Documenting: My SDA-1c upgrades from start to finish

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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 52,407
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    Shakes head...walks away.
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  • xschop
    xschop Posts: 5,820
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    I've been looking forward to your wuhan listening impressions in the 1C's.
    A few years ago I got to hear a set of 1Cs with 194s and remember not being impressed.
    Don't take experimental gene therapies from known eugenicists.
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  • plastic_avatar
    plastic_avatar Posts: 747
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    Now that I've read more about damping the outer basket, I think I might go the putty route on the 5B.

    I might even do this for the backside of my tweeter plates on the 1C.

    I wonder... if you used a material like these guys experiment with... would pressing wool/felt on the the interior of the basket be easier than Aramacell? Plus extra density/damping of basket vibration as a bonus..

    https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=136169.0

    The Thrifty Setups in Mah House Big thrifty stereo in the basement w/ my custom SDA-1C (built with help from kind forum members) * Beautiful 1966 MCM GE console upgraded w/ Bluetooth, Dual turntable, and Paradigm speakers in family room * Swanky 1980 Realistic system and great TEAC eq with dancing colored lights in the living room * custom 5B on a system for my Dad * Ye Olde college stereo in the garage
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  • Gardenstater
    Gardenstater Posts: 4,932
    edited November 2022
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    Sounds very messy for the interior but I wouldn't totally rule it out and would have to get some of the stuff in my hands to comment any further on that. I'd personally not be inclined to try it, but maybe you might hit on something :)

    PS: I downloaded all of Van Alstine's Audio Basics Newsletters a week or so ago and it looks very interesting for all sorts of information.

    https://avahifi.com/pages/audio-basics-newsletters
    George / NJ

    Polk 7B main speakers, std. mods+ (1979, orig owner)
    Martin Logan Dynamo sub w/6ft 14awg Power Cord
    Onkyo A-8017 integrated
    Logitech Squeezebox Touch Streamer w/EDO applet
    iFi nano iDSD DAC
    iPurifier3
    iDefender w/ iPower PS
    Custom Steve Wilson 1m UPOCC Interconnect
    iFi Mercury 0.5m OFHC continuous cast copper USB cable
    Custom Ribbon Speaker Cables, 5ft long, 4N Copper, 14awg, ultra low inductance
    Custom Vibration Isolation Speaker Stands and Sub Platform
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  • plastic_avatar
    plastic_avatar Posts: 747
    edited November 2022
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    Ohhhhhh, neato! Reading material!

    On Mortite (or other putties with low viscosity (so they don't flow too much over time due to gravity)), I think it would be easier to remove than some of these adhesives on metal ;)
    The Thrifty Setups in Mah House Big thrifty stereo in the basement w/ my custom SDA-1C (built with help from kind forum members) * Beautiful 1966 MCM GE console upgraded w/ Bluetooth, Dual turntable, and Paradigm speakers in family room * Swanky 1980 Realistic system and great TEAC eq with dancing colored lights in the living room * custom 5B on a system for my Dad * Ye Olde college stereo in the garage
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  • xschop
    xschop Posts: 5,820
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    I think that an improvement can be made in adding a puuty or semi-hard polyurethane in between the base plate and adjacent frame body of the MWs.

    You could easily do a side-by-side comparison of one treated and non-treated by holding the phase plugs while running them and see if the vibes are lessened on the treated driver. JAT
    Don't take experimental gene therapies from known eugenicists.
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  • Gardenstater
    Gardenstater Posts: 4,932
    edited November 2022
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    I have quite a bit of non-hardening black modeling clay. I believe it is a synthetic and not organic. Might be very similar to what they are talking about in that thread at the other site. It sticks very well to surfaces when smeared into place. I don't feel that wool felt would stick to it very well however.
    George / NJ

    Polk 7B main speakers, std. mods+ (1979, orig owner)
    Martin Logan Dynamo sub w/6ft 14awg Power Cord
    Onkyo A-8017 integrated
    Logitech Squeezebox Touch Streamer w/EDO applet
    iFi nano iDSD DAC
    iPurifier3
    iDefender w/ iPower PS
    Custom Steve Wilson 1m UPOCC Interconnect
    iFi Mercury 0.5m OFHC continuous cast copper USB cable
    Custom Ribbon Speaker Cables, 5ft long, 4N Copper, 14awg, ultra low inductance
    Custom Vibration Isolation Speaker Stands and Sub Platform
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  • Gardenstater
    Gardenstater Posts: 4,932
    edited November 2022
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    ,,,
    George / NJ

    Polk 7B main speakers, std. mods+ (1979, orig owner)
    Martin Logan Dynamo sub w/6ft 14awg Power Cord
    Onkyo A-8017 integrated
    Logitech Squeezebox Touch Streamer w/EDO applet
    iFi nano iDSD DAC
    iPurifier3
    iDefender w/ iPower PS
    Custom Steve Wilson 1m UPOCC Interconnect
    iFi Mercury 0.5m OFHC continuous cast copper USB cable
    Custom Ribbon Speaker Cables, 5ft long, 4N Copper, 14awg, ultra low inductance
    Custom Vibration Isolation Speaker Stands and Sub Platform
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  • plastic_avatar
    plastic_avatar Posts: 747
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    I tried to find that stuff for another project! Could not for the life of me figure out what to call it.

    Good idea!
    The Thrifty Setups in Mah House Big thrifty stereo in the basement w/ my custom SDA-1C (built with help from kind forum members) * Beautiful 1966 MCM GE console upgraded w/ Bluetooth, Dual turntable, and Paradigm speakers in family room * Swanky 1980 Realistic system and great TEAC eq with dancing colored lights in the living room * custom 5B on a system for my Dad * Ye Olde college stereo in the garage
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  • plastic_avatar
    plastic_avatar Posts: 747
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    Printing the second copy if the second version of my terminal plate.

    I know it matters little to anyone but me, but the layout is how I want it (L/R speakers are mirrored, and the plugs+receptacles are almost on the same plane when plugged in).

    I may put the smooth coating on these (I still need to get some of the support material off, too), but I don't know yet. Going to try it on the tweeter plates soon. XTC-3D - High Performance 3D Print Coating - 24 Ounce Unit https://a.co/d/8OOa8LE

    4zktuo8wld43.jpeg
    10ajpp89ycfk.jpeg
    kpgfy8zfr1uw.jpeg

    The Thrifty Setups in Mah House Big thrifty stereo in the basement w/ my custom SDA-1C (built with help from kind forum members) * Beautiful 1966 MCM GE console upgraded w/ Bluetooth, Dual turntable, and Paradigm speakers in family room * Swanky 1980 Realistic system and great TEAC eq with dancing colored lights in the living room * custom 5B on a system for my Dad * Ye Olde college stereo in the garage
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  • plastic_avatar
    plastic_avatar Posts: 747
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    pitdogg2 wrote: »
    That orientation for that speakon plug is legit. I use the 90* plug myself... What makes even more of a PITA is my 2.3tl's have 4 binding posts. :/

    Tell you what, you tell me how you want it laid out, and if the dimension of the cup are the same, I'll mod my model and send you the file.

    It would look good printed in resin. And I might make the plate portion thicker on new versions.
    The Thrifty Setups in Mah House Big thrifty stereo in the basement w/ my custom SDA-1C (built with help from kind forum members) * Beautiful 1966 MCM GE console upgraded w/ Bluetooth, Dual turntable, and Paradigm speakers in family room * Swanky 1980 Realistic system and great TEAC eq with dancing colored lights in the living room * custom 5B on a system for my Dad * Ye Olde college stereo in the garage
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  • plastic_avatar
    plastic_avatar Posts: 747
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    And keep in mind, I printed this at Normal quality (not fine or very fine), and filament always has that smooth but reflective texture if the filament is glossy and not matte.

    Resin would be super smooth and look like more like molded plastic. But I dunna have a resin printer. Ima fraid of the fumes...
    The Thrifty Setups in Mah House Big thrifty stereo in the basement w/ my custom SDA-1C (built with help from kind forum members) * Beautiful 1966 MCM GE console upgraded w/ Bluetooth, Dual turntable, and Paradigm speakers in family room * Swanky 1980 Realistic system and great TEAC eq with dancing colored lights in the living room * custom 5B on a system for my Dad * Ye Olde college stereo in the garage
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  • plastic_avatar
    plastic_avatar Posts: 747
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    I will print them for you, if you'd like to see how they'd do!

    It takes a day to print the pair, and I'd have to take time to mod the model, so it might take a couple of weeks for me to get around to getting it done.

    Keep the offer in your pocket. If you ever decide to cash in the freebie, msg me.
    The Thrifty Setups in Mah House Big thrifty stereo in the basement w/ my custom SDA-1C (built with help from kind forum members) * Beautiful 1966 MCM GE console upgraded w/ Bluetooth, Dual turntable, and Paradigm speakers in family room * Swanky 1980 Realistic system and great TEAC eq with dancing colored lights in the living room * custom 5B on a system for my Dad * Ye Olde college stereo in the garage
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  • plastic_avatar
    plastic_avatar Posts: 747
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    Ohhhhhh... you've got bling-style terminal plates!

    Damn. You guys and your fancy bedazzled Polks!

    I tell ya, looking at the mids with the aluminum phase plugs, I wish I could print metal-infused filament without ruining my machines. I'd print my tweeter plates to match.

    The plugs look so good. Would look crazy great on a pair with double the drivers of the 1C.
    I will have the big uns one day...
    The Thrifty Setups in Mah House Big thrifty stereo in the basement w/ my custom SDA-1C (built with help from kind forum members) * Beautiful 1966 MCM GE console upgraded w/ Bluetooth, Dual turntable, and Paradigm speakers in family room * Swanky 1980 Realistic system and great TEAC eq with dancing colored lights in the living room * custom 5B on a system for my Dad * Ye Olde college stereo in the garage
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    edited November 2022
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  • plastic_avatar
    plastic_avatar Posts: 747
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    Holy cow.

    That is a beefy plate.
    The Thrifty Setups in Mah House Big thrifty stereo in the basement w/ my custom SDA-1C (built with help from kind forum members) * Beautiful 1966 MCM GE console upgraded w/ Bluetooth, Dual turntable, and Paradigm speakers in family room * Swanky 1980 Realistic system and great TEAC eq with dancing colored lights in the living room * custom 5B on a system for my Dad * Ye Olde college stereo in the garage
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  • plastic_avatar
    plastic_avatar Posts: 747
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    Going to visit the 'rents for a few days. Might take the SDA cable stuff and crossovers to fill downtime.

    I'd like to get these guys working by New Year's

    Meanwhile, for anyone who thinks my project is Hell-on-Earth and an affront to Polk, I give you:

    75hcdor6q6rr.png

    Yeah. Reverse engineered looks like a Polk terminal plate screwed into the left side.

    Merry Christmahanukkwanzaakah to all.
    The Thrifty Setups in Mah House Big thrifty stereo in the basement w/ my custom SDA-1C (built with help from kind forum members) * Beautiful 1966 MCM GE console upgraded w/ Bluetooth, Dual turntable, and Paradigm speakers in family room * Swanky 1980 Realistic system and great TEAC eq with dancing colored lights in the living room * custom 5B on a system for my Dad * Ye Olde college stereo in the garage
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  • xschop
    xschop Posts: 5,820
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    Wonder if he used CRS+ crossovers.
    Don't take experimental gene therapies from known eugenicists.
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  • plastic_avatar
    plastic_avatar Posts: 747
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    It does bring up a question in my head

    'How hard is it to take the design of an SDA crossover and adapt it to different drivers?'

    The 198 mod on some Polks just requires, what? 1 extra part?

    But what if you break the SDA crossover into its discrete sections, and created different crossover bits for different drivers and put them together in the same way that Polk arranges them. Couldn't you build, say, a 1C using totally different drivers?

    I know, probably more complicated than that, but... it'd be really neat to have some modern drivers in that arrangement.

    And yes, I'm just musing wildly.
    The Thrifty Setups in Mah House Big thrifty stereo in the basement w/ my custom SDA-1C (built with help from kind forum members) * Beautiful 1966 MCM GE console upgraded w/ Bluetooth, Dual turntable, and Paradigm speakers in family room * Swanky 1980 Realistic system and great TEAC eq with dancing colored lights in the living room * custom 5B on a system for my Dad * Ye Olde college stereo in the garage
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 52,407
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    There's not a damn thing wrong with the doped paper drivers. Doped paper drivers are used today in some very high end expensive speakers because they perform the best.
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  • plastic_avatar
    plastic_avatar Posts: 747
    edited December 2022
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    I'm impressed with the old drivers all the time. They really hold up well. I'm really excited to see how the 1C versions perform compared to the 12, 5, and 5jr (my only vintage Polk reference points).

    I prefer their sound to the Rti-style/era units (bookshelf or tower).

    But I have an Eton Hexacone driver, for example, that I like... tonally, I guess, better in the upper mid than the old Polks. And there are some newer wood, exotic pulp, bamboo, paper, etc., drivers that just sound better.

    It's all just wild musing as I work on my projects.

    If I had the funds, I'd pay someone to try and work it out (c'mon lottery!), just for fun.

    If I didn't think up things, my world would be very... grey.
    The Thrifty Setups in Mah House Big thrifty stereo in the basement w/ my custom SDA-1C (built with help from kind forum members) * Beautiful 1966 MCM GE console upgraded w/ Bluetooth, Dual turntable, and Paradigm speakers in family room * Swanky 1980 Realistic system and great TEAC eq with dancing colored lights in the living room * custom 5B on a system for my Dad * Ye Olde college stereo in the garage
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  • dpowell
    dpowell Posts: 3,082
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    First time seeing this thread so quite interesting to see the musings over the past 10 months. I fully modded a pair of 1C studios a few years back. I did one upgrade at a time so that I could appreciate the improvement of each mod before moving on to the next one. Modded 1C studios paired with the right gear sound amazing.

    My advice is keep it simple and within the boundaries of the lessons learned from seasoned forum members. Replace the tweeters, redo the XOs to spec and start enjoying the music. Dynamat on the driver baskets is also a great thing to do but not the priority IMO. Beyond that, my opinion is that you quickly bump into a law of diminishing returns on your money.
    ____________________________________________________________

    polkaudio Fully Modded SDA SRS 1.2TLs + Dreadnaught, LSiM706c, 4 X Polk Surrounds + 4 X ATMOS, SVS PB13 Ultra X 2, McIntosh C2300, Marantz AV7704, Bob Carver Crimson Beauty 350 Tube Mono Blocks, Carver Sunfire Signature Cinema Grande 400x5, ADCOM GFA 7807, Panasonic UB420, Sim Audio Moon 380D DAC, EPSON Pro Cinema 6050
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  • plastic_avatar
    plastic_avatar Posts: 747
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    dpowell wrote: »
    First time seeing this thread so...

    Well this was a lot to slog through, right?

    [laughs]

    Because of time and resources and my own want list, I absolutely went shotgun approach.

    I wouldn't recommend anyone else jump blindly into the pool like this, unless they're in it for fun and experience, with no worry to fixing mistakes.

    Everything has been great, thus-far. I've learned a lot.

    The Holidays put the brakes on everything, but I really only have left to do before a listen:

    - new SDA cable assembled
    - crossovers re-done
    - Hurricane holes drilled
    - BH5 installed
    - new gaskets made
    - final assembly

    Can I button it up in 2 weeks? Stay tuned ;)


    The Thrifty Setups in Mah House Big thrifty stereo in the basement w/ my custom SDA-1C (built with help from kind forum members) * Beautiful 1966 MCM GE console upgraded w/ Bluetooth, Dual turntable, and Paradigm speakers in family room * Swanky 1980 Realistic system and great TEAC eq with dancing colored lights in the living room * custom 5B on a system for my Dad * Ye Olde college stereo in the garage
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  • skipshot12
    skipshot12 Posts: 2,155
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    ^ Hear ya on the holidays putting our audio on hold for a stint.

    Can't wait to read your findings after your mods...
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  • dpowell
    dpowell Posts: 3,082
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    At the end of the day, it's about enjoying the music. Make sure you give the new XOs +/- 200 hours of burn in before you decide if it was all worth it.
    ____________________________________________________________

    polkaudio Fully Modded SDA SRS 1.2TLs + Dreadnaught, LSiM706c, 4 X Polk Surrounds + 4 X ATMOS, SVS PB13 Ultra X 2, McIntosh C2300, Marantz AV7704, Bob Carver Crimson Beauty 350 Tube Mono Blocks, Carver Sunfire Signature Cinema Grande 400x5, ADCOM GFA 7807, Panasonic UB420, Sim Audio Moon 380D DAC, EPSON Pro Cinema 6050
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  • plastic_avatar
    plastic_avatar Posts: 747
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    skipshot12 wrote: »
    ^ Hear ya on the holidays putting our audio on hold for a stint.
    Seriously! Man, lemme tell ya. I thought I'd have 4 days of speaker fun.

    Ended up being 2 hours of speaker fun and 1 hour of 3D printer repair. But I'm getting gaskets ready and Hurricanes drilled, so that's good. Just doing the left speaker first (going to assemble everything but the crossover, then do the same for the right one... will save crossovers for last).

    iizafgwho5l7.jpeg
    Tweeter gasket tweaking.

    f9hrsrah6gut.jpeg
    Midwoofer gasket blanks.

    nploqwmtms2k.jpeg
    My Exacto knife needs the blade sharpened now.

    p7b5eu8natvb.jpeg
    Biggest was easiest.

    fe105pccovrd.jpeg
    Hey. For the BH5...
    I haven't seen pictures of the install. It sounds like people just tighten the rolls of poly and put them between the BH5 and mids. Know if anyone moved the poly to the tweeter area and left the BH5 to do the absorption on its own?

    9pizke2uaji5.jpeg
    So much mess.
    dpowell wrote: »
    At the end of the day, it's about enjoying the music.
    Agreed!

    Nothing I do is out of disrespect here. I'm enjoying my Polk experience. I enjoy learning. I'm giddy waiting to see what these things sound like. It's a gamble in places. But it's a fun ride.
    Make sure you give the new XOs +/- 200 hours of burn in before you decide if it was all worth it.
    Will do. Any tips on burn-in? Someone suggested pink/white noise overnight for 4 weeks at low volume.
    The Thrifty Setups in Mah House Big thrifty stereo in the basement w/ my custom SDA-1C (built with help from kind forum members) * Beautiful 1966 MCM GE console upgraded w/ Bluetooth, Dual turntable, and Paradigm speakers in family room * Swanky 1980 Realistic system and great TEAC eq with dancing colored lights in the living room * custom 5B on a system for my Dad * Ye Olde college stereo in the garage
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 52,407
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    Know if anyone moved the poly to the tweeter area and left the BH5 to do the absorption on its own?

    Hell no!
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