Polk Audio SDA Internal Cabinet Wiring
VSAT88
Posts: 914
What wire are you guys using to re wire/upgrade the wire in the cabinets themselves. I have done some searching before posting and there are wildly different opinions about this. Of course, because its about wire! I read that some have used 14 AWG marine tin coated copper and that sounds like a affordable option to me at $10.00 per 25 ft in any color. Eventually I want to 1. Buy Gimpod boards to re build my crossovers or 2. build my own point to point on wood boards that I would mount inside the cabs. At that time I would need re wire the cabinets. So what do you guys use ? Thanks.
Comments
"No, that's silly talk. Dude, you can't possibly be this audio dumb so quit the act." - Doro
Looks really good to me. Madisound ?
If you go point to point, you can combine certain wires to consolidate everything to the jacket. IE: 1.2TL you can do 5 wires (+jumpers) versus 8
"No, that's silly talk. Dude, you can't possibly be this audio dumb so quit the act." - Doro
"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
No complaints here but the price put me off when they raised it. I haven't looked in a long time i do not know if parts connexion carries it any more.
"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
Price "can" be reasonable on eBay as it's military/aviation surplus.
All differences in the "sound" of wiring are due to L, C, R, plus noise of the conductor(s). There is NO magic.
I get that.
I went from 30 YO stock wiring to Cardas Litz 15.5 Ga and the difference was dramatic. I tried to A/B the left to the right, one being stock and one upgraded to the Litz, and the tonal difference was enough that you couldn't really listen to both at the same time...was all over the place.
I also soldered my speaker terminals, not sure how much difference that made, but safe bet the wire was responsible for most of it.
Will be using that wire to secure binding posts to the crossover network.
Looking forward to any improvements the fresh wire will bring.
How many feet did this project take?
I purchased 104 ft. for both speakers, including binding post to x-overs. Looks like I'm going to have about 6 ft. left over.
A 100 ft. should catch it, but I wanted to make sure. I will utilize the excess on other speakers...providing this upgrade does make a difference.
"No, that's silly talk. Dude, you can't possibly be this audio dumb so quit the act." - Doro
When I do mine I am thinking of soldering all my wire directly to the x over and the binding posts as well. At the speakers would be a different story. There I will use crimp connectors soldered to the internal wiring.
The AudioQuest GO-4 wire I installed in my SDA 1.2TLs is solid core wire in a "hyper Litz" configuration: each 15 AWG conductor is a twisted pair of a 17 AWG and a 20 AWG conductor.
The Cardas wire I installed in my SDA SRSs and SDA CRS+s is stranded, individually insulated Litz wire, for an effective wire gauge of 15.5 AWG.
Yes, rewiring my SDAs provided audible improvements in sound quality. I have rewired my 1.2TLs twice. First with Cardas wire, then with AudioQuest GO-4. Details are in these threads:
https://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/139282/cardas-internal-wire-replacement-for-the-sda-srs-1-2tl/p1
https://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/141258/audioquest-go-4-internal-wire-replacement-for-the-sda-srs-1-2tl/p1
https://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/143888/tweaking-home-theater-pt-8-cardas-wire-for-front-stage-speakers
https://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/157041/cardas-internal-wire-upgrade-for-the-sda-crs-1989-version
"Polk SDA-SRSs are hopelessly out of date both sonically and technologically... I see no value whatsoever in older SDA speakers."~Audio Asylum Member
"Knowledge, without understanding, is a path to failure."~DK
"Those who irrationally rail against something or someone that is no threat to them, actually desire (or desire to be like) the thing or person they are railing against."~DK
My 2.3tls had 16 ga. I went larger to 14ga when I rewired mine.
This is what I ordered and that came in yesterday .
"Supra Classic 1.6 Speaker Cable by the running foot
15AWG, Tin plated OFC copper, Ion stable PVC Ice Blue Jacket."
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There is about a 5% genetic difference between apes and men …but that difference is the difference between throwing your own poo when you are annoyed …and Einstein, Shakespeare and Miss January. by Dr. Sardonicus