How many are running SDA home theater?

trubluluc

I am currently using a RT5000 set up with the exception of running two CS400's instead of the CS1000.
I was thinking of setting up a SDA theater rig, 1C's front and rear, CRS+ center channels, do you think the change would be worth it?

-Luc

ohskigod

talk to larry chanin (pm him) he has sda 1c's up front with sda crs (pair as centers) forgot what he runs as rears. from what he says, seems he loves that set up.

thehaens@cox.net

I was really impressed after I bought the SDA-1A's about a month ago. Am using them as the front main's. I am also going to have a custom box built for center duty, to include the SL-2000's (realize a lot of people on the forum don't particularly like the sound, but they sound really good to me). So once I get the center done, it will match the SDA's. The CS-350 I had for the center didn't really match well across the front stage, so I started using two RT-16's, which didn't work well either, (same timbre problem as the 350), so I am selling the RT-16's and will use the money to make the center. Am going to use the 350 for the back channel (6.1), and continue to use LS/FX's for the rear surrounds. IF that doesn't quite sound right, will also have some rear surrounds and back channel constructed with the tweeters/drivers from the SDA line.....

scott

TroyD

I ran 2.3tl's with CRS's as fronts for a few months, it worked pretty well for me. If I were to do another HT rig, that's how I'd do it.

BDT

ohskigod

thehaens

keep us posted about the center your building. what crossover are you using? making your own?

i remember someone taking a single rta 11 and making a center channel out of it (used the drivers and tweeter with stock crossover) just made another cabinet that looked like a center channel, but with same internal volume as the rta 11

you doing the same thing?

jcmccorm

I'm running SDA-SRS's for mains and SDA 1C's for surrounds. No complaints here!

Cary

Larry Chanin

Originally posted by ohskigod
talk to larry chanin (pm him) he has sda 1c's up front with sda crs (pair as centers) forgot what he runs as rears. from what he says, seems he loves that set up.

Hi Luc,

Yes, I'm not familiar with the RT5000's, but I'm extremely happy with my SDA-1Cs up front in a 7.1 home theater configuration. I've used a single CS400i as a center which was a good, but not perfect timbre match to the 1C's. I've since upgraded to vertically stacked dual SDA-CRS+'s as centers. They are are a perfect timbre match with identical tweeters and mid-range drivers. I'm running full range side surrounds using f/x500i's attached to compact subwoofers via external crossovers. My surround back speakers are LC265i's in performance enclosures. These are the big In-Walls in the LSi line. My LFE subwoofer is a Velodyne digital drive 15. I'm using a collection of Parasound amplifiers with at least 200+ wats per speaker, including each of the dual centers.

Click on the link in my signature for diagrams, photos, and a description of my home theater.

Larry

thehaens@cox.net

ohskigod wrote:

thehaens

keep us posted about the center your building. what crossover are you using? making your own?

i remember someone taking a single rta 11 and making a center channel out of it (used the drivers and tweeter with stock crossover) just made another cabinet that looked like a center channel, but with same internal volume as the rta 11

you doing the same thing?

I can't believe I missed this one a while back, well here is the center channel. It has been put on hold as now I have some 1.2's that have the 6503 drivers. So my 6501 drivers that I was going to use are going to be spares for the SDA-1A's I have. I am going to use 4 6503's and 1 RD-0194 for the tweet and one P/R firing North. I have had some other things going on, one being getting the 1.2's from Brad (Screename), and the market is taking its toll on my portfolio, but anyway, the plan is to use the cross-over from a RTA-15, hopefully that will give me the sound I am looking for. The box is going to be walnut, having a local woodworker design it and construct it. I'll keep you posted when it comes to fruition..


P.S. I am using the same internal volume as one SDA-1A, the center will be the same design as the CS-350LS, will just be a lot larger..

Scott

Phil Dawson

I run SRS-SDAs in the front and 2.3tls in the rear and a pair of CS400is in the center. Everything is not a perfect match but it sure sounds great to me. Everything except the center and the sub are bi-amped. The system is used mostly for hi-res 5.1 audio but it still holds its own with any movie I've ever thrown at it.
Good Luck, Phil

schwarcw

I'm using SDA-2s as mains in HT setup. I have replaced the SL2000 tweeters with the silks. I have an CSi40 in the center and RTi6s as the surrounds. I'm running the RTi6s in full range. I get pretty good bass response in the RTi6 surounds. Overall I've got excellent timbre match all around. The SDA effect is present and the soundstage gets noticeably smaller in the front when I have someone disconnect the interconnecting cable while I'm sitting in the sweet spot listening. I've recently got into listening to SACD audio. I like the sound. Some Forum members don't like the 5.1 or 6.1 setup for music, but I do.

tugboat

I currently have 1.2TLs as mains, CS350 center, LS/FX side/rears and RT800 rears in my 7.1 setup. The 1.2TLs are great for a wide front stage in movies and the rears (to my ears) work well. My only issue is the CS350. It doesn't match very well at all in the front soundstage. My next project is to fix that. Not too sure how other than getting my hands on a center that will. If anyone knows changes that can be made to the CS350, I'd be grateful.

ohskigod

thehaens@cox.ne wrote:

P.S. I am using the same internal volume as one SDA-1A, the center will be the same design as the CS-350LS, will just be a lot larger..

Scott

DUDE!!!! ya think??? that thing is gonna be HUUUUGE!! ......LOL :eek:

I've gotta see that thing when you build it.

BobMcG

Luc,

Have you thought about simply getting a Carver C-9 and hooking it to your fronts turning them into SDAs? That's what I use on my HT RT3000p fronts. Works fine. (My brother goes with SDA-1Cs for his fronts and loves them.)

trubluluc

Bob-

I haven't heard of the Carver C-9 what is it?

-Luc

BobMcG wrote:

Luc,

Have you thought about simply getting a Carver C-9 and hooking it to your fronts turning them into SDAs? That's what I use on my HT RT3000p fronts. Works fine. (My brother goes with SDA-1Cs for his fronts and loves them.)

HBombToo

I'm running 2B's for the fron with a single CRS+ on the center.

I LOVE IT!!!

HBomb

BobMcG

Luc,

To put it simply: Polk achieves it's SDA effect using a passive approach, Carver achieves the SDA effect using an active approach. It's a generator that produces an SDA soundstage. It can be used on any non-SDA speakers.

There are a lot of us out here using them on one system or another.

Polkersince85

Any of the Carver preamps with Sonic Holography will produced the same results as the C-9. Only the C-9 is a standalone unit. I use a cdp,c-9,TFM-35 combo feeding some M10's and get good soundstage.

trubluluc

Sounds interesting Bob,
How much do they run?

-Luc

BobMcG wrote:

Luc,

To put it simply: Polk achieves it's SDA effect using a passive approach, Carver achieves the SDA effect using an active approach. It's a generator that produces an SDA soundstage. It can be used on any non-SDA speakers.

There are a lot of us out here using them on one system or another.

BobMcG

They're no longer made so check the used markets and auctions. You should be able to pick one up for under a hundred dollars. (I got mine years ago for a real deal off our George G.)

thehaens@cox.net

tugboat wrote:

My only issue is the CS350. It doesn't match very well at all in the front soundstage. My next project is to fix that. Not too sure how other than getting my hands on a center that will. If anyone knows changes that can be made to the CS350, I'd be grateful.

tugboat, I am in the same boat , you are in, I am using the 350 now as a center, and you are right, it doesn't quite cut it. I would rec. building a new one. I don't think it would be as easy as just putting a SL-3000 tweeter in your current center, plus them TL's deserve a much larger center.

scott

Phil Dawson

For my SRS-SDAs I run a pair of CS440is. The sound match isn't perfect but it is very livable. One of the pair is on top of the TV and the other is below. This seems to achieve a good balance. I think three of them would be better but I think there could be impeadence issues unless each center speaker had its own amp channel. Also there is a space issure.
Good Luck, Phil

tugboat

Scott -

My best guess is that the surrounds aren't as critical when it comes to matching. Now I might not see it the same way if I had audio that was lapping my room like a racecar. So for the most part, the rear is fine.

Just using the test tone in setup lets me know the center is not a match to the mains. I can set the level, but it is much "brighter" than the 1.2TLs. This leaves me with replacing the 350, or modifying it. I know the size won't allow upgrading to 6 1/2" drivers, but I'm guessing my main issue is the tweeter and crossover. If that's the case, I should be able to upgrade the tweeter and make changes to the crossover.

Of course I know zip about crossover design past some understanding of what they do, so I could be giving those that do know about them a good laugh. Part of me wants to say that the sonic qualities of drivers is not affected by the crossover, so I would have to change all the drivers with those matching the 1.2TLs and then work on the crossover.

Oh, and before someone mentions buying a different center speaker, I spent the last bit of my "mad money" on a DVD navigation option in my soon to be new car. Oh well.

thehaens@cox.net

T.B.

I agree with you as the rear's are not as critical, and to be honest, the 350 isn't really that bad with the 1.2's. I'll take the 350 and move it to the "rear" channel and go with a 6.1 setup. The sonic quality of the driver doesn't change with the crossover, it is just the band of frequency's that the driver is receiving. In very simplistic terms the tweeter crossover would be a High Pass, it also protects the tweeters from trying to reproduce frequencys that it wasn't designed for...

I put a schematic of a RTA-15TL crossover in another thread, it may be just what you are looking for if you want to try to replace the tweeter in your 350 and try another crossover design.

Scott

tugboat

I think I might give it a try. I was mistaken in my first post about the 350 being "bright." It's actually not when using the test tone. It's "duller" compared to the 1.2TLs.