Polk SDA 1C's What to upgrade.

Irrenhaus
Irrenhaus Posts: 1,082
edited July 2014 in Vintage Speakers
Hi all

I know this has been ask many times, sorry. So I have these for a few months now and really like how they sound and best guess after upgrades they will sound better. I was thinking of getting a new DAC but I rather try to do the upgrades now that I am on vacation and there is no work travel and get the DAC once they are SDA's are burn-in.

Here what I was thinking:

1. Crossovers will use SoniCaps and Mills Resistors. Boards well may use the stock ones, build my own or get the ones from Gimpod. Still undecided.
2. Tweeters RDO-194-1
3. Dynamat all that is required and JB Weld the magnets

What else can I do?

Do I upgrade the interconnect cable? I have the original pin/blade.

Sorry if I am not correct on what I am asking. I am a rookie to the SDA's

One cool part of this upgrade is that my daughter(15) is offering to help and learn.

Cheers
HTAVR-Pioneer SC99XPA-DR3 Differential Reference AmpPolk R-700Rear- RT150Side- RT150Center-CSi5Sub-Rythmik audio F25Player- Panasonic DP-UB9000Projector- Optoma CinemaX P2Screen- Silver Ticket Products STR Series 6 120"Audio Room 2ch rig.Cary AE-3, Onkyo M-504, Marantz SA8005, Azur 851NWharfedale - Linton, SVS SB12-NSDMinis Forum PC (streamer) and Panamax MX5105Headphone rig;Schiit JOTUNHEIM and different headphones.Samsung 42" flat screen TV.
Post edited by Irrenhaus on
«1

Comments

  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,704
    edited July 2014
    Get in on the Dreadnought group buy.

    Get on the waiting list for Larry's rings.

    Spike those speakers.
    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

  • deronb1
    deronb1 Posts: 5,021
    edited July 2014
    That is cool your daughter is interested. From what you listed and F1s input, not much else to do. You might consider ideal placement, room treatments and other accrutraments that can help.
  • george daniel
    george daniel Posts: 12,096
    edited July 2014
    replace/upgrade the stock binding posts.
    JC approves....he told me so. (F-1 nut)
  • westmassguy
    westmassguy Posts: 6,850
    edited July 2014
    Forget the JB Weld, get a few tubes of Loctite Power Grab Clear Acrylic. You can do the magnet assemblies and reseal the cabinet internally with it.
    Blackhole5 behind the woofers.
    Replace the Pin/Blade with SpeakON connectors and you favorite flavor of good speaker wire.
    New Binding Posts.
    Replace the Sub-bass drive inductor with an Erse SuperQ Laminated Steel Inductor for improved deep bass.
    Larry's Rings or Hurricane Nuts
    Home Theater/2 Channel:
    Front: SDA-2ATL forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/143984/my-2as-finally-finished-almost/p1
    Center: Custom Built forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/150760/my-center-channel-project/p1
    Surrounds & Rears: Custom Built forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/151647/my-surround-project/p1
    Sonicaps, Mills, RDO-194s-198s, Dynamat, Hurricane Nuts, Blackhole5
    Pioneer Elite VSX-72TXV, Carver PM-600, SVS PB2-Plus Subwoofer

    dhsspeakerservice.com/
  • Mike Reeter
    Mike Reeter Posts: 4,314
    edited July 2014
    Rebuild your 1C's in steps as you can afford the upgrades, you will be rewarded with each step along the way.
  • dpowell
    dpowell Posts: 3,050
    edited July 2014
    I did items 1 and 2 on a pair of 1C's I had and the results were amazing. I would have done the others but I sold them when I bought the 2.3TL's I'm using now. I'd upgrade the tweeters first and get comfortable with what you're hearing. Then you will truly understand the benefit of the XO upgrade when you do that......or just do it all at once and enjoy audio nirvana. :)
    ____________________________________________________________ polkaudio Fully Modded SDA SRS 1.2TLs + Dreadnaught, LSiM706c, 4 X Polk Surrounds + 4 X ATMOS SVS PB13 Ultra x 2Pass Labs X1, Marantz 7704, Sunfire Signature Cinema Grande 400, ADCOM 7807, Panasonic UB420, Sony SCD-C333ES, EPSON Pro Cinema 6050
  • Moose68Bash
    Moose68Bash Posts: 3,842
    edited July 2014
    dpowell wrote: »
    I did items 1 and 2 on a pair of 1C's I had and the results were amazing. I would have done the others but I sold them when I bought the 2.3TL's I'm using now. I'd upgrade the tweeters first and get comfortable with what you're hearing. Then you will truly understand the benefit of the XO upgrade when you do that......or just do it all at once and enjoy audio nirvana. :)

    My 1Cs were done all at once, and I second dpowell's description of my pleasure in the result.

    I joined the recent A-V transformer group buy to upgrade my Dreadnought from a Toroid of Maryland transformer to the A-V 1000VA transformer. This, I hope, will be the last time I do anything to the 1Cs.

    The SRS 1.2s are another matter! I still need to TL them. :~)
    Family Room, Innuos Statement streamer (Roon Core) with Morrow Audio USB cable to McIntosh MC 2700 pre with DC2 Digital Audio Module; AQ Sky XLRs to CAT 600.2 dualmono amp, Morrow Elite Speaker Cables to NOLA Baby Grand Reference Gold 3 speakers. Power source for all components: Silver Circle Audio Pure Power One with dedicated 20 amp circuit to main panel.

    Exercise Room, Innuos Streamer via Cat 6 cable connection to PS Audio PerfectWave MkII DAC w/Bridge II, AQ King Cobra RCAs to Perreaux PMF3150 amp (fully restored and upgraded by Jeffrey Jackson, Precision Audio Labs), Supra Rondo 4x2.5 Speaker Cables to SDA 1Cs (Vr3 Mods Xovers and other mods.), Dreadnaught with Supra Rondo 4x2.5 interconnect cables by Vr3 Mods. Power for each component from dedicated 20 amp circuit to main panel, except Innuos Statement powered from Silver Circle Audio Pure Power One.

  • dhlogic
    dhlogic Posts: 26
    edited July 2014
    I've looked at the SDA Handbook read the upgrade section with recommendations by Polk engineers and knowledgeable members of the community here and I have a question.

    westmassguy brings up replacing the large SDA circuit inductor with one with lower DCR. My question is, how low is too low? Another thread gave the DCR of the stock coils and I remember the large 16mH coil being something like 2.55R. Well I can buy 16mH coils in larger gauges giving me 1.27R, 0.97R, and 0.59R options. If I'm not concerned with price and they still fit in the cabinet hehe, is there anything else to consider that would preclude one from going to the lowest DCR available? Thanks!
  • Schurkey
    Schurkey Posts: 2,100
    edited July 2014
    dhlogic wrote: »
    If I'm not concerned with price and they still fit in the cabinet hehe, is there anything else to consider that would preclude one from going to the lowest DCR available?
    As the DCR drops, so does the speaker impedance. You'll pull more current from the amplifier; make sure your amp will tolerate that.

    Make sure the coil won't saturate. My 1Bs got a 16-gauge coil only because my supplier is perpetually back-ordered on the 14-gauge units. The 16-gauge coil handles ~500 watts before saturation, and that's good enough for me.
  • westmassguy
    westmassguy Posts: 6,850
    edited July 2014
    The 16 gauge Erse SuperQ can handle even the big SDAs. Remember, that inductor is only connected to the dimensional woofers, and only handles frequencies below 150 Hz
    Home Theater/2 Channel:
    Front: SDA-2ATL forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/143984/my-2as-finally-finished-almost/p1
    Center: Custom Built forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/150760/my-center-channel-project/p1
    Surrounds & Rears: Custom Built forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/151647/my-surround-project/p1
    Sonicaps, Mills, RDO-194s-198s, Dynamat, Hurricane Nuts, Blackhole5
    Pioneer Elite VSX-72TXV, Carver PM-600, SVS PB2-Plus Subwoofer

    dhsspeakerservice.com/
  • westmassguy
    westmassguy Posts: 6,850
    edited July 2014
    dhlogic wrote: »
    I've looked at the SDA Handbook read the upgrade section with recommendations by Polk engineers and knowledgeable members of the community here and I have a question.

    westmassguy brings up replacing the large SDA circuit inductor with one with lower DCR. My question is, how low is too low? Another thread gave the DCR of the stock coils and I remember the large 16mH coil being something like 2.55R. Well I can buy 16mH coils in larger gauges giving me 1.27R, 0.97R, and 0.59R options. If I'm not concerned with price and they still fit in the cabinet hehe, is there anything else to consider that would preclude one from going to the lowest DCR available? Thanks!
    The original is around 2.5-2.6 ohms if memory serves. It keeps the overall impedance high enough so most quality amplifiers can handle the load. When you drop from 2.5 to .5 ohms, the later SDAs will no longer be 6 ohm nominal, they'll be 4 ohm. Earlier 3rd generation SDAs like my 2As, that were 4 ohm to begin with, drop to 3.5 approximately, and drop below 3 ohms at certain frequencies.
    Home Theater/2 Channel:
    Front: SDA-2ATL forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/143984/my-2as-finally-finished-almost/p1
    Center: Custom Built forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/150760/my-center-channel-project/p1
    Surrounds & Rears: Custom Built forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/151647/my-surround-project/p1
    Sonicaps, Mills, RDO-194s-198s, Dynamat, Hurricane Nuts, Blackhole5
    Pioneer Elite VSX-72TXV, Carver PM-600, SVS PB2-Plus Subwoofer

    dhsspeakerservice.com/
  • dhlogic
    dhlogic Posts: 26
    edited July 2014
    And if I go with an air coil inductor, the issue of saturation completely goes away doesn't it?

    westmassguy I knew the lower DCR would lower the nominal impedance of the speakers from the various anecdotes I've read, but I don't fully understand it. I am unable to articulate why droping the inductors resistance from 2.5 to .5 ohms would lower the speakers impedance from 6 to 4 ohms.

    Is there a thread that explains this a little more or is it just a case of needing to learn more electronic theory to understand and calculate it?
  • westmassguy
    westmassguy Posts: 6,850
    edited July 2014
    It's actually explained sort of by MP himself in that section of the handbook. Inductors have a measurable DC Resistance, but AC Resistance (Impedance) changes due to many factors including Reactance. Volumes have been written about coils. Try these for starters:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inductor
    http://www.audioholics.com/loudspeaker-design/the-loudspeaker-crossover/the-loudspeaker-crossover-the-brains-of-your-system-part-ii-page-2

    Don't blame me if your eyes start to glaze over
    Home Theater/2 Channel:
    Front: SDA-2ATL forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/143984/my-2as-finally-finished-almost/p1
    Center: Custom Built forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/150760/my-center-channel-project/p1
    Surrounds & Rears: Custom Built forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/151647/my-surround-project/p1
    Sonicaps, Mills, RDO-194s-198s, Dynamat, Hurricane Nuts, Blackhole5
    Pioneer Elite VSX-72TXV, Carver PM-600, SVS PB2-Plus Subwoofer

    dhsspeakerservice.com/
  • Schurkey
    Schurkey Posts: 2,100
    edited July 2014
    dhlogic wrote: »
    And if I go with an air coil inductor, the issue of saturation completely goes away doesn't it?
    Yes, but you won't have the very low DCR that makes this worthwhile.
  • dhlogic
    dhlogic Posts: 26
    edited July 2014
    westmassguy thanks for the links. I'll do some reading.

    Schurkey yep after doing some comparisons of coils with similar gauge wire, the ferric coil will have a DCR several times lower than the air core. The benefits of an air coil are not really applicable to me as I will never saturate a coil like the Erse anyways. Plus the cost difference is quite extreme.

    http://www.northcreekmusic.com/NorthCreekCoilPrices.PDF They could make a 10AWG air coil with similar DCR of the Erse, for 20x the price.

    I've been reading old posts about this for quite sometime and finally came across the one were F1nut shares a message from Matt Polk about why they chose the inductor they did and why you might want to upgrade them.

    http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?66983-Erse-Inductors
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,704
    edited July 2014
    dhlogic, I would suggest you do the other mods, tweeters, crossovers, Dynamat, spikes, rings, etc. before you mess around with the 16mH inductor as after those mods you are likely to find no further increase in bass response is desired.
    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

  • Irrenhaus
    Irrenhaus Posts: 1,082
    edited July 2014
    Hi all

    Thanks for the advice. One more question, How much Dynamat will I need?

    Cheers
    HTAVR-Pioneer SC99XPA-DR3 Differential Reference AmpPolk R-700Rear- RT150Side- RT150Center-CSi5Sub-Rythmik audio F25Player- Panasonic DP-UB9000Projector- Optoma CinemaX P2Screen- Silver Ticket Products STR Series 6 120"Audio Room 2ch rig.Cary AE-3, Onkyo M-504, Marantz SA8005, Azur 851NWharfedale - Linton, SVS SB12-NSDMinis Forum PC (streamer) and Panamax MX5105Headphone rig;Schiit JOTUNHEIM and different headphones.Samsung 42" flat screen TV.
  • westmassguy
    westmassguy Posts: 6,850
    edited July 2014
    A "Wedge Pack" will be plenty. This is the cheapest place I've found: http://www.ebay.com/itm/230606838862?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
    Home Theater/2 Channel:
    Front: SDA-2ATL forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/143984/my-2as-finally-finished-almost/p1
    Center: Custom Built forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/150760/my-center-channel-project/p1
    Surrounds & Rears: Custom Built forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/151647/my-surround-project/p1
    Sonicaps, Mills, RDO-194s-198s, Dynamat, Hurricane Nuts, Blackhole5
    Pioneer Elite VSX-72TXV, Carver PM-600, SVS PB2-Plus Subwoofer

    dhsspeakerservice.com/
  • Irrenhaus
    Irrenhaus Posts: 1,082
    Hi all,

    So I have been home for some time after getting hurt due to a fire. More on that one separate post maybe.

    So I have been taking on some projects that were on the back burner due to a lot of work and now I do have the time off and funds are available. Not the best way to get the time off, but it is what it is.

    So I have order all the components to restore the crossovers. Already have the Gimpod's boards. Dynamat is here and will for sure get spikes and hurricane nuts.

    Now I contacted Polk to get the RDO 194 and here is the reply. Not sure but I guess I am better calling.

    "Regretfully, there are no longer parts or replacements available for this product. This may simply be because or age, technological advancements, or business decisions."

    And this was my request:

    I am looking for the replacement RDO-194-1 tweeters for the Polk SDA 1C.

    Serial #
    R SDA 1 7932
    L SDA 1 7931

    Wow on the original post I said my daughter (15) will help with the upgrades. Now she is 20 but I am sure she will still be interested to help out but how fast time goes by......

    Cheers
    HTAVR-Pioneer SC99XPA-DR3 Differential Reference AmpPolk R-700Rear- RT150Side- RT150Center-CSi5Sub-Rythmik audio F25Player- Panasonic DP-UB9000Projector- Optoma CinemaX P2Screen- Silver Ticket Products STR Series 6 120"Audio Room 2ch rig.Cary AE-3, Onkyo M-504, Marantz SA8005, Azur 851NWharfedale - Linton, SVS SB12-NSDMinis Forum PC (streamer) and Panamax MX5105Headphone rig;Schiit JOTUNHEIM and different headphones.Samsung 42" flat screen TV.
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,704
    edited June 2019
    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

  • Irrenhaus
    Irrenhaus Posts: 1,082
    F1nut wrote: »

    Hi F1 thanks for the info.

    Now one question is RDO (letter O) or RD0 (zero number) that may be my mistake.

    Thanks
    HTAVR-Pioneer SC99XPA-DR3 Differential Reference AmpPolk R-700Rear- RT150Side- RT150Center-CSi5Sub-Rythmik audio F25Player- Panasonic DP-UB9000Projector- Optoma CinemaX P2Screen- Silver Ticket Products STR Series 6 120"Audio Room 2ch rig.Cary AE-3, Onkyo M-504, Marantz SA8005, Azur 851NWharfedale - Linton, SVS SB12-NSDMinis Forum PC (streamer) and Panamax MX5105Headphone rig;Schiit JOTUNHEIM and different headphones.Samsung 42" flat screen TV.
  • verb
    verb Posts: 10,176
    OMG sorry to hear you got hurt! Hope you're on the road to recovery. Another omen for me here. I need to get my 1C upgrade going again. Now where's that thread? :smile:
    Basement: Polk SDA SRS 1.2tl's, Cary SLP-05 Pre with ultimate upgrade,McIntosh MCD301 CD/SACD player, Northstar Designs Excelsio DAC, Cambridge 851N streamer, McIntosh MC300 Amp, Silnote Morpheus Ref2, Series2 Digital Cables, Silnote Morpheus Ref2 Series2 XLR's, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Pangea Power Cables, MIT Shotgun S3 IC's, MIT Shotgun S1 Bi-Wire speaker cables
    Office: PC, EAR Acute CD Player, EAR 834L Pre, Northstar Designs Intenso DAC, Antique Sound Labs AV8 Monoblocks, Denon UDR-F10 Cassette, Acoustic Technologies Classic FR Speakers, SVS SB12 Plus sub, MIT AVt2 speaker cables, IFI Purifier2, AQ Cinnamon USB cable, Groneberg Quatro Reference IC's
    Spare Room: Dayens Ampino Integrated Amp, Tjoeb 99 tube CD player (modified Marantz CD-38), Analysis Plus Oval 9's, Zu Jumpers, AudioEngine B1 Streamer, Klipsch RB-61 v2, SVS PB1000 sub, Blue Jeans RCA IC's, Shunyata Hydra 8 Power Conditioner
    Living Room: Peachtree Nova Integrated, Cambridge CXN v2 Streamer, Rotel RCD-1072 CD player, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Polk RT265 In Wall Speakers, Polk DSW Pro 660wi sub
    Garage #1: Cambridge Audio 640A Integrated Amp, Project Box-E BT Streamer, Polk Tsi200 Bookies, Douglas Speaker Cables, Shunyata Power Conditioner
    Garage #2: Cambridge Audio EVO150 Integrated Amplifier, Polk L200's, Analysis Plus Silver Oval 2 Speaker Cables, IC's TBD.
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,704
    Irrenhaus wrote: »
    F1nut wrote: »

    Hi F1 thanks for the info.

    Now one question is RDO (letter O) or RD0 (zero number) that may be my mistake.

    Thanks

    It's a zero.
    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

  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,474
    Unfortunately I was told when i ordered my RD-0198's once all the 194/198's were gone there'd be no more ordered by Polk....
    Damn shame
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,704
    I'm sure it's because someone at Polk thinks as long as they support the original SDA's it will affect the sales of the new ones. Of course, they couldn't be more wrong.

    My understanding is that Midwest is planning to have the tweeters made, so all hope is not lost.
    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

  • Schurkey
    Schurkey Posts: 2,100
    F1nut wrote: »
    I'm sure it's because someone at Polk thinks as long as they support the original SDA's it will affect the sales of the new ones. Of course, they couldn't be more wrong.

    My understanding is that Midwest is planning to have the tweeters made, so all hope is not lost.
    I'm betting Polk has figured out that the Chinese supplier can't maintain proper quality control, and they'd rather dump the RD0-series replacements than deal with the defects.

    I'm not holding my breath on Midwest finding a better supplier. I bet they go right back to the same supplier that Polk dumped. But what do I know?
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,704
    Nope, that's not it.
    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

  • Toolfan66
    Toolfan66 Posts: 16,834
    pitdogg2 wrote: »
    Unfortunately I was told when i ordered my RD-0198's once all the 194/198's were gone there'd be no more ordered by Polk....
    Damn shame
    F1nut wrote: »
    I'm sure it's because someone at Polk thinks as long as they support the original SDA's it will affect the sales of the new ones. Of course, they couldn't be more wrong.

    My understanding is that Midwest is planning to have the tweeters made, so all hope is not lost.

    Shame, they couldn't be more wrong in my house, hope the quality is the same it was years ago or better with Midwest, guess I should have ordered a few extra a few years ago..

  • Irrenhaus
    Irrenhaus Posts: 1,082
    Okay order has been done for the RD0-194.
    Will be here in a few days.
    HTAVR-Pioneer SC99XPA-DR3 Differential Reference AmpPolk R-700Rear- RT150Side- RT150Center-CSi5Sub-Rythmik audio F25Player- Panasonic DP-UB9000Projector- Optoma CinemaX P2Screen- Silver Ticket Products STR Series 6 120"Audio Room 2ch rig.Cary AE-3, Onkyo M-504, Marantz SA8005, Azur 851NWharfedale - Linton, SVS SB12-NSDMinis Forum PC (streamer) and Panamax MX5105Headphone rig;Schiit JOTUNHEIM and different headphones.Samsung 42" flat screen TV.
  • Gerres26
    Gerres26 Posts: 859
    I guess I better hold onto my couple spare 198's that have broken tabs and repair them for a rainy day