advice on a system, just aquired sda-1c's

OldSycamoreTree

Greetings all, I am new to the polk speakers fold.
Just bought and hooked up some sda-1c's.

my receiver is a luxman r-115 but needs to visit the shop.
main cd player is CAL icon mk II but this also needs repair.

so I am powering the speakers with an onkyo a-8150 integrated amp with discrete output trans but still only 60 watts.
The backup cd player is a denon dcd 910 quite outdated and the flaws are heard with the quality speakers.

My question is , would it be best to have the cal icon mk II fixed by a good shop, or get a better cd player, or run the denon into a high quality dac system to warm the sound?
The cal cost me near 800 bucks new if I recall- and it was great sounding running into the luxman that powered paradigm 7se's.
So I am partial to having it refurbished but i have been out of the audio loop for 12 years so i don't know what may be available for a decent price.

I had to get the sda-1c's even knowing that it would lead to an entire system upgrade.

What sort of speaker cables to the sda-1c perform best with?:)

RuSsMaN

Welcome Woody.

I'd get an estimate on the CAL, if possible, then we can better assist you with the fix it / buy something else paradigm.

The Lux 115 is a GREAT, somewhat Legendary receiver, but I'd throw something with a little more power / headroom on the 1c's to help them shine. Good news is, that Lux has preouts, so you only need to go amp shopping first. Three to Five Franklins should put you inline with a nice, high current amp. I'd go at least 120/ch, and start with names like Adcom, Anthem, Rotel, Acurus, Carver, B&K, Audiosource, NAD and the like.

At the end of the day, you are going to want to replace the SL2000 tweeters with the RD-0194 replacements. (search on SL2000 replacement and you'll find plenty of discussions). The new tweets will run you $48 each, but you can sell the originals here for around $20-$25/each, $30-$35/each on ebay.

What cables? Get GOOD ones.

Cheers,
Russ

OldSycamoreTree

yes the lux really kicked butt 8 years ago.
i had friend with dynaco stereo 70 tube set and big old advents and he visited me and could not believe the sound of the new paradigms, cal icon II and the 'junk" receiver as he had previously called it.

This onkyo amp I am running now is nowhere as good as the lux.

Yes, the tweeters do seem kind of bright: they are silver so it would make sense that new silks might be smoother.
Of course the crappy denon cd player could be the root of the bright sound.

I have read several posters talk of tripping the tweeter protection switch and having to replace it. what is the best way to prevent damaging this circuit?

RuSsMaN

Originally posted by OldSycamoreTree
I have read several posters talk of tripping the tweeter protection switch and having to replace it. what is the best way to prevent damaging this circuit?

Get a good amp, and don't clip it.

The SL2000 is a bright tweeter. It has a documented 'spike' of almost +5db centered right around 12-13Khz.

Cheers,
Russ

OldSycamoreTree

in my sda's ! Very nice sound.
had to buy a special screwdriver socket (#0 square head) to get the drivers out of the cabinet.

Just got my luxman r115 back from the shop also.
they cleaned the relays and had to take apart the volume control to remove oxidation.
luckily this cleaning was possible. they said they just had a yamaha in and the volume cntrl was sealed, unservicable and cost the guy over $100.

Sent my cal icon II to a shop in CT to repair. From what i described to them it sounded like a transport fault. can't wait to get this unit back as the old backup denon i am running is very bright.

Now I am contemplating amps - but possibly a tube dac first to get closer to true performace sound.
any thoughts on tube dacs ?
Cal made two, but they might be somewhat obsolete now.
Bernie

danger boy

Originally posted by OldSycamoreTree
Sent my cal icon II to a shop in CT to repair. From what i described to them it sounded like a transport fault. can't wait to get this unit back as the old backup denon i am running is very bright.

where did you send your CAL CDP to? i may in the future need a shop that works on CAL equipment. CAL CDP's are well known for having transport tray problems.

OldSycamoreTree

http://www.approvedaudioservice.com/

I will post when they have completed the repair.

Two mod shops i spoke with advised against fixing this CAL.
Said new players are superior.

I did not know that tray problems were common.
hope it does not happen again.

Maybe this unit if repaired will benefit from a newer external dac with 24/96 or a vintage alpha tube dac from cal.

danger boy

Originally posted by OldSycamoreTree
Maybe this unit if repaired will benefit from a newer external dac with 24/96 or a vintage alpha tube dac from cal.

i have the first generation alpha tube dac. i like it quite a bit. yeah a bit outdated by todays standards. but still sounds good to me. esp if your CDP/transport is only so so.