Adding SDA SRS 2.3's to the family

C3 Audio

Hi Folks,

I have been a CP member for more than a year now and haven't racked up to many posts so far. Seems like I tend to read a lot of posts in an effort to learn as much as possible about the Polk speakers I have come to love.
Originally, I had my eyes set on picking up some used 2.3TL's. That was until Mike Reeter told me he had a couple of 1C's for sale. So an eight hour trip later and a brief visit with Mike and his wife about a year ago, I was the proud owner of the 1C's with upgraded xovers. While I wasn't initially looking at 1C's, I have to say I have been really impressed, as it sounds like a number of people on CP have been, with the 1C's.
While I was at Mike's house picking up the 1C's, he was kind enough to demo his SDA SRS 2.3TL's. They were very nice in all the ways you could imagine. So, for the past year, I have been watching all the electronic sales sites for a chance add to my Polk collection. Fast forward to last week when I saw a Craigslist add selling two "Polk 2B SDA SRS" speakers was how the add read. The picture in the add didn't look like 2B's and I was thinking 2.3's of some type? So I ended up on CP and PolkSDA.com doing some research. I discovered they were SDA SRS 2.3's. I emailed the seller for more information and arranged a chance to hear and look them over.
The picture in the add looked pretty rough and in person, they were pretty dirty. The grill and side cloth was dusty and dirty but no tears. The tops had some scratches and water marks, but the cabinets were solid, no air leaks, and all the drivers worked. I wanted to make sure the dimensional drivers were working because I saw a post by F1 saying he wasn’t sure if the dimensional drivers with the donuts were available anymore?

I’ll continue in a reply to this post…..:)

C3 Audio

All the drivers seemed to be working and even though they weren’t spaced properly from the wall or had the same angle orientation, they sounded pretty good. I was thinking I’d have to replace the grill cloth and, somewhere down the line, work on the top caps.

The seller was asking $800.00 for the pair and we ended up striking a deal for a considerable amount less. We loaded them up and headed home. If they were any taller or wider, I would have needed something bigger than a TrailBlazer to get them home, but they fit perfectly on their back for the ride.
I brought them home and moved them inside for some serious cleaning. The first task was a good vacuuming and wipe down with a damp cloth. I was amazed, still amazed, at how well they cleaned up. The grill cloth is really tough and cleaned up quite well. See the before and after pic’s below. While they show some signs of wear, they are really quite presentable at this point and I’m no longer sure I will replace the cloth anytime soon. Note spots at the bottom of the “after picture”, that is where the cloth was still damp. It dried and was clear later. The side cloth cleaned up as well as the grills.
I ran out of time last night and plan to hook them up tonight and give them a test drive. It should be a good time.
There are still a lot of options to be weighed on these. I plan to listen to them as is for a while. Somewhere down the road I may take the advice of many experienced CP members and upgrade the tweeters and xovers? For now, I’ll enjoy them the way they are.
Take care,

C3

C3 Audio

Here are the after cleaning pic's.

C3

shadowofnight

Nice score...great price

Ricardo

Congrats. I enjoy seeing how many people still find SDA's 20-25 years old. I don't think there are too many speaker brands that hold this value/following.

shadowofnight

Ricardo wrote: »

Congrats. I enjoy seeing how many people still find SDA's 20-25 years old. I don't think there are too many speaker brands that hold this value/following.

Bose...almost a religion since 1964

F1nut

C3, nice grab and rescue. Enjoy!

nikolas812

Nice score. Congrats!

candyliquor35m

Enjoy.

I can't wait to hear your comparison between your 2.3's and your 1C's. I'm very close to announcing my preference of my 2B's over my 2.3's. If you could snag those 2B's for $200 and not break your bank, I don't think you would ever regret it.

my 2.3's: http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=13062

Mike Reeter

O.K. Chris,Now that you have found a pair of 2.3's...I'm ready to buy back those 1C's that I sold you:D

You have done well,another pair of SDA's in the hands of an Appreciative Club Polk Member.

Good on ya man.

engtaz

Very nice grab and thank you for saving them. You will love those Original 2.3's.

engtaz

BrettT1

candyliquor35m wrote: »

Enjoy.

I can't wait to hear your comparison between your 2.3's and your 1C's.QUOTE]


same here.:)

C3 Audio

Hooked up the 2.3's on Monday evening and had a great time playing a wide variety of tunes. The 2.3’s are sounding pretty fine with only one problem. I may have overlooked a defective SL2000 tweeter on the top left side during my initial evaluation. Doesn’t sound like anything is coming from it. No crackle, buzz, nothing. As easy as it might be, I didn’t have time to pull it and ohm it out. I thought it might be the poly switch, but a quick look at the schematics tells you if the poly switch would open up, all three tweeters would be out and the other two are definitely working. There is a resistor and cap inline with the top tweeter, but I’ll put my money on a bad tweeter. I hope to pull it tonight, ohm it out, and do some swapping to get to the bottom of it. It should be a pretty easy fix. Wish I had a nickel for every time I said that…..

Otherwise, all the other drivers are working, so that is good. Even without the top tweeter, they sound pretty good.
I realize upgrading to the RDO’s at this point is a no brainer, except the $300.00 for the RDO’s. So if anybody who has done an upgrade out there has an SL2000 lying around, send me a Pm. I would like to listen to these a while before upgrading to RDO’s so I can appreciate the difference.

I’ll keep you posted on the troubleshooting,

C3

C3 Audio

Mike Reeter wrote: »

O.K. Chris,Now that you have found a pair of 2.3's...I'm ready to buy back those 1C's that I sold you:D

You have done well,another pair of SDA's in the hands of an Appreciative Club Polk Member.

Good on ya man.

LOL, Still not ready to part with the 1C's as I still have plans for them. Not to mention the 1C versus 2.3 comparison at some point. Should I ever decide they need to go, you'll get the first crack at them.

Take care,

C3

bdaley6509

Nice find...you have a PM.