Polk SRS SDA - Fess up

stones89
stones89 Posts: 229
in Vintage Speakers
Back in the day I took some heat for having 2.3tl’s from other high end brick and mortar becuase they did not think they were legit high end. I remember one in particular I was considering buying cables from commented instead of shotgun cables I should take a shotgun to my Polks. Nice!

Anyone else have to defend their Polks?
Basis 2200 Signature, Vector 4, Transfiguration Proteus, Allnic H3000, Meridian 200/563, CJ ET5, McIntosh 501's, Thiel CS6, 3.6, Polk SDA SRS 2.3tl, MIT EVO, KS/Wywires PC's
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Comments

  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 365
    I wouldn't call them high end. Maybe upper mid-fi. I enjoyed them when I had them for a couple of years, but I sure don't miss them.
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  • stones89
    stones89 Posts: 229
    Maybe they weren’t SOTA but in the 80’s and early 90’s they were in the mix with ML, Mirage, some lower model Apogee’s IMO. Maybe they were upper mid-fi also.

    I think the upper end loudspeaker market is way different now than then, but I have owned or own 2 models of Thiels and Eggleston Andra’s, both in the highend category and I just put my old polks in for fun and they sound like I am in a bar listening to live music on about the third row of tables! I like irt!
    Basis 2200 Signature, Vector 4, Transfiguration Proteus, Allnic H3000, Meridian 200/563, CJ ET5, McIntosh 501's, Thiel CS6, 3.6, Polk SDA SRS 2.3tl, MIT EVO, KS/Wywires PC's
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  • stones89
    stones89 Posts: 229
    They were also priced pretty sporty in the day. I think I paid $2200 for mine sometime in the early 90's. Not cheap!
    Basis 2200 Signature, Vector 4, Transfiguration Proteus, Allnic H3000, Meridian 200/563, CJ ET5, McIntosh 501's, Thiel CS6, 3.6, Polk SDA SRS 2.3tl, MIT EVO, KS/Wywires PC's
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  • nooshinjohn
    nooshinjohn Posts: 25,414
    Properly set up and upgraded, the SRS line holds its own quite well to this very day. There is an audio store near me that pushes nothing but Mcintosh and Magnepan. Back in the day they sold the big Polks on their display floor and snobbishly turned you to the Maggies if you asked to demo the Polks.
    The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD

    “When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson
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  • daddyjt
    daddyjt Posts: 2,505
    I think that most of the "heat" comes from two things - fear and jealousy.

    People inherently fear things that they do not understand. The SDA technology was rather ground-breaking in the late 80s/early 90s. It was also a break from the traditional, and for that reason, a lot of people immediately hated it, because it was/is "not the way we've always done speakers".

    The sheer size and price of especially the large SDA speakers put them out of reach for many people. In today's society especially, that breeds instant hate and contempt. Instead of expanding on the merits of one's Wave Radio, many people feel the need to tear down and belittle that which they lack the means to acquire, or the fortitude to accommodate.

    Are the SDAs the best speakers ever made? Of course not. Are they an important mile stone in the technological time line of speakers? Yes - and are they a fitting tribute to the cultural excess of the 80s, and a complete blast to own and listen to? Absolutely!!
    "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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  • Nightfall
    Nightfall Posts: 10,086
    edited February 2017
    He's more talking about other audiophiles, not the person that's not an audiophile and happens to only have a Bose Wave Radio on his counter.
    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
    Nightfall wrote: »
    He's more talking about other audiophiles, not the person that's not an audiophile and happens to only have a Bose Wave Radio on his counter.

    Oh - well in that case forget it :smile: getting a group of audiophiles to agree on a particular speaker is like heading cats....
    "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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  • stones89
    stones89 Posts: 229
    great post daddyjt - musicality versus resolution. As long as the head is bobbing and the toe is tapping - rock on! Even it is a Bose wave radio! B)
    Basis 2200 Signature, Vector 4, Transfiguration Proteus, Allnic H3000, Meridian 200/563, CJ ET5, McIntosh 501's, Thiel CS6, 3.6, Polk SDA SRS 2.3tl, MIT EVO, KS/Wywires PC's
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  • txcoastal1
    txcoastal1 Posts: 13,283
    edited February 2017
    You guys must still have Pac-Man fever and need to hop back into that Hot Tub Time Machine and come to 2017...just sayin' ;):p ...and no mullets please!
    2-channel: Modwright KWI-200 Integrated, Dynaudio C1-II Signatures
    Desktop rig: LSi7, Polk 110sub, Dayens Ampino amp, W4S DAC/pre, Sonos, JRiver
    Gear on standby: Melody 101 tube pre, Unison Research Simply Italy Integrated
    Gone to new homes: (Matt Polk's)Threshold Stasis SA12e monoblocks, Pass XA30.5 amp, Usher MD2 speakers, Dynaudio C4 platinum speakers, Modwright LS100 (voltz), Simaudio 780D DAC

    erat interfectorem cesar et **** dictatorem dicere a
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  • dkfreebird
    dkfreebird Posts: 1,186
    What happened to the dislike button. :p
    txcoastal1 wrote: »
    You guys must still have Pac-Man fever and need to hop back into that Hot Tub Time Machine and come to 2017...just sayin' ;):p ...and no mullets please!

    2 Channel
    Polk 1.2tl's Modded with dreadnought
    Musical Fidelity M6Si
    North Star Intenso Dac
    Auralic Aries Mini Streamer
    Oppo 103
    Pangea PC
    Wireworld Equinox 7 interconnects
    Wireworld Equinox 7 Speaker Cables and Jumpers

    Backups 2.3tl, Crs+ pin/blade with stands.Monitor 5 peerless,Monitor 4 peerless,Polk R200,McCormack Dna 0.5 Deluxe McCormack Dna 1,Dared Sl 2000A,Dayens Ampino Rogue Magnum 66 pre
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  • zingo
    zingo Posts: 11,258
    I have always enjoyed vintage Polks, including SDAs, and I think that is their strength; music enjoyment. IMO, they can be muddy compared to other speakers, and I don't think they are too "quick". For musical fidelity, I would take a pair of horns, and technology has come quite a way resulting in more definition to truer reproduction. However, you can put any music on a vintage pair of Polks, and enjoy it all day including an enormous soundstage.
    Jake
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  • stones89
    stones89 Posts: 229
    However, you can put any music on a vintage pair of Polks, and enjoy it all day including an enormous soundstage

    I agree and that is not a bad thing.
    Basis 2200 Signature, Vector 4, Transfiguration Proteus, Allnic H3000, Meridian 200/563, CJ ET5, McIntosh 501's, Thiel CS6, 3.6, Polk SDA SRS 2.3tl, MIT EVO, KS/Wywires PC's
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  • stones89
    stones89 Posts: 229
    Put a good front end in place and they might not be as muddy as you think.
    Basis 2200 Signature, Vector 4, Transfiguration Proteus, Allnic H3000, Meridian 200/563, CJ ET5, McIntosh 501's, Thiel CS6, 3.6, Polk SDA SRS 2.3tl, MIT EVO, KS/Wywires PC's
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  • stones89
    stones89 Posts: 229
    You guys must still have Pac-Man fever and need to hop back into that Hot Tub Time Machine and come to 2017...just sayin' ;):p ...and no mullets please!

    High fidelity never gets old. Just sayin.
    Basis 2200 Signature, Vector 4, Transfiguration Proteus, Allnic H3000, Meridian 200/563, CJ ET5, McIntosh 501's, Thiel CS6, 3.6, Polk SDA SRS 2.3tl, MIT EVO, KS/Wywires PC's
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  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 25,441
    daddyjt wrote: »
    Nightfall wrote: »
    He's more talking about other audiophiles, not the person that's not an audiophile and happens to only have a Bose Wave Radio on his counter.

    Oh - well in that case forget it :smile: getting a group of audiophiles to agree on a particular speaker is like herding cats....
    Fixed it fer ya
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  • TennMan
    TennMan Posts: 1,266
    zingo wrote: »
    I have always enjoyed vintage Polks, including SDAs, and I think that is their strength; music enjoyment. IMO, they can be muddy compared to other speakers, and I don't think they are too "quick". For musical fidelity, I would take a pair of horns, and technology has come quite a way resulting in more definition to truer reproduction. However, you can put any music on a vintage pair of Polks, and enjoy it all day including an enormous soundstage.
    That is true. I searched for that enormous soundstage for years until I got my SDAs. Now that I've found that soundstage I don't have any plans to let it go. :) SDAs are the only speakers I've heard that seem to disappear in the room.

    • 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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