Need SDA-2 Interconnect Cable

Tide

I've recently purchased a set of SDA-2s off of the bay. They have 2 tweeters mounted horizontally and 3 mids. Here's a link to the auction pics. The seller did not have the interconnect cable.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=5734255647&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT

Is this cable still for sale from Polk? Or, should I make my own? I think that it is a male pin-pin connection on both speakers. They sound great without the cable, but I'd like to hear the difference with the cable.

Thanks in advance.

trubluluc

Nice Score!

Unfortunately Polk no longer makes these cables, so you will have to have at it.
Standard cable is pretty easy to make.
Yeah an SDA speaker without the cable is like a rum and coke, without the rum.

Enjoy!

-Luc

Tide

Luc, thanks for the quick response.

As far as the cable specs, is it 2 separate wires from pin to pin? Left pin to left pin?

dorokusai

It's simple, just two individual wires.

When you use the IC, you'll actually be using all the drivers. You have only heard half of that speaker.

F1nut

Actually, the blade/blade cable is available from Polk for something like $35.00. Contact Customer Service to place your order.

BlueMDPicker

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your "new" speakers. I didn't get the IC cable shipped with my first SDA's and thought they were great - then the cable arrived. Wait until you hear them fully functional, as Doro said.

BTW - the eBay listing was a bit strange with respect to the specs listed. The 2's did not use SL1000 tweeters, nor 6600 (whatever those are?) drivers. Rather they have (per speaker):

2 x SL2000 tweeters
2 x MW6501 mid drivers
1 x MW6501 SDA driver
1 x SW120 Passive radiator

Be sure and tell us about the grin on your face when the IC is in place. It happened to all of us, and it's contagious.

Mike

dorokusai

Not anymore if I recall Ken correctly.

F1nut

Oh, they ran out of that one too???

dorokusai

I'm pretty sure. I asked Ken about a month ago, as I was going to buy a couple to have handy, and he said they were out.

Maybe they have some more as they bought all the vintage Polk stuff back from that store....ugh, whatever the first Baltimore Polk dealer was....anyways they took back all the old stock they had in house about 3 months ago.

Those are definetly SL1000's, looks like a pretty early run based on the serial numbers, so they may be stock. They smoked weed back then, so you never know with vintage Polk's.

F1nut

The store name is Soundscape and agreed, those are SL1000's making them the 1st generation SDA 2.

BlueMDPicker

Originally posted by F1nut
agreed, those are SL1000's making them the 1st generation SDA 2.

Is that from your "bible"?

What were the crossover part numbers for this one - same as the SDA 1?

dorokusai

No bible, just physical identification. 45deg angled leads....brushed aluminum faceplate....SL1000.

BlueMDPicker

Originally posted by dorokusai
No bible, just physical identification. 45deg angled leads....brushed aluminum faceplate....SL1000.

Hi Mark,

Yeah, I gotcha' on the physical ID. I went back and looked at the pics again. I'm just curious about what other differences there were in this iteration of the 2.

It appears that the 6600x drivers are now cross referenced, or substituted, in Polk's parts table with the MW6501. Did it use the BE1701-A and BE1706-A, or BE1601-A and BE1701-A like the only other SDA that Polk lists with those tweeters?

Mike

dorokusai

I have a pair of SDA 2's and it's basically the standard setup, 6501 drivers....SL2000's, etc. My serial numbers are in the 6000's. Tides' serial numbers are in the 1000's.

This speaker may have had tweeters replaced at some time for all we know, as it goes against the known data on that speaker.

The SDA 2 schematic I have, follows the MW6501/SL2000 setup. There is no mention of what tweeter may have been used previously.

Perhaps Tide could do a couple things for us, to clear the issue.

1: Contact the seller, and simply ask if he ever replaced the tweeters.

2: Remove the PR, and get the model number and date, off the crossover.

I'll email Ken, and see if he has any info on whether the very early SDA 2's were in fact SL1000's. The later one's definetly were not.

Tide

I'll pull the PR and post the date. Is it on both, or on a L or R only?

The seller was selling for a buddy of his that had a stroke, so I'm not sure I'd ever be able to find out the speaker's history. The seller told me that his buddy bought the SDAs new.

dorokusai

Tide - Thanks much. It will be on both speakers, you only need to open one.

No problem on the tweeters issue, it was just an idea.

DarqueKnight

Buying SDA's today can be a frustrating experience. Fifteen or twenty years ago, before SDA's ceased production, it was easy to find out what you were buying off of the used market. Often, you were buying from the original owner.

Now, there are so many "mutant" strains of SDA's that it is often impossible to know exactly what is being offered for sale because one or more of the following apply:

1. The speakers are two or more times removed from the original owner.

2. Original paperwork (manual, receipts, boxes) are long gone.

3. Asking questions frequently does not help because the current seller has no idea of what he actually has and really cannot answer detailed questions about the speakers.

4. They have had tweeters/drivers/crossovers/passive radiators replaced, sometimes with inappropriate parts. I have seen passive radiators replaced with active drivers.

5. The have had inappropriate modifications (so called "upgrades"). I have seen several pairs of SDA 1C's that had the crossovers modified (split) to allow bi-amping/bi-wiring. Another popular "upgrade" was replacing SL2000 tweeters with SL 3000's. Hey, if it sounds good to them, I say go for it.

6. The label on the rear of the speaker often omits a version number.

7. The manual that came with the speakers from the factory may have been for an earlier version. Sometimes an addendum sheet was inserted and sometimes it was not.

Fun Fun Fun :mad:

Tide

All hand written with white chalk:

on back of right PR: B

on crossover: 6/83 REL

on wire plugs disk directly behind PR: D SDA II REL 6/83

trubluluc

as an IC cable?

-Luc

HBombToo

Originally posted by trubluluc
as an IC cable?

-Luc

The center pin of the RCA is a perfect match for the SDA pin side and an 18-22 guage blade seems to mate quite well with the socket.

HBomb

dorokusai

Originally posted by HBombToo
The center pin of the RCA is a perfect match for the SDA pin side and an 18-22 guage blade seems to mate quite well with the socket.

HBomb

Yea, too bad it isn't a pin blade IC huh?

reeltrouble1

High Tide,

Sorry could not help myself. So after all that did you get yout cable made yet? If you need a hand just ask.

RT1-out

Tide

Nope, I haven't attempted it yet. After pulling the PR I thought about using the blades inside and drilling a small hole in the speaker backs for the wire, but then thought against it because if the wire gets caught or pulled, it would break at the blade.

I'm guessing that I can find a small cylinder connection to fit over the pin.

reel, you were bidding on some big SDAs in Jax, did you get them?

reeltrouble1

Nope, I just missed them, I had a price I would pay and someone just wanted them a little bit more, I see no sense in getting more SDA's just to say I got them, they went for a bit over the average cost for the past year, but hey they are worth what a willing buyer will give to a willing seller in that moment. I really like the 1C's I have, just on the lookout to get more, ultamitely I am going to have a pair of 1.2TL, good things come to those who wait.

You can make your cable out of standard stranded wire, for the blade just use an ordinary compression electrical disconnect blade 16-18 guage, you can solder the wires to the connector if you choose. You may have to hand file the connector a small amount to get a nice tight fit. Now this worked just fine for my AI-1 connect for my 1C's which is a pin/blade config, I have not seen the blade/blade since I do not own a pair but you just need something to connect and hold at the teminal cup. I got my connectors at Radio Shack or maybe home depot. I would not go drilling or hacking at the cabinet.

Or, I could drive down and take those lousy no cable having speakers off your hands!!!:D

RT1

Tide

My IC cable needs to be a pin-pin.

The SDA-1s in Jax went over my budget too, and I was willing to go pick them up. Jax is about 4.5 hours north of me.

I was worried more if they'd been within my budget and that I'd have to explain them to my wife.

reeltrouble1

I have never heard of pin/pin. pin/blade or blade/blade, are you saying you have two round holes in the terminal cup?

dorokusai

Unless your speaker has another anomaly, the IC is blade/ blade.

Blade 1 = 3/16" wide x 3/8" long
Blade 2 = 1/8" wide x 3/8" long

Tide

My speakers have two round male pins in a circular plastic receptacle. Here's a picture.

F1nut

WTF is that??? I've never seen that before.

Tide

Inside view.

dorokusai

Holy crap, you're screwed.