Building SDA speakers?

zingo
zingo Posts: 11,258
edited April 2006 in Speakers
Has anyone ever tried to build a pair of SDA speakers? I feel that it would be a fun undertaking. Has anyone ever tried to diagram their speakers? Oh the possibilities...
Jake
Post edited by zingo on
· Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Comments

  • Dennis Gardner
    Dennis Gardner Posts: 4,861
    edited April 2006
    zingo wrote:
    Has anyone ever tried to build a pair of SDA speakers?

    Matt Polk did it. Had a fair level of success if I recall............:D
    HT Optoma HD25 LV on 80" DIY Screen, Anthem MRX 300 Receiver, Pioneer Elite BDP 51FD Polk CS350LS, Polk SDA1C, Polk FX300, Polk RT55, Dual EBS Adire Shiva 320watt tuned to 17hz, ICs-DIY Twisted Prs, Speaker-Raymond Cable

    2 Channel Thorens TD 318 Grado ZF1, SACD/CD Marantz 8260, Soundstream/Krell DAC1, Audio Mirror PP1, Odyssey Stratos, ADS L-1290, ICs-DIY Twisted , Speaker-Raymond Cable
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,753
    edited April 2006
    WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

    Damn Dennis!
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • zingo
    zingo Posts: 11,258
    edited April 2006
    Ya ya ya...

    I seriously think something like that would be fun, and rewarding as well. If any one is serious, please let me know!
    Jake
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • RuSsMaN
    RuSsMaN Posts: 17,986
    edited April 2006
    If you're into headaches, and have the proper gear to tweak it, ie monitor phase shifts, chart freq response and impedance, blah blah blah....

    You can pick up a pair starting at couple hundred bucks if you pay attention.
    Check your lips at the door woman. Shake your hips like battleships. Yeah, all the white girls trip when I sing at Sunday service.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Tour2ma
    Tour2ma Posts: 10,177
    edited April 2006
    Dennis Gardner wrote:
    Matt Polk did it. Had a fair level of success if I recall............:D
    One of the bigger laughs of 2006...
    More later,
    Tour...
    Vox Copuli
    Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. - Old English Proverb

    "Death doesn't come with a Uhaul." - Dennis Gardner
    "It's easy to get lost in price vs performance vs ego vs illusion." - doro
    "There is a certain entertainment value in ripping the occaisonal (sic) buttmunch..." - TroyD
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Dennis Gardner
    Dennis Gardner Posts: 4,861
    edited April 2006
    Some have taken side by side Polk bookshelf models and tried to get the SDA effect with lousy results. The balance of the SDA signal is a tightrope walk. One step either way is usually fatal to the effect.

    The fact that Polk even used different drivers with minutely different characteristics side by side in the same speaker cabinet is telling of the phase/balance issues presented.
    HT Optoma HD25 LV on 80" DIY Screen, Anthem MRX 300 Receiver, Pioneer Elite BDP 51FD Polk CS350LS, Polk SDA1C, Polk FX300, Polk RT55, Dual EBS Adire Shiva 320watt tuned to 17hz, ICs-DIY Twisted Prs, Speaker-Raymond Cable

    2 Channel Thorens TD 318 Grado ZF1, SACD/CD Marantz 8260, Soundstream/Krell DAC1, Audio Mirror PP1, Odyssey Stratos, ADS L-1290, ICs-DIY Twisted , Speaker-Raymond Cable
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • bknauss
    bknauss Posts: 1,441
    edited April 2006
    RuSsMaN wrote:
    If you're into headaches, and have the proper gear to tweak it, ie monitor phase shifts, chart freq response and impedance, blah blah blah....

    You can pick up a pair starting at couple hundred bucks if you pay attention.

    If I didn't see this response already, I would have said the same thing. A LOT of time and effort is spent in making SDAs sound good, and this is after our engineers have had experience building SDA speakers before.
    Brian Knauss
    ex-Electrical Engineer for Polk
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • HBombToo
    HBombToo Posts: 5,256
    edited April 2006
    I have thought about a perfect reverse engineering of the SDA's but at the end of the day I'll opt for a used pair...

    Good thought though!
    ***WAREMTAE***
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • DarqueKnight
    DarqueKnight Posts: 6,765
    edited April 2006
    I once thought about building a set of 1.2TL's. This is the response I received after I inquired about the availability of parts and cabinet blueprints:

    From: "Swauger, Ken"
    Subject: RE: Recreating Classic Polk Sound
    Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2001 12:58:06 -0500

    Hello,
    I'm afraid we may be a little limited on the help you're looking for. We no longer have any of the crossovers or bass radiators, we have two of the grilles remaining. There is no problem with the tweeter and drivers, those can be bought from our parts department.

    Also, I'm afraid we no longer have any of the plans/blueprints for the enclosure. If we wanted to build the cabinet again, ourselves, we would have to start with a blank sheet of paper. Sorry.

    Probably, trying to find a second hand speaker in good condition is far easier, I would imagine, than trying to build one from the ground up.

    Best regards,
    Ken,
    Polk Customer Service



    The moral of the story is that I found a mint pair of 1.2TL's later that year.
    Proud and loyal citizen of the Digital Domain and Solid State Country!
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Zen Dragon
    Zen Dragon Posts: 501
    edited April 2006
    bknauss wrote:
    A LOT of time and effort is spent in making SDAs sound good, and this is after our engineers have had experience building SDA speakers before.

    21st Century SDA's.......

    If you build it, they will come.
    The Family
    Polk SDA-1C's
    Polk SDA-2
    Polk Monitor 10B's
    Polk LSI-9's
    Polk Monitor 5's
    Polk 5 jr's
    Polk PSW-450 Sub
    Polk CSI40 Center

    Do not one day come to die, and discover you have not lived.
    This is pretty f***ed up right here.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter