Interconnect cable Bypass?

ooklaa · February 2015

ok first off I do not want to make anyone mad or angry by doing or asking something different or untraditional. I just want to know if it can be done. I have opened up some of the tweeters, mid woofers and also the passive to take a peek inside. but I have not opened up the crossover yet to check out wiring.

So can the inside of one speaker be rewired so that I can use it as a traditional speaker? I want to have all Hi/lo playing on one side with the IC cable plugged in.

please lets just stick to the question as I am sure a lot of you aren't gonna like this.

ooklaa · February 2015

can you be a little more specific on why it would sound awful? not gonna butcher anything my hands on skills are above normal.

just wanna know if I can get all drivers working without the IC cable.

ooklaa · February 2015

In all serious, this is a forum board. We all come to ask questions, read, learn and tinker around.

ZLTFUL · February 2015

The entire crossover is designed to work in that manner.
The cabinets are designed to work in that manner.
The drivers are wired to work in that manner.

So lets say you want to do what you are planning.
First things first, take the entire crossover and toss it in the garbage because it would be utterly useless for your desired purposes.

Now lets build a crossover from scratch.

See where I am getting at?
When your SDAs were originally designed (here comes that engineering), they were designed with the "whole package" in mind. Everything from the amount of mass used for the passive radiator to the way they are wired to even the grille cloth that was used was chosen to be used specifically in a manner to reduce inter-aural cross talk.

Honestly, you are trying to reinvent something that, and don't take this personally, you have far too little knowledge of.
You're better off selling the SDAs and picking up a traditional speaker. Otherwise, angry Polkies not withstanding, you're opening a can of worms that you will most likely never be happy with.

ooklaa · February 2015

every professional speaker enclosure is built to specific standards. why would it change the crossover? the cabinets are identical. the only thing i see it doing is taking the SDA effect away.

from the born date of these speakers to now their have been tons of modifications. so pretty much to date the only thing that is original is the cabinent.

ZLTFUL · February 2015

At this point, I am going to reiterate that you don't know enough to even realize how big of an undertaking you are proposing.

You know why you don't see speakers out there that look like SDAs?
Because the baffle and driver layout was engineered specifically for the job.
The frequency roll-offs would be different based on the drivers playing all the same signal versus the drivers playing 2 different signals.

Considering how argumentative you became in your other thread, I am going to just say it is a bad idea for all of the reasons I stated in my previous post and this one and just bow out of the conversation now.

You are trying to sell yourself on something that you really shouldn't be. The SDA sound isn't for everyone. Just like JBLs or Klipschs aren't for everyone. Rather than butcher a classic speaker (because you will be butchering them chasing a unicorn), why not sell them and find something you actually like?

ooklaa · February 2015

o boy o boy. guess im just some ignorant 13 year old boy that just loves to get some forum members standing on their toes. i got defensive in my last thread because members got offensive first.

have you personally opened up the sdas? i am trying to ask questions that I probably already have the answer for. just looking to see if their are any unicorn chasers here. not members who are quick to judge.

ooklaa · February 2015

im trying to have fun with a hobby.

BlueFox · February 2015

Can't you just remove the interconnect cable if want 'traditional' speakers? What is the point of having it connected, and re-engineering the insides to remove it?

ooklaa · February 2015

you stating i am ignorant makes you ignorant. you judge when you shouldn't be, i do not have my sdas in a competition for you to judge them, i also am not designing speaker cabinets.

ooklaa · February 2015

YES I WANT ALL DRIVERS GOING!

i don't want to start arguments, i just want to try knew things.

and if it don't work then we start all over again.

ooklaa · February 2015

going to bed buddies talk to you tomorrow. gotta wake up early and shovel some dam snow.

ZLTFUL · February 2015

I have opened my SDAs. I have done complete upgrades on the crossovers. But changing them? That would make me stupid to think that I can do better than one of the best minds in the business.

God I wish the bozo list was still around.

You're being a conceited **** if you think that your "idea" will work better than Matthew Polk's idea. I will go with the guy who made millions designing and selling speakers over the guy who gets offended when people try to educate him.

boston1450 · February 2015

I smell something funny

Dennis Gardner · February 2015

I will let you all know if I can see the smoke signals when he hooks all 12 in parallel....since we share indian territory.

nooshinjohn · February 2015

when I got my second pair of 1.2TL's, they were wired the way the OP is proposing, and they sounded great with the stock crossovers bypassed and everything run through and active XO... I got them home and they sounded like dog excrement, with a little rotten animal flesh to boot.

Thankfully the original crossovers were intact and I re-wired them properly. Bottom line is that these are SDA-SRS, designed to operate in a very specific manner. If the OP wants to do what he is proposing, my suggestion would be to sell them and buy something else.

My second suggestion would be for the OP to understand that we are not talking out our a$$es here. We have been using these speakers in some cases 40 YEARS, and there are many here that have forgotten more about these speakers than the original engineering team ever knew.

We are here to help, but if you continue treating those trying to help you by thinking you know more than they do, the only fool here would be you, and the more you insult those trying to help, the fewer of us will give two shyiznits about sharing any knowledge with you beyond telling you how to pound sand.

F1nut · February 2015

he has the SDA's toed in as well.

Too funny.....

ooklaa · February 2015

Went and did the snow with my snowblower so im back. i throw out a couple of different ideas and everyone goes all apecrap.

everyone is putting words in my mouth. Never stated i know more then anybody. In fact I stated many times do what you like and ill do what i like. I stated many times i like this and you like that. I also stated that that a 22,000 amp does not sound 20,000 dollars better then a 2,000 dollar amp. So you guys just saying **** im not saying. I don't need to prove to you how good i am in audio. Cause last time i checked 50,000+ people came to see the shows i have worked in. I dont think 50 people came to see your home theater setup.

Great you have super duper knowledge for the polks, Im not saying you dont. Call me names and put me down because i wanna do things different then you. I domt give a fukc. In the end you dont know what your doing right unitl you habe done it wrong. And if none of you have done what im saying then your all talking out of your azzez.

nooshinjohn wrote: »

when I got my second pair of 1.2TL's, they were wired the way the OP is proposing, and they sounded great with the stock crossovers bypassed and everything run through and active XO... I got them home and they sounded like dog excrement, with a little rotten animal flesh to boot.

Thankfully the original crossovers were intact and I re-wired them properly. Bottom line is that these are SDA-SRS, designed to operate in a very specific manner. If the OP wants to do what he is proposing, my suggestion would be to sell them and buy something else.

Well maybe ill just do that use outboard gear for crossovers and seperate channels to power everything. Dont know cause i have tested anything yet. Thats why where talking about it and all of you are jumping the gun. you stated yourself they sounded great.

Why would i buy something else? Because i want to use them differently then how you do?

You guys take questions people ask and turn them into arguements.

F1nut · February 2015

I want to have all Hi/lo playing on one side with the IC cable plugged in.

just wanna know if I can get all drivers working without the IC cable.

So, which do you want?

FYI, even with the SDA cable disconnected the SDA drivers are producing frequencies below 150Hz.

chandler9a · February 2015

To the OP, I can understand the curiosity here, they are big and impressive and it seems like all of those drivers running together would sound great... or cool at least.

I think what others are trying to say is, these speakers are different, not like any other that have been designed and many of us cherish that. It's not for everyone, nor should it be, that's what makes this hobby fun.

Some guys here would LOVE to get their hands on a pair of SDA's, even if it were just to hear what they do, but they don't make them anymore and not everyone has the resources to own a pair for whatever reason...space, availability, WAF or maybe even high price tags.

SO, I would personally rather see these go to someone who has never had the chance to experience the sound (great sound), then to see them go through a design change that they were never meant to have. They are your property and I agree that you may do whatever you like with them, but please at least do a lot of research before you make that decision. If you find that what these guys are saying is true, and if they aren't for you (which is fine), I am sure someone would be delighted to get them.

brgman · February 2015

ooklaa these guys are just sticks in the mud
you should do the bypass
it will give you sound you never imagined

F1nut · February 2015

I also stated that that a 22,000 amp does not sound 20,000 dollars better then a 2,000 dollar amp.

How would you know because I know you don't have a $22k amp. Besides that, trying to make that kind of comparision in this hobby only shows your lack of knowledge/experience.

ooklaa · February 2015

Guys i will not screw up these speakers i promise. Most of the time, my of the wall ideas are silly but i say em out loud cause i do get a good one once in a while lol.

Their you go again saying that pro audio doesnt mean good audio. Sitting in your house with all the time in the wolrd to make something sound good is easy my man. Now i did monitors not FOH, every venue is different, every climate is different, the talent play different. I can keep going on and on. Do you even know how hard it is to get these guys to sound good? Your right I dont know alot about thse speakers right now, because to be honset with you i havent even finished my room and gotten to play with them yet. As for the smart guy telling my my avatar picture shows the speaker toe is kicked in lol. The speaker is not even hooked up, just thought it would be cool to put my daughter next to it amd take a picture.

Like i said you guys have all gone crazy and judged me. In my world we did what we had to do because well because when the shitnhit the fan we cant hit pause and run to home depot, or polk audio store to get something. We fixed everything live and in seconds! We dont have time to sit back and read a forum to brainstorm everything.

I wish i had the mentalitly of some of you, i just dont sorry. Thats why im not picky and im quick to change what someone has been doing one way for so long.

nooshinjohn · February 2015

This hobby of audiophile quality sound is an acquired taste that involves evolution, slowly making changes and learning as we grow in our experience and understanding. You can't expect things to make quick, wholesale changes and find your way. Even spending stupid money on the top rated gear wont guarantee great sound.

My suggestion is to SLOW down and learn about what you have currently, listen to the advice of others that do have more experience and go from there.

tonyb · February 2015

ooklaa wrote: »

Thats why im not picky and im quick to change what someone has been doing one way for so long.

As long as your wallet is deep enough, experiment away. There's a reason why so many do things one certain way, it's called "experience" with these speakers, something you don't have. Yet you keep asking their advice and are willing to accept none of it.

pongshi · February 2015

Your speakers, do what you want, but this is a website dedicated to Polk and it's vision. I also delve in to collecting Mosin Nagant rifles. Collectors get very offended when someone decides they are going to "Bubba" theses rifles. A classic car collector would feel the same way, if you decided you were going to change the basic design of a prized collectible car.

There are other audio sites where people do modifications to speakers, but when you come here and talk about changing an SDA speaker in a way that alters the original design, you are not going to get a ticker tape parade. This post is not meant to demean you, just help you understand.

tonyb · February 2015

The SDA's are a proprietary design, they only work "one" way. Now if you want to remove the crossovers and drivers and start over just using the empty cabinet, different story. That however is an undertaking that some have mentioned and certainly not a cheap route either.

tratliff · February 2015

You stated that the speakers are not even setup yet. Why not get them setup correctly, powered correctly and sit down for a couple of 100 hours and listen. Once you understand what they are capable of and how an upgrade might change the sound signature then go for it.

I have a pair and have debated over upgrades for awhile. The items I have upgraded have done wonders to what I thought was great sound when I started. I have also purchased a different set of speakers that I am comparing to the SDA's. Both have pros and cons but it really comes down to what you like.

ooklaa · February 2015

F1nut wrote: »

I also stated that that a 22,000 amp does not sound 20,000 dollars better then a 2,000 dollar amp.

How would you know because I know you don't have a $22k amp. Besides that, trying to make that kind of comparision in this hobby only shows your lack of knowledge/experience.

I dont own one no and would never either, but i have stated in ofher posts that i have been in many many high end home theater rooms and they just didnt give back what the owner put in.

Im not a hater either. If you are lucky enough to have the money to buy gear in the six, seven figure range do it. Get what makes you happy. But please dont tell me its better cause it costs more.

flnut thats just dumb man, real dumb. Just looking at some of your signature equipment i can see you dont own any high end amps either buddy.

westmassguy · February 2015

I would advise studying the Schematics for your SRSs, and the SDA Handbook, to fully understand what SDAs are, and what Interaural crosstalk cancellation is. The Tweeters are a progressive point source. Each tweeter receives a slightly different signal, to prevent or mitigate floor and ceiling reflections. The output of Tweeter array is also balanced to the four Stereo Woofers. The Dimensional Woofers do not contribute to the overall SPL of the speaker except as F1 noted, below 150 Hz. Above 150 Hz, they receive a reduced, out-of-phase signal from the opposite channel. By wiring all eight woofers and tweeters off the same channel, you throw the entire design out the window. The combined output of all eight woofers receiving the same signal, will overpower the tweeter's output, and they'll sound like S**T
Just my two cents.

ooklaa · February 2015

Man cave is under construction. Things won't get dome probably unitl summer time.

Interconnect cable Bypass?

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