Closest current line to SDA
Just bought a pair of S55s since I downsized and my wife said my SDA 2As were too big. I know, big mistake. The S55s have great clarity and bass but not the depth or field the SDAs had, of course. Now I'm trying to decide if I return them and get the RTia 7 or 9, if this will get me closer to the SDA depth and breadth I loved. I'll also eventually replace my Sony 100W receiver with a dedicated 200W amp but am wondering if I should upgrade to the amp first and give the s55s another chance? Or go with the RTia 7/9 now then upgrade the amp? I'm not looking for a lot of volume, just want the depth even at a lower volume.
Comments
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Neither the RTiA or LSiM will get you closer to the SDA.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 -
There is no replacement for displacementThe 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 -
Ok, do the RTai 7s sound dramatically better that I should swap out the S55s for them? I've got nowhere close by to hear them first.
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I would look for the LSIm 705 instead. They are generally considered the best all around performer of the Polk line right now.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 -
^ THIS ^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 -
So no appreciable difference unless I go all the way to LSIm 705?
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Have you seen this thread? http://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/182646/black-lsim-705-pair-with-center-for-1k-adorama#latest
Sweet deal on a pair of LSiM705s and a center. If that isn't for you, I think you'd notice some nice improvement moving up, Amp-wise, and keeping your S55s. However, I think you'd get further improvement with the RTiA7s and the upgraded amp. And, lastly, you'd get the most improvement out of the amp upgrade and the LSiMs. Taking advantage of the above deal, you'd also need a three-channel amp.
It's also my understanding that if you do go with the RtiA line, the 7 is as high as you want to go. I've heard from several present and past 9 owners that the 9's are very difficult to drive and even more difficult to get to sound well balanced.
That being said...........YMMV! (your mileage may vary) -
Hmmm; I wonder if there's anything close to the bigger SDA's sound by any manufacturer presently??
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Honestly, no speaker can be properly judged when it's driven from an inexpensive HT receiver.
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motorstereo wrote: »Hmmm; I wonder if there's anything close to the bigger SDA's sound by any manufacturer presently??
Gonna go out on a limb here and say NO. You're comparing apples and cumquats. -
LSiM is a great performer, but there is nothing like the SDA's being currently made. They were unique then and there's nothing from Polk or anyone else that gives you what they did.
2 choices, get another pair of SDA's or move on with something like the LSiM series and learn to love those. They really perform very well (above their price point), just not the same presentation as SDA's.
H9"Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul! -
Do we know why Polk abandoned the SDA technology? It was a game changer in the 80s - cannot believe they think today's are somehow better.
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Honestly, no speaker can be properly judged when it's driven from an inexpensive HT receiver.
Somewhat agree but I know how good my 2As sounded even with a moderate quality amp, so by using the same amp I have a baseline to compare. -
Do we know why Polk abandoned the SDA technology? It was a game changer in the 80s - cannot believe they think today's are somehow better.
They didn't its now a sound bar...
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Do we know why Polk abandoned the SDA technology? It was a game changer in the 80s - cannot believe they think today's are somehow better.
Do a search, it's been discussed ad nauseum . Too big, required too much power, expensive to build. But really from an aesthetics stand point they just don't fit anymore. They also need a proper demo and many brick and mortar stores aren't around anymore. Any being a mass producer of speakers they couldn't make them a boutique product.
SDA lives on actively in many of the sound bar units, but it's done electronically not passively. It works in the sound bars fairly well, but not like the big boy speakers of the late 80's early 90's
"Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul! -
I had the A7s for a short time and returned for the S60s. To my ears they were much better for music and not bright. They weren’t for me but others like them for ht or tame them with amps that are on the warm side and ICs and cables.Living Room
Parasound HINT 6, Yamaha Aventage RX-A 1060, Oppo 103D, Cambridge Audio Azur 851N, KLH Model 5s, Polk CSi A6, Samsung 65" LED
Office
Yamaha A-S501, Auralic Aries Mini, LSiM 703s
Douglas Connection ICs and Cables -
If the wife finds the SDA 2's too big, how on earth does she ok the RTIA'S , lsim's ? I think it's more aesthetics than size.
Might be time to start looking at a higher end speaker if you want that breath, depth, and soundstage back.HT SYSTEM-
Sony 850c 4k
Pioneer elite vhx 21
Sony 4k BRP
SVS SB-2000
Polk Sig. 20's
Polk FX500 surrounds
Cables-
Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable
Kitchen
Sonos zp90
Grant Fidelity tube dac
B&k 1420
lsi 9's -
If the wife finds the SDA 2's too big, how on earth does she ok the RTIA'S , lsim's ? I think it's more aesthetics than size.
Might be time to start looking at a higher end speaker if you want that breath, depth, and soundstage back.
She's been surprisingly ok with the height. It's the width that bothers her. Kind of like me. Let me know if you've found the secret formula to figuring women out. -
It's width or depth, pick your poison.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 -
If the wife finds the SDA 2's too big, how on earth does she ok the RTIA'S , lsim's ? I think it's more aesthetics than size.
Might be time to start looking at a higher end speaker if you want that breath, depth, and soundstage back.
She's been surprisingly ok with the height. It's the width that bothers her. Kind of like me. Let me know if you've found the secret formula to figuring women out.
Ha....you betcha. In general though, women like things aesthetically pleasing. They don't want things that look old, in a room with modern furniture. They place value on looks over sound, where as men usually place sound over looks.
I'm gonna through a suggestion at you that might satisfy her requirements on width, and yours on sound.
Tekton speakers. Go to HIFI Shark and type it in, some good speaks on the used markets. Look at the Pentagon or Double impacts. Looks may not be as pretty as some others, but the sound will kick the snot out of many other more costly options. They are also easy to drive with any receiver, but most would put an amp on them anyway for the dynamic presentation.
For Polk speakers.....the LSIM 705'S is where you want to be hands down, for current models. Good luck to you.HT SYSTEM-
Sony 850c 4k
Pioneer elite vhx 21
Sony 4k BRP
SVS SB-2000
Polk Sig. 20's
Polk FX500 surrounds
Cables-
Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable
Kitchen
Sonos zp90
Grant Fidelity tube dac
B&k 1420
lsi 9's -
If it's a beautiful sound stage you yearn for check out Usher.My New Year's resolution is 3840 × 2160
Family Room| Marantz AV7704| Usher Dancer Mini - 2 DMD Mains |Usher Dancer Mini-x DMD's Surrounds | Usher BE-616 DMD Center | SVS Ultra Rear Surrounds | Parasound Halo A21 | Parsound Halo A52+ | MIT Shotgun S3's | Dual SVS SB 4000 Ultras | Oppo UDP 203 | Directv Genie HD DVR | Samsung 75" Q8 QLED | PSAudio Stellar GCD | Mytek Brooklyn DAC+ | Lumin U1 Mini | HP Elite Slice PC | ROON'd for life |
ManCave: HT:Polk LSiM 706VR3 LSiM 703's LSiM 702's|| Marantz AV7002 AV PrePro Sunfire TGA-7401| Sony PS4 Pro| Sony PS4 Pro|SVS PB13 Ultra| Oppo UDP 203 | Music Hall MMF 5.3se TT w/ Soundsmith Carmen | Samsung 55" SUHD TV | Sony PS4
Patio | Polk Atrium 8's | Yamaha R-N303BL |
Office BlueSound Node| KEF LS50 | Peactree Nova 125SE |
Bedroom | Focal 905's | Chromecast Audio |
Garage | Polk Monitor 5B's
Closet Yamaha M80 | 2 Polk MP3K subs| Yaqin MC100B with Shuguang Treasures KT 88's & CV181Z's | Tesla E83CC's | Marantz 2252B | Marantz 2385 |Polk SDA SRS 2.3 | LSiM 705's | -
There needs to be some give and take in a relationship IMO, it's my house as well as hers. Now I get it if you have gear everywhere and it looks like just a guys pad, but if it's placed well and you have a nice setup than there shouldn't be a problem.
My wife dosen't like the big speakers, but she is glad that I have them looking nice, and that I got rid of the wood look on them ( so am i ) but when the stereo is on she loves how they sound, and she has enjoyed it as time has gone on..
Now the HT setup she has no issues with, for one it's in the basement, second she likes the look of the LSiM's as well as the RTiA's when we had them...Polk Audio SDA 2.3tl Fully Hot Rodded. 😎
SVS SB16 X2
Cary SLP-05/Ultimate Upgrade.
Cary SA-500.1 ES Amps
Cary DMS 800PV Network
OPPO UDP 205/ModWright Modification
VPI Scout TT / Dynavector 20x2
Jolida JD9 Fully Modified
VPI MW-1 Cyclone RCM
MIT Shotgun 3 cables throughout / Except TT, and PC’s -
So I just hooked up the A9s. Wow. Just an amazing difference from the Signature Series. They have that perfect Polk balance in tone - subtle bass that's not in your face, neutral mids and crystal clear highs. If you remove the interconnect cable from the SDAs, this is just as good.
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No, it's not.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 -
Having owned SDAs for 33 years, I can tell you that it is.
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Listening to SDA's w/o the cable is NOT good (IMO). BTW, who would listen to SDA's without the cable, that's just silliness. The speakers were designed to sound their best with the cable operational. It's a huge handicap to run them without. The A9's must be lacking then.............my Modded SDA 1C's are sure lacking when the cable is unplugged.
In summary if the A9's sound like SDA's w/o the cable, then that's not a good thing and one should steer clear of the A9's
Of course you don't mention which SDA's. Each generation was different in design and how the inter aural crosstalk was handled. The last 2 generations of SDA's being the best as they had time to fine tune the system.
H9"Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul! -
Let me clarify. My point was the tonality sounds as good, not that the depth achieved via the SDAs is still there. Of course you wouldn't listen to SDAs without the cable.
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I think he had/has SDA-2a’s.... I found them to be nowhere near as good as later models.Listening to SDA's w/o the cable is NOT good (IMO). BTW, who would listen to SDA's without the cable, that's just silliness. The speakers were designed to sound their best with the cable operational. It's a huge handicap to run them without. The A9's must be lacking then.............my Modded SDA 1C's are sure lacking when the cable is unplugged.
In summary if the A9's sound like SDA's w/o the cable, then that's not a good thing and one should steer clear of the A9's
Of course you don't mention which SDA's. Each generation was different in design and how the inter aural crosstalk was handled. The last 2 generations of SDA's being the best as they had time to fine tune the system.
H9
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 -
Jesus Christ - I'm just trying to help anyone out who wondered how the A9s sound....didn't realize I'd get parsed and belittled like this. Awesome forum here.
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Jesus Christ - I'm just trying to help anyone out who wondered how the A9s sound....didn't realize I'd get parsed and belittled like this. Awesome forum here.
To be fair the OP is looking for the depth and breadth of SDA's you say the A9's have the tone. Not exactly what the OP is looking for.
All I stated was the A9 will never sound like SDA's without the cable.
Sorry you feel ganged up on, I'm just stating my opinion based on the OP's original comments. No need to take it personally.
H9"Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
