What happened to the Polk SDA SRS and SDA speaker line?

TD_

This is a great forum. I have always thought Polk speakers are amazing. My first pair of Monitor 10B speakers were fantastic. But my SDA 1B’s are simply the best.

From what I can tell, Polk replaced the SDA 1Bs with the SDA 1Cs in circa 1987/88. While I would guess there were some internal differences, the biggest change I saw was the cabinet.

QUESTION: Was the SDA 1C the last Polk SDA speaker? Was there a significance difference in the SDA 1C and the earlier SDA speakers? Enough that anyone would really upgrade?

If my research is correct, I noticed all the SDA SRS and SDA speakers disappeared from the Polk speaker line circa 1990/91. My question is why? What replaced this great line of speakers?

I apologize if this is old information that has been rehashed many times. If so, just point me to the old thread.

daddyjt

I would not say high-end audio is dead. What died with the rise of Bose, sound bars, MP3 players and streaming was mid-fi audio. Brands like Adcom, Carver, Parasound, Infinity, Yamaha, Sony, and yes, Polk had to make a choice - move production to cheap disposable gear that the masses want, or move in the direction of high-end gear that a shrinking group will buy. A few companies still offer a solid mid-fi line, like Klipsch, but even their mid line is shrinking. Polk’s new SDA release is a definite positive sign for the audio hobby, and I sincerely hope it brings them success.

Emlyn

There were midwoofer driver differences and crossover differences between the 1B and 1C models. The 1B speakers used a Blade-Blade SDA cable. The later 1C speakers used a Pin-Blade SDA cable. There was also a transitional 1C speaker that used a Blade-Blade SDA cable.

There was no replacement for the SDA speakers when production was discontinued in the early 1990s. There was an existing new line of speakers called the RTA, of which the RTA-15TL was the biggest and by default became the top line speaker for Polk for a little while. The RTA speakers used similar midwoofers and tweeters to the discontinued SDA 3.1TL, 2.3TL, and 1.2TL speakers. There was a general market shift to narrow and smaller speaker cabinets around this time. Polk still made what were considered big speakers at a good value and never stopped. Many other companies went under.

VR3

Original release date 1990

Home audio has been down hill ever since

Schurkey

The triumph of marketing over listening. Tell folks what they WANT to believe, and they start believing it.

"You can get great sound and you don't have to have those big, ugly speakers!"

daddyjt

https://youtu.be/ZCBe7-6rw4M

TD_

Thank you for your replies. Great video!

If I understand fully, all three answers are saying High-End audio, for the most part, died in the USA around 1990/91. I will say that by 1990 I had stopped visiting the high-end audio stores because I was very happy with my system. The earlier thoughts of upgrading the electronics were not something I considered urgent now. Other things in my life, i.e., marriage and kids, were taking precedent. Perhaps many of these high-end stores went out of business and I never noticed.

Any other answers? This is very interesting.

I am also interested if there is any "real" difference between the SDA 1B and SDA 1C speakers. Any thoughts on this?

VR3

My first post was in jestx but bose was definitely the catalyst in the movement to smaller speakers.

Still great audio products to be had to this day

F1nut

High end audio is FAR from dead.

xschop

It was cheaper to ship a coffin in 1990.

TD_

While I agree with F1nut that High-End audio is far from dead, it appears to have taken a nose dive around 1991. I suspect high end audio is more than a niche market today - but certainly not main stream. I need to get out and find the high end stores and see what is available. This forum has really opened my eyes.

Thank you for spelling out the differences between the SDA 1B and SDA 1C. My pair of SDA 1B's were on sale when I purchased them. I suspect now the dealer knew about the upcoming release of the SDA 1C's and was clearing out inventory. Not that I really care as the SDA 1B's are great. And easy to look at with the natural wood.

I do hope the new Legend L800 SDA speakers from Polk Audio are a success. At $3000 apiece, these speakers are certainly high end! I need to take a listen.

Again, thank you for all the comments. And please post more. I hope I have added a little bit of knowledge to this forum.