VR3 mods to SDA SRS 2.3’s

I recently upgraded my SDA SRS 2.3’s with a VR3 crossover, new terminal plates, wiring, and a Dreadnought. While making the replacements I also changed out all 6 of the tweeters with the RD0194 ‘s and added diffraction pads. I bought these speakers 10 or 15 years ago for only $600 so I struggled with adding crossovers and a dreadnought that would exceed my original cost, but decided what the heck I might as well do it.

First it was very easy to order and communicate with Trey. We talked briefly on the phone and I placed the order. This was mid April when we talked. I expected it might take several months, but about 4 or 5 weeks later I got a message that everything was getting ready to ship with photos of what to expect. When the package arrived I couldn’t wait to open it and get it installed. Let’s just say it took a while to unpack everything. The packing was substantial to say the least. It would have been difficult to damage anything in that box during shipping.

First look at all the components was eye opening. Everything looks fantastic and when compared to the originals it’s just several steps above them. Very professionally done and I am so glad I didn’t try this myself. I would not have been able to come close to this build quality.

Installation took me probably longer than most would, I think I spent 1 1/2 - 2 hours on the first one and 1 hour on the next one. Everything went together very easily and was pretty straight forward. Someone who is more experienced could have done it much faster, but I took my time. The most difficult part for me was mounting the crossover and inductor with the supplied washers and screws. I have fat fingers which made the installation a little tedious for me. If I was going to do this again I’d remount the crossover and inductor to individual boards and then attach those inside the speaker. Anyway I got it done and mounted properly. Finding a place where there were no grooves in the cabinet to locate the screws and attach them probably took the most time. I tested all the speakers prior to installing them to make sure they were working properly. The wiring was simple and Trey helped me with some confusion I had initially.

After I completed the installation I let everything play 24/7 for about a week before doing any real listening. For listening my system consists of musical fidelity M6 pre and M6 prx, music hall stealth with Ortofon bronze cartridge, zphono XRM phono stage, an old CDP-70, a Shanling SCD 1.3, audioquest 505, a mix of Kimber PBJ balanced and unbalanced connectors, tributaries and VR3 power cords.

After several months everything has had plenty of time to burn in. All I can say right now is wow! To be fair everything sounded pretty good to me before making the upgrades. Now that I’ve had time to listen for a while it’s apparent to me that the imaging has improved and I’m hearing parts of the music that I hadn’t noticed before. Bass is improved along with the mids and highs. Everything is crisper, tighter, and better defined. The sound stage seams wider and deeper if that makes any sense. I’m sure that most of my old crossovers components were out of spec so I was probably never really hearing these speakers the way they were ment to sound.

Would I recommend upgrading like this? Absolutely it was worth it to me. Easy to install and the performance is excellent.

Below are a few photos of the mods.