value,overal sound quality

Land Yachts

Living in Maryland I first heard Polks in 78 and bought my RTA-12's.(not RT-12's!) These are basically half an SDA-1 (2/6.5,1 Dome,1Radiator) with the tweeter/x-over on top of the box, not in it with a cover that fit over it. They are gone now but the SDA-1B's I have are great. I Bi-Amp them w/1 NAD-2200 and 1 Eico HF-60 on each one.No probs but the NAD's need good ventelation when I go volume crazy or the thermistor will shut them off. (Happened 3X when playing Bass intense stuff) I feel that some recordings are good for the interconnect and some are not. I use the interconnect and maybe a year later I remove and rewire the cabinet internally. The recordings that sound the worse are over processed Rock and pop and since I listen to very little of that the interconnect is now back on.I have a Conrad-Johnson pre-amp and since they are bright I use a mellow MC phono-cartridge. Great for a basement system but just too big and ugly for upstairs. But hey thats what basements are for! I also have a low opinion of the new breed of Polk. That metal dome tweeter sounds like crap. They ain't what they used to be. Plus they jumped on the car and computer bandwagon with cheaply made and cheaply priced junk.

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Polk RTA-12 serial #572,573 Not those crappy RT-12's!

Excellent Realism

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The SDA-1 speakers are some of the best speakers ever made!
They have have 2 tweeters and 4 drivers, and a passive radiator on each tower with a cable running between the two towers that reverses the imaging between the two inside drivers putting the left towers sound through the right tower's inside drivers and vice versa.
I've stopped using the cable and re-wired the inside drivers to the outside drivers within each tower, effectively running all four drivers on each tower without using the spatial imaging section of the cross-over.

The result has doubled the resistance in the drivers(ohms) making the tweeters sound brighter in relation and increasing the bass and mid-range since now all 4 drivers are working in series in each tower.

Absolutely Amazing Sound! -for a 15 min job and running the SDA-1's with a digital Class A amplifier.

Highly Recommend these speakers if you can find them!

A absolutely stunning sound stage

Needs a hefty power amp

I've owned a pair of SDA-1's since 1983. I've auditioned many other speakers over the last 17+ years; none have
come close to matching the over-all performance of the SDA-1's. The SDA-1's soundstage is dazzeling, but at times can
be a bit too "large". However, they excel at reproducing the ambience of the original recording environment (especially live recordings). Their main weakness is the need for amp that can source a fair amount of current (their impedence can be less than 2 ohms at low frequencies). Alas, I must admit thatI am a bit biased. I won these babies in a contest that Polk Audio held when the SDA-1's were first introduce (thank you Matthew Polk!).

Incredible soundstage !!! Great low bass frequencies !!!
Great clarity !!! Lifelike reproduction !

NONE !!!

I hate to jump on the bashing Dan bandwaggon, but I too have to agree on both categories... These speakers are awesome !!! and what kind of speakerwire/power amp is Dan using ???

I purchased the speakers back in 1990, just in time too... Matt Polk was replacing the SDA Series with the more expensive (and not too popular) SDA-SRS series speakers along with the more affordable RT series speakers.

I use the 1C speakers on Onkyos finest power amp - the M-504 which delivers 165 WPC. The soundstage is wide and clarity is great. I continue to find myself in amazement that these speakers can place sounds outside the speaker walls !!! Clarity and depth are great !!! No need to look at other speakers. These Polks has it all !!! Thats why all my surround speakers have the Polk Audio name.

Sorry Dan !

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Polk RT 3000p, Audidioned friends SDA-2s for years !!!

Incredible mid/high frequency realism

Could have better bottom end

I bought my Polk SDA-1C's new in 1990. They are driven with a single Adcom GFA 555 amplifier, pre-amp is a Adcom GTP 500 II, and source unit is a Nacamichi CDC-200. These speakers were purchased for $1,450.00. I modified the crossovers with upgraded capacitors and resistors and the sound improvement was incredible. To this day I still believe Matt Polk did the public a mis service by discontinuing their manufacture. High and mid range frequencies are the best I've ever heard. The silver coil dome tweeters used on this model are the smoothest I've ever heard and I've listened to many. The dimensional array technology is now unfortunately a lost art. If you ever find a used pair E-Bay grab them. You won't regret your decision.

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Polk LS50, JBL 550

SDA Technology!!!!! You can only get it in Polks super High End Theater Series today ($$$$$$$$)

Original Tweeters were prone to burn out.

I have owned my SDA-1C's since 1990, and I absolutely L-O-V-E them! I wouldn't trade them for anything! They have been absolute performers since day 1. I did have 1 tweeter in each speaker go out, which Polk replaced for $80 each. I thought the price was a little on the steep side... but I had no choice. I also had a capacitor in the crossover go out very early in the warranty. Polk send me a replacement part out for free immediately. I had the grills re-clothed by Polk for a song and a dance. If your grills are looking a little rough, call them, it was so cheap to do, I couldn't believe it! I sent them the old ones, and they recovered them and sent them back. I can't remember the exact cost, but it was VERY VERY reasonable.

I have had the same amplifier (Kenwood M-2) 200 Watts per channel pushing them since day 1. It's more than enough amp for them (unlike the Bose 901's that laughed at it).

If you ever get the chance to grab a pair, you won't regret it. They are very heavy, so shipping them from somewhere might be an expensive proposition!

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Cerwin Vega, Bose 901's

Fantastic mid-high range, accurate lows with a smooth roll-off

old but built like a tank

I haven't seen or heard the rest of Polk's vintage SDA-1 line but I sure do enjoy my SDA-1As. According to a Polk rep these are the original model from the early 80's and retailed for around $1,800. I picked them up in 1995 from a college student who needed money badly. He found them in the paper as a divorcee special and I think they were a steal for 500 bucks.

I don't use the phasing effect cable as I find that it washes out the soundstage completely unless you're exactly in the sweet spot. It's absence also reduces my listening fatigue for long periods of stereo action. The cable does indeed provide some amazing imaging provided you have near perfect room acoustics. It can also produce surround-sound effects for movies that rivals the Dolby imaging of lower-end home theater systems. Sounds recorded out of phase (like Dobly pro logic) can appear to come from beyond the side walls and even behind you.

My Polks are driven by a Carver TFM-55x at around 500 wpc 4 ohms. However I'm considering moving to a higher current (versus my high voltage) amp to drive these power hungry, low-impedance speakers. This is the only upgrade I'm even considering. The speakers will stay with me indefintely.

Preamp is Threshold fet10e/hl. CD is Rega Planet. Turntable is Technics direct drive w/pre-pre Rowland Research. I feel this is a well-matched set producing great sound for the not-so-wealthy enthusiast. All components highly recommended but of course I'm biased!

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