Polk SRS SDA 3.1 TL
hiheidi
Posts: 20
This is my first post. I love Polk speakers. I’ve had Monitor 7, 2 Monitor 10s, RTA 15s. Just bought some 3.1 TLs from original owner for $400. Black finish. Drivers all work. Ordered new grill cloth. Has interconnect cable. These things rock. Using a Yamaha Mx-800 170wpc 8ohms. I am going to buy the rdo-198 tweets for them. I can solder so I want to do the crossovers. I’m confused about the capacitors though. I looked at Sonic cap gen 1s. Way to expensive for me. I just want to give these a refresh. What type and brand should I be looking at? Thank you
Comments
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SonicapPolitical 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 -
SonicapPolk 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 -
Budget cascade as follows...Sonicap>Clarity Cap>Erse Black Dragons>Wuhan Yellow DragonsDon't take experimental gene therapies from known eugenicists.
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Soniccaps would run around $400 for each speaker. I’ll go with something less expensive. Should I get polypropylene film caps or electrolytic caps. I have no clue. Thanks for everyone’s input.
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The tried and true (sonicap/Clarity) are both expensive there's no two ways about it. Polypropylene caps are forever and much tighter in tolerance than electrolytics, electrolytics shift over their lifespan and will need replacement at some point. The better sound will come from polypropylene caps, polypropylene caps all have a sound signature. Cheaper poly caps can have a very negative impact on the midrange and high end of the speakers, some to such an extent that you may not enjoy the listening experience.
Think about if you find that negative experience and now spend the money to recap again, did you save any money? No. Trust me I've been down the road more that once it's never easy. Spend once cry once. -
Great advice pitdogg2. These Polks are replacing some very nice Paradigms Studio 100 V3. I’ll sell those and use the $ for some quality caps. These Polks are in my garage and can be heard down the block. Thanks for the input.
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I'd definitely replace the tweeters first, listen to them as is properly set up with quality amplification for a while, and then decide if further investment in internal upgrades is what you want long term with them. Crossover upgrades don't necessarily add much/any dollar value if you think you might want to sell them later.
The 3.1TL is a special speaker. -
I was reading additional info on these speakers. My amp with 170 watts may be a little low for these speakers. A quality amp with around 350 watts with the new tweeters is what I will do first. Thank you Emlyn.
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Less to do with watts and more to do with amperes (current).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 -
More current the better. I love this forum. Ordered the RDO198 tweeters today. I got 20% off the price by mentioning I was a Polk forum member.
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Sonicaps and mills and about 200 hours of play time to know you made the right choice.____________________________________________________________
polkaudio Fully Modded SDA SRS 1.2TLs + Dreadnaught, LSiM706c, 4 X Polk Surrounds + 4 X ATMOS, SVS PB13 Ultra X 2, Pass Labs X1, Marantz 7704, Bob Carver Crimson Beauty 350 Tube Mono Blocks, Carver Sunfire Signature Cinema Grande 400x5, ADCOM GFA 7807, Panasonic UB420, Moon 380D DAC, EPSON Pro Cinema 6050 -
On the schematic one of the 12uf capacitors says Mylar. Can I replace this with a poly without a detrimental effect on sound? Thank you.
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On the schematic one of the 12uf capacitors says Mylar. Can I replace this with a poly without a detrimental effect on sound? Thank you.
Polypropylene caps would be much better option. Be very aware the cap will be much bigger than stock. Stock caps usually are 100v, replacement caps are usually 200v or larger depending on brand. Stick with 200v options. -
On the schematic one of the 12uf capacitors says Mylar. Can I replace this with a poly without a detrimental effect on sound? Thank you.
Replace all the caps with film/poly caps, such as Sonicap. Replace all the resistors with non-inductive wirewounds such as Mills-Vishay.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 -
ANY film cap is going to be "better" than ANY aged-out, beyond-service-life original electrolytic.
Some film caps may be preferable compared to others, but don't obsess if budget is an issue. Even "budget" film caps are better than what's in there now. -
On the schematic one of the 12uf capacitors says Mylar. Can I replace this with a poly without a detrimental effect on sound? Thank you.
I kept the factory 16uF mylar in my 8TL's for a long time. When I added a polypropylene (Erse) I could hear a little more detail in the tweeter region, but that was with billet RDO plates. With the factory plastic plates, I'm not so sure there'd be much difference.Don't take experimental gene therapies from known eugenicists. -
I'm very happy with Clarity CSA caps, and cost with Mills resistors came to $400 on my recent SDA 2B build. Sure, the Sonicaps would sound slightly better but right now they're way over priced IMHO.
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I have been looking at the Clarity CSA caps. I’ll have to buy 2 27uf caps for the 55uf on the dimensional driver. Will the Physical size of the Clarity caps be an issue when installing? Thank you
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All film/foil/poly caps are considerably larger than electrolytic or mylar caps.
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 -
Just found a pair of Polk SRS 2.3 non TL for $400. Seller says they are excellent condition. 2 hour drive one way. We’re the stock 2.3 that much better than the 3.1. Thanks
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$400 is an outright steal...depending on condition. They'd have to be fairly screwed-up to not be worth more than $400 + your travel expenses and time.Just found a pair of Polk SRS 2.3 non TL for $400. Seller says they are excellent condition. 2 hour drive one way. We’re the stock 2.3 that much better than the 3.1. Thanks
Buy them. Sell the ones you like least. What works/sounds best may depend on the size/shape of your listening room, and the condition of the two pair of speakers including which modifications/repairs you make to them.
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After Schurkey’s post I contacted the seller of the Polk Srs 2.3. He said a sale is pending. Anyway I’ll be happy with the 3.1TL. Installed the RDO198 tweeties. Sound is noticeably better. Getting ready to buy the Clarity caps. I have budgeted around $1000 for amplifier. I saw the following. Rotel RB-980BX, Kenwood M2, Yamaha MX 1000u and Carver M 1.0T. Thoughts on these and other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
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Any "vintage" amplifier is likely going to need repairs. The electrolytic caps will be near the end--or beyond--their expected service life, just like the ones in the speaker crossover. The Carver could be an outstanding choice...AFTER it's rebuilt. I don't know about the others.
When it was my money, I bought a Made-in-USA amplifier having outstanding current (amperage) delivery into low-impedance loads. Your SDA-SRS 3.1TL speakers have generally higher input impedance than my modified SDA-1Bs, so adequate amperage into a 4-ohm load is probably completely acceptable. -
Regarding the Carver. This following is part on the ad for it. ad is a month old. ” Highly reviewed "sleeper" power amplifier ("the great Stereophile/Conrad-Johnson Premier Five killer") that has had a complete service/upgrade ($600+) by Nelion Audio less than 6 months ago. he is asking $1050
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IF (big IF) he's got proof of service by Nelion, and there's no indication that it's been dropped into a bathtub, or run over by a semi-truck, or other obvious damage since then...jump on that thing especially if you can negotiate the price downwards a bit.has had a complete service/upgrade ($600+) by Nelion Audio less than 6 months ago. he is asking $1050
Nelion is top-notch.
OTOH, at $1000+, you have some other choices although they'd not be recently serviced. Aragon, B&K, ATI, Bryston (Canadian, eh?) select Adcom, and so forth.
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Regarding the Carver. This following is part on the ad for it. ad is a month old. ” Highly reviewed "sleeper" power amplifier ("the great Stereophile/Conrad-Johnson Premier Five killer") that has had a complete service/upgrade ($600+) by Nelion Audio less than 6 months ago. he is asking $1050
BS, that amp isn't even close the one Carver had at the Stereophile event. The one he used had to be constantly adjusted/tweaked because it was so unstable. He even said he could never make it into a production amp. The whole thing was a joke.
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 -
True words.He even said he could never make it into a production amp.
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So I’m a little confused. So F1, is this a good amp for my 3.1TL?. Any recommendations? Thank you
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C-J Premier Four (Not Five.)
https://www.stereophile.com/content/carver-challenge
And also
https://www.stereophile.com/content/carver-challenge-responses
The "production" M1.0Ts were not capable of the deep null produced by the prototype...but they were entirely reasonable amplifiers in other respects, ESPECIALLY after thorough service work which can upgrade some questionable parts choices in the original design.
Personally, I would not want an amp modified to have a high output impedance to simulate a "tube amp". My preferred amplifier topology is for the lowest-possible output impedance among other qualities. The added impedance of the M1.0T is--I think--able to be bypassed by merely connecting the speaker cables to the alternate output terminals on the back of the amp.
Note that early versions of the M1.0 are NOT common-ground, and will be unsuitable for some SDA speakers if the SDA interconnect cable is still attached, and usable with others only with an isolation transformer in the SDA cable. -
I wouldn't buy that carver amps for that price, there is a lot better out there used for that kind of money.
