Powering SDA-2b's

novembersnews
novembersnews Posts: 10
edited March 2010 in Vintage Speakers
It seems like the SDA-2 series are power hungry. Would a Marantz 2270 receiver (70 watts per channel) be a sufficient power source?
Post edited by novembersnews on
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  • stubby
    stubby Posts: 723
    edited March 2010
    I'm not very familiar with Marantz amps/receivers, but I do know my 2B's LOVED the high current my Acurus fed them. Seems with SDA's (among other vintage Polks) they need a steady diet of high current.
    Quite a few guys have good luck with modestly rated (watts) tube amps, so don't let power ratings go to your head. As long as it has a decent power supply and filter capacitance, it should be fine.

    stubby
    SRS 3.1TL
    Harman Kardon Citation 5.1
    Anthem AVM2



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  • george daniel
    george daniel Posts: 12,096
    edited March 2010
    A good 40-60- watt tuber will make em' sing.
    JC approves....he told me so. (F-1 nut)
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,755
    edited March 2010
    Receivers are inherently a poor choice for quailty sound reproduction.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • comfortablycurt
    comfortablycurt Posts: 6,745
    edited March 2010
    F1nut wrote: »
    Receivers are inherently a poor choice for quailty sound reproduction.

    Is that even the case with vintage receivers such as that Marantz the OP mentioned? Vintage receivers like that are a way different animal than modern day AVR's. Just curious...please enlighten me.:)

    I don't have any experience with any of the vintage Marantz receivers...but I've heard several other receivers of the same vintage(Fisher and Yamaha to name a couple), that sounded fantastic. I always thought that a lot of those vintage receivers sounded pretty good. Slightly more "colored" than other gear I've heard perhaps, but still good none the less. Like I said though, I've never heard any of the vintage Marantz gear. I'm probably going to eventually set up a second 2 channel rig using all vintage Marantz components, and my Peerless 7A's. I just love the way those vintage Marantz pieces look.




    I've got a pair of SDA 2A's, and in my experience they aren't particularly power hungry. Obviously, any speaker is going to have more dynamic range and a fuller sound with higher wattage, but that doesn't mean you need 400 wpc to get good sound.

    I'm running my 2A's with a 100 wpc Adcom GFA-545. It can't crank them to stadium filling levels, but I don't really need it to. It will drive them to 95-100 db without so much as breaking a sweat. That's about the highest I've ever driven them...I'm sure I could squeeze 105 db or so out of my rig though. I very rarely listen at volumes that high though. My average listening level is around 80-85 db or so(which is already pretty freakin loud). I don't like to listen too terribly loud, because I'm trying to preserve my hearing, so that I can enjoy this hobby for years to come.

    So, unless you're wanting to listen at 120 db, I wouldn't worry too much about wattage. As I said, I'm not familiar with that Marantz, but 70 real watts would probably drive them very well. You won't be filling a stadium up, but I'm sure you'd be able to get plenty of volume with it. Just make sure that the Marantz is common ground.

    As I said, more wattage is never a bad thing though. The SDA 2's will take as much power as you can give them...but that doesn't necessarily mean that you need the "200 wpc minimum" that you hear recommended on here all the time.
    The nirvana inducer-
    APC H10 Power Conditioner
    Marantz UD5005 universal player
    Parasound Halo P5 preamp
    Parasound HCA-1200II power amp
    PolkAudio LSi9's/PolkAudio SDA 2A's/PolkAudio Monitor 7A's
    Audioquest Speaker Cables and IC's
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,755
    edited March 2010
    Curt, I've had my fair share of vintage receivers, except they weren't vintage when I had them. Once you hear real audio gear, you quickly forget about that stuff.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • comfortablycurt
    comfortablycurt Posts: 6,745
    edited March 2010
    F1nut wrote: »
    Curt, I've had my fair share of vintage receivers, except they weren't vintage when I had them. Once you hear real audio gear, you quickly forget about that stuff.

    Fair enough. I'm still setting up a vintage Marantz rig someday though.;) I have a fetish for vintage audio gear...It's just so damn sexy looking.:D



    To the OP, I'm sure that Marantz will be able to drive them...but I'm sure the 2B's would greatly appreciate having more power too.;)
    The nirvana inducer-
    APC H10 Power Conditioner
    Marantz UD5005 universal player
    Parasound Halo P5 preamp
    Parasound HCA-1200II power amp
    PolkAudio LSi9's/PolkAudio SDA 2A's/PolkAudio Monitor 7A's
    Audioquest Speaker Cables and IC's
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  • george daniel
    george daniel Posts: 12,096
    edited March 2010
    good luck

    good luck:)
    JC approves....he told me so. (F-1 nut)
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  • cnh
    cnh Posts: 13,284
    edited March 2010
    Try the Marantz for now..upgrade later. You don't have to make ONE "Great Leap Forward" Chinese style! Take your time and build yourself a nice system.

    cnh
    Currently orbiting Bowie's Blackstar.!

    Polk Lsi-7s, Def Tech 8" sub, HK 3490, HK HD 990 (CDP/DAC), AKG Q701s
    [sig. changed on a monthly basis as I rotate in and out of my stash]
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  • bigaltx24
    bigaltx24 Posts: 141
    edited March 2010
    I've run my 1Bs with my son's Sansui 881 rated at 60 watts. I was damn surprised at how good the thing sounded. I didn't push it real hard, but it could drive the 1Bs to respectable volume levels with a nice clean sound.
    Denon PMA-900V
    Linn Axis with Grado Red
    Cambridge Azur 650C
    Polk SDA-1BTL
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  • sda2mike
    sda2mike Posts: 3,131
    edited March 2010
    my 2270 did just fine for 6 years on my 2b's...when i moved to a big house last year, i upgraded to big power. the 2270 is a hard hitting rcvr, in the right room.:cool:
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,217
    edited March 2010
    comfortablycurt wrote: »
    Is that even the case with vintage receivers such as that Marantz the OP mentioned? Vintage receivers like that are a way different animal than modern day AVR's. Just curious...please enlighten me.:)

    What F1 said...............AVR's or as they were known back in the day receivers are a poor choice, even vintage models. While certain vintage models might be somewhat better than certain new AVR's, they are a poor choice if the ultimate goal is high quality audio.

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • sda2mike
    sda2mike Posts: 3,131
    edited March 2010
    gotta disagree with you on that! my 2270 as a pre is as good or better than alot of stuff i've heard. new, old, expensive. it does everything right IMHO...of course, YMMV:)
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  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited March 2010
    get yourself a 100+ wpc power amp.. preferably high current.. and call it a day. your choice on brand.
    PolkFest 2012, who's going>?
    Vancouver, Canada Sept 30th, 2012 - Madonna concert :cheesygrin:
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,217
    edited March 2010
    sda2mike wrote: »
    gotta disagree with you on that! my 2270 as a pre is as good or better than alot of stuff i've heard. new, old, expensive. it does everything right IMHO...of course, YMMV:)

    What have you heard ? :)

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • sda2mike
    sda2mike Posts: 3,131
    edited March 2010
    heiney9 wrote: »
    What have you heard ? :)

    H9

    lol! alot of stuff, man!:rolleyes: people who come over and listen are quite suprised that a 35+ yr old rcvr sounds so good. even........here it is......so-called-audiophiles!:D

    i guess it all boils down to my ears and what they hear.

    one of these days, i'd like to get a tube pre. but sonically, i'd have to be convinced of the overwhelming advantage.

    really the 2270 is a tough beast..really
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  • novembersnews
    novembersnews Posts: 10
    edited March 2010
    Thanks for the replies. For me it isn't a matter of what amp will drive the SDA-2b's the best, but whether my Marantz 2270 and the sb's will be a good pairing - because I can't afford to replace the receiver and the speakers. As one poster mentioned, later this may be an option, but the starting point for me is the 2270 -and it really is so nice looking!

    Thanks to the SDA2Mike who drove his sda2's with the same receiver with great results. How could you ask for a better recommendation than that?

    PS This discusssion does beg the question, though, what is the ideal amp (within reason) to drive the sda2's?
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  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited March 2010
    why ask what amp if you aren't looking for one? just pointing out that you mention that for you it isn't a matter of what amp will drive the 2B's the best.. so i'm confused then.

    if your Marantz 2270 sounds good to you..then that is your answer. you would get a million answers on "which amp" will be the best.. but you aren't in the market for one. so why even ponder it?

    again, ideal amp? list a price/budget. If your budget is $200 or $20,000 there are a million different amps that would be ideal.

    sorry to come down on you.. but this post above confused me.
    PolkFest 2012, who's going>?
    Vancouver, Canada Sept 30th, 2012 - Madonna concert :cheesygrin:
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  • comfortablycurt
    comfortablycurt Posts: 6,745
    edited March 2010
    novembersnews wrote: »
    Thanks for the replies. For me it isn't a matter of what amp will drive the SDA-2b's the best, but whether my Marantz 2270 and the sb's will be a good pairing - because I can't afford to replace the receiver and the speakers. As one poster mentioned, later this may be an option, but the starting point for me is the 2270 -and it really is so nice looking!

    Thanks to the SDA2Mike who drove his sda2's with the same receiver with great results. How could you ask for a better recommendation than that?

    PS This discusssion does beg the question, though, what is the ideal amp (within reason) to drive the sda2's?


    There really isn't an "ideal" amp to drive SDA2's. I'm driving mine with a 100 wpc Adcom GFA-545, and they sound absolutely wonderful. The 545's can be had for $150-200 all day long.

    However, I'm sure they wouldn't sound too shabby with a 250 wpc Pass Labs X250.5 driving them. One of those used is going to run in the $3500ish area.

    There are also plenty of options in between those two price ranges...and plenty more that go vastly above that price range.
    The nirvana inducer-
    APC H10 Power Conditioner
    Marantz UD5005 universal player
    Parasound Halo P5 preamp
    Parasound HCA-1200II power amp
    PolkAudio LSi9's/PolkAudio SDA 2A's/PolkAudio Monitor 7A's
    Audioquest Speaker Cables and IC's
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  • sda2mike
    sda2mike Posts: 3,131
    edited March 2010
    one thing worth mentioning: both the 2270 and 2b's are 'laid-back'. marantz designed the 2270 to be 'tube-like'. that's the sound i prefer. no fatigue at all. even at the high volumes that i sometimes visit;). the amp i have btw, is awesome. it's the adcom gfa 555. 200 per ch @ 8 ohm. some say the 545 is more musical. that one is 100 x 2. let us know how you do.
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  • novembersnews
    novembersnews Posts: 10
    edited March 2010
    danger boy wrote: »
    why ask what amp if you aren't looking for one? just pointing out that you mention that for you it isn't a matter of what amp will drive the 2B's the best.. so i'm confused then.

    if your Marantz 2270 sounds good to you..then that is your answer. you would get a million answers on "which amp" will be the best.. but you aren't in the market for one. so why even ponder it?

    again, ideal amp? list a price/budget. If your budget is $200 or $20,000 there are a million different amps that would be ideal.

    sorry to come down on you.. but this post above confused me.

    I didn't mean to confuse. I got the answer I needed - that the 2270 would drive the speakers satisfactorily. My follow up re which amp is the best for driving the sB's was just one of curiousity. I figured some people might have an opinion on the topic, that's all. For instance, since the speakers are 80's vintage, would an 80's vintage amp match up nicely? Or since some speaker and amp brands seem to mesh better than others, is there one that particularly suits the sound of the 2b's.

    Again, it's just curiousity for me, because if I get the 2b's, I'm planning on driving them wth the Marantz - at least for the forseeable future!
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,755
    edited March 2010
    novembersnews, yes your Marantz will drive your 2B's. There's a whole lot of gear that will drive them, but that doesn't mean it/they will do them justice. One of the great things about SDA's is that the better the gear is upstream, the better the SDA's sound. I hope at some point in the future you get to find that out first hand.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • nadams
    nadams Posts: 5,877
    edited March 2010
    The 2270 should do fine for now, just don't cook it. My 2220 will drive my SDA2's, but not to the volumes/levels that I'd like sometimes. That's why I went separates on my system. The 22xx series were solid performers, as receivers go
    Ludicrous gibs!
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  • scottfox
    scottfox Posts: 37
    edited March 2010
    Found an SDA-2B local to me for under $300. I currently have Polk Monitor 10s... the originals, not a or b's. Driving with an Onkyo 606 with 90w/c. 80/20 split mostly movies. Room is 12x20x9 open door to kitchen. 1) Is it worth the upgrade? AKA noticable improvement? 2) Will my Onkyo drive them OK- supposed to be a high current amp. 3) not so much worried about bass gains as I have a HSU subwoofer crossed over at 80hz.
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