Moving house - 1.2 TL SDA Speaker transportation

Hi all,

Needing a bit of advice, I am moving house and am looking at options for shipping my Polk Audio 1.2 TL speakers. When I purchased these I hired a van and moved them myself, but seeing as this time it is interstate I don't have that option.

Just wondering if fellow members might be able to provide some tips/advice in regards to packaging and protecting these speakers for shipping.

Any and all advice greatly appreciated :)

Comments

  • txcoastal1
    txcoastal1 Posts: 13,124
    Loctite Power Grab the magnets, Lay on back and ship via freight on pallet

    Modify large wardrobe boxes and use insulation board ti fill in the gaps
    2-channel: Modwright KWI-200 Integrated, Dynaudio C1-II Signatures
    Desktop rig: LSi7, Polk 110sub, Dayens Ampino amp, W4S DAC/pre, Sonos, JRiver
    Gear on standby: Melody 101 tube pre, Unison Research Simply Italy Integrated
    Gone to new homes: (Matt Polk's)Threshold Stasis SA12e monoblocks, Pass XA30.5 amp, Usher MD2 speakers, Dynaudio C4 platinum speakers, Modwright LS100 (voltz), Simaudio 780D DAC

    erat interfectorem cesar et **** dictatorem dicere a
  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,477
    Also short the binding post. Sticking short piece of wire between red and black binding post and tighten down. It will help keep the drivers from flopping up and down.

    Fwiw i just used the ground wire from romax house wire.
  • daddyjt
    daddyjt Posts: 2,305
    What states are you moving from/to?

    I personally would do everything I could to move them myself, and not ship them.
    "Conservative Libertarians love the country, progressive leftists love the government." - Andrew Wilkow


    “Human beings are born with different capacities. If they are free, they are not equal. And if they are equal, they are not free.”
    ― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

  • Emlyn
    Emlyn Posts: 4,346
    There are always risks in moving. If hiring a moving company, discuss options with them during the initial price assessment. The speakers are really like big pieces of furniture so they should be able to wrap them and put them in the moving truck standing up and braced so they don't move around. They should not be picked up and hand carried. A furniture dolly makes it very easy to move them. If desired, the drivers can be easily removed and boxed separately. I've moved several sets of these speakers myself without damage and taken no extra precautions.
  • motorstereo
    motorstereo Posts: 2,043
    daddyjt wrote: »
    What states are you moving from/to?

    I personally would do everything I could to move them myself, and not ship them.

    This^^^. Mine were several states away when I brought them home unscathed in the back of my suv laying on their backs. The big sda's are but one of many things I would not trust a moving company with.
  • Schurkey
    Schurkey Posts: 2,100
    edited July 2019
    pitdogg2 wrote: »
    Also short the binding post. Sticking short piece of wire between red and black binding post and tighten down. It will help keep the drivers from flopping up and down.

    Fwiw i just used the ground wire from romax house wire.
    Thanks. You saved me some typing.

    Although...when it was me, and I was shipping SRS2 pin/blades via U-Haul, I removed the midwoofers, bolted them together face-to-face in pairs using hardware store machine screws, used cheap-junk zip-cord to short the speaker terminals, then packed the midwoofers in bubble-wrap, in cardboard boxes separate from the speaker cabinets.
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,708
    c0redumpt wrote: »
    Hi all,

    Needing a bit of advice, I am moving house and am looking at options for shipping my Polk Audio 1.2 TL speakers. When I purchased these I hired a van and moved them myself, but seeing as this time it is interstate I don't have that option.

    Just wondering if fellow members might be able to provide some tips/advice in regards to packaging and protecting these speakers for shipping.

    Any and all advice greatly appreciated :)

    Flat on their backs is the only way to transport them.
    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

  • gmcman
    gmcman Posts: 1,739
    I don't know of this is recommended or not, but If I were sending my SDA's, I would remove the PR's and take them with me.

    Especially ones with the 15" PR's.
  • DarqueKnight
    DarqueKnight Posts: 6,760
    If I were shipping my 1.2TLs, I would:

    1. Completely disassemble them, including removing end caps, and label all parts.
    2. Individually box all drivers, passive radiators, tweeters, crossovers, and internal wiring and put them in one bigger box. Label the ends of all internal wiring connectors.
    3. Individually wrap each end cap and place the caps for a single speaker in the same box.
    4. Place some type of thin wood board or double wall corrugated board over the grilles to protect them. Carefully wrap and securely band each speaker cabinet similar to procedures for wrapping and banding fine furniture.
    5. Ship the cabinets lying on their backs.

    If the trelocks (the little black nibs that hold the grilles and side panels) were easily removable, I would also pack the grilles and side panels separately. However, shipping the cabinets without the side panels and grilles on would expose the trelocks to damage.
    Proud and loyal citizen of the Digital Domain and Solid State Country!
  • verb
    verb Posts: 10,176
    Agree with DarqueKnight. That's the only way to ensure they arrive safely. If I may add, um, step #6:

    Ship all boxes to Verb's house! :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.
  • RobbyKY
    RobbyKY Posts: 117
    I moved all my SDA's from Kentucky to Texas in 2017. Four trips and did "basically" what DarqueKnight recommended.

    Removed and packaged all the drivers separately. Inserted foam behind the passive to keep it from bouncing too bad and left the tweeters in place. Grills stayed on, covered cabinets with bed sheets and placed 3 sections of pink foam between them and next to the doors. Erie feeling looking back there when the 1.2's were in place.

    Our corporate relocation company refused to handle "collectables" or my golf cart so I was stuck moving my model trains and massive bourbon collection as well. The 1.2's fit perfectly in the back of my Sequoia and then I had a U-haul or flatbed in tow for all four trips. 925 miles, 17 hours one-way. Would leave at 6:00am Saturday, drop off, sleep and drive back on Sunday. Exhausting! One trip, the U-Haul had a blowout in Benton, Arkansas and scared the crap out of me. To their credit, U-Haul located me on GPS and had it changed out with me back on the road in 75 minutes.
    Media Room: Parasound JC-5, Cambridge 851N, Schiit Freya, SDA SRS 1.2tl
    Game Room: Carver M4.0t, Carver C-4000, Oppo BDP-105, SDA SRS 1.2tl
    Bar/Card Room: Carver TFM-55, Carver C-1(BillD), Oppo BDP-93, SDA SRS 3.1
    Son's Room: Carver TFM-55, Carver C-1(BillD), Laptop/AQ Dragonfly, SDA SRS 3.1
    Bedroom: McIntosh MC150, Cambridge CXN, SDA 2Btl
    Outdoor Pool Area: Yamaha R-N803 with four Polk Atrium 6
    HT: Polk RTi A9s, CSi-A6, RT-65, RTi-A3's, Marantz SR5012, XPA3, UDP-203, Epson 5040UB