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Polk SDA CRS Speakers
- Thread starter cjmustang69
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Those nice little sda speakers sound surprisingly good for their small size. Compared to my bigger sda's my crs's have a smaller but much more defined soundstage. They don't mind being driven hard either I use a 250 wpc amp on mine. Like you I have the dual tweeter version. Lots of people disconnect the sda tweeter as it gives somewhat of a "spacey" sound to it. I padded mine down a bit with a 1ohm resistor in place of the fuse with good results. That's also a big plus that you got the correct stands with yours.
I had those SDA CRS with dual tweeters, bought them new in 85 or so. I spent about 2 years auditioning everything I could find before I settled on them. The imaging was sometimes startling the way it surrounded me! I was so proud of them. Then when I met my wife and heard her Advents, they were better (to me) in every way. I thought I knew so much about hifi and had worked so hard to get something good, and she had just walked into a store and took the salesman's recommendation on the Advent. The Polks are long gone but the Advents are here to stay! The CRSs were a little bass-shy but overall pretty good.
edit- I meant to say the Advents surpassed the CRS in accuracy, sound quality, and tonal balance - they imaged nice, but not as wrapped around you as the CRS.
edit- I meant to say the Advents surpassed the CRS in accuracy, sound quality, and tonal balance - they imaged nice, but not as wrapped around you as the CRS.
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cjmustang69
Well-Known Member
I haven't heard Advents since my college days. My first pair of "nice" speakers back in mid 80's was a pair of Polk SDA 2A speakers. Liked them alot and had them for over 8 years. Since then have had several different models of SDA speakers along with other brand speakers. I currently didn't have any Polks until I picked these SDA CRS speakers up. If they sound anything like the other, larger SDA models - I'll be happy. I do plan to alternate between Onkyo M504 amp and Adcom GFA 565 amps for power - so will be able to see how they handle fairly high power.
cjmustang69
Well-Known Member
I listened to the CRS speakers last evening driven with my Adcom amps. I don't have the IC Cable yet as we forgot it when I picked speakers up. Should have IC Cable Monday. I'm impressed with the performance of these speakers. Very balanced and able to fill my Bonus Room with sound. I expected to find the tweeter a little bright - but didn't hear it that way. I'm using a tube preamp and that may explain why. In all of my previous SDA speakers I had replaced the SL2000 tweeters to the RDO194 replacements. Will have to listen to them more and decide if I will do the same for these.
cjmustang69
Well-Known Member
I've owned SDA SRS, SRS2, 2A, and 2B speakers previously and enjoyed them all. At the time I owned the larger SDA speakers, I didn't have as powerful amps and a tube preamp as I do currently. Given how nice the CRS speakers sound with my current system - I wish i had the SRS2 speakers back to see how they would sound. I have to say the CRS speakers sound very impressive to me - even without the IC Cable.
Uncle Choppy
New Member
Greetings. Just a quick question if any Polk SDA CRS Compact owners (or previous owners) are still monitoring this thread. Polk seems to be very clear about using these speakers as monitors and includes specific information for setup. Are these speakers really so room and placement fussy? Or are they suitable for general living room listening to everything from medieval to modern symphonic to 30s-40s jazz to "classic" rock? Best wishes. -uc
Rex81
Well-Known Member
In order to get the proper wide soundstage for which they are known, you need to have them properly placed. That is, 3' open on either side of the speaker, less than 1' from the back wall, and nothing tall in between them. You also need a high current amplifier. Doesn't need to be super high wattage, but most receivers won't cut it. Also, the sweet spot is very narrow (about 6"). Move your head outside that, and they'll still sound good, but the wide soundstage collapses immediately.
But if you have the above, they sound great with all types of music due to their accurate tonal balance.
But if you have the above, they sound great with all types of music due to their accurate tonal balance.
I have a pair of the CRS that are not positioned ideally. They are on top of another speaker which is taller than the factory 25" stands. They are toed in because the speakers beneath them are. One speaker is close to the left wall and the other opens to a stairwell/entry area. They are also close to the wall behind them. They still sound very good. I have the effect tweeter disconnected as per the recommendation of the guys on the Polk forum. The reason for the disconnect of the effect tweeter is that it was determined that the second tweeter caused more degradation than good to the overall sound quality. The second tweeter was eliminated in the later model, the CRS+. After that, owners of the CRS model started to disconnect the effect tweeter. The second tweeter will not work without the umbilical cable between the right and left speaker. So even though the tweeter is disconnected, the umbilical cable is still used to get the SDA effect.
I'm using these as an alternate pair in my laptop system. I really don't have a better place to use them where I can position them according to Polk's parameters. The speakers on top of the CRS are the rear surrounds from my home theater. Even though there are 3 pairs stacked, only one pair is on at a time.
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TomReceiver
Active Member
Right now they are just speakers and w/o the cable your missing the whole SDA thing. Yes, as you've heard the twin tweeter model the outer tweeter should be disconnected and the ends taped up so they don't short out. The cable gives you the dimensional drivers and the huge sound stage and imaging they are known for.It's great you have the correct stands which gives you the tweeters at ear height. It also appears you have enough room for the requisite 3 feet of clearance on all sides. I have '87 fully modded 2Bs and while I have other working sets I always go back to the SDAs.
Which Advents are you talking about? OLA, NLA, 5002, or a later model? I've owned OLA, Advent/1, and Advent 4002. They are all gone, and all of them preceded the CRS, except maybe the x002 series with the soft dome tweeter, which were introduced about 1985. I still have the Polks.
gizzyman47
Addicted Member
A couple of years ago I found my sda crs speakers at a local thrift store. I paid $25 for the pair. These are the single tweeter model. I don't have the cord that connects the two so I've never heard the effect these speakers are known for. Can I just shove in some twisted speaker wire? If not, where can I get this cable? I would like to hear these speakers as intended someday.
If you have a single tweeter, those are the CRS+, not the CRS. Without the cable you are not experiencing the SDA effect. You can make a cable, buy one from Polk, or buy one elsewhere online. What type of connection do you have for the SDA cable? Some are pin/blade, some are blade/blade, If yours are the pin blade type, an RCA plug end will fit into the socket. You may or may not need to break off the tangs surrounding the pin on the RCA cable.
There was a thread around here or on the Polk forum showing photos of this RCA cable insertion. I'll try to find it and post a link.
EDIT: I found the thread linked below. Another idea from the thread is to tin the ends of speaker wire with solder and square the tinned end with a pair of pliers while it's still hot.
http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/polk-sda-crs.734228/#post-9938088
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gizzyman47
Addicted Member
Thanks for the info classic carl. The speakers are stored away at the moment, so I'm not positive which type connector mine has but it seems it was blade/blade but not certain. I'll have to get to them to see.
The first generation CRS+ had the blade/blade socket, but after that, they all had the pin/blade. I have a very informative PDF on the SDA Series. I tried, but unfortunately, it's too large to post here. The only issue I have with it is that the author calls the passive radiator a subwoofer.
If you would like a copy, PM me with your email address.