SDA-1C refurb....finally got pics!

geoff727

The first part of this is pictures of the speakers when I bought them several months ago. They had been well enjoyed by the previous owner and his friends........But, it was time for a little refurbishment. The first post is the "before". The second post is the "after".

This is the first time I've ever worked on a speaker, so it was all a new experience. The process is pretty obvious from the pics, but here's the specifics:

1) New padouk wood end caps with lacquer finish. It's hard to tell from the pictures, but they're actually perfectly smooth. The sanding process consisted of 340 grit, then 400, then 600, then wet-sand with 2000, then a polishing compound, then furniture polish. The attachment for them was changed from glue & staples to anchor bolts.

2) Upgraded all binding posts.

3) Re-did the internal wiring.

4) Upgraded the crossovers.

5) Modified the side grilles to be removable.

6) New cloth on all grilles.

7) Upgraded the SDA Interconnect cable.

8) RD0194 tweeters.

More pics coming up....

geoff727

Here's the externals....

geoff727

Here's the internals...

geoff727

Hope you all enjoy these. Big thanks to Jeff at Soniccraft, Ken at Polk, DarqueKnight-Raife, and many other members of the forum, for their assistance asnd advice on this project.

All listening time so far has confirmed one thing......I'm a little embarrassed to say this, but the -1C's are wiping the floor with the stock 2.3tl's. Detail, clarity, bass definition, not to mention good looks......all are substantially improved (you all knew that already).

Now......on to the Infinity's!

Ricardo

Awesome job; those look beautiful, and I bet they sound better.

I even think I like your wood better than Sal's

geoff727

I spent a couple hours at CrossCut Hardwoods in Seattle, just wandering and pondering. I always came back to the padouk, and now I'm very glad I did. I absolutely love it.

I left out one area of the upgrade- the room itself. Since the room is a little "compact" for SDA's, I had to do a lot of experimentation in getting some side-wall reflections under control. Hanging rugs and heavy curtains, strategically placed, can work wonders!

tx_polkhead

wow just wow, you sir should be upgraded from 'Polkster' to SDA Surgeon! They look like a million bucks, so when is the party?

dorokusai

The wood caps look beautiful, nice work.

Windwalker

VERY Nicely done, gives me some ideas for my SDA 2Bs

The band-aide adds a nice touch or realism as well

george daniel

absolutely beautiful,,I know that you're proud of them,,very nice work,indeed.

Marty913

Beautiful. My 1C's are studio versions so maybe the woodwork part is out but you gave me some good ideas for the rest of it. Just finished my 2's so even that might have to wait a while. I'll be sure and refer back to your pictures when I get started. Enjoy.

geoff727

Thanks for all the compliments!!

Windwalker.....I was cutting the insulation on the new wire for the speakers, and SLICE!
I actually had to crop the picture so I didn't post anything unsightly!

geoff727

Marty913, how about some real wood veneer for those studios? I'm sure something really creative could be done. I think it's boywonder on the forum who just did his Monitor 10's, and they look great.

Marty913

geoff727 wrote: »

Marty913, how about some real wood veneer for those studios? I'm sure something really creative could be done. I think it's boywonder on the forum who just did his Monitor 10's, and they look great.

I will tackle anything electronic (amps, XO's, computers, etc.) but get me near wood and you might as well hire termites to do the work. My 1C's are 1-owner and absolutely scratch-and-dent free so I'd be especially afraid to go after them with woodworking tools. The work you did on your XO's, internal wiring and binding posts is inspiring however. That's a real possibility.

Face

Beautiful! Too bad Sal isn't here to see.

Mike Reeter

Man,Those are some beautiful 1C's..you have done a great job and should be very proud of your new SDA's.

I had a very nice pair of 1C's that had the x-overs rebuilt and new binding posts installed...I sold them and have regretted it ever since.

They would hold up to my 2.3TL's without any problems...

On the hunt for another pair,but they are sooo scarce in my part of the country.

schwarcw

Congrats and WOW!

You did a wonderful job. The electronics and the woodwork are both first class. You are living large! These are fun projects, I'm glad it all worked out so well for you. Have fun!:)

BobMcG

Very nice work.

heiney9

Nice work!! Enjoy them. My 1C's have the same upgrades sans the new wood end caps and I love the way they sound.

Very nice job.

cubdog

Great job. They are beautiful.

cubdog

DarqueKnight

That's some inspirational work. Congrats.

Did you do any comparison between the sound of the stock internal wiring and the new wires?

geoff727

DarqueKnight wrote: »

Did you do any comparison between the sound of the stock internal wiring and the new wires?

No, I just put it in there. I don't know if the difference is within the range of human hearing or not. But, I subjectively feel better about them knowing that they have good quality wiring inside.

Thanks for the compliments, everyone. I sure am excited about how they turned out. Don't tell this to my supervisor, but a couple days ago I called in sick, and I just sat at home and listened to music for pretty much the whole day. I guess that in itself is a good sign......any "listening fatigue" issues have largely been solved with the upgrades.

F1nut

Nice job all around, congrats!

Please don't take this the wrong way, it's offered as a tip only. If you want a totally "glass" surface on wood with pores you have to fill the grain with paste wood filler or shoot on like 20 coats and then cut it back. I prefer to fill the grain.

george daniel

F1nut wrote: »

Nice job all around, congrats!

Please don't take this the wrong way, it's offered as a tip only. If you want a totally "glass" surface on wood with pores you have to fill the grain with paste wood filler or shoot on like 20 coats and then cut it back. I prefer to fill the grain.

for those of us who are woodworking "challenged",,could you explain what that means, as I've got some endcaps on 1C's that I either have to replace or refinish. TIA

Boywonder

Excellent Job! Now I am tempted to re-do my 1C studios, Padouk seems to be the SDA wood of choice these days!

George, here is the basic procedure for a "glass" finish (pretty much also summarized by Geoff727 and F1nut above)

Certain woods with open pores (mahogany, oak, etc) will take alot of work to get a "glass" finish, ie one that is totally smooth without the final finish dipping into the pores. Dense, tighter grained woods are easier (cherry, maple, etc.) The pores need to be filled up to the surface of the woodgrain before the top coats are applied. One way to do it is with several coats of "sanding sealer" (2-3 coats max), sand with 320 paper until smooth, than many coats of lacquer (10-15) then wet sand the lacquer topcoat with 600 emory paper (only sand until you get a smooth surface, the objective here is to sand down the topcoat until the pore "dips" are no longer visible-your "glass" finish) use a flat sanding block by hand, and water (to keep the paper from clogging), it's easy to sand through 15 coats of lacquer. Then use automotive rubbing compound to lose the 600 paper scratches, then use automotive polishing compound to remove the swirls from the rubbing compound, then wax with automotive paste wax, and voila-a glass-smooth finish.

It's way easier than I described, spray lacquer dries in seconds, so 15 coats can be applied in less than an hour. You can also use the above technique with polyurethane, etc, but the drying time is very long, and sometimes the wet sanding, rubbing and polishing can be a chore, as some finishes are harder than woodpecker lips. Lacquer is easy, that's why it's used for "glass-shiny" finishes. Lacquer is also easy to fix when you screw up, as it will re-melt the old finish when re-sprayed.

Don't use more than 2-3 coats of sanding sealer if you want a stunning grain pattern to show; too many coats will start hiding the grain. Also, another trick with top coats is if you want a satin or flat finish, spray most of the topcoats with gloss, and the last one or two with satin or flat. This also allows the grain to show since the satin and flat finishes are not as clear due to the "flatteners" in the finish.

geoff727

Ono of the things that really attracted me to the padouk was the texture of the wood. I definitely wanted that to come through in the fnal finish. These had quite a few coats of lacquer on them. The first sand was with 320 to git rid of any "orange peel" on the surface. This was definitely the most difficult and time-consuming stage of the sanding process. Progressive sanding was just done with finer and finer grits to eliminate any scratches.

Unfortunately, the real finish of these doesn't quite come through in the pictures. Maybe if I took some really good-quality photos with my Canon AE-1 and scanned them, instead of using the digital camera, maybe that would help. In reality, the finish is totally smooth, but with the grain of the wood coming through. The "bumpiness" that is seen in the photos, I think is the digital capturing that wood grain. When you run your had across them, they're just like a babie's b@#$tt.

geoff727

Let's try these. I tried to get a decent reflection from the wall rug to show the finish and an illustration of the grain coming through the lacquer on the fronts at the same time.

NJPOLKER

Geoff
Excellent work to say the least.
I hope everyone who is on the fence regarding crossover upgrades reads this thread.
Drew

Boywonder

That wood looks awesome. That's just the padouk with lacquer on top (ie no stain)??

geoff727

Boywonder wrote: »

That's just the padouk with lacquer on top (ie no stain)??

Correct, no stain. BTW, how are the 10's?

Roy Munson

Those are sweeeeeeeet!