newbie question.......how do i confirm if the sda circutry is actually working?

yaduck

Just upgraded my whole stereo system, thanks craigslist, I now have a pair of Polk SDA 2A's driven by a 200 watt power amp , kenwood basic m2a with matching preamp and tuner.

Brand new to SDA's. They sound great, but how does one confirm if the SDA circutry is actually working? Is their a test cd or a secret led that lights. I followed the instructions when installing them so I think they are working correctly and the clarity is much better then my Polk monitor 10's.

I know it sounds silly but the analytical side of my brain needs some sort of confirmation.

Thanks in advance.

ken brydson

Here's my silly question. Do you have the interconnect cable hooked up?

yaduck

yes its hooked up

ken brydson

Cool, welcome to Club Polk. I'm sure some of the SDA gurus will chime in and help you spend some money...

westmassguy

The easiest way I've found, is to use the balance control on the pre, or the gain controls on the power amp.
While playing music, at a low to moderate level, turn the balance control all the way to the left. With the grills off, the left stereo woofer (inner) and tweeter should be functioning. The outer dimensional woofer should not be producing any sound above 150Hz, although it may be moving sympathetically with the stereo woofer. On the right speaker, the stereo woofer (inner), and tweeter should not be producing any sound. The outer dimensional woofer should be producing sound, but at a slightly reduced level. Now do the reverse. If that checks out as well, you SDA circuit is functioning.

nspindel

I've always found that the difference between having the SDA connection in place vs. disconnected is not subtle. They will have a much thinner sound without the connection, it's not just the better imaging. You should definitely notice a difference in sound when the interconnect is unplugged.

yaduck

thanks, i will give both a try.

Moose68Bash

nspindel wrote: »

I've always found that the difference between having the SDA connection in place vs. disconnected is not subtle. They will have a much thinner sound without the connection, it's not just the better imaging. You should definitely notice a difference in sound when the interconnect is unplugged.

Ditto.

I've never had trouble distinguishing the sound when the SDA interconnect is unplugged from the sound when it is properly installed.

The most obvious characteristic of the sound for me is that the soundstage appears significantly wider -- that is, 30-50% wider.

yaduck

thanks westmassguy, i gave that process a try and my system behaves as you described. As far as hearing a subtle/non subtle difference. I am not sure what to say.

drumminman

I agree with Moose, and add that the soundstage is also deeper. My 2.3TL's have a ss that's wide and crescent shaped, wrapping around the listeners. It also seems to have a front to back depth with a strong center, almost like having a center channel.

The one time I played them with the SDA cable disconnected , the speakers still sounded good, but clearly without the SDA magic.

westmassguy

yaduck wrote: »

thanks westmassguy, i gave that process a try and my system behaves as you described. As far as hearing a subtle/non subtle difference. I am not sure what to say.

If your 2As are bone stock, they will sound good, but with the right upgrades, they'll knock your socks off. Trust me I know

PolkieMan

The more "difference" in the left and right channel material the more you should notice it. Needless to say switching between Stereo and Mono is quite noticeable on both my SDA systems.

yaduck

westmassguy, i forgot to mention that when i performed that process and unplugged the interface cable, all movement in the drivers stopped, which confirms what you were saying.

thanks everyone. i just got these sda's so i need to play with them for a while before i move forward.

Thanks to everyone for your input.

As a former field engineer, I tend to look for a "quick and dirty" method for objectively confirming if something is working ( or not ), and then move on to the more subjective forms of analysis/appreciation. As these are new to me I wanted a hard confirmation.

Thanks again westmassguy.

gdb

Ya might wanna' peruse the thread linked below, some of the slections are awesome when played with the Stereo Dimensional Array effect.

http://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/22736/sda-playlist

Nightfall

Perhaps you can't tell a difference because they're setup incorrectly? Positioning is everything.

PolkieMan

Yes it should be quite noticeable (and wonderful) mine was. Since your new, on the drivers, the original vintage MW6511 is hard to find the MW6510 are plentiful by comparison mine had a bad MW6511, now I keep a spare.

nbrowser wrote: »

When I got my SDAs set up for the first time here at home, I did a simple unhook the interconnect cable to check operation, my girlfriend stood behind the right side speaker and I played a track with good use of left and right, and at the right moment I nodded to the girlfriend and she simply unhooked the cable from the back of the cabinet as I listened from the sweet spot. Operation instantly confirmed.

cnh

Your ears are the best tool. Run the SDAs with and without the SDA cable. If you do NOT hear a pretty significant difference in sound stage and imaging, etc. As if the speakers turned it up a few notches, then yes, your SDAs are not working. It is IMMEDIATELY noticeable on most recordings. Just agreeing with nspindel and moose...above, here!

westmassguy

Your best bet, is familiar tracks, with a lot of stereo separation. As others have noted, make sure they're setup properly, left and right speakers in the right position, no toe-in, fronts should be perfectly parallel with each other, and there sweet spot is an equilateral triangle, between you and the speakers. Have someone disconnect and reconnect the Cable while listening. The sound stage should collapse and sound like regular stereo speakers with the cable disconnected. Once re-connected, the sound stage should expand dramatically beyond the speakers, even wrap around the sides, if the recording has a lot of stereo separation.