Any SRS 1.2 Owners San Diego County?

thehaens@cox.net

Here is my dilemna. I acquired a pair of 1.2's about 6 weeks ago to complete my SDA "fix", (or so I thought), anyway I also have a pair of SDA-1a's and a pair of SDA-2's. The problem, and for the life of me, I can't figure out why my non SRS speakers have a better bass response than my 1.2's. It doesn't make any sense, I have opened up the 1.2's to ensure that they are wired correctly, (polarity checked, connected to the crossover correct, checked them out using the SDA check sheet that Ken sent me etc.) all checks out right.

I have about gave up accepting that this is the way they are supposed to sound, until yesterday when I went to a buddy's house and listened to his SDA-2's on a Receiver, I forgot how much bass I was lacking from my 1.2's, now I am really thinking that something is not right with my 1.2's again. To boot I am using a separate Parasound HCA-1500 amp on the 1.2's and he is using a Denon 2 Channel receiver. O.k. so I go home and pull my 1A's out of the box, and hook them up. All things being equal, same amp, same music, same position. The 1A's bass is better.

So this weekend I am going to take the 1.2's apart again to ensure all drivers are working correctly and wired etc. to make sure I didn't miss something, hell, maybe I need a second set of eyes or a second opinion.

If there is anyone out there in the San Diego County area that I could come by and listen to their SRS's just so I can have a comparison that would be great, and could at least ease my mind a bit. It really seems to me that there are some drivers that are out of phase and causing issues, but I just can't figure it out. Or if there is a seasoned owner of the SRS line that would be willing to come by my house and have a couple beers/margaritas and some listening that would be great to. I need to figure this out..

Scott

okiepolkie

Surely you've tried this, but have you tested for air leaks in the cabinets? You can do this by pushing on a woofer to see if the PR stays pushed out. If there is an air leak, your bass response would definetly suffer. Other than that suggestion, I'm worthless when it comes to SDA's.

thehaens@cox.net

Yep, thanks for chiming in, I have pushed in the radiator to ensure all drivers come out and slowly release back to position.....as well as push in the drivers to ensure the PR moves.......

I am stumped, ran out of ideas....sometimes the problem can be so simple, it just takes another set of eyes on the problem.....

scott

fredv

Just a wild guess, maybe one of the speakers has wrong polarity wired? Therefore, they are always out of phase and hence somewhat weak bass.

thehaens@cox.net

Fredv - That was my initial thought as well, but I checked it all out.........before, and I guess I am going to have to check it out again...am just hoping that someone on the forum has a pair of these speakers I could listen to, to compare what I hear, and what I am supposed to be hearing, by all means, they sound great. Just lacking in the low end department.....which has me scratching my head......8 total drivers and a large PR and low bass output just doesn't make sense.....esp. when my 2's only have 2 drivers and a PR......

Guess I am going to have to get the hex driver back out and take another peak inside.

scott

fredv

Hi Scott,

Forgot to ask, is this the same with or without the SDA IC?
I will try the following if you haven't:
- Disconnect the SDA IC.
- Swap the polarity of one speaker wire. You should hear improvement or degradation in bass.
I hope this will help to isolate the possible problem.

thehaens@cox.net

Thanks Fred.........that will be another step in the troubleshooting....

Scott

bikezappa

I would consider checking the cross over electronics. I'm not sure how this would be done however. Your resistance measurements check out good, right. Recheck? Is the speaker placement always the same for each test or comparison. Placement can change the bass response. Try moving the refigerators to different locations.

Listening to a second set is a good idea. Sorry but I'm in NH.

Mike Reeter

I also run a Parasound 1500A to power our SRS 2's...and with speaks back as close to the wall as I can get them,without putting the i/c in a bind,approx. 5"-6",I'm getting awesome lowend.

By moving the cabinets out away from the wall,approx. 10"-12" the bass response lowers and upper end starts coming in better...

I agree with placement,it seems to be everything with the SDA's.

bikezappa

Move them!

Sit and have a beer.

Move them again.

Repeat with more beer.

Have a blast.

thehaens@cox.net

I have a lot of working to do this weekend........beer and margaritas.....

I-SIG

I have my SRS's about 5" or so from the walls. They can hang with my SVS in all but the lowest of frequencies.

Wes

screename

I said it before and I will say it again..........MORE POWER!!!!!!
You are pushing 2 times the mid drivers not to mention 2 times the tweets and the cabinets are twice as big. Have somone bring over an amp, get at least 400+ going per channel and if you really want to hear them sing get 800 going. I could be wrong here but you won't know till you get some power behind those things. I believe I read the review on the SDA's and they stated that they put 1200 + or - watts into those speakers with high quality amps before they were able to get them to clipp.

PAGE 90 last three paragraphs. http://polksda.com/srsreview.shtml

thehaens@cox.net

screename wrote:

I said it before and I will say it again..........MORE POWER!!!!!!
You are pushing 2 times the mid drivers not to mention 2 times the tweets and the cabinets are twice as big. Have somone bring over an amp, get at least 400+ going per channel and if you really want to hear them sing get 800 going. I could be wrong here but you won't know till you get some power behind those things. I believe I read the review on the SDA's and they stated that they put 1200 + or - watts into those speakers with high quality amps before they were able to get them to clipp.

PAGE 90 last three paragraphs. http://polksda.com/srsreview.shtml

Was wondering where you have been..........nice to see you again Brad..

Scott

I am not totally convinced it isn't a power issue......yet....got any suggestions on a 800 x 2 amplifier? The review also recommends an amp that has at least 200 w into a 4 ohm load. Mine is rated at 205 in an 8 Ohm load. So I have met at least the recommendation on the bottom end...

screename

This one would get you closer, and I may get rid of a Sunfire 400x5 if I can ever find a good deal on some Mac's. I am using 4 channels into the 802's right now and it sounds pretty nice. Probably better than the Onkyo 508's but very similar. I'm trying to find some MC501's and god help me 1201's. ALthough I think I'm dreaming in the 1201 dept.

The Signature Grand I would probably let go of cheaper than this 600x2 since it has some scratches, I've got a TGII processor to go with it. If I could unload all the Oinks and the Sunfire stuff I would be looking at the 501's.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Sunfire-Stereo-Signature-II-amplifier-625W-X-2-at-8-ohm_W0QQitemZ5813643710QQcategoryZ39783QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

What about that local stereo place you mentioned that would let you audition something? Or just go put something on a card and return it in a week or whatever.

I think you would be pleased with some new amplification. Yes they can run on 200wpc but would you put just one shot of tequila in a pitcher of margaritas? lol

DarqueKnight

thehaens@cox.ne wrote:

All things being equal, same amp, same music, same position. The 1A's bass is better.
Scott

Assuming there is nothing wrong with your SRS 1.2's, this is what you might be experiencing:

The SRS 1.2 and the SRS "TL" series have an improved cabinet structure (monocoque cabinet) that eliminates a lot of cabinet resonance. The result of which is cleaner, more accurate bass response.

When cabinet resonance is removed, the first impression is that bass is "lacking". It takes a bit of getting used to. My SDA SRS's seem to have more "bass" than my SRS 1.2 TL's. What the SRS's actually have is more bass coloration and cabinet resonance than the SRS 1.2 TL's.

My SDA 1B's have a more "impressive" bass response than my SRS 1.2TL's. In fact, they have the most "impressive" bass response of any of my SDA's, if the evaluation criteria is the apparent loudness and "quantity" of bass produced. If the evaluation criteria is changed to bass articulation and accuracy, then the 1B's are blown out of the ball park by the 1.2 TL's.

thehaens@cox.net

What about that local stereo place you mentioned that would let you audition something? Or just go put something on a card and return it in a week or whatever.

I think you would be pleased with some new amplification. Yes they can run on 200wpc but would you put just one shot of tequila in a pitcher of margaritas? lol

I was talking about The Good Guys, their top end amp is the Parasound Halo's which are somewhat comparable in power to my HCA-1500....maybe that sunfire is the way to go....it is still frustrating though, as I can't imagine everyone that owns SRS's are pumping >600 watts to them, I could be wrong though.

Scott

I'm going to play around with them for a couple hours today, move them in another room, isolate components etc. to see what I can come up with.

Also of note, I have a Test CD that I have run through them....it is a CD that has sub bass notes starting at 5 Hz and up to 100 Hz, the speakers do not start responding till 30-35Hz. When I say responding, I am referring to actually placing my fingers on the stereo drivers and feeling for movement. I don't have a manual for these, but I thought they had a response that went down to around 20Hz

screename

Scott,

I talked to a guy named John, he's with Stereo Unlimited in San Diego. He has a 600x2 Sunfire that they let out on demo. He said to call on Friday and see if it's available. Their number is 619 223 8151 and their address is 3191 SPORTS ARENA BLVD.
Good Luck,

Brad