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Polk SDA SRS Speakers

AlTinkster92

AlTinkster92

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
Hi Folks, looking at a rare set of Polk SDA SRS speakers. These are the ones that are 63 inches tall and 183 lbs.. Wondering if anyone has had any experience with these, how they liked them and what size room these should have.

These have always kind of been on my "Bucket list" for speakers. Advise would be appreciated as I haven't pulled the trigger just yet.. :music:
 
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Sounds like you're talking about the SDA-SRS 1.2TL? I have a friend of mine who has a pair of SDA-SRS not sure which one though. They are outstanding!!!! he's a very knowledgeable audiophile and when I had a pair of SDA's he specifically told me that to get the most out of them they need lots of power. He currently is running his with a bad ass Classe power amp and they sound soo good.

He has them in the large, acoustically optimized, lower level of his home. I don't want to say basement cause it's not, it's a great listening area.

Tons of info over at Club Polk with lots of info on how to modify them if you chose to go that direction. Those guys take their Polks seriously as they should. I love the Polk sound.

Are they stock? do they come with the interconnect cable?

http://www.polkaudio.com/products/sdasrs12tl
 
You might want to PM schwarcw he doesn't post here on AK that much as he's busy with family and dropping knowledge over at CP. He's a very nice guy and if anyone can answer your question regard these speakers it's him tell him I sent you.
 
I just finished restoring a pair of the srs sda signature series 2.3tl, they do require a fairly large room to open up and breath and for the sda feature to work optimally, they also need a fair amount of power to get the most out of them (200 plus watts) you can use more modest watts with them but you wont hear what they are really capable of.

My mancave is the whole basement so i have the room size covered, I am currently running a yamaha p2200 amp which puts out roughly 350 watts at four ohms and a Conrad Johnson pv7 tube pre amp, this combo is working very well for me, these large polks have that big room filling sound, not to be confused with " dude these will crank!!" which they will most definitely do as well, they have a nice tonal balance and great bottom end, they are rated good down to 17 hertz and i can attest to the fact they definitely dig deep.

I am a collector and owner of many of the classic speakers as well as some very rare speakers from back in the day from manufactures like klipsch, ess, magnapan, dahlquist, vandersteen, kef, epicure etc. most of which cost around 1400 when new, the 2.3tl cost around 2500 new and the performance of these as compared to my other classics in my collection which cost ro half what these did is very noticeable in the performance you get from these, are they the gonna best speakers costing many times more? eh probably not but they do definitely give you the performance you would expect from a speaker in this price point, and they are my personal favorites at this time.

If the price is fair and you have the room, give them a listen if they are to your liking go for it!

also- another nice thing is polk still supports these coveted models, new replacement drivers are still available for these threw polk, become a club polk member and you get a discount and free shipping, I personally replaced all my tweeters with the newer tweeters which are a bit smoother than the originals and was very happy with the improvement they made.
 
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If you have the proper (big) room and the patience to set them up properly they'll reward you like no other speaker that I've heard thus far in my journey. Buy the biggest, baddest amp your wallet will allow and they'll reward you for that as well. There's also plenty of info on them at the polk site about taking them to the next level. Good luck to you if you decide to bring them home.
 
Great speakers but need a lot of work and money to make them what they deserve.
My buddy has powered them with 1000 wpc wyred 4 amps.
 
Thanks,would be running these with either a Sansui 8080DB or preferably with my Fisher 800C, my Dad had a set of these back in 86 powered by a Fisher amp but I never got to hear them back then. He's gone now but I have always wanted to replicate his system. Always thought the SDA SRA 's were efficient speakers?? I currently run Klipsch LaScalas on my Fisher.. The SDA's I am looking at are mint.
 
Yes they are somewhat sensitive (low to mid 90's) but don't waste your time driving them with a receiver. The magic they're noted for won't appear without separates and a minimum 200wpc. If those 2 you mentioned are all you can give them you'd be better off staying with your lascalas imo.
 
They're great speakers. Don't be scared off by room size, ect., I have mine in a less than ideal set-up, and they're awesome. Although you could drive them with your receiver, they will be pushing it to it's limit. I drove mine with a SX 1980/ 350 wpc, and it put it into protection mode. Get a good amp(or 2), 200 wpc +, as stated above, there are lots of excellent used ones. Just make sure it's common ground. Modding them is whole other story. I did change out the tweeters, and re-capped the XO's, but stock they sound awfully good. Getem' if you can. Enjoy.
 
Guess I'm going to stick to my LaScalas and Chous II's. Dont want to have to buy a special amp right now. Am totally happy with what I have. :smoke:
 
Maybe you should keep an eye out for the smaller versions like my SDA SRS2's.

I've had mine for 17 months and I am still amazed by them every day. Since acquiring them I have auditioned many, many, <$5K well regarded speakers running off of high-end amps and IMO (and that of other ears that have come along for the ride with me) nothing comes close to the SRS2's powered by my Sansui AU-719.

This is one heck of a serious speaker.
 
It doesn't have to be a "special" amp. Just a decent quality 200 wpc amp would get you into the sda world quite nicely.
But if you're happy with what you have though:thmbsp:
 
Well, I spoke to a guy at Polk this afternoon about these speakers, seemed very knowledgeable. Says the only part for these monsters available now are the tweeters if I recall correctly. No other drivers, crossovers grill cloth etc. That puts a damper on these for me especially when the seller wants over 2K for them. (they are mint however). The guy at Polk did say however that once you hear them theres no going back... Also said he recommends more power that my Fisher gear provides, the Fishers will work, just not as defined due to 35 WPC on mine.

Dam, sure am disappointed. Also, whats floating ground as opposed to a common ground?, he made mention of that as well...
 
IIRC, make sure that any amp you use with them have common grounds. If you are using amps with separate power supplies, you will have big and costly problems....
 
Thanks Jon, would be useing these if I get them with restored Fisher tube gear. Also, do these need to be consecutive serial numbers as they use a Interconnect cord? Sorry if these questions are dumb. The SDA's are listed on the auction site by the way if anyone wants take a look. Thanks! Al
 
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