POLK SDA 2 power issues

wdsmith
wdsmith Posts: 4
in Vintage Speakers
have a Teac ag-d9100 receiver connected to a Crown MacroTech 1200 amp via the pre-out connections....then to my SDA's.........

Volume control on the teac controls the volume along with the Gain controls on the Crown....Am I using amp power from the Teac as well as the Crown?

I problem is that the sound is great but not at the level I want to hear....I'm in a finished basement and want to "feel" the Polks.......what am I missing here......
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  • daddyjt
    daddyjt Posts: 2,505
    wdsmith wrote: »
    have a Teac ag-d9100 receiver connected to a Crown MacroTech 1200 amp via the pre-out connections....then to my SDA's.........

    Volume control on the teac controls the volume along with the Gain controls on the Crown....Am I using amp power from the Teac as well as the Crown?

    I problem is that the sound is great but not at the level I want to hear....I'm in a finished basement and want to "feel" the Polks.......what am I missing here......

    No, you are not using the "power" from the Teac - the only way to access that is through the speaker outputs. If your amp has gain controls and you are not matching outputs from other amp/speaker combinations (center, surrounds, etc), then I would set you gain controls on your amp at 80-90%, and control volume with your preamp (Teac).

    As @1976doc pointed out, Crown amps, while extremely robust and high power, are not know for their fidelity. You would be better served to obtain a solid (b&k, Bryston, Parasound, Carver, Adcom, etc) stereo amplifier in the 200wpc range. There are literally dozens of theses available in the $300 - $500 price range at any given time. Another note, make sure it is "common ground" - we can shed more light on this if needed.

    One last question, and forgive me if you think I'm patronizing, but have you verified that your speakers are wired in phase? That would definitely contribute to a lack of bass....
    "Conservative Libertarians love the country, progressive leftists love the government." - Andrew Wilkow


    “Human beings are born with different capacities. If they are free, they are not equal. And if they are equal, they are not free.”
    ― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

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  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 25,441
    daddyjt wrote: »

    One last question, and forgive me if you think I'm patronizing, but have you verified that your speakers are wired in phase? That would definitely contribute to a lack of bass....

    The first question I'd ask is. How far out into the room are they? Many put them too far away from the rear wall and that seriously affect the bass response.
    6-8 inches away from the rear wall is a good bet.

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  • wdsmith
    wdsmith Posts: 4
    the bass is fine........it's the overall sound force that I thought I would be getting with the Crown AMP that isn't blowing me away........
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  • wdsmith
    wdsmith Posts: 4
    The Crown is rated at 450wpc at 4ohm........could it be weak/defective

    I have some Klipsch's that I can swap in but really wanted to crank the POLKS
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  • Nightfall
    Nightfall Posts: 10,086
    edited February 2017
    Get a subwoofer, the Polks should play plenty loud. Even my little Monitor 4's play loud.
    afterburnt wrote: »
    They didn't speak a word of English, they were from South Carolina.

    Village Idiot of Club Polk
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  • daddyjt
    daddyjt Posts: 2,505
    wdsmith wrote: »
    The Crown is rated at 450wpc at 4ohm........could it be weak/defective

    I have some Klipsch's that I can swap in but really wanted to crank the POLKS

    I suppose I should have asked what kind of sound presentation you are looking for. When you said you want to "feel" the Polks, I assumed you meant bass. What previous speaker/amp combination(s) have you found appealing?
    "Conservative Libertarians love the country, progressive leftists love the government." - Andrew Wilkow


    “Human beings are born with different capacities. If they are free, they are not equal. And if they are equal, they are not free.”
    ― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

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  • TennMan
    TennMan Posts: 1,266
    What you are probably missing with the Crown is dynamic range... the difference between the quite parts and the loud parts of the music. It takes more than a high decibel level to give you the impact from the music that I think you are looking for.
    • SDA 2BTL · Sonicaps · Mills resistors · RDO-198s · New gaskets · H-nuts · Erse inductors · BH5 · Dynamat
    • Crossover upgrades by westmassguy
    • Marantz 1504 AVR (front speaker pre-outs to Adcom 555)
    • Adcom GFA-555 amp · Upgrades & speaker protection added by OldmanSRS
    • Pioneer DV-610AV DVD/CD player
    • SDA CRS+ · Hidden away in the closet
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  • wdsmith
    wdsmith Posts: 4
    The range is great.....tight bass......horns......cymbals....snares.....
    but want more "force" if possible
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  • TennMan
    TennMan Posts: 1,266
    wdsmith wrote: »
    The range is great.....tight bass......horns......cymbals....snares.....
    but want more "force" if possible
    That is frequency range.

    Dynamic range is the "force" that allows you to listen to the dialog in a movie at a low volume - then hear a cannon fire in the background that sounds like it blew the roof off your house. :D Not all amps are designed to do that.

    If you have to turn the average volume level up above 80db to feel the "force" then you have the wrong gear powering your speakers.

    • SDA 2BTL · Sonicaps · Mills resistors · RDO-198s · New gaskets · H-nuts · Erse inductors · BH5 · Dynamat
    • Crossover upgrades by westmassguy
    • Marantz 1504 AVR (front speaker pre-outs to Adcom 555)
    • Adcom GFA-555 amp · Upgrades & speaker protection added by OldmanSRS
    • Pioneer DV-610AV DVD/CD player
    • SDA CRS+ · Hidden away in the closet
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,546
    Buy some Peavy PA speakers to go with your pro amp and sell the SDA's before you ruin them.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • pkquat
    pkquat Posts: 748
    I assume you mean SRS 2. If they are 2B's, they are likely limited on how much you can "Rock" them before they become distorted. SRS 2's should do a really good job. I have 1c's. Even with my ~100wpc Hafler the 1c's jammed pretty good. I now have a 250wpc Parasound amp and preamp that sounds even better.

    That said neither are really a speaker for extreme rocking. I would say they are more for critical listening. IDK about 2B's, but 1c's ans SRS 2's can do critical listening at really loud volumes. IMO for home theather or added rwally low thump, a sub is still needed.

    Dynamic range and clarity could be the issue, either with the preamp or amp. Sometimes at louder volumes things get more mushed together. Room reflections can cause similar issues. Or maybe the preamp does not have enough drive, but I doubt that.

    I have not heard that Crown model. I have heard one that was for HT that I was impressed with. It was quite clear and detailed. The room was also dampened very well. Maybe that really helped. Was it as good as my SDA's with the Hafler? IDK.

    I have also heard one that sounded very compressed. The speakers were some decent Boston Acoustics at the time so they were not the issue. It was hard to pick out instruments from the group. A lone hight hat, snare or kick bass, sounded clear, tight, and crisp, but once everything else joined in they got lost.

    I had a small cheap ~50wpc amp powering my small M4A's when I first got them. It "rocked" them really well. A friends 25wpc harmon kardon sounded WAY better, and I swear played louder. I heard so much more in the music.
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  • VSAT88
    VSAT88 Posts: 1,257
    Lordy, I ain't gonna lie. My Parasound HCA 1206 sounds better, much better that the Crown amp's I had (and I had two different ones). Both Crown amps had 300 WPC give or take. The HCA 1206 is 130 WPC. Yep, tried that..I would rather listen to the SDA's I have (SDA 2b and/ SDA SRS 2's) with my Dynaco ST 70 any day than listen to the Crown stuff. I am sure that I wold be happy using them with Pro speakers but not at all with refined speakers such as SDA's . Down South we would say that's kind of like putting a silk hat on a pig...The opposite of that anyway. SDA speakers are simply too nice to ruin with Pro amps. Thats my take anyway, many will disagree.
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