SDA-SRS 2.3tl Crossover upgrade

2

Comments

  • drumminman
    drumminman Posts: 3,396
    edited July 2011
    Soundq22 wrote: »
    They have been playing since 4pm on the 28th. Im approaching my 48 hour mark. Cant wait till monday night. getting to 100 hours.

    I would have got the boards from gimpod but I was impatient. They are a great deal for $100 and would have been a lot cleaner.

    One other mod I have done is replaced all the screws with brass, and torqued them to 20 lbs per inch. The wood was in really good condition and they tightened up without any problems. The brass is supposedly non ferrous and won't allow any electro magnetic problems and they dont resonate like steel screws. Musical instruments use brass for this reason and I just thought it made good sense being these are my instruments of sound.

    Anyone else's thoughts on this?

    Tubes I am actually wanting. I am running an Aragon 4004 to them and I'm pretty impressed. Cant imagine what that tube sound would give me. Bad thing is, It sucks to do all these things at once. Better to get a new sound every few months or so.

    About a year ago I replaced in my rig all connectors, outlet boxes, outlet cover plates, basically anything that a magnet stuck to with a non ferrous substitute. I heard an immediate improvement in clarity, which I was hoping for but not really expecting. Not sure if the brass screws will have a discernible effect, but it's still a good move.

    Have you noticed any difference?
    "Science is suppose to explain observations not dismiss them as impossible" - Norm on AA; 2.3TL's w/sonicaps/mills/jantzen inductors, Gimpod's boards, Lg Solen SDA inductors, RD-0198's, MW's dynamatted, Armaflex speaker gaskets, H-nuts, brass spikes, Cardas CCGR BP's, upgraded IC Cable, Black Hole Damping Sheet strips, interior of cabinets sealed with Loctite Power Grab, AI-1 interface with 1000VA A-L transformer
  • headrott
    headrott Posts: 5,484
    edited July 2011
    Soundq22 wrote: »
    Thanks for your opinion F1. I realize you voice your opinion everywhere and I was wondering how long it would take for you to come spread it here. Your opinion on what works best is just that. Others may follow and thats fine. But this thread is what I have done to my speakers and me voicing my opinion on what I think is good. Coming from the audio industry, I have my own unique opinions on what is best or not that I won't try to shove down your throat. When I am all done, I will post my RTA testing of my speakers before, and after my mods. It will show what they gained or loss, and it will be my offering for people to use or not. Just an offering, to help people should they want it. Thanks for stopping by.

    Jesse was just trying to help you out (yes, with his opinion but he has a lot of actual experience to base his opinion on). His responses were not a personal attack on you, and I would not take them as such. He was not trying to force his opinion on you, but simply say what has worked or didn't work for him (and others). I would rethink your response to the help given to you (In my opinion).

    Greg
    Relayer-Big-O-Poster.jpg
    Taken from a recent Audioholics reply regarding "Club Polk" and Polk speakers:
    "I'm yet to hear a Polk speaker that merits more than a sentence and 60 seconds discussion." :\
    My response is: If you need 60 seconds to respond in one sentence, you probably should't be evaluating Polk speakers.....


    "Green leaves reveal the heart spoken Khatru"- Jon Anderson

    "Have A Little Faith! And Everything You'll Face, Will Jump From Out Right On Into Place! Yeah! Take A Little Time! And Everything You'll Find, Will Move From Gloom Right On Into Shine!"- Arthur Lee
  • Face
    Face Posts: 14,340
    edited July 2011
    F1nut wrote: »
    A waste of time.
    So is trying to change the OP's mind on anything.
    "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,708
    edited July 2011
    Soundq22 wrote: »
    I realize you voice your opinion everywhere and I was wondering how long it would take for you to come spread it here.

    You asked and I quote, "Anyone else's thoughts on this?" Hello!
    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

  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,573
    edited July 2011
    I think the brass screws are very sharp looking but as far as being more resonant or the wood ring being better than metal....not interested nor do I believe it would be audible to anyone but a bat.

    I'm not even a fan of overdoing the baskets. Keep it simple when it comes to mods and it looks like your project is coming along great so far Soundq22. Don't be so sensitive as far as the recommendations go, as you did ask for them after all. We are all here to help and offer some objectivity, not here to argue.

    I'm looking forward to how everything turns out for you and your listening impressions. Good luck and enjoy the process of it all.

    Mark
    CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
  • Soundq22
    Soundq22 Posts: 19
    edited July 2011
    F1nut wrote: »
    Sorry to be blunt, but you don't know much about this subject.

    I guess this was just a little abrasive to me.. What I was looking for was a logical explanantion as to why he thought my theory of how tight is too tight was wrong or off course and all I got was a "you don't know what
    you are talking about".

    When I ask what are your thoughts on this, I'd like to receive constuctive criticism or ideas what might be good or bad. If you notice Dorokusai, Drumminman, Emlyn and others figured this out. They talked about how their experiences worked or didn't work.
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,708
    edited July 2011
    You must have missed this.
    The trick is getting the baskets clamped to the cabinet as tight as possible and that just can't be done with wood screws. You got 20 inch lbs. of torque. Using Larry's rings or Hurricane nuts will allow you to get considerably more. Furthermore, the resonating problem resides inside the speaker with the stamped steel baskets. Adding Dynamat Extreme will solve that issue.

    Whatever.
    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

  • Soundq22
    Soundq22 Posts: 19
    edited July 2011
    Ok we will try again, How tight, is tight enough? Without telling me I dont know much on the subject, what are your thoughts on this?
  • gimpod
    gimpod Posts: 1,793
    edited July 2011
    A quarter turn before breaking.
    “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” ~ Mark Twain
  • factorz
    factorz Posts: 353
    edited July 2011
    Careful Soundq22. If you continue to speak your mind and think differenlty you might get run off like the others. Good luck with all your upgrades.
  • DarqueKnight
    DarqueKnight Posts: 6,760
    edited July 2011
    factorz wrote: »
    Careful Soundq22. If you continue to speak your mind and think differenlty you might get run off like the others.

    Getting "run off" is really not that big of a deal since anyone banned or run off can simply come back under a different screen name...right?
    Proud and loyal citizen of the Digital Domain and Solid State Country!
  • xsmi
    xsmi Posts: 1,786
    edited July 2011
    Soundq22 wrote: »
    Tubes I am actually wanting. I am running an Aragon 4004 to them and I'm pretty impressed. Cant imagine what that tube sound would give me. Bad thing is, It sucks to do all these things at once. Better to get a new sound every few months or so.

    How are you using this amp as it is a dual mono design? Did you strap the neg. terminals together or are you running an AI-1 cable?
    2-channelBelles 22A Pre, Emotiva XPA-2 Gen 2, Marantz SA8005, Pro-Ject RPM-10 Turntable, Pro-Ject Phono Box DS3B, Polk Audio Legend L800's, AudioQuest Cable throughout.
  • Toolfan66
    Toolfan66 Posts: 16,834
    edited July 2011
    factorz wrote: »
    Careful Soundq22. If you continue to speak your mind and think differenlty you might get run off like the others. Good luck with all your upgrades.


    I'm sure you know from experience? How bout a list of who as been run off around here? including your old screen name..
  • Face
    Face Posts: 14,340
    edited July 2011
    factorz wrote: »
    Careful Soundq22. If you continue to talk about things you're unfamiliar with and are adamant about incorrect information, you might get run off like the others. Good luck with all your upgrades.
    ....
    "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
  • DarqueKnight
    DarqueKnight Posts: 6,760
    edited July 2011
    Face,

    You should have highlighted your corrections and appended the note "Fixed it for ya". I imagine the corrections would be missed by many of our avid skim-readers and speed-readers.:wink:
    Proud and loyal citizen of the Digital Domain and Solid State Country!
  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,573
    edited July 2011
    Cmon guys, let's just keep it civil as best as possible. We all have the right to disregard the opinions offered, it isn't the first here and won't be the last. Let's find some other threads to get involved with that will be more productive for all of us.
    CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
  • Soundq22
    Soundq22 Posts: 19
    edited July 2011
    xsmi wrote: »
    How are you using this amp as it is a dual mono design? Did you strap the neg. terminals together or are you running an AI-1 cable?

    The Aragon 4004 MkII is a dual mono amp but it is already wired for common ground. I verified when changing out the binding posts.
  • Soundq22
    Soundq22 Posts: 19
    edited July 2011
    gimpod wrote: »
    A quarter turn before breaking.


    Haha, I wish there was a setting on the torque driver for that. It would come just after, Quarter turn before stripping wood.
  • xsmi
    xsmi Posts: 1,786
    edited July 2011
    Soundq22 wrote: »
    The Aragon 4004 MkII is a dual mono amp but it is already wired for common ground. I verified when changing out the binding posts.

    Thanks as that was one of my favorite amps from the early to mid 90's but I can't use an AI-1 cable as my SRS 2's are blade-blade. :smile:
    2-channelBelles 22A Pre, Emotiva XPA-2 Gen 2, Marantz SA8005, Pro-Ject RPM-10 Turntable, Pro-Ject Phono Box DS3B, Polk Audio Legend L800's, AudioQuest Cable throughout.
  • factorz
    factorz Posts: 353
    edited July 2011
    dorokusai wrote: »
    Cmon guys, let's just keep it civil as best as possible. We all have the right to disregard the opinions offered, it isn't the first here and won't be the last. Let's find some other threads to get involved with that will be more productive for all of us.

    I agree 100%.
  • gimpod
    gimpod Posts: 1,793
    edited July 2011
    Soundq22 wrote: »
    Haha, I wish there was a setting on the torque driver for that. It would come just after, Quarter turn before stripping wood.
    I thought you might like that :wink: (you have no idea how long I've waited for someone to ask the right question so I could post that:biggrin:). It's actually from an old Harley (1930's - 40's) service manual, I can't remember which bolt it was for but the manual did state to tighten it a quarter turn before breaking. In all seriousness I don't think there's any torque setting for the drivers I would say tighten them as tight as you feel comfortable doing.
    “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” ~ Mark Twain
  • headrott
    headrott Posts: 5,484
    edited July 2011
    Soundq22 wrote: »
    The Aragon 4004 MkII is a dual mono amp but it is already wired for common ground. I verified when changing out the binding posts.

    Have you measured the resistance between the positive and negative binding posts for each channel? I ask because I own an Aragon 8008bb and when I hooked up my 3.1TL's a couple years back the amp would make a loud thud, thud, thud sound and the circuit protection would kick on. The resistance between the posts was 20.5 ohms which is too high for the SDA's. It worked when I strapped them together, but I made an AI-1 box/cable and that solved the problem. My problem was a more extreme case, however there were a couple other people that used an Aragon 8008bb with their SDA's and they said their audio quality suffered greatly (midrange sounded terrible) but their amp didn't put out a thud sound and cause the protection circuit protection to kick in. They had to strap the amp binding posts to get rid of this problem.

    Have you tried the SDA's with another amp besides the Aragon 4004? You MAY get better sound out of the SDA's with another amp, strapping the posts or building an AI-1 cable. I have not owned a 4004 though, but both Aragon's (4004 and 8008bb) are dual mono but it does not necessarily mean their resistance at the binding posts are similar, but figured I would bring it up for something to think about.

    Try measuring the resistance on the binding posts and report back what results you get.

    Greg
    Relayer-Big-O-Poster.jpg
    Taken from a recent Audioholics reply regarding "Club Polk" and Polk speakers:
    "I'm yet to hear a Polk speaker that merits more than a sentence and 60 seconds discussion." :\
    My response is: If you need 60 seconds to respond in one sentence, you probably should't be evaluating Polk speakers.....


    "Green leaves reveal the heart spoken Khatru"- Jon Anderson

    "Have A Little Faith! And Everything You'll Face, Will Jump From Out Right On Into Place! Yeah! Take A Little Time! And Everything You'll Find, Will Move From Gloom Right On Into Shine!"- Arthur Lee
  • Soundq22
    Soundq22 Posts: 19
    edited July 2011
    There are no readings across any of the posts except for the 0 ohm continuity between the 2 grounds. I disconnected and checked the amp just to give an accurate answer. I have used the 2.3tl's and SDA-1's on this amp. They both sound great.
  • Soundq22
    Soundq22 Posts: 19
    edited July 2011
    TEL-32363-02.jpg


    By the way, has anyone heard the CD from Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band? They play Rhapsody in Blue, and it sounds awesome. After the Crossover upgrade I can hear spit in the mouthpiece of the clarinet soloist buzzing. Never knew something so gross could sound so good.
  • xsmi
    xsmi Posts: 1,786
    edited August 2011
    I love them and have played a couple of their arrangements!
    2-channelBelles 22A Pre, Emotiva XPA-2 Gen 2, Marantz SA8005, Pro-Ject RPM-10 Turntable, Pro-Ject Phono Box DS3B, Polk Audio Legend L800's, AudioQuest Cable throughout.
  • Schurkey
    Schurkey Posts: 2,100
    edited August 2011
    headrott wrote: »
    Have you tried the SDA's with another amp besides the Aragon 4004? You MAY get better sound out of the SDA's with another amp, strapping the posts or building an AI-1 cable. I have not owned a 4004 though, but both Aragon's (4004 and 8008bb) are dual mono but it does not necessarily mean their resistance at the binding posts are similar, but figured I would bring it up for something to think about.

    Try measuring the resistance on the binding posts and report back what results you get.

    Greg
    Thousands of years ago ('bout 1992) I bought a 4004. Called Polk for advice about it being common-ground. They weren't sure, but suggested strapping the negative outputs, which I did.

    Not long afterward, I called Mondial. Talked to The Man, Anthony Federici hisself. He said the 4004 was common ground, strapping the negative posts wasn't needed, but wouldn't hurt.

    I yanked the jumper out of the negative posts of my 4004 and heard no difference. I don't have a 4004 anymore or I'd take a resistance measurement. My best guess is that there's "zero" ohms of resistance as-is.

    This, as stated, is NOT true of the 8008 series, which is said to have intentional resistance between the channels as part of some "safety" device. I've asked repeatedly what the supposed "safety" device is, or what it's protecting me from, and I hear nothing in reply. Therefore, the 8008BB connected to my 1Bs has a happy little jumper wire connecting the negative terminals between channels, and has been sounding magnificent for years...but it sounds like **** without the jumper.
  • headrott
    headrott Posts: 5,484
    edited August 2011
    Thanks for the update Schurkey. Useful info indeed. As I said, I have never owned the 4004, but wanted to suggest measuring the resistance to the OP as a "just in case" or "for your info".

    Greg
    Relayer-Big-O-Poster.jpg
    Taken from a recent Audioholics reply regarding "Club Polk" and Polk speakers:
    "I'm yet to hear a Polk speaker that merits more than a sentence and 60 seconds discussion." :\
    My response is: If you need 60 seconds to respond in one sentence, you probably should't be evaluating Polk speakers.....


    "Green leaves reveal the heart spoken Khatru"- Jon Anderson

    "Have A Little Faith! And Everything You'll Face, Will Jump From Out Right On Into Place! Yeah! Take A Little Time! And Everything You'll Find, Will Move From Gloom Right On Into Shine!"- Arthur Lee
  • Indyaudio2
    Indyaudio2 Posts: 127
    edited December 2017
    This old thread was absolutely perfect for my recap project last evening and this morning! New to me SDA SRS 2.3TLs purchased from original owner and I just refreshed the crossovers with Erse film caps and new resistors. I bypassed the polyswitches with a jumper. I like mine "hot!" gsw2nmrj8bb0.jpg
    b601bb1qq961.jpg

  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,477
  • Indyaudio2
    Indyaudio2 Posts: 127
    edited December 2017
    pitdogg2 wrote: »
    Such a shame :/

    Yes, a shame you would post that......