SDA 2's today's garage sale find

danger boy

So I picked up a pair of SDA2's today... good condition except a chip out of the pedestal out of the right speaker.. not to bad.. but still.. like you all i like mine to be perfect.

Ok. i hoooked them up.. nice sounding, but. it's been a while since I heard an SL2000 :eek: not my cup of tea that's for dang sure.. damn.. it's harsh.

ok.. bass is pretty decent from these small things.. that only other SDA's I've ever owned was a pair of SRS's. so these are much smaller and lighter. but bass is pretty impressive.

I'm not familar with the SDA2's, but they didn't come with the SDA cable.. but I am getting sound from both mid bass drivers.

I know that's not common to get sound from both drivers without the SDA cable. Do you think someone modded these and connected both drivers together? to me they sound like monitor 10's and not SDA's.

If someone has connected both drivers together. how do i undo that? I will have to build or have one of you nice handy guys build one of the SDA blade/blade cables for me.

Both mid bass drivers should not be active without the SDA cable right? there is just to much movement on the drivers for them NOT to both be powered.

Within the next week, i'll be ordering the RD0 replacement tweeters. OMG these are hard on my ears. :eek:

Oh yeah.. i paid $40 for them. Did I overpay?

schwarcw

Good snag DB! Interesting observation that the dimensional speaker is also playing. Are you sure it's playing or, do you just see it moving? The air tight cabinent would cause the dimensional driver to move.

Since your's have the SL2000 and not the SL1000, you must have the 2A or 2B eh?

How about some pic's:D

janmike

$40, oh ya you overpaid. Nice grab DB.

danger boy

these are SDA 2A's and i could swear I am hearing sound from both drivers.. unlike my SRS, i could tell when the SDA cable wasn't hooked up on those.. these i'm not so sure. but the same movement and sound is coming from both. i will have to take out the active driver and see if the other one still puts out sound or not. should be easy to do.

Also. on the blade/blade connector.. which is the blade that is used.. top or bottom?

Are these 4 or 6 ohm's?

hypertone

$40? You should be arrested for theft! Touch a battery to the inputs and see if both(2?) woofers move. If they are connected together, they will both move in sync with each other.

danger boy

hypertone wrote: »

$40? You should be arrested for theft!

he was only asking for $30, but I just couldn't steal them out from under him.. so i forked up the extra $10

ain't I generous?

MillerLiteScott

They dimensional driver is probably moving/producing sound because of the fluid coupling and I believe both drivers produce bass below a certain frequency @ 150 K ish.

Off the top of my head.

Joe08867

Miller Lite I think you are right. I think my SDA2's do that also. The dimensional speaker is on but real low.

Danger Boy, Just let me say how jealous I am. 40 bucks for SDA2A's. Awesome deal. Even if they need love you are ahead of the game. Remind me to go garage sale shopping with you.

bikerboy

I have an extra blade-blade ic I will karma to you if you want it. Ben karma'd it to me, but I made one also. The speakers will sound much better with all the drivers powered. The sda feature is not in effect until you use the cable. Nice score at a garage sale. The rdo replacement tweeters are a must in my opinion. PM me if you need the ic.

woofiepaws

Wow. $40. This motivates me to get out to some sales. I just know there are some good amps lurking out there....

danger boy

Update

Ok so i've had these for less than 24 hours now.. and I already called Polk customer service to order the RD0-194 replacement tweeters... I've used them before and know how much better they sound. I just can't listen to the SL2000's for more than a couple minutes without cringing

Bikerboy, thanks for the offer of the karma IC for these.. I wish I had read this thread before I placed my order with Polk.. but i'm good buddy. I went ahead and ordered a new one. Polk still carries the blade/blade ones.

I can't wait to get both the replacement tweeters and the interconnect cable. Yippie!

And yeah.. the SDA driver is not putting out sound.. I am just amazed how it sounds and looks like it is. I put my ear right up to it.. and it's tough to tell, but it's actually not putting out any sound. Sure moves like hell though. Must be as someone said, from the sealed design of the speakers.

danger boy

one last thing.. the pedestal on the right speaker is chipped and falling apart at one corner..

is it ok or will it have any affect on the sound if I remove the small pedestal ? it raises the speaker up about 1.5 inches off the ground... and looks like it's attaches by two screws.. so it should come off pretty easily.

anyone else remove the pedestal's from their SDA 2A's?

i'll post some pics tonight.. the batteries in my camera are dead.

danger boy

maybe I should think of building a new pedestal out of solid wood on these. what do you all think of that idea? it shouldn't be to expensive. just four small pieces of wood.

schwarcw

danger boy wrote: »

maybe I should think of building a new pedestal out of solid wood on these. what do you all think of that idea?

DB, use MDF, not solid wood. It is very easy to build a pedestal if you have the right tools. A miter saw or a box and a good handsaw, drill, bits, etc. Just cut, fit, glue. Elmer's Wood Glue is good enough especially if you also use screws. Use contact paper instead of vaneer. That is unless you plan to refinish the entire cabinets, then go with some real wood vaneer. Also, make sure you configure your pedestal to use spikes. And by all means use spikes!!!:)

bigyank

Awesome score! Now how about some pics!:D

Yank

danger boy

bigyank wrote: »

Awesome score! Now how about some pics!:D

Yank

i'll post some later tonight.. after you all have gone to sleepy-land

Dennis Gardner

I would rebuild the pedestals so that they can be filled with sand to give more ballast to the narrower footing and spike them. I am doing this on a pair of large ADS from the same era. Easy to do and really tightens the bass.

danger boy

here are the pics.. not to shabby for $40

they really are in pretty good shape.. not mint of course.. the surrounds are all good.. the mid drivers and nice and tacky.. the passives have some kind of layer on them.. one of them is bubbling.. but not bad either.

The grills are snagged too. but not to the point of holes.. just need some new material at some point.

the right speaker pedestal is crumbling in the front right corner. see pic below

schwarcw

It looks like all the vinyl veneer (contact paper) is intact. I'd just use some wood filler and glue the veneer back in place. Reinforce the inside corner with wood. Screw the new wood braces into the good part of the pedestal. 1/4 - 1/2 thick, about 4 inches long matched to the depth of the pedestal (about 2 inches) would be sufficient.

Carl

danger boy

you can't tell from the picture.. but to much of the MDF is destroyed to be a good sollid fix.. but getting more MDF and repalacing the whole thing might be a better idea.

avguytx

That's not MDF...that's particle board which is what the the majority of the cabinets were built from. When you redo them in MDF and either veneer or paint them, they will be more solid. Or, you could use real wood and stain it which would be tougher and you wouldn't have to worry about it ever crumbling like that again. It just happens from being moved around so much anyway. I've got some old Technics SB-7000's that suffer from the base problems like that and I'm going to use real wood and either use black vinyl veneer or paint it.

BottomFeeder

Yo DB!

Been gone on vacation & just now found out about your find!

Congratulations! How in the world did you find these? Can't wait to hear them!

Way to go!!!

danger boy

BottomFeeder wrote: »

Yo DB!

Been gone on vacation & just now found out about your find!

Congratulations! How in the world did you find these? Can't wait to hear them!

Way to go!!!

sure, of course i'll have you over to listen to them... as soon as the tweeter burn in is complete and the SDA cable arrives..


Las,

your cousin should be pretty pleased with a pair of monitor 10's. if they have the SL2000 tweeters.. you may want to be even more generous and replace them before giving them to her

bigyank

Are the Peerless tweeters shot? I have Model 10's with the Peerless and I have to say that they are some of the least fatiguing tweeters I have ever listened to.

Yank

danger boy

Las, the peerless tweeters would be preferred.. so i'd keep those in there and not upgrade them unless they are dead, in which case.. just buy some peerless one's off Ebay.