Not sure on the 1Cs or 2Bs. The solid wood was unstable, and tended to separate and warp. They switched to MDF or Particle Board with Veneer

tophatjohnny

westmassguy is the "Go To" guy! Get it done right the first time and you will be a happy camper!!