SDA vs. Modern Polks...Which wins?

Texas42

I've always been fond of the older SDA series but really haven't listened to much of the newer Polk offerings. I've heard and read great things about the LSi series with the ring radiating tweeter but wonder how they (or other Polk offerings) stack up sonically.

frreo1

My friend has a pair of SDA's and while he really likes them, he thinks the LSI-15's I own are a order of magnitude better, and I would agree with that assessment. Speaker design has advanced a lot since the heyday of the SDA, thanks to modern computer design, as well as improvements in manufacturing techniques. The Canadians have had a lot to do with this improvement.

MikeC78

It's all about what you prefer. It all boils down to what your ears like, so go out and audition both.

I personally like both for sound, but give the edge to the LSi line for aesthetic reasons.

McLoki

I have both SDA1b's, Monitor 10's, and an LSi home theater.

The SL2000 tweeter in the SDA's blows compared to the tweeter in the LSi's. The SL2500 in my monitor 10's gets pretty close but the LSi still wins.

I have not heard the RDO tweeter yet, but when I get them to update my SDA's and Monitor 10's - The LSi's will have some stiff competition. (in sound, not style.) Once that happens I will report back and let you know. For now - I like the LSi's best due to the tweeter. The SDA effect and bass response in the 1b's wins over the LSi bass though in my opinion. Once the tweeter is updated - it may be a close call.

Then again - I like the vintage Polk sound......

Michael

Early B.

Old Polks sound, ugh, old, IMO. Newer, comparably priced speakers tend to have better definition. Of course, most speakers can't even begin to match the SDA's soundstage.

F1nut

Sorry guys, LSi's aren't even in the same universe as the SDA's. Although, I find the 9's quite listenable, the 15's aren't.

dkg999

McLoki - I thought you were at the IL Polkfest when we had the SDA 1c's that H9 went home with running? Also, the Monitor 10's that I had there had the RDO tweeters in them.

The answer for the old Polk vs new Polk issue is ........... buy and have both!

I don't think there's a right answer to this one. It's what you like! I have a friend that has a stockpile of large Advent's because he thinks it's the best sounding speaker on the planet. To each their own enjoyment of this hobby

McLoki

dkg999 wrote: »

McLoki - I thought you were at the IL Polkfest when we had the SDA 1c's that H9 went home with running? Also, the Monitor 10's that I had there had the RDO tweeters in them.:)

Was there but missed the compare between them and the 15's. I have compared mine (without RDO) with the 15's and thought the bass was better but the tweeter in the LSi's just blew away the SL2000....

Michael

bdaley6509

Just got my LSI15's set up, and I do say they sound excellent. They replaced a pair of SDA 3.1TL's and I believe it was a good decision. I have other SDA's in the house that will stay forever, but so far I'm really enjoying my new speakers. Like others have said, different people have differents tastes, likes, and dislikes. Listen for yourself and then make a decision on what suits your needs. Good luck.

reeltrouble1

The SDA line is a better speaker line than the LSI line, the lsi is good for a little speaker if you do not have room or if your not allowed to have big speakers in your castle. It's really no contest for me. I sure do not see Matt Polk calling the LSI his reference speaker.

RT1--owner of old and new speakers

heiney9

What I wrote about someone asking the same question about LSi's vs. SDA 1's

Apples and Oranges really. For me it would depend on whether it's a 1A, 1B, 1C. I just recently sold my LSi 9's because I prefered my 1C's. The one plus the LSi's have is that wonderful Vifa tweeter. The RD0's are a close second.

To be fair my 1C's have about $400-500 in mods and they are just as laid back as the LSi's. I'd say if the SDA 1's are stock and have the sl2000 tweeter I'd give the edge to the LSi line. The SDA 1C's do bass so much better, more accurately (no bloat). But again they both do things a bit differently and it's really impossible to compare them one on one.

It also depends on your gear, that can make a huge difference especially with the LSi's. I also believe the 1C's are the gems of the line (SDA 1's).

When you start moving into the larger SDA's there is no comparison, they are better (IMO) add the RD0's, and the gap increases furthur.

H9

Ricardo

The one thing I didn't like of SDA's was.......the 15 ft wide piano....just made things sound so unnatural. I heard this on all the models I had the luck to own; 1B, SRS, 1.2 TL, 3.1 TL.

heiney9

HTrookie wrote: »

The one thing I didn't like of SDA's was.......the 15 ft wide piano....just made things sound so unnatural. I heard this on all the models I had the luck to own; 1B, SRS, 1.2 TL, 3.1 TL.

I do listen to some piano based music and don't find that issue. Generally a piano shouldn't have a pinpoint sound. However, there are some recordings that have the instruments in unorthodox positions and the SDA's just seem to enhance those types of recordings. It has more to do with the way the song is mixed than with the SDA's specifically, but some can become annoying.

This is what I found on the back of the Elton John-Live in Australia cd:
The instruments of the orchestra has been repositioned in the stereo spectrum during the mixing process in order to afford maximum clarity.


Simply a mixing manipulation can casue some funky unnatural sounds to come from the SDA's.

H9

dorokusai

Neither, its a silly comparison.

ND13

I have or have had....RTA 8TLs, Mon 10As w/Peerless, Mon 7As w/Peerless, SDA 2As, SDA SRS 2s, R30s, LSi 7s, LSi 9s, RTi 70s and have enjoyed them all to a degree. With that said, here's my personal rankings...

SRS 2s
Mon 7As
LSi 9s
SDA 2As
LSi 7s
RTA 8TLs
Mon 10As
RTi 70s
R30s

The three bold are very closely ranked, imo. Depends on the music and room.

I still own SRS 2s, Mon 7As, Mon 10As, and RTA 8TLs. I guess it could be said that I prefer the vintage Polk sound.

Oh and I've never had the 15 ft wide piano, either.

And Mark's right, it's not a very good comparison. Totally different approaches to speaker design.

Ricardo

Well, maybe as H9 says it's in the recording, but I noticed it too much on piano; like notes moving randomly across the soundstage. For some music it made it uncomfortable to listen.

And BTW, if I could have a second rig, it would be with SDA's.

madmax

When the SDA's are set up optimally, like F1Nut had them when I took a listen, there is nothing weird going on with the SDA. In most rooms however, they tend to throw sounds around in odd places. Either way, they sound much bigger than LSi's.
madmax

dkg999

In my opinion, you have to like big open soundstages to like SDA's (when setup properly!). If that characteristic isn't high on your priorities, then you probably won't be as impressed as others are with them. I happen to like big open soundstages, so it was an easy jump from SDA's back to my first love, Magnepan's. The Maggies have many of the same soundstage characteristics as the SDA's, along with some other characteristics I really like!

We should just be glad that we don't have a Federal Ministry of Sound that has already decided what we all should like as far as loudspeakers and sound characteristics :eek:

jakelm

WOW ND13, the 7's rank 2nd? I always new I had a great pair of speakers...:p

So much for me selling the 7's and buying LSi9's..

Some one said earlier something about computer design. I feel (and this is just my opinion) that alot of speakers fall short because of relying on computers to build them. I can bet that, in most cases, the speaker is never listened to, just tested on the computer and built. IMO even the presentation of most modern speakers look machined. Plastic and looked like it was made in a hurry.

Now I am , by no means, saying my opinion applies to all manufaturs, but most and I feel this about the majority of their lines.

Spending $450 for a brand new pair of 7's in 1980, or spending up to $2000 for a pair of LSi's in 2007, I feel the 7's were a far better purchase (price and build wise).

Being that everything has increase by about 4 x's, then the 7's (a's or b's, not series II) would probably run around $1500 -$1800 a pair. Still a better buy.
just my opinion.....



Jake

ohskigod

when I had a pair of SDA 1B's, and replaced them with the LSi9's, and the the LSi15's for 2 channel, there was just something about the LSi's I liked a little better, key emphasis on a LITTLE. I just love that ring radiater tweet I guess. Also, in my 2 channel listening area, side firing woofers peform better than front firing, have no idea why, this gave the edge to the 15 as well.

When I hear the bigger SDA's, set up right, I have to say if I had a choice between the LSi or the SDA SRS 1.2, I'll take the 1.2 (with the new silk tweets mind you)

both a fine line of speakers worthy of note. my LSi's will be serving in my theater for the forseeable future

mantis

Personally I think the Lsi's are more accurate. I owned the SDA 2b's and I liked them as they reminded me of a time when I was young, going over my uncles house and listening to Jazz on his 2 channel monitor 10b system with a killer Yamaha Receiver. It sounded fantastic. He had a really good turntable and he was very picky about the needles he used. man I wanted them so bad. then I got a good deal on a pair and ran with it for awhile. I did however like my Rt1000p's then better then the SDA's for everything. Later in life I moved onto the Lsi's and felt they are such a accurate sounding speaker. Both the SDA and Rt series I felt where missing alot of things the Lsi's could do.
It's all preference. What ever the person listening to them likes what better is the right speaker for that person. No right wrong better worse like most things.

Dan

RuSsMaN

Fan of both.

Had to choose? LSi. Much more refined, not as demanding with placement, much higher quality and better engineered components (as they should be), and you don't need to upgrade the crossovers, binding posts, tweeters, and dynamat the cabs to make them sound good.

Not knocking SDA components, for the time period they were produced, they were spot on. Very close call, but I'll take the LSi and fondly remember my SDA's.

Cheers,
Russ

DarqueKnight

reeltrouble1 wrote: »

I sure do not see Matt Polk calling the LSI his reference speaker.

...and I sure do not think there will be a comparable number of LSi cultists 20 years after the LSi's market introduction.;)

Shizelbs

dorokusai wrote: »

Neither, its a silly comparison.

They are two totally different speakers. Its not fair to compare them.

heiney9

RuSsMaN wrote: »

Fan of both.

Had to choose? LSi. Much more refined, not as demanding with placement, much higher quality and better engineered components (as they should be), and you don't need to upgrade the crossovers, binding posts, tweeters, and dynamat the cabs to make them sound good.

Not knocking SDA components, for the time period they were produced, they were spot on. Very close call, but I'll take the LSi and fondly remember my SDA's.

Cheers,
Russ

I agree with others that it's not a fair comparison and not even worth comparing to each other. They are built at different times for a different market. Very few conventional speakers of today can match the soundstage and in many regards excellent bass response of the SDA's. The bass that comes out of the SDA's is very accurate and very clean (among the lowest distortion then and now). The main weak point is the sl2000 tweeter, but then that could be said for ALL Polks of that period.

Just a couple points. LSi's are finicky with amplification and can be a handful when placing in a room (mostly the 15's), probably less so than properly set-up SDA's. The Vifa tweeter is simply stunning as is the cabinet construction. We'll see if in 20+ years they need re-capping as the SDA's (and many other 20+ year old speakers) do. The std. LSi binding posts and jumpers are nothing to write home about. Also, only obsessive tweakers dynamat the driver baskets

All I can say is everytime I listen to my SDA's I get a big smile on my face. I had LSi's and was very impressed with those (9's) and may even get another pair for my office rig someday. Right now I'm enjoying my classic Polks, SDA 1C's & Monitor 5b's (all with RD0's).

You really need to get you ears on both, set-up properly with proper amplification. As good as the LSi line is, it's not without its faults. The same can be said for SDA's. I find the faults are less with the SDA's after a x-over refresh and RD0's.

H9

jakelm

Vintage Polk's are like and old leather coat. It just feels so good, you just cant get rid of it and everything is compared to it.

Deadof_knight

If it aint big it aint loud ............ if it aint loud whats the point !