Its Been a productive day

billbillw

thsmith wrote: »

That would be great, if Ken speaks up.

There is a saying when building a custom bike, custom when you build them, custom when you fix them:cool:

Here's all the pics I have.

Ok, I see. Looks like there is a seam on the top panel. That means the part that overhangs is a separate piece that is possibly glued on. There's no telling what the history is on these, but they are nice looking.

thsmith

Jeez, I hope I am not the proud owner of frankenstiens. If they are Polk hybrids that would be good I guess but hopefully there are not a combination of several other speakers aftermarket.

My brother just confirmed they look great. He is so busy I am not going to bug him to take more pics of them. Being that he owns his own business in SoCal I do not want to distract him more than I already have.

I will just have sleepless nights until Friday

Ron Temple

Worst case is that someone took care replace the side cloth with veneer or a good vinyl job. Most likely, they are late rev Studios that got a cabinet re-do. Looking at the tweets, they look like they have some dimples. Shouldn't effect performance, I have a couple of SL2000s with the same issue. When you start thinking about crossovers, pull the drivers. The Stereo drivers are 6511s and the Dimensionals are 6510s.

thsmith

Ron Temple wrote: »

Worst case is that someone took care replace the side cloth with veneer or a good vinyl job. Most likely, they are late rev Studios that got a cabinet re-do. Looking at the tweets, they look like they have some dimples. Shouldn't effect performance, I have a couple of SL2000s with the same issue. When you start thinking about crossovers, pull the drivers. The Stereo drivers are 6511s and the Dimensionals are 6510s.

I plan pull the woofers while replacing the tweeters(already ordered) to make sure that are correct and in correct location.

Does knowing the serial numbers do anything for you like year made and so forth. I doubt Polk kept those kind of records as I have not seen that mentioned here before as being useful data.

According to my brother and how good he says they look I am hoping they were something Polk did to use up there parts at the end of the production run.

I know this is vintage speakers but it reminds me that Harley did this a lot of on the beginning and end of production runs back in the day.

Several AMCA judges I know say that Harleys that rolled off the assembly line and put in storage for the last X years would score no more than 90 points out of a 100 now days as they ding you for wrench marks and mismatched year parts.

Ron Temple

Serial numbers are usually very close, since the speakers are R & L. The drivers will have a date stamp on them which usually coincides with the assembly date. If you get one that's off a few months, then it's probably a replacement.

Fatbrando

Nope. These don't look right. You better leave them to me here in Los Angeles. I'd hate to see you drive all the way out here for "Frankenpolks...."

It's Alive...It's ALIVE...ITS ALIVE I TELL YOU!!!!!!

bwah ha ha ha ha ha....

thsmith

Fatbrando wrote: »

Nope. These don't look right. You better leave them to me here in Los Angeles. I'd hate to see you drive all the way out here for "Frankenpolks...."

It's Alive...It's ALIVE...ITS ALIVE I TELL YOU!!!!!!

bwah ha ha ha ha ha....

:cool:;)

thsmith

Ok, SDA IC Studio HYbrids are at home in Plano, TX. Just over 2200 miles there and back, got home at 1:300AM lastnight.

Uneventful trip. Man, once you leave Texas gasoline prices soar. Buck 72 cent near the house, $2.49 on the road .

ANyway, still need to unload the Studios. I MW is scratchy when pressing in and out.

Is it ok to play them until I receive a replacement ?

Thanks and I will post pics once unloaded and cleaned.

Ron Temple

Congrats...gas is $2.07 around the corner here and we usually have the highest prices around.

Ok to play, it may be liveable for awhile. I had one go out and it sounded like one side was down a few dbs and I sometimes heard buzzing. It was a 6510 dimensional driver.

thsmith

Ron Temple wrote: »

Congrats...gas is $2.07 around the corner here and we usually have the highest prices around.

Ok to play, it may be liveable for awhile. I had one go out and it sounded like one side was down a few dbs and I sometimes heard buzzing. It was a 6510 dimensional driver.

Thans Ron.

Don't know if the trip from Temecula to Phoenix is when it occurred or was that way from seller.

I had my brother test the PR method but did not ask him to try each MW. Would have enabled more bargaining power but oh well.

Have integrated the TFM-25 with M12s but not done any real listening yet, My wife is a huge football fan so we are watching the Cowboys on the Mits.

Normally she watches football in her room watching a Sammy LCD while she sews.

Just trying to get some goodness back in the bank:D

If I get enough emergy I will bring the SDAs in and take pics, man I'm pooped.

Ron Temple

thsmith wrote: »

My wife is a huge football fan so we are watching the Cowboys on the Mits.

Well kick her off, the game's over The Cowboys should play a local Jr College team to get a better game. We're pretty frustrated around here about the 9'ers.

thsmith

Made a first pass at cleaning the 1Cs, overall very good shape, in a few places on the rear edge the Vinyl is a little loose/pulled away but not bad. Will need to look for options for securing.

Left bottom stereo driver is definately a problem, low volume comapred to others and scratchy sounding, So I will be calling Polk for a replacement 6511 in the morning.

Made a cheap IC with RS 20' RCA cable. I will be making a new one or contacting Ben.

I do not want to really push them until I have a replacement in hand but in just a few minutes and at fairly low volume I can tell the sound stage is definately wider than the M12s. The stock tweeters actually sound good but want to try something like AC DC at higher volumes.

Thoughts on TFM-25 with M12s. The Carver sounds brighter than my Denon AVR, higher head room and definately tightened up the low end.

Thats about it for now.

Really appriciate all the feedback and direction espcially Ron, Bill, FB, zingo and anyone else I may have missed.

Here's some pics.

Ron Temple

Interesting about the Carver being brighter than the Denon. The speakers really cleaned up well. Looking good.

Keep the impressions coming.

thsmith

Ron Temple wrote: »

Interesting about the Carver being brighter than the Denon. The speakers really cleaned up well. Looking good.

Keep the impressions coming.

I was thinking the same thing. I think I need to run Audessy since adding the AMP, should have done that before expressing opinion. Still a little hazy since the road trip.

Don't get me wrong, the Carver is definately an upgrade in sound, I do not think they are overly bright and running Audsessy will change the sound.

I really like the sound of the SL2000 tweeters, they are closer sounding to the RDO198s than the SL2500.

Good thing I have the week off to play.

Ron Temple

I never had a problem with the SL2000s either, probably because of hearing loss, but the 194 is better behaved and gets just as lively when it breaks in.

thsmith

Back in town from the holidays and my replacement 6511 was waiting. Its been installed and was able to get a couple of housrs listening in. Was able to re-run Audessey as well.

The 1Cs sound great, as I said before the sound stage is wider and seems to submerse and surround me in clean clear music. The 1Cs dig deep in the lower bass area. I am going to run a sweep tomorrow to see how low they go in my room, I believe they go at least 10hz lower than M12s.

The Carver sounds wamer after running Audessy. The extra power makes the 1Cs play with authority.

Absolutely no need for the PB13 sub when playing any music.

I have not installed the RDO194s yet. I am going to change them out in a week so I can get a feel for the SL2000s and if the 194s are indeed an upgrade (for me).

Not sure if I mentioned it but the 6511 I replaced was stamped Oct and Nov 1987. I assume that makes these 1C studios early models.

ANyway, I will post a graph tomorrow of the 1Cs.

Ron Temple

thsmith wrote: »

Absolutely no need for the PB13 sub when playing any music.

Great to see you up and running. Every room is different, but I've had the most success running the SDAs large and my AVR set to LFE + L&R, crossover at 60hz. Seems to be the most seamless at the crossover and I get wonderful LFE effect from the entire room. I'm also running the Ultra a couple of dbs cold. I get so much gain in my smaller room that it's a requirement. That's for movies and multi-channel music. The sub's been retired for 2 channel. I used to use it, but kept turning it down...just a tad too much. I learned to appreciate the balance between low bass/mid bass and mid range.

My HK doesn't have Audessey...looks like a great tool that I'm sure I'll appreciate after the next upgrade.

schwarcw

Congrats! Very nice thsmith! If I were you I would have a veneer applied to match that nice stereo rack you have (cherry?) Use real veneer , then stain it, apply some hand wipe on polyurethane. They would look fantastic. With some new tweeters, crossover mod and an upgraded SDA cable those vintage Polk's will look and sound fabulous!!:)

thsmith

Will have to try running the mains large and LFE+mains at 60hz. One thing I noticed tonight watching a BR movie is how the SDA's add to the surround sound, sometimes the audio sounded like it was above me as well as around me. A very nice improvement to movies.

Did not get time to do a freq sweep, will have to be next weekend. The M12s rolled off quickly on the lower freqs, will be interesting to see how the SDAs.

Had a friend over for a listen and he was amazed at how clean they sounded. He has a huge room (15000^3) and is now interested in getting a pair of the 1.2s or 2.3s.

ben62670

I love SDA's, and movies. I ditched the center channel a long time ago, and went phantom. As for your buddy you might have done him a favor not showing them to him:D
Ben

Ron Temple

Check out the SDA playlist sticky to find some content you'll appreciate...there's more added all the time. A couple of concerts that will shine in conjuction with the Ultra...

Pink Floyd - Pulse
Porcupine Tree - Arriving Somewhere ... this is sort of a cult band, but getting popular. This live show is in DTS 5.1...excellent recording and musicianship...some the cleanest and very cooked bass you'll ever hear (it'll blow you hair back). Music's hard to define, some elements of various genre's, prog/metal,pop...sort of PF meets Rush meets Opeth meets the Beach Boys .

thsmith

Ron, tried running the mains large and LFE+mains at 60hz. I like it, seems to moved the sound forward.

Probably will upgrade the tweeters this weekend.

Selling a few things to cover having Ben upgrade the XOs. May have to let go of the M12s but that will be last ditch effort. Have a bunch of Harley Panhead parts I am going to put on ebay first.

bsoko2

thsmith - I run my Monitor 10's large for movies and music. Hooked up the MBM's to the monitors and WOW, tons of mid bass. My 3.3's are running full open (near field) and the system sounds better then ever. Even the bass is much better then before.

Bill

ben62670

I am glad you are enjoying them Bill:) I hope things are well there.
Take care.
Ben

Edit: I just took a peek at your system. Those Monitors look very nice! Congrats on your system.

Conradicles

thsmith,
I may be interested in you Monitor 12's if you need some cash. Let me know.

Ron Temple

thsmith wrote: »

Ron, tried running the mains large and LFE+mains at 60hz. I like it, seems to moved the sound forward.

Probably will upgrade the tweeters this weekend.

Selling a few things to cover having Ben upgrade the XOs. May have to let go of the M12s but that will be last ditch effort. Have a bunch of Harley Panhead parts I am going to put on ebay first.

I've experimented in my space with an 80 crossover, running small for HT, LFE only, etc, but to get the cleanest bass/midbass blend 60/large/+mains works great with the SDAs...for me. I'm sure it's different for other folks, but it should be tried and since we have close to the same setup, I thought I'd suggest it. The 1Cs reinforce the U13 in a big way. That's why I run the sub a couple of dbs cold.

Hope you don't have to sell the M12s...they'd make awesome surrounds .

thsmith

Yeah, I thought about using the M12s as rears but I like having the RTi28s on the wall and I think the M12s would be really under utilized as rears. May try it out over the holidays and see if the AVR will let me set them to large.

Things will have to get tougher than they are for me to sell them. I have good start on getting some bread to Ben as I have sold my BFD and parts. I just need to get ambious and drag out some rare and junk Panhead parts and sell in ebay.

thsmith

bsoko2 wrote: »

thsmith - I run my Monitor 10's large for movies and music. Hooked up the MBM's to the monitors and WOW, tons of mid bass. My 3.3's are running full open (near field) and the system sounds better then ever. Even the bass is much better then before.

Bill

Yep, I am running the mains large for movies and put the AVR in Pure mode for music without the PB13.

Don't miss the MBMs at this point.

I still need to run REW to see just how low the 1Cs are getting, they advertise 15hz and I believe it. Amazing speakers ! I think we really went backwards when we left wide baffle speakers behind for narrow and compact speakers.

thsmith

Conradicles wrote: »

thsmith,
I may be interested in you Monitor 12's if you need some cash. Let me know.

Conradicles, I will PM you if it comes to that but don't hold your breath;) . They are in pristine condition with upgraded RDOs and sound excellent.

I just hate that they are safely tucked away doing nothing.

Ron Temple

If you've got the space for them, running the M12s large in back will be an impressive HT experience. Overkill, yes, but if you power them similarly to the SDAs, you'll be shakin and bakin during the big LFE blockbusters. Multi-channel music and 5.1 concerts as well. For TV and normal movies, the big boys are kind of a waste.

There are times though that I notice how much my 2Bs bring to the table. There are times when I bring them to the front just to listen to something a bit different.