Is HK 3490 Enough Power for Polk SDA 1 C

chensel3

https://norfolk.craigslist.org/ele/5385200301.html

Is my HK 3490 (150 wpc-4ohm) enough power to make these work well. . Room 12x13, listening levels low-med, acoustic, jazz, celtic, rock music, your thoughts. . Is $400 a decent price, they look pretty good.

cnh

It will power them (not to great loudness) but they need even MORE juice to sound their best. And the 3490 used to sell for $299 NEW at B&H Photo, and other places on line. So NO, don't pay $400 for a USED HK 3490-WHO is trying to get that for it? The overpriced MSRP on that model years ago was $449.

PolkieMan

I have only Onkyo 100 wpc 15X 15 and like you I listen at normal sound levels 90db. I at present have them on a Silk Audio MS-38SE and it is still plenty for them.

hochpt21

nbrowser wrote: »

cnh wrote: »

It will power them (not to great loudness) but they need even MORE juice to sound their best. And the 3490 used to sell for $299 NEW at B&H Photo, and other places on line. So NO, don't pay $400 for a USED HK 3490-WHO is trying to get that for it? The overpriced MSRP on that model years ago was $449.

I think the Op already has the 3490, he's asking is $400 a good price for the speakers...

And as a 3490 owner...it'll have a tough time delivering the wallop of power those speakers will need to work their best.

Agreed, but I would get the SDA's. Here's why...

Small room. Low level listening habits. He isn't going to fry anything with that.

Second, the 3490 is sooo flexible. It has a solid phono stage, digital inputs with a solid DAC, and when he saves up a few bills and gets an amp, the 3490 has preouts to add that sucker.

hochpt21

I use the 3490 as a power amp only with my Dared pre and SDA2a's currently. Small room.

The 3490 is so flexible and solid SQ in my opinion.

I've used it as a pre, power and receiver.

cnh

nbrowser wrote: »

cnh wrote: »

It will power them (not to great loudness) but they need even MORE juice to sound their best. And the 3490 used to sell for $299 NEW at B&H Photo, and other places on line. So NO, don't pay $400 for a USED HK 3490-WHO is trying to get that for it? The overpriced MSRP on that model years ago was $449.

I think the Op already has the 3490, he's asking is $400 a good price for the speakers...

And as a 3490 owner...it'll have a tough time delivering the wallop of power those speakers will need to work their best.

My bad, should've actually looked at his Ad! $400 for a set of SDA 1Cs? Sure that's a good price depending on their condition. And they'll fill up a space a LOT larger than that with a power amp!

boston1450

Are those 1c's ???? Or 1b

cnh

There are some "early" 1Cs that are, externally, almost indistinguishable from the 1Bs. I believe that you would have to actually pull out the mid-drivers for a final identification! Though they could be 1Bs from your pics, it's not conclusive.

See Gimpod's site below for pics:

http://www.gimpod.com/sda-id.html

boston1450

Well if its blade/blade would that be a chance of it being 4ohm speaker ? If so id be careful

westmassguy

They look like 1Bs, but could also be transitional models, and have 1C internals.

PolkieMan

Yes pull a driver to be sure but those look like 1B, less desirable, 1C have (2)6510 (2) 6511.

Schurkey

1. To my knowledge, the 1B was done in brown vinyl, the 1C Studio was done in BLACK vinyl. There were no brown-vinyl 1Cs. If this is wrong, I'd like verification.

2. The 1B is a FABULOUS speaker, once appropriately repaired/modified. The impedance is toward the low end, you will need a power amp comfortable with 4-ohm nominal loads, and unlike the 1C, the power amp MUST be common-ground. I screwed around trying to re-wire the 1B to accept non-common-ground monoblocks, and while successful in that regard, the sound quality suffered--a lot. $400 for 1Bs in good condition, but needing a crossover rebuild and some tweaks is a reasonable price. It is neither excessively high, nor the lowest ever. Therefore it's likely a fair price for both buyer and seller.

3. I don't know why an amp that throws an honest 150 watts into a 4-ohm nominal load wouldn't be just fine with 1Bs. It would take a heap of additional power to get any meaningful increase in SPL. My ancient JVC receiver did OK with 1Bs, although when the Eviction Control Knob (Thanks, Gimpod!) went too far around, the amp would shut down--probably because it's 4-ohm credentials aren't as good as I thought they were back when that receiver was in my main system. I also have a suspicion that the JVC, like my current amplifier, is not truly common-ground. A jumper wire between the negative terminals might have improved things. In all the years I used it with the 1Bs, I was never smart enough to slap an ohmmeter across the negative terminals to see what the resistance was, or to just put a jumper wire there. I still have it--but I'm too lazy to take measurements now that it isn't powering SDA speakers.

honestaquarian

I used to own a pair of 1B's. They will work just fine with that Harman-Kardon receiver. As long as it is high current capable (*and it is*) it wil, drive them just fine. A friend of mine once brought his receiver over to my place to do a comparison between it and my NAD 7175PE. I used to poo poo his receiver because it ONLY had 3 decibels of dynamic headroom compared to my NAD's 6 db of dynamic headroom. He left with a huge grin when we were done. Not only did it drive the hell out of them,it actually sounded better than mine!
This was back in 1989,so I cannot for the life of me recall what brand his receiver was.

westmassguy

Schurkey wrote: »

1. To my knowledge, the 1B was done in brown vinyl, the 1C Studio was done in BLACK vinyl. There were no brown-vinyl 1Cs. If this is wrong, I'd like verification.

I've worked on two sets of 1Cs that were transitional models. One had 1B cabinets with 1C internals, the other had 1C cabinets, with re-purposed 1B circuit boards with 1C components on it. Polk used up what they had.

pkquat

I would agree 150W at lower volumes is fine, but much suffers at higher volumes.

Schurkey wrote: »

2. The 1B is a FABULOUS speaker, once appropriately repaired/modified. The impedance is toward the low end, you will need a power amp comfortable with 4-ohm nominal loads, and unlike the 1C, the power amp MUST be common-ground.

The 1C's can be run non-common ground?

honestaquarian

pkquat wrote: »

I would agree 150W at lower volumes is fine, but much suffers at higher volumes.

Schurkey wrote: »

2. The 1B is a FABULOUS speaker, once appropriately repaired/modified. The impedance is toward the low end, you will need a power amp comfortable with 4-ohm nominal loads, and unlike the 1C, the power amp MUST be common-ground.

The 1C's can be run non-common ground?

Only with the non common ground interface cable. Also my understanding is only the later models with the new cabinets that made them look like Vandersteens. The early models in the 1B cabinets could not use that cable. Polk called it an AI-1 interface cable.
I have one

westmassguy

honestaquarian wrote: »

pkquat wrote: »

I would agree 150W at lower volumes is fine, but much suffers at higher volumes.

Schurkey wrote: »

2. The 1B is a FABULOUS speaker, once appropriately repaired/modified. The impedance is toward the low end, you will need a power amp comfortable with 4-ohm nominal loads, and unlike the 1C, the power amp MUST be common-ground.

The 1C's can be run non-common ground?

Only with the non common ground interface cable. Also my understanding is only the later models with the new cabinets that made them look like Vandersteens. The early models in the 1B cabinets could not use that cable. Polk called it an AI-1 interface cable.
I have one

All 1Cs can use the AI-1 or Dreadnaught for mono-blocks or non-common ground amps.

honestaquarian

LUXMAN
It was a Luxman receiver that bested the NAD.

honestaquarian

@westmassguy
You da man sir!!
If anyone would know it would be you.
Much respect!

honestaquarian

@rmpolk
My living room is 14x15 if memory serves (*it's been a VERY long time since I've measured as I have been here 20 years now*) As long as you can get them a minimum of three feet from the sidewalls and keep them away from large furniture, you will get the intended effect.

honestaquarian

@rmpolk
These are three feet from the sidewalls and a smidge over four feet apart. The 3.1TL's that you see which I have now are in the same spots that my 1C's used to occupy. They are a bit over two feet from the rear wall. My seat on the couch is ten feet from them.
Not the most ideal,but it works to great effect. Especially when you treat the room to work on the reflections.

honestaquarian

I bought that stand when I used to work at a Hi Fi salon back at the turn of the century and it has been there ever since. Through MANY changes and upgrades.
Nope I can't here a difference in the bass between the two speakers from the listening/viewing position. Low bass is not directional remember?
You can see the Sunfire on the floor on the right and you can see a glimpse of the Carver M-400a behind the Blu-rays. There is a Carver TFM-45 underneath the M-400a btw with a box in between the two to minimize him and interference that often happens when you stack amps on top of one another.

honestaquarian

Okay boys
We've hijacked @chensel3's thread.

honestaquarian

@rmpolk
Switch over to my Laserdisc thread and I'll answer your question about the stand

Schurkey

westmassguy wrote: »

honestaquarian wrote: »

pkquat wrote: »

I would agree 150W at lower volumes is fine, but much suffers at higher volumes.

Schurkey wrote: »

2. The 1B is a FABULOUS speaker, once appropriately repaired/modified. The impedance is toward the low end, you will need a power amp comfortable with 4-ohm nominal loads, and unlike the 1C, the power amp MUST be common-ground.

The 1C's can be run non-common ground?

Only with the non common ground interface cable. Also my understanding is only the later models with the new cabinets that made them look like Vandersteens. The early models in the 1B cabinets could not use that cable. Polk called it an AI-1 interface cable.
I have one

All 1Cs can use the AI-1 or Dreadnaught for mono-blocks or non-common ground amps.

As said--ALL 1Cs can use the isolation transformer. The early-production units using left-over blade-blade interconnect sockets require some creativity.

http://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/131691/2b-and-early-1c-ai-1-modifications#latest