amp or amps for Polk SDA 1 & SDA 2

The SDA's have a large following over on the www.polkaudio.com
forum. You will get excellent advice there as to what to power them with as well as how to identify exactly which ones you have.

Ihammerhands, I also the have SD1As. they're oldies but they sound nice. I am currently in the process of upgrading my system. A while back I had gotten advice here on the Gon from a gent who used to sell them. Anyway he recommended Conrad Johnson which is what he used to demo the speakers. The CJ softened the brightness, I also find then a tad on the bright side. Anyway, I bought a CJ 12L pre-amp. I have a vintage Denon amp but am looking for something else. I was thinking about Rotel 1080, a great sounding amp, 5 yr warranty, well built, for around $1K new. Also Rotel 1070 is a 130W (8ohm) for around $500 new. I remember reading some folks on Club Rotel site bi-amping the 1070s. But I'll probably keep looking on the Gon for a CJ SS to pair up with the CJ 12L tube. The SD1As are an efficient speaker for being 4ohm, don't need a monster to push them. I'd be interested in what you finally decide. Dave

I have the SDA 1's as well. I have ran them with NAD, Carver, and Krell. I am now running them with a Pass Labs X-350 through a mcintosh C2200 Tube Preamp. Best set up so far. All three prior were integrateds. I actually bought the X-350 and Mac pre to run through ML Ascent i's that are on order. Now I am beginning to wonder if I should not just keep the SDA 1's. They have never sounded so good. I am pushing a ton through them and they have totally risen to the occasion. Hard to belive that these speakers are now 20 years old. I am hearing Billy Joel hit notes on his piano that I have never heard. Listening to "And so it goes" as I write this. I am finally at a point in my life where I can afford some better stuff and kept thinking the speakers should be replaced first but I am having serious second thoughts. Pass and Mac are a pretty darned good combo for the Polks. Oh and I am using a Shanling T200 with a level one mod including WE 396A tubes. Transparent interconnects and XLR with MIT speaker cables. Just another point of view for you to consider. Best of luck with your system.

I have a pair of 2.3tl's and just hooked them back up after a few years in the closet. I have run them with adcom 555, then a classe ca200 and now have them with Mac 501 mono's and they sound spectacular. Thiel 3.6's are my mainstay but right now I'm enjoying the Polks. Even though they are rated as 4 ohm they really open up with the power of 500 watts per side. I think the more quality power the better.

I have a pair of SDA 1Cs that I previously powered with a cap-upgraded Odyssey Audio Stratos. I recently upgraded to Odyssey's Extreme Monos, and while still in the process of burning in the monos, I can say the enhanced sound of this combination is not subtle. I agree with "Pops'" post that more power seemingly suits the SDAs. The Extreme Monos are rated at 300 wpc into 8 ohms, probably at least 450 wpc into 6 ohms.

Happy listening and best of luck with your upgrade quest.

There is no doubt that the Polks were made to be feed like hungry bears! At 4 ohms, I am pushing 700 watts per side into them and they love it! If I ever get the nerve to push hard and play something that would dip into the 2 ohm realm, I can't help but wonder what they would do with 1400 watts per side! Djbnh, what cables are you using? Sounds like a really nice set up. You know what they say about speaker cables, they are like tires on a sports car. Bad tires and the car won't handle, good tires and you'll never want to stop driving it. I went ahead with the order for the Ascent i's as the price my dealer gave me for new was better than what I have found on the used market. I also just found out that ML is going to discontinue this model and replace it with something else. Now I know why I got such a great price at least. I am thinking that the SDA 1's would make great rears in a HT setup with the MLs up front. I guess I should start looking for another PL X-350? Oh gawd, help my checkbook...LOL

I'm using Groneberg cables. I use Groneberg TS premium and Quattro Ref ICs with my Odyssey Extreme Monos / Tempest preamp, so I guess there's some type of synergy going there (Odyssey uses Groneberg cable internally). I also note I use Walker SST in my system, which also makes a nice improvement to speaker cables, ICs, PCs, cartridge and tube pins, RCA connections, PC and IEC pins, etc (gotta carefully follow directions when using SST).