Newbie Questions...

irishaz

Have enjoyed reading everyone's posts and you all are very helpful, so I thought I would just jump in and see what happened.

Been a Polk Addict all of my life and finally came upon a pair of SDA-2 A's on E-Bay in my area last year. Speakers are great (much better than my R-50's) but all of the talk on this forum has kind of shown me how little I thought that I knew.

Right now, I am powering the speakers with my existing receiver, Yamaha HTR-5760 and I had several questions:

1. Does the 5760 have enough WPC to make the SDA's perform? How much better off would I be with an amp as opposed to the receiver (mostly use the system for HT)? 5760 has a "2-Ch" mode, and it sounds good, but not great.

2. Other than the interconnect cable, is there any other "special" wiring requirements for the speakers?

3. Finally, could anyone make a recommendation for center, surrounds, and rears to match the SDA's. Currently I have the R15's as surrounds, no rears, and an older Polk CS model (don't have the model # with me right now, I'm supposed to be working) as the center. If I remember correctly, the center was purchased about 5 years ago at Circuit City for around $250.

Any help/suggestions would be appreciated, just a newbie trying to slowly but surely catch on...I should mention that I have 5 kids, so my budget as far as surrounds, center, and rears is a little limited.

Thanks in advance...

polksda

The more clean power the better, IMO. If you want to make your SDA's sing, keep the receiver for HT operations, but add a nice beefy 2-channel amp via the L/R preamp outputs.

A vintage Carver or Phase Linear 200 wpc amp shouldn't set you back more than $200-300. You WILL notice a difference...

Tour2ma

First, welcome to the Club...

Agree with p-sda's amp recommendation for your SDA mains... As for wiring them, start with a good, heavy guage (12) general wire from Home Depot or Lowes. Easy on the budget and a good starting point.

As for your other HT speakers... Is what you own disappointing you in some way?

irishaz

Thanks to SDA & Tour for the info.

In regards to my HT setup at present, I wouldn't say that I am terribly disappointed in what I have, but I want to expand on it and make it better. I left out the fact that I have an old Cerwin Vega 15" 200 W subwoofer as well. The sub is certainly loud, but doesn't do much at lower volume levels. I don't have any rears right now, but...I have two more pairs of Polks at the house that are just gathering dust (RT400's and R50's). I was considering selling either both or one of the pairs, but was wondering how they would mesh with the rest of the system if I used them as rears. I haven't tried that yet, but was wondering if anyone has an opinion on whether those would - a)be a good option, and b)which of those two speakers would be a better fit. Obviously, I think that I could just have a listen and see what sounds better (I'm assuming the 50's will), but still would respect a more educated opinion.

Thanks again for your input.

Jstas

I have a pair of SDA 2B's and they are being powered very well by an Adcom GFA-535 MKII. The SDA's are 6 ohm speakers in the smaller version so an amp rated at around 80 watts per channel at 8 ohms should be putting out around 120-140 watts poer channel at 6 ohms. You can pick up a decent Adcom for the same price at the Carver or Phase Linear that was already mentioned.

Also, you can get some pretty potent, classic NAD amps that will do your 2A's justice. There is some classic Kenwood stuff out there in both the vintage and early 90's stuff that will push those too. There were some nice Kenwood integrateds that can be had for less than $300 too that will handle those SDA's without a problem.

There are plenty of options out there to look at that you don't have to spend a fortune for either. Hell, just check out the Flea Market forum here 'cause there are always good deals on stuff that pops up.


As for wire, I'm running 10 guage SoundKing speaker wire with a great deal of success. It's not so much teh kind of wire you use but the guage that is the most important. I wouldn't use anything less than 14 guage.

Tour2ma

irishaz,

You're welcome... John's nominations for the Adcom and NAD are worthy additions.

Couple comments on your reply.

First, you will want to eventually calibrate your HT. Radio Shack SPL meter and one of a few different test DVD's will be needed in the future. This will balance your mains with center, surrounds and sub. Here's a nice old thread on the topic...
http://clubpolk.polkaudio.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=22238&goto=newpost

Second, since you have a couple spare pairs of speakers already, do try them out before making any moves. The "R" series is pure entry level while floorstanders, like the 400's, are not the "norm" for surrounds. But either may suit your immediate needs just fine.

Dusting is optional...