Tweeter Recommendations ????

gdb

Hi, new to this forum and just recently reacquainted with some SDAs ,they're SDA2 according to the labels , on the upper corner of the left speaker's label is a small sticker (approx. 1/2"x5/8") that has the letter B on it. The cabinets are covered with a cheesey printed oak vinyl. The drivers are 2 -6"+/- and 1 domed tweeter mounted with the long side oriented vertically. While playing them I found them so harsh on the highs that I had to keep cutting the treble till I almost ran out of adjustment. I will say that I rushed the set up by sticking them in my woodshop (where they are in line to get some exotic veneer applied to cabinets) I just hooked them up to an old and feeble Pioneer silver faced reciever that I run in the shop and loved the mids and lows but found the highs kinda strident. Next I heard a buzzing coming from the left tweet and found that the dome was separating right where it transitions/projects from the flat surface. I have read a little on here about tweeter problems and upgrades and if I was considering doing it before,now it is a must. I would like to get some opinions as to what might be a good replacement tweeter. I would like something a little smoother sounding than what I have now,although the amp that I'll end up using is a Carver and there is no comparing that to a 25/30watt Pioneer reciever, so maybe the brightness might have been a lot less overpowering. I'm going today to pick up a pair of SDA-1s that I got off Ebay and am ready to tackle them next,someday maybe some of the SRS big boys! Thanks for any advice you can offer!:) gdb

ben62670

Welcome to Club Polk. The replacement tweeter from Polk is a silk dome which is much cleaner than the tweeter that was used in production. Call customer service, and they will get you setup. They may be on back order. Also the caps in the crossovers are 20 years old. Many Polkies replace them with better than stock caps, and with these 2 simple mods your speakers will sound better than new. Stick around, and ask away. Lots of good people here. BTW that pioneer is way under powering those speakers.
Ben

F1nut

Order 2 new RD0194-1 tweeters from Polk. Give them at least 24 hours of burn in before judging them.

Since you have SDA 2B's, you can also do the TL upgrade, which adds a 5.8uF cap and uses the RD0198-1 tweeter. I prefer the TL upgraded version.

You do have the SDA interconnect cable, right?

gdb

ben62670 wrote: »

Welcome to Club Polk. The replacement tweeter from Polk is a silk dome which is much cleaner than the tweeter that was used in production. Call customer service, and they will get you setup. They may be on back order. Also the caps in the crossovers are 20 years old. Many Polkies replace them with better than stock caps, and with these 2 simple mods your speakers will sound better than new. Stick around, and ask away. Lots of good people here. BTW that pioneer is way under powering those speakers.
Ben

ben, thanks for the welcome, is there a Polk facility that the crossovers could be sent to for bench testing and upgrading ? I've only done a very small amount of soldering in my life and never on electronic stuff, only on
non-critical automotive wiring joints. Does that little "B" sticker indicate that they are in fact 2Bs ? I had no idea that these have so many variations and are so tricky to identify! What is the difference between your recommendations and the TL (?) that F1nut mentioned? I don't know what the deal was with the old Pioneer, I could only give it about 1/3 volume before it got really loud with the SDAs, are they super efficient or something?
Anyway.....thanks again!! gdb

ben62670

The recommendation by F1 is the preferred method if you are comfortable with schematics, and soldering. Polk doesn't do these upgrades. Polk addicts do:D Yes it seems you do have the b's which is very good. Where are you located. I would not be too surprised if a fellow Polkie would lend a helping hand.
Ben

gdb

F1nut wrote: »

Order 2 new RD0194-1 tweeters from Polk. Give them at least 24 hours of burn in before judging them.

Since you have SDA 2B's, you can also do the TL upgrade, which adds a 5.8uF cap and uses the RD0198-1 tweeter. I prefer the TL upgraded version.

You do have the SDA interconnect cable, right?

Hi F1, yes I have the IC cable, its a pin/blade model, don't know which the
SDA1s use but it is included with them also. I'm going to use the SDAs with a Carver TFM-35 & C-2 and wonder which tweeter will be smoothest without too much sizzle, the TFM-35 has a fairly warm and "tubey" sound, so maybe it wont be much of an issue anyway! thanks!! gdb

ben62670

The RDO198 is the prefered tweeter. F1, and I are night owels so we are pretty easy to find, and happy to lend a hand.
Ben

gdb

ben, thanks, maybe I'll just try replacing the tweeters at first, unless the crossovers are a ticking timebomb that will Fup all the drivers, in that case, I'll do the whole enchillada all at once! It might take months to get in enough bubinga or koa veneer to smurf up the cases anyway, so I've got time to figure out the internals. I live about 30mi. outside of
Baltimore and about the same from Wash.DC Thanks for your info!!gdb

ben62670

A lot of Polkies in that area. You hit the gold mine. Stick around. In your situation I would get the 198's, and not the 194's if you want to do the XO upgrade. Mention you are a club Polk member to get the discount;)
Ben

gdb

ben, do you or any of the other Polkies ever do the xover upgrades for the non-technical types like me? I'd rather pay you for the job than some local electronics shop ! The only way I'd ever try it myself would be if I had an instructional DVD or someone standing over my shoulder. I read a 5pg. thread on re-doing 1As and eliminating the dim. tweeter where you were instructing on how it could/should be done and would like to do that also, probably before doing anything with the 2Bs. If you or anyone you think is okay are willing to help me out with this I'd be grateful. I would also prepay everything just to make you or whoever else it might be feel more comfortable. Do you think "CL" would want to buy my old tweeters? thanks! gdb

ben62670

PM sent

gdb

Ben, I tried to PM back but don't have enuff posts yet. Your price sounds very fair and I will definitely want to have you do the work and help me out! To be clear I want to re-do the 1As first and disable the dim. tweeters. The new tweeters need to be the 194 model and not the 198 that works on upgraded
2Bs is this right? It might take a while to get my finances ready, (I've been hitting ebay pretty hard lately!) also, there was talk about using less expensive parts for the mid/low section and the good stuff for the high
(or something like that) anyway I'd be interested to hear what you think about economizing on the less critical (caps?) It seems as though some people like the 3
driver 2s better than the 6driver 1s is this true even after the mods are done?
I love them both but dont really like the stock tweeters very much, anyway I'll get back to you ASAP Thanks! gdb

ben62670

The RDO198 would be a better choice. The XO mod is an easy one.
Ben