picky Posted November 11, 2003 Share Posted November 11, 2003 Well, I finally did it: My wife and I are re-doing the living room and now that we have the HT in the basement we both were getting tired of all the room those two monolithic-Polks SDA-2A Towers took up in our tiny home's living room. I was able to sell them to a couple of friends of ours out in Nevada who have a much-larger home than we do. I shipped them out yesterday via UPS-Ground and they will have them on Friday. The shipping from Michigan to Nevada was a killler, and our friends didn't seem to mind, but by the time we figure in the purchase price and buy our down-sized replacements, we're pretty much at the break-even point, which suits us just fine. We are picking up a pair of speakers we ordered from the local store tomorrow. At first, we were going to go with Klipsch. But, we really liked the B&W LM-1's. They hang on the wall, come in 5 colors (we choose white) and will mesh well with our Polk CS-350 Center and our Polk PSW-350 10" Powered sub. A friend of ours has the B&W LM-1's in a much-larger room (approx 18' x 25') than our 12' x 13' living room and they are really able to fill it with clear, airy sound, save for one thing....they've got NOTHING below 75 Hz and I have told him numerous times that they really could use a subwoofer! I don't see how he can stand it, but it is his house. So, knowing we already have the sub, I think we'll be happy. And because the LM-1's have dome tweeters, they should work fine with the center which also has a dome. As for the two rears, they are Radio Shack and don't matter much for us as this is Pro-Logic set-up. It will still be enjoyable as a second-system. We'll do our "critical" listening and watching downstairs on our 7.1 HT Klipsch's! Although the Polk SDA-2A's were wonderfully music-oriented speakers that we'd enjoyed since 1986, it was time for a change, and I would be very surpirsed if the LM-1's even come close to the quality the old Polks produced. Sometimes, compromises are the best way to go. Hey, the wife is happy! -Picky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picky Posted November 20, 2003 Author Share Posted November 20, 2003 Follow-up: Well, I am happy to report that the old Polk towers made it to our friends' in Northern Nevada in fine shape, thanks to the packing expertise of the UPS Store (AKA: Mailboxes, Etc.) and for the care shown them by UPS Ground. (4 days from Dearborn, Michigan to Dayton, Nevada. Not bad!) Our friends immediately hooked those SDA-2As up and they were thrilled with them! I'd always loved those 2 speakers, but we simply needed more room in our tiny living room for our new furniture and could no longer justify having those "monoliths" in there any longer. The B&W LM-1s are all hooked up to my Onkyo Pro-Logic receiver and I was able to tweak them the other night. I must admit there is absolutely no comparison between the small, wall-mounted B&W leisure monitors and the Polk SDA-2A towers, nor did expect there to be. But, what did surprise me is just how well the little B&Ws project and play cleanly and loudly without any discernable breakup or distortion. They have a sensitivity of 91db @ 1 watt @ 1 meter, which I think is pretty good for such small speakers. Granted, these little guys do fall on their faces with anything below 100 Hz. But, I kept my Polk 10" self-powered sub and after tweaking it certainly blends in nicely with the LM-1s. I also retained the use of our Polk CS-350 Center channel. I have always been very satisfied with its performance, especially on dialogue. So, it seems like we did the right thing: We sold our old, mint-condition Polk SDA-2As to some friends at a resonable price (split the shipping with them, too) and they are very happy, and we were able to turn around and break even with the money buying the pair of B&W LM-1's. We now have more space and only a slight compromise in sound enjoyment. Heck, if I want to do any critical listening, I'll just go downstairs to the HT and fire up the Klipsch reference series system! Happy Campers! -Picky & Wife Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flason Posted November 20, 2003 Share Posted November 20, 2003 I've always been happy with my Polk SDA-1C's I have in the bedroom. They do need a lot more power than my Klipsch, but thanks to my Carver 1.5M's 350 wpc, they do just fine. They are no Cornwall, LaScala, or Khorn, but the do sound sweet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picky Posted November 21, 2003 Author Share Posted November 21, 2003 Flason: I agree, the SDA's do take some power. Mine were rated up to 600 Watts if I recall correctly. They certainly did have a fine, open sound. If there was anything I would have changed about them, it would have been the addition of a dome mid-range driver. -Picky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frzninvt Posted November 21, 2003 Share Posted November 21, 2003 I had the SDA-2's and the RTA-12C's and thought that they were mediocre at best. When I bought my Forte's I dumped the Polks and never looked back. They could not even handle anything close to their 500 watt power rating. I powered them with a DBX BX-3 rated at 300W per channel and the little 6.5" drivers would crap out long before the amp got anywhere near maximum power. They were a decent sounding speaker but nothing to write home about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picky Posted November 21, 2003 Author Share Posted November 21, 2003 Frzninvt: It's obvious we disagree on the quality-level of the Polk SDA-2 sound, and I'm okay with that. Everyone hears things differently. And, although I do believe you when you said they did not handle the power they were rated to run at, I never seemed to reach the limitation-level that you had taken them too when the 6.5s would begin to "lose it". I didn't have the luxury of the kind of power you had to run them on (300 Watts per channel). I had my SDA-2As connected to an NAD high-current, intergrated amp that was rated at 100 Watts RMS per channel into 8 ohms. They seemed to run fine on that for me. Years ago, I owned a pair of ADS L-810s http://www.audioasylum.com/forums/vintage/messages/54266.html that I still feel to this day, were some of the cleanest-sounding speakers I have heard. Unfortunately, they could not take a lot of power. Another pair I found even more impressive back in the mid-1970's were a pair of vintage Dahlquist DQ10s. http://www.audioweb.com/Ad/AdInfo.asp?adid=131531 Trouble was; I couldn't afford them then. -Picky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frzninvt Posted November 21, 2003 Share Posted November 21, 2003 I will absolutely agree with you on the ADS speakers I have always loved the way they sound from the tiny L200's on up. I never owned any of the bigger models but I am certain they sound tremendous. Sorry, although the Polk's did sound decent they just did not do it for me. For what I paid for them I was disappointed with them. They do not do rock music very well, after a couple of minutes of Metallica's "....and Justice for All" they had a burning smell to them they just could not take it. Strangely though the Forte' rated at 100 watts max could take it all. I do believe that those Polk's were made at the time when Polk was at it's best. I wanted the big SDA-SRS's but did not have the cabbage to get them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picky Posted November 21, 2003 Author Share Posted November 21, 2003 Frzninvt: I could not agree with you more on the ADSs!! They were fantastic-sounding speakers. The L-910s were even more awesome. I always wished I could have afforded those, too. I also agree that Polk made those SDA's back when Polk was at their best. The SDA-SRSs sounded unbelieveable and were so-o expensive back then (1986). You could literally hear minute detail not only side-to-side in them, but top-to-bottom as well! I also agree that the SDA-2A's didn't exactly "Rock" as you put it. They were good for "lighter" music, until I added the 10" Polk sub. Then, they rocked! -Picky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flason Posted November 22, 2003 Share Posted November 22, 2003 The SDA1C's have 4 6.5" drivers and put out substantial bass. To me, they are very listenable speakers. They don't hold a candle to my Khorns, but as a bedroom system, the are very nice. With proper amplification, they can also make a good 2 channel system. My Carver does OK with them but I hear they do better with more than the 350 wpc I am supplying them with right now. I also agree about the ADS speakers. I found a pair of L710's at Goodwill for $10. I need a new tweeter in one (around $40) but can't beat them for the price. They don't like huge amounts of power but play very clean. I ended up giving them away to a friend in need. Also was running out of room in the house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picky Posted November 25, 2003 Author Share Posted November 25, 2003 Flason: I still have my old pair of ADS L810s. They are safely stored in the garage and one has a blown tweeter, the other has a blown midrange. I found a resource in California on-line about a year ago that rebuilds old ADS drivers for a resonable sum. Trouble is, even if I did get them repaired, I'd have no place to set those babies up and enjoy them; the house is already full of Klipschs!! (In the theater and editing room) So, I can't really justify the money to get them fixed right now. What a shame because they were very enjoyable to listen to. -Picky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBusa Posted November 25, 2003 Share Posted November 25, 2003 frznvt you didn't miss anything ...I sold my sda srs's last year. Best thing I ever did. I had such great expectations for those top of the line speakers. They did not deliver. I also just sold a pair of ADS L810's! The woofers fell all over themselves trying to produce any reasonable bass. At lower levels they did sound fantastic! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picky Posted November 26, 2003 Author Share Posted November 26, 2003 BigBusa: Wow! That is the first time I've heard "disappointment" and "SDA SRS" mentioned in the same sentence. Shame on you! You have shattered all of my former dreams! Actually, thanks for your honesty. I'd always wondered what it would have been like to own a pair, other than having no room left in my living room for furniture, that is. As for the ADS L180's, so those are your in the picture? I saw that picture on the web (Vintage Asylum) last week and posted the link in an earlier post, above. No idea they were yours. I totally agree they sounded fantastic, but they were weak-in-the-knees at higher levels. All: Happy Thanksgiving to those of you who celebrate! -Picky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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