FS: SDA SRS with silk domes and Xover upgrades

bleach

LOL, A caravan from Ellicott City, MD to Atlanta, GA...

Anyone driving south to FL for a winter vacation? You have to come right through Atlanta...

** Must transport Polks inside the vehicle at all times, Polks on the roof rack does not count.

:-)

David

BlueMDPicker

David,

I just sent you a personal message with my email address. Post here if you can't get to it and we'll figure out some other way to connect.

BlueMDPicker

Sold. Thanks David!

Ricardo

Great deal here. Congrats to the three involved.

bleach

Hi Polkies, I just wanted to give a bit of feedback to the group about the experience I had with shipping these SRS SDA's.

First of all I want everyone to know I knew exactly what the Polk srs sda's were. My dad had a pair of 2.3's and I loved them from the very first day way back in 1992. I knew the 1.2's were bigger and hopefully better then dear ole dad's Polks. I had no illusions as to what it was going to take to get these from the Baltimore area to Atlanta GA.

I read somewhere that "craters and freighters" (www.cratersandfreighters.com) had a prefab motorcycle shipping container that should be able to accommodate the polks so I called the local Baltimore franchise and talked to the owner Steve. He said the motorcycle container was all wrong for the shipping of speakers but he said that they could build a custom cardboard box with the speakers facing each other with a solid sheet of Styrofoam in between. He could then shrink wrap, then bubble wrap, then wrap it all in a 300lb strength cardboard box.

While brainstorming with BlueMDPicker, he reminded me that the magnets can sometimes slip if jarred enough. and maybe being face up was better.

I got on the phone with Steve from Craters and Freighters again and decided on a full wooden crate with the speakers face up. (Cardboard box with the speakers face up was a possibility but Steve thought that it was likely to have something stacked on top of it because the overall height would only be 20 inches tall. It was sure to have something stacked on top of it.) The total $625.48 Door to door.

Wed. 1-30-08 - Craters and Freighters sent a 2 man crew to get the speakers from BlueMDPicker's home where they brought them to their warehouse to build the crate. Steve said that it would probably would be Friday before they could have the crate built. That was fine with me.

Monday 2-4-08 - Steve called and said the speakers were crated and ready to ship.

Tuesday 2-5-08 - UPS freight called to schedule a delivery for Thursday.

Thursday 2-7-08 - UPS freight showed up with a liftgate and palate jack to wheel the crate right into my garage.

I took pictures (see below)

I can honestly say these guys did one of the best jobs shipping these behemoths out to me. They were professional and knowledgeable. Steve was right about the height problem, notice the footprints on the lid.

Also, I imagine with gas prices what they are right now I may have actually broke even having them shipped instead of driving out in the SUV, staying somewhere overnight, eating on the road, etc.

The only think they did wrong was when they wrapped the plastic foam around the speakers they taped the leading edge to the wood sides of the speaker. I pulled the tape off VERY slowly and it still managed to discolor the wood ever so slightly on about a 2 inch long spot. They should have taped the foam to itself on the first loop around. All in all, everything looks good.

The only downside to this whole experience is that I still have not been able to fire these speakers up yet. I got my amp home too late and the kids are already asleep!!! Oh well.

BlueMDPicker did they damage anything picking the speakers up?

Also, I will have a spiffy slightly used shipping crate for sale soon. :-)

SCompRacer

:cool:

Glad to hear it worked out well for the both of you David! Ask Jesse (F1nut) what to do about the wood where the tape discolored it.

Just curious, did UPS Freight insure for full value? Some freight companies will only insure for pennies on the pound with used items, no matter how well they are packed. I'll definitely save the link you provided in the event I have to ship more large speakers this year.

F1nut

Now, that's a man that wanted those speakers and was willing to ship them properly....Kudos!

george daniel

Congratulations and welcome to Club Polk

BlueMDPicker

bleach wrote: »

BlueMDPicker did they damage anything picking the speakers up?

The speakers were wrapped with moving blankets, then strapped to an appliance dolly. They did not damage anything in my home and were very careful negotiating their way up the stairs and out the door. I didn't follow them to their truck on either trip, but it appeared from a distance that they placed them face up on their backs for the ride to the warehouse.

Did you test the drivers by pushing the PRs in gently once they were unpacked? I think I mentioned to you in an email that I demonstrated that, on both speakers, to the two gentlemen who picked them up--and stressed the importance of trucking them face up.

Edit: I didn't see the box with the SDA IC cable and manual in the crate. Did you receive it?

I sincerely hope you enjoy the speakers. I did. And, even though the shipping might sound a bit too dear, I think the total outlay is well worth it.

bdaley6509

Awesome! Enjoy them!!

bleach

SCompRacer wrote: »

:cool:
Just curious, did UPS Freight insure for full value? Some freight companies will only insure for pennies on the pound with used items, no matter how well they are packed. I'll definitely save the link you provided in the event I have to ship more large speakers this year.

Working with craters and freighters I could insure for whatever I wanted ($2000). They said they had a $500 deductable THEY had to pay if I made any claims so it was in their best interest to make sure the goods arrived intact.

I did not even know the carrier was going to be UPS freight since C&F handled everything.

bleach

BlueMDPicker wrote: »

Did you test the drivers by pushing the PRs in gently once they were unpacked?

Yes, and everything appears to be in good condition. The drivers move right along nice and quiet so I think everything is in good shape, pressure is very good too. I have to wait till I get home tonight to listen to them but I suspect all will be fine.

BlueMDPicker wrote: »

Edit: I didn't see the box with the SDA IC cable and manual in the crate. Did you receive it?

Yes, they were in the box still sealed.

BlueMDPicker wrote: »

I sincerely hope you enjoy the speakers. I did. And, even though the shipping might sound a bit too dear, I think the total outlay is well worth it.

Absolutely.

bleach

F1nut wrote: »

Now, that's a man that wanted those speakers and was willing to ship them properly....Kudos!

The loaded crate was 691 lbs so all in all it was quite reasonable price to pay for time & materials, insurance, and actual shipping.

Since the speakers, themselves, are so heavy the cardboard option was already $495.00 and the potential for damage was much higher. The wood crate was only an extra $130.00 bucks but provided 10x better protection.

engtaz

Great to hear everything worked out.

Congrats and enjoy,
engtaz