I ended up with 2 left SDA SRS 2.3's from craigslist, now what?

24

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  • Sorry about all the questions I'm new to Polk and just learning.
  • audioluvr
    audioluvr Posts: 5,420
    With the amp off and unplugged, put an ohm meter between the two negative speaker terminals. What amp are you running?
    Gustard X26 Pro DAC
    Belles 21A Pre modded with Mundorf Supreme caps
    B&K M200 Sonata monoblocks refreshed and upgraded
    Polk SDA 1C's modded / 1000Va Dreadnaught
    Wireworld Silver Eclipse IC's and speaker cables
    Harman Kardon T65C w/Grado Gold. (Don't laugh. It sounds great!)


    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
  • nooshinjohn
    nooshinjohn Posts: 25,034
    Maybe post some pics so we can help you on your path.
    The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD

    “When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson
  • I have an old Mcintosh MC2100 and a Perreaux 2150B but I am selling the 2150B to fund these two left speakers.... What happens when I put the ohm meter between the two negative speaker terminals to tell me its common ground? I will be sure to turn off and unplug.
  • I think it's best to just swap the stereo and SDA drivers along with their wires and make a right speaker from a left. Thank you again for all the help, I'm starting to feel better with all the support from this site. These speakers are so good looking and if I start cutting I'm afraid I may never get the front finish to look right.
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,708
    Those are 2.3TL's. Forget the swapping info I posted earlier as that will not work with your speakers.

    If you part them out I'll take both PR's.
    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

  • not blacked our, its silver foil and that must be a shadow or something
  • numbers are clear and easy to read, stickers on the back are in great shape
  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,474
    F1nut wrote: »
    Those are 2.3TL's. Forget the swapping info I posted earlier as that will not work with your speakers.

    If you part them out I'll take both PR's.

    Hmm maybe someone has already mentioned that.
  • Crap, I'm confused sorry did not know these are 2.3TL's, thank you. Any ideas? I am willing to modify them and pay a pro to cut and paste.
  • That's good I guess I got the good left ones, how the heck can I mod these guy safe? does anyone know if the internals are the same and I can just move 2 drivers and plug 2 holes? And them will it be safe to use the interconnect?
  • verb
    verb Posts: 10,176
    edited September 2019
    Hey @John312 first of all welcome to CP! I may say, you sure made a splash for sure! I feel your pain, as they do look minty.

    As Jesse @F1nut said if these indeed are monocoque construction, that will be much more difficult job to modify. I abandoned the idea of trying to upgrade my SRS's gen 1 to a monocoque cabinet. Details on the insides of your cabinet are sketchy, AFAIK there is little documentation out there.

    You can take the driver's out (which you'll have to do anyway) and take a look! From there you'll get an idea if it is even possible to modify the cabinet.

    How are your woodworking skills?

    Let us know, and good luck!
    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.
  • I was going to pay a pro to modify the cabinets, but I really need to know if the internals ate identical and all I need to do is move a few drivers. I am worried that these is some fancy wizardry going on inside that's above my home brew Macgyver skills... They actually sound decent, but I really want the whole experience.
  • Hoping I can just move two drivers from the right to left and plug two holes....but that sounds too good to be true?
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,708
    pitdogg2 wrote: »
    F1nut wrote: »
    Those are 2.3TL's. Forget the swapping info I posted earlier as that will not work with your speakers.

    If you part them out I'll take both PR's.

    Hmm maybe someone has already mentioned that.

    Sorry Ivan, yours if he parts out.
    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

  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,708
    John312 wrote: »
    I was going to pay a pro to modify the cabinets, but I really need to know if the internals ate identical and all I need to do is move a few drivers. I am worried that these is some fancy wizardry going on inside that's above my home brew Macgyver skills... They actually sound decent, but I really want the whole experience.

    You want a mirror image of the left speaker, drivers and wiring..
    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

  • verb
    verb Posts: 10,176
    John312 wrote: »
    I was going to pay a pro to modify the cabinets, but I really need to know if the internals ate identical and all I need to do is move a few drivers. I am worried that these is some fancy wizardry going on inside that's above my home brew Macgyver skills... They actually sound decent, but I really want the whole experience.

    Without drawings, the only way is to open the hood! :)
    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.
  • FestYboy
    FestYboy Posts: 3,861
    @westmassguy could step in here and explain the crossover details and whyit can't or how it might work... 2 holes won't be difficult, especially if you use a textured wrap on the baffles after removing the original.
  • audioluvr
    audioluvr Posts: 5,420
    edited September 2019
    @John312 check your messages. All six drivers are the same in the TL series so swapping drivers is not necessary. Simply swap the wiring between the two center drivers on one speaker. Then see how it sounds. As for your Mac it appears it's common ground but I would double check with an ohm meter anyways just to check. If it's common the meter will peg out (same as if you put the two test wires together).
    Gustard X26 Pro DAC
    Belles 21A Pre modded with Mundorf Supreme caps
    B&K M200 Sonata monoblocks refreshed and upgraded
    Polk SDA 1C's modded / 1000Va Dreadnaught
    Wireworld Silver Eclipse IC's and speaker cables
    Harman Kardon T65C w/Grado Gold. (Don't laugh. It sounds great!)


    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
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,708
    FestYboy wrote: »
    @westmassguy could step in here and explain the crossover details and whyit can't or how it might work... 2 holes won't be difficult, especially if you use a textured wrap on the baffles after removing the original.

    The crossovers are exactly the same. The drivers and wiring are mirror images.
    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

  • Emlyn
    Emlyn Posts: 4,346
    Apart from swapping drivers in what would become the right channel speaker, a possible simple fix instead of trying to patch large holes in mdf could be to cut two new holes in each cabinet and purchase and place dummy midwoofer drivers in them that are not hooked up. Won't be as perfect as they were originally made, but it could be a fairly simple DIY job with a hole saw and a compact router. They would be symmetrical, which is really important with these speakers. And they would be unique!

    That's assuming the current drivers and crossovers are all in proper working order. My guess is they may not be since the two right channel speakers disappeared somewhere.

    First step would be to open up the speakers by removing all the drivers to see what things look like inside. Forum members can provide lots of advice from photos.
  • Nightfall
    Nightfall Posts: 10,042
    Emlyn wrote: »
    Apart from swapping drivers in what would become the right channel speaker, a possible simple fix instead of trying to patch large holes in mdf could be to cut two new holes in each cabinet and purchase and place dummy midwoofer drivers in them that are not hooked up. Won't be as perfect as they were originally made, but it could be a fairly simple DIY job with a hole saw and a compact router. They would be symmetrical, which is really important with these speakers. And they would be unique!

    That's assuming the current drivers and crossovers are all in proper working order. My guess is they may not be since the two right channel speakers disappeared somewhere.

    First step would be to open up the speakers by removing all the drivers to see what things look like inside. Forum members can provide lots of advice from photos.

    Wouldn't the dummy drivers sort of act like passive radiators in this instance throwing off the tuning of everything?
    afterburnt wrote: »
    They didn't speak a word of English, they were from South Carolina.

    Village Idiot of Club Polk
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,708
    The extra non-powered drivers would then act as additional passive radiators, which I do not believe to be a good thing.
    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

  • They sound good now and all seem to be working. When I take them out what kind of damage am I looking for? Will it be obvious if something is askew?
  • FestYboy
    FestYboy Posts: 3,861
    F1nut wrote: »
    Those are 2.3TL's. Forget the swapping info I posted earlier as that will not work with your speakers.
    .
    audioluvr wrote: »
    @John312 check your messages. All six drivers are the same in the TL series so swapping drivers is not necessary.

    I see I misread your post Jesse. I initially took it as "there is no good way to correct this issue by swapping drivers", and inferred that there was an XO issue involved as well. I stand (lay, sit, depending on my current position) corrected.


    So, given that it is now known that this situation can be rather easily corrected, I still stand by my statement of using textured wrap to mask the filled in holes. If done correctly, it will be a seamless and undetectable repair.
  • DarqueKnight
    DarqueKnight Posts: 6,760
    edited September 2019
    John312 wrote: »
    I found a mint pair of SRS 2.3's on craigslist brought them home and found out they are both left speakers?

    Just when I think there is nothing new under the sun SDA-wise, someone comes up with a new trick.
    John312 wrote: »
    Am I screwed or can I still use them and will they still good?

    Yes, you are screwed. No you can't use them as they were designed/intended. Good sound is relative. They definitely won't sound good compared to a properly functioning left and right stereo pair with the SDA cable connected.

    What you are asking is equivalent to saying someone sent you two left boots and asking if one of the left boots can be converted into a right boot and if you can still walk in them. Sure, you can rip one of the left boots apart and make a new right sole and heel, but it won't be a perfect match to the left...no matter what. Your legs, feet, back, and knee and hip joints will know something is wrong.

    Likewise, transforming one of the left speakers into a makeshift right speaker will result in an acoustically mismatched pair at the least, and destroying or seriously damaging the cabinet at the most.

    If you had been shipped two left shoes, I'm sure you would return them. The best outcome here would be for you to return these and get a refund.
    John312 wrote: »
    I have not hooked a cable between them because I'm concerned it may damage something in my amp or the speakers.

    You should be more concerned about whether the previous owner hooked the cable between them and damaged them.

    Let me make sure I have this straight: There was no mention in the ad or during pickup that both of the speakers were left units?

    I am sitting on the edge of my chair wanting to know how the previous owner ended up with two left SDA 2.3TLs.
    Proud and loyal citizen of the Digital Domain and Solid State Country!
  • FestYboy
    FestYboy Posts: 3,861
    Emlyn wrote: »
    Apart from swapping drivers in what would become the right channel speaker, a possible simple fix instead of trying to patch large holes in mdf could be to cut two new holes in each cabinet and purchase and place dummy midwoofer drivers in them that are not hooked up. Won't be as perfect as they were originally made, but it could be a fairly simple DIY job with a hole saw and a compact router. They would be symmetrical, which is really important with these speakers. And they would be unique!

    Doing this would cause tuning issues unless you locked up the dummy drivers. With them unlocked, they would become something similar to a passive radiator, and could introduce odd spikes or dips in the response.
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,708
    edited September 2019
    The 2 right channel speakers were selling on eBay back in 2006. Read my first post on page one in this thread.

    https://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/37315/sda-srs-2-3-setup-question
    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

  • Hey Darqueknight, thanks for your thoughts. No mention of this in the ad or when I picked them up additionally I am new and somewhat naive when it comes to Polk Audio, this is my first leap into what I thought would be a great experience. Now I just want to try and fix the situation and get some enjoyment out of what are great speakers. The previous owner said he purchased them from an estate 15 years ago and never used them with the interconnect cable. They were backed against the wall when I arrived. I did not even know there was a left and right until I saw the sticker on the back after I took them home I asked for a refund or some compensation, but he is ghosting me. I would be honest with this forum if I knowingly bought 2 lefty's and was seeking help. But that' not the case and I did get burned. He mentioned the Estate had lots of audio gear, I suspect he was sold to lefts from the estate and figured it out sometime over the years