Polk SDA-2 question

todd141

Hi all. I'm new here. I just bought a pair of Polk SDA-2 speakers for 100 bucks. I actually think they are the SDA-2B speakers, because they only have 1 tweeter and 2 drivers plus the passive sub on the bottom. They are around 3 feet tall and weigh a ton. I great deal I thought, because they still look brand new. I have a question - these have black cabinets, and I've only seen pictures of them with "natural" wood cabinets. Is this common?

Also, I need the cable that runs between the 2 speakers. Anyone know where I can buy one, or if there are instructions somewhere to make one?

ohskigod

sounds like the studio version to me, also, 100.00 dollars?, no offence, but you suck!........just kidding, but you did get a stupid, silly price on that. did a crack addict sell you those

some pictures would be nice. mine are the wood veneer like you said, the only black ones i saw in a picture were described as the "studio version" i'm not 100 percent on the details of the differences, but i'm sure others will chime in on that

todd141

I bought them from a lady at work - her dad had bought them from a friend of his who was getting a divorce - he paid 100 bucks for them and she sold them to me for the same.

I'll try to post some pics this weekend. So far they sound fantastic - even without the cable!

ohskigod

listening without the cable, my man, you havent heard nothing yet. you can get the cable from the service and parts section of club polk i think. contact customer service, i think they can help as well.

todd141

I just emailed them a bit ago. Hopefully they have some cables!!

hoosier21

to get you going, just take some speaker wire, twist it up on the ends and shove it in the round hole where the SDA cable is suppose to go, do it on each each speaker, and enjoy , for .10 cents a foot you just stepped into the SDA world.

Running them without the cable, or the band aid I just described, you are missing the SDA "effect"

Have fun, great effiong deal at 100.00.

F1nut

Congrats!

You have the 2B studio version. The only difference is the cabinet and therefore the weight, 80lbs. vs yours at 65lbs. You need the pin/blade style interconnect cable and Polk does not sell it any longer, however it is simple to make one. You can make it out of a heavy duty power cord (use two wires only) or even heavy gauge speaker wire. You will need two spade and two pin terminals which you should be able to buy at Rat Shack. Solder the terminals on the ends, plug them in the correct place on the back of each speaker and you're set. As it is right now you're not using all the drivers without the cable and missing the whole point of the SDA design. I would suggest you get a manual from Polk (they have those) to fully understand how these work and how to properly set them up. One word of caution, do not use a non-common ground amp/receiver or mono blocks as that will result in a big boom.

What are you using to power these?

F1

todd141

For right now i'm powering them with just a Yamaha home theater reciever. (I must say, my Bob Dylan SACD's sound fantastic with these speakers!!)

Thanks for the info about making the cable, and for getting a manual. I can't wait to hear these things the way they were MEANT to be heard!!

Emlyn

Congratulations Todd. I was happy to pay $350 for mine, although I did get the SDA cable. My 2B Studios use the twin blade interconnect cable rather than the pin/blade cable (Frankenpolks). I'd suggest checking the shape of the holes where your SDA cable goes to make sure which one you need. A round hole above a straight blade shaped hole means you need the pin/blade cable. A larger blade shaped hole above a smaller blade shaped hole means you need the twin blade variety. The pin/blade setup for the 2Bs seems much more common, so that's more than likely what you have.

Once you have all the drivers running, I'm sure you'll be even more pleased. I'd also recommend trying to use a common ground amp with at least 200 watts per channel with the 2Bs. Run this way, I say the 2Bs can compete well with any pair of currently available new speakers in the $1500 range. Enjoy!

Be careful with the receiver though--don't want to start blowing drivers on the speakers by running the amp to clipping which is easy to do with these speakers without realizing it.

reeltrouble1

Great Grab my man. I believe the 2B are 4 ohm speakers, if your not familiar this means they can really suck the power from a receiver causing it to really heat up and even damage the receiver or the speakers themselves. So not knowing what Yammie you have cant say if it will handle a 4 ohm load. Just be careful about loud volumes.

How have you set the speakers for your stage? Polk recommends you place them at least 3 feet from any sidewalls and pull them out from the wall about 5 in.

Welcome to the club enjoy your new to you speakers.

RT1

F1nut

Just to add to RT1's great words of wisdom, they are rated at a nominal 6 ohm load. You still need to be very careful with the volume while you think about upgrading your power.

todd141

There's a switch on the back of my receiver so you can set the Ohm rating to 4 to 8 or 8to16. I've set it to the 4 to 8 side.

I also took hoosier's advice and took some extra monster speaker cable and pushed it into the slot and hole on each speaker. Man, these speakers sound incredible!!! It's got the hole above the slot, so it must be the pin/blade combo that emlyn mentions.

My only problem is that I only have about 2 feet between the speaker and the side wall because of my huge entertainment center. I did push them back so there is only about 5 inches behind them at reelttrouble's recommendation. All I can say is WOW!!!

thanks for all your help everyone:p

ohskigod

next step would be to back those speakers up with some seperates. go the used route if need be. glad you like em, i listen to my sda 2b's every chance i get.