New SDA II Owner Looking for Advice

schwarcw

Greetings!

I am new to this site and I just purchased a pair of SDA II speakers. The speakers are in excellent physical condition. I haven’t hooked them up yet, but I have read the instruction manual. The manual says to use 16 gauge speaker wires, this seems a little too small to me. Does anyone have any suggestions for wire?

The speakers do have the interconnecting cable. I was going to clean the leads on the end of the cables. I was considering cleaning the female junction for the cable with a small file or emery board. Can anyone offer any suggestions?

I was also wondering about stands for the speakers. I assume that a slight upward tilt would be beneficial. I was hoping someone could make some suggestions, recommend a brand or a design for the stands.

Unfortunately my speaker placement is not going to be ideal according to the recommendations in the manual. My right channel is going to be approximately two feet from a corner. Unfortunately due to the room setup and space limitations I won’t be able to do much about this. Again, I’m hoping someone can give me some feedback on this configuration or suggestions for compensation on the Right/Left level controls.

I am very anxious to set these speakers up and give them a listen.

This forum has a lot of interesting dialogue on the 5.1 setup. I have an Onkyo TX-SR500 amplifier with 65 watts RMS (8 ohms) in five channels or 125 watts in two channels at 4 ohms. I am anxious to hear the sound in the 5.1 configuration with the interconnecting cable on and off.

The manual did not come with any specifications on these speakers; does anyone have any specifications for the SDA IIs?

I would appreciate any recommendations or guidance on the operation or general information about these speakers.

Many Thanks!

F1nut

Carl,

Welcome to the forum.

There is the SDA 2, SDA 2A and SDA 2B. How many tweeters are in each speaker and does the interconncet cable have two blades at each end or a pin and a blade? As for cleaning the connections, use DeOxit, do not use a file or emery.

Do not put these speakers on stands, they are flat on the floor, floor standing speakers.

If you do not use the interconnect cable you are not going to be using all the drivers and depending on your model, not one of the tweeters in each speaker.

As for speaker wire and interconnect cables, the better the wire, the better the sound, but that also depends on the rest of your gear.

schwarcw

Hi F1nut,

Thanks for your reply. The speakers are SDA II, there is no "A" or "B" suffix. The connector has two blades. The speakers have two tweeters.

I did connect them today with the connecting cable and they sounded great! I took the grill off and listeneded to the "imaging" driver and tweeter on each side. I can't say that I heard much coming from either the drivers or the tweeters. When I touched the driver, I could sense some vibration. But I got to be honest and I don't understand how much "wave cancelling" waves could be coming from these speakers. Are they supposed to have much audible sound?

I appreciate your information. I'm glad to be part of the forum.

Carl

BobMcG

Welcome Carl,

Polk didn't always clearly mark all of their SDAs with the exact full model numbers. Thats why F1 asked about which specific ones you have. The fact they have two tweeters makes them the original SDA-2s.

The manual says to use 16 gauge speaker wires, this seems a little too small to me. Does anyone have any suggestions for wire?

I think you'll find the manual states to use #16ga or LARGER. rather than just use #16ga. The current level of your system wouldn't warrant a large expenditure on cables. Entry level cables will do.

The speakers do have the interconnecting cable. I was going to clean the leads on the end of the cables. I was considering cleaning the female junction for the cable with a small file or emery board. Can anyone offer any suggestions?

Like F1 says.

I was also wondering about stands for the speakers. I assume that a slight upward tilt would be beneficial. I was hoping someone could make some suggestions, recommend a brand or a design for the stands.

Like F1 says.

Unfortunately my speaker placement is not going to be ideal according to the recommendations in the manual. My right channel is going to be approximately two feet from a corner. Unfortunately due to the room setup and space limitations I won’t be able to do much about this. Again, I’m hoping someone can give me some feedback on this configuration or suggestions for compensation on the Right/Left level controls.

It is unfortunate you can't give the rt-ch more room but don't bother trying to compensate by using the balance knob. It's not a balance problem.

I did connect them today with the connecting cable and they sounded great! I took the grill off and listeneded to the "imaging" driver and tweeter on each side. I can't say that I heard much coming from either the drivers or the tweeters. When I touched the driver, I could sense some vibration. But I got to be honest and I don't understand how much "wave cancelling" waves could be coming from these speakers. Are they supposed to have much audible sound?

Re-read your first sentence.

By "imaging" driver, you must mean "dimensional" driver. And by "wave cancelling" you must mean "crosstalk distortion eliminating". No, you will not hear a source from the SDA-drivers that is equal to the source from the Stereo-drivers.

Re-read your first sentence.

This forum has a lot of interesting dialogue on the 5.1 setup. I have an Onkyo TX-SR500 amplifier with 65 watts RMS (8 ohms) in five channels or 125 watts in two channels at 4 ohms.

This is where I hate to be a stick in the mud but......don't expect this recvr to allow the 2s to show what they can do. It's just not happening.

F1nut

Originally posted by BobMcG

This is where I hate to be a stick in the mud but......don't expect this recvr to allow the 2s to show what they can do. It's just not happening.

Bob is right, if you think they sound good now, wait until you get some real power to them.

schwarcw

Thanks F1,

I appreciate all your advice. I know my amp is an el cheapo. But, I needed a new one and didn't have much cash. I am planning to upgrade my system in the coming months. Do you have any advuce on amps?

Carl

F1nut

Carl,

My advice is save up as much as you can, buy the best you can, buy used (Audiogon is a great place) and do as much homework and/or demo as much you can.

Jesse