Could The Reason For So Many Big SDA's Showing Up F/S Be That All The Caps Are Failing?

oldmodman

I would hazard a guess that quite a few original owners do not go on line and have not even Googled the problem or the fixes available. So they just sell them, give them away, or even donate them to charities (which sell them).
The last three sets I have looked at the sellers were very upfront about them "not sounding good" any longer. They all needed caps or just bypassing the poly switch. Some had blown components.

Do you think that the numbers of older Polks for sale will go up even further? Or have we seen the crest of the old speaker wave?

Emlyn

The impression I got when I was buying SDAs a few years ago was that most of the guys I met had purchased the speakers as original owners in the mid to late 1980s when they were in their 30s. Fast forward and they were then in their late 50s or 60s, getting ready to retire or relocate, and were downsizing and moving the large cabinet speakers on for something smaller. None of the SDAs had been updated in any way.

Schurkey

Speaker component failures tend to occur slowly; and may not be recognized for what they are. Eventually the owner just isn't satisfied and the item is moved along. The world has been trained that "old" is undesirable and unreliable. It simply does not occur to people that stuff wears out at the component level, but the individual components in the crossovers, or individual drivers can be replaced/upgraded. Never mind that most folks lack the reasoning ability do do proper diagnosis--most folks lack the ability/motivation to do research in order to understand what their options are aside from "getting rid of it". Couple that to the feeling that the product is "broken", "unreliable", "undesirable", etc; and "dumping" it at the thrift store is actually a bonus for them--the alternative is to dump it at a landfill.

OTOH, many folks change priorities as they age--removing clutter as the living space decreases becomes more important at the same time that hearing ability is also declining (in many cases.) Again, the effect is the same--in order to minimize hassle, the product is disposed-of in the most convenient way practical--landfill, family member, thrift store, or maybe Craigslist.

Consider that only enthusiasts bought the SDAs (especially the bigger ones) to begin with--that's the only reason more of them aren't chopped-up for firewood, or thrown onto the berm. These folks may not currently appreciate the speakers, but they remember a time when they did.

WTS

The reality is that speaker design has come a long way over the decades. Wouldn't it suck if this weren't the case?! Polk hasn't released any new SDA component speakers since the '90s that I know of.

Those old speakers hold up pretty darned well. I like my Monitor 7 speakers, which aren't SDA but share components therewith (or, to be more precise, my speakers share components with the SDA speakers).

But I have also heard newer speakers, and many of them are impressive. For just one example, I've been listening to a pair of LSiM703 speakers. They're smaller than my Monitor 7, cost about the same adjusted for inflation (substantially less on sale right now), but sound better with deeper and more even bass. They're pretty impressive.

It could be that some of these SDA speakers are coming up for sale for the reasons you gave. However, another reason may very well be that the speakers are deemed to be just too big. They're wide and bulky; many modern speakers are smaller and thinner, all else equal, especially if a modern sub is added.

As someone else mentioned, people are also often downsizing. The aforementioned 703 is a heck of a lot smaller than all SDA speakers other than the CRS.

Wouldn't it be fun if Polk were to release a modern SDA. It probably won't happen, but one never knows.

Rex81

I don't think they're selling them because they sound bad. Unless there's something mechanically wrong with them (blown tweeter, frozen driver, etc), old caps aren't enough to cause a drastic decline in sound quality. All the untouched SDAs I've heard have sounded very good.

I'll bet 90% of sellers just don't have the space for them. Either they're too big and bulky, or they no longer (or never had) the appropriate setup to allow them to work as intended.

K_M

Tough question.

I would allow, for some simply are bored or tired with something they have owned a few decades, and simply are moving on to something different, better, smaller, who knows what reason they have.

I can also appreciate that not all Polk owners, are required to feel that a speaker bought in the 1980's is the ultimate sound producer, and must never move sideways or forward.

not everyone wants an "antique".

But, also saying that, we own like 12 pairs of Polk speakers still.

Ranging from some of the largest of the 80's and several other 80's models, and several from the early 2000's

Some we do not even use, but we keep them.

PolkieMan

As far as better, new. Who makes new SDA speakers. I will buy them today!

K_M

PolkieMan wrote: »

As far as better, new. Who makes new SDA speakers. I will buy them today!

Make your own!

zarrdoss

As mentioned people just get tired of them and so they get rid of them to get something new, smaller, something else entirely. If they develop a problem then its just that much easier and justifiable. I have had three sets of SDA's that I modded and upgraded and eventually got tired of and sold.
As far as them going up further that remains to be seen, SDA's seem to have one of the biggest followings of any vintage speakers. Vintage speakers are a great value compared to what is available new. You can find some simply astounding speakers for a 1k or under, try that new.

VSAT88

I hope someone or a lot of someones donate a bunch of SDA speakers to my local thrift with "bad speaker components" or due to aging and downsizing. I will be waiting at the door.

Nightfall

A lot of times Goodwill looks up the value of anything that looks like it might be worth something too, they'll put a near top dollar price tag on it.