POLK SDA 1A'S

brentkendall
brentkendall Posts: 70
edited February 2016 in Vintage Speakers
Anyone out there in Polk land own a pair of SDA 1A'S . I am really considering buying a pair . I have been checking out the SDA 2's also but the SDA 1A's have the extra set of mids and an other tweeter , just seems like it would be a lot fuller sound . Unfortunately they are all over 3 hours away anytime SDA's pop up , so they aren't really convenient just to go audition them unless I planned a day trip or something . Not really a fan of traffic at all, lol, but then again who is ? LOL. All of your thoughts would be very welcome . I am running a Marantz 2325 through a pair of SDA CRS speakers right now and they sound amazing ! I am in a 10' by 12' room and just wanted to step up to the SDA floor speakers for that deep bass !

Comments

  • westmassguy
    westmassguy Posts: 6,850
    The 1As are 2nd generation. Those extra mid-woofers are strictly for bass, to compensate for the inverted signal being produced by the dimensional woofer.
    The extra tweeters are part of the dimensional circuit, and were eliminated by the 3rd generation. They're not needed, and can cause odd, phasey effects with certain sources. A better choice, would be a pair of 1B/Cs or 2A/Bs. That being said, I believe in another post, you said you have the single tweeter CRS+s. Those are perfect for a room that size. You'd be better served spending your money upgrading the CRS+s, rather than buying larger Polks, which may overpower the room.
    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/
  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,477
    plus you'll need a good amp to run them they're 4ohm and dip lower...
  • Rex81
    Rex81 Posts: 193
    Bigger is not always better. You have a pretty small room. If you must have more bass, I'd think the 2Bs would be the biggest I would want in that room. Even those would tax your Marantz. They'd sound better with 200+ watts. I ran my 2Bs with a TOTL Yamaha with 125 wpc and they were falling all over themselves.
  • Rex81
    Rex81 Posts: 193
    So I meant to say I think westmassguy is right. Save yourself a drive and put your money into upgrading the CRS. Or buy a bigger house and get one of the SRS models. B)
  • machone
    machone Posts: 1,471
    I have 1A's that that are fully modded with the dimensional tweeter delete. They sound great but cost a lot of money and took whole lot of work to upgrade and as mentioned they are 4 ohm or less. I would upgrade the CRS+s or look for a later generation.
    Mojo Audio Illuminati v3>>Quantum Byte w/LMS>>Rpi/PiCoreplayer>> Starlight 7 USB >> Mojo Audio Mystique v2 SE>>ModWright SWL 9.0 SE Signature>>Hafler DH-500 Amp+ (Musical Concepts Fully Modded)>>
    SRS 2.3TL (Fully Modded)...Velodyne Optimum 8 subwoofer
    1KVA Dreadnought

    Marantz SA 8005
    Pioneer PLX-1000 Turntable - Shure SC35C/N35X - V15III/VN35HE
    Yamaha TX-540 Tuner...Sony BDP-S570
    Sony PS4

    Separate subpanel with four dedicated 20 amp circuits.
    1. Amplification 2. Analog 3. Digital 4. Video

    "All THAT IS LOST FROM THE SOURCE IS LOST FOREVER"
  • @westmassguy , @ pitdogg2, @Rex81, @ machone , I appreciate all the advice . The Local seller did say he spent about 200.00 on the best possible upgraded speakers for his SDA 1 a's but it sounds like from what everyone is saying here is that it is still best to stay with the SDA CRS 's I have for my room size and that the SDA 1a's are power hungry . I will take everyones advice until I move into a larger room . Until then I can always upgrade the CRS's . AS far as the upgrade to the CRS's does anyone have a link for an article that tells me how to go about it , what is involved and the cost . I would probably just pay the local seller I bought the CRS's from to do it for me . Thanks again you guys rock ! Saves me a long trip and some cash !
  • voltz
    voltz Posts: 5,384
    check out this thread
    http://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/169838/sda-crs-crs-something-different#latest

    Those are my CRS+'s that Dave (westmassguy) did for me and now I believe I own the best pair of CRS' out there :)
    2 ch- Polk CRS+ * Vincent SA-31MK Preamp * Vincent Sp-331 Amp * Marantz SA8005 SACD * Project Xperience Classic TT * Sumiko Blue Point #2 MC cartridge

    HT - Polk 703's * NAD T-758 * Adcom 5503 * Oppo 103 * Samsung 60" series 8 LCD
  • gimpod
    gimpod Posts: 1,793
    edited February 2016
    Look here for ideas on up grading those CRS+,s My SDA CRS+ Upgrade thread and my site in my sig. Warning Dueland Resistors are about $50 each, Mills are about $4 each.

    $200 hmm, Sound like he just updated the tweeters as there is no upgraded 6.5" drivers for any of the SDA's.

    Also if your not comfortable doing these yourself contact @westmassguy through DHS Speaker Service I'm sure he'd be willing to help you out.
    “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” ~ Mark Twain
  • @gimpod , thanks very much for the info , sounds like @westmassguy is definitely the go to guy for the upgrades . Thanks again !
  • I'm West Michigan and would be willing to loan out my unused A-1's to a polkie, where are you located?
    Main Family Room: Sony 46 LCD, Sony Blue Ray, Sony DVD/VCR combo,Onkyo TXNR 708, Parasound 5250,
    Polk SDS-SRS with mods, CSI 5 center + Klipsch SC2, Polk RT2000P rears, Klipsch KG 1.5's sides, Polk Micro Pro 1000, Polk Micro Pro 2000, Polk SW505, Belkin PF60, Signal Cable Classics,Monster IC's, 2 15 amp circuits & 1 20 amp circuit.

    Living Room: Belkin PF60, Parasound HCA2200, MIT ProlineEXP balanced IC's,Emotiva XDA-1 DAC/Pre,Emotiva ERC2 transport,MIT AVT2, Polk LSI 9's.
  • @voltz , Looking back at this old thread I didn't realize that I you had added this to my thread I am very sorry for not thanking you for the reply . I never got any email alerts about this thread so I just thought the thread was done. I appreciate your advice about contacting westmass guy! I ended up not buying the SDA 1 A's but here I am on another thread just a day or two ago asking advice on buying A set of SDA 2a's or Sda srs 2's and the overwhelming advice for my small room is that the SDS SRS 2's are definitely too big for my room . So I am considering the SDA 2a's or possibly just getting an amp to push my SDA CRS's and also possibly modding my SDa CRS's. Wanted to thank you again for your advice .
  • @michael1947 , I checked this old thread and saw that I never saw the post about you possibly lending a pair of speakers out to demo . That is really kind of you to even offer that and apologize that I did not see this post from you . I am very far in California so it wouldn't even be possible but I really do appreciate the offer . If you read just one post up I mention everything that I am considering at this time in my life as far as another set of Polk's , adding an amp or possibly doing some mods to my SDA CRS 's . Thanks again .