Monitor 12's or SDA2's?

halo71

I have a chance to acquire a set of either of these models. I am going to trade a guy a Onkyo Integra M-504 for them. I need some help deciding which model to get.

Unfortunately I will not be able to demo them first, a friend will do that for me. I have told him to make sure all drivers work, none frozen and the surrounds are good.

But I am just not sure which ones to get. From what I have read I am leaning towards the SDA2's. Any advice would be most appreciated!

BTW....GREAT forum from what I have seen so far.

stubby

I would lean all the way towards the SDA's. Just make sure you have plenty of current to feed them. They're very hungry!!
BTW, welcome to the jungle.

stubby

concealer404

SDAs, absolutely.

I'm envious of that amp...

leroyjr1

Which SDA2's are they?

cjmustang69

I've owned a pair of Monitor 12's, SDA 2A's, and SDA 2B's. I liked all 3 pair, but preferred both pairs of SDA's to the Monitor 12's. I found the mid's in Monitor 12's to sound less clear than the SDA's and the bass to not sound as tight as well. I ultimately have sold all but the SDA 2B's.

halo71

leroyjr1 wrote: »

Which SDA2's are they?

That's the confusing thing! Think they are the ones with 3 mid drivers arranged for the left and right channels.

I think my receiver is like 85 watts. Will this be enough to drive them? Yall got me scared now! lol I have another old Pioneer power amp but I dont think my receiver has a preamp output.

halo71

Okay now I am more confused. What model are these? lol

concealer404

I think you should just buy them, and keep the Integra to power them.

halo71

Ahhh, they are 2A's or 2B's.....

Well I really dont have any spare cash at the moment to keep the amp and buy the speakers.

cjmustang69

They look to be SDA 2A's

leroyjr1

2A's

halo71

Not sure the difference in the A and B's though.

So you guys think an 85 watt receiver will be enough to drive them?

leroyjr1

halo71 wrote: »

Not sure the difference in the A and B's though.

So you guys think an 85 watt receiver will be enough to drive them?

Not ideal but it'll work and should sound good. They're very efficient speakers. Just be safe and don't blast it too loud.

concealer404

What is your receiver?

Libertyc

NO. It will power them at low to moderate levels but will damage them if you clip the amp.

Libertyc

Check out this link to compare different SDA speakers.

http://www.polksda.com/ebay.shtml

halo71

Well sadly my receiver right now is a Technics Dolby Digital, forget the model. Probably 12 years old or better. I also have an Onkyo receiver that is not Dolby Digital. I also have a older Pioneer (non switching) power amp.

"Moderate Levels" scares me too. When the amp is starting to clip is when you will start hearing distortion right? I am not too bad on speakers but the wife likes to crank the stereo when I am not around!

I hear some say these speakers are very efficient while others say they are power hungry. Regardless they will be a huge improvement over my old Canon TLS towers.

Ron Temple

Just checked the Compendium...says the 2As are 4 ohm...I thought they were 6 ohm nominal. Really doesn't matter because all SDAs dip below 4 ohms at some frequencies. Just take it easy with the Pio. What everyone is telling you is that SDAs like power. It's not about the watts, it's about the current, but many of us give them plenty. I'd still get the speakers and baby them until I can get them the right front end. You can probably play them all day at 90dbs without a problem. It's just when you creep up to that 100db range, your Pio is going to clip.

Oh yeah, they're efficient, 92db, but they are rated to 500wpc for a reason. To get the true dynamics out of them, you need a high current solution. To get max volume without having the poly switches kick in, you need more power. An older reciever's 85wpc is probably better than a modern one, but the best solution is to start scouring CL for a nice used 2 channel amp and pre.

halo71

hummm, gotta rethink things now I guess. I already have the Integra M504 and a nice preamp. Maybe I should sell a guitar then buy the speakers outright! lol

Thanks for all the input guys!

geppy1

This power thing amuses me. I drive the SDA 1Cs with a 75 w/ch into 8ohms 100 into 4ohm Exposure 2010S with zero problems. I crank it alot. Polk even indicate most of the later midsize and smaller SDA are a fairly easy load. Articles point out the fact that they act less reactive then other speakers. My RTA 12Bs are MUCH harder on the amp then the 1cs. The amp run much hotter with the 12Bs then the SDAs.
I am not a complete SDA nut even though I like the technology and idea. I (me) find them to be less focused then other speakers and the voices are not as open as other Polk speakers HOWEVER I would for sure take the SDA2Bs over the Monior 12s. I have tried 125s this weeek and find them a little bass heavy and muddy. The RTA12s have become one of my favorites. Wide open. Very strong real bottom end and very quick and musical. Still trying to decide on the 1cs as they do have a bigger stage but are slower not as tight and do not go quite as low. Your milage may vary. keith

inspiredsports

geppy1 wrote: »

This power thing amuses me. I drive the SDA 1Cs with a 75 w/ch into 8ohms 100 into 4ohm Exposure 2010S with zero problems. I crank it alot. Polk even indicate most of the later midsize and smaller SDA are a fairly easy load. Articles point out the fact that they act less reactive then other speakers. My RTA 12Bs are MUCH harder on the amp then the 1cs. The amp run much hotter with the 12Bs then the SDAs.
I am not a complete SDA nut even though I like the technology and idea. I (me) find them to be less focused then other speakers and the voices are not as open as other Polk speakers HOWEVER I would for sure take the SDA2Bs over the Monior 12s. I have tried 125s this weeek and find them a little bass heavy and muddy. The RTA12s have become one of my favorites. Wide open. Very strong real bottom end and very quick and musical. Still trying to decide on the 1cs as they do have a bigger stage but are slower not as tight and do not go quite as low. Your milage may vary. keith

One of the key design features of your Exposure 2010S (from it's sales literature) is that it features "High capacity, 200VA custom-made toroidal power transformer and power supply capacitors".

That gives it a decent reservoir of power to dig deep into high-demand musical passages and deliver a clean 75 amps into 8 ohms, and even more into lower impedance loads. Due to that heavy-duty power supply, I'll bet it weighs about twice what new 75 watt consumer grade amps weigh.

That high current capacity is very important with Polks. Watts, not so much.

dudeinaroom

halo71 wrote: »

Well sadly my receiver right now is a Technics Dolby Digital, forget the model. Probably 12 years old or better. I also have an Onkyo receiver that is not Dolby Digital. I also have a older Pioneer (non switching) power amp.

"Moderate Levels" scares me too. When the amp is starting to clip is when you will start hearing distortion right? I am not too bad on speakers but the wife likes to crank the stereo when I am not around!

I hear some say these speakers are very efficient while others say they are power hungry. Regardless they will be a huge improvement over my old Canon TLS towers.

They are efficient speakers, but sound a lot better with higher current amplifiers. I have 2As (look just like the ones in pic) I had a Technics sa-dx950 and had not a problem with driving them( it does have common ground outputs). That receiver was around the same vintage as yours. Make sure to educate your wife on how to listen. We moved in with some friends for a short while and I think that my buddy toasted one of the twwets, oh well, done and over, and doro made it right for me.

halo71

^Okay I feel better now! lol Mine is a SA-DX940. Guessing I will go for the SDA's.

Dude originally had a pair of Klipsch Forte II's that I was after but he sold them already. I gotta ask him about these....these should use the crossover cable thingy right? Please forgive me for the dumb questions, I have never owned a pair of Polk speakers.

dudeinaroom

Yes they do. Most refer to it as an interlink cable. There are also names it is referd to as, I just can not think of them right now.