I never owned this pair of Polks, but I had a chance to listen to them and snap a couple of photos with my phone. These employ what Polk calls SDA - Stereo Dimensional Array, and the idea is that both speakers work together to produce a very wide sound stage, thus adding another "dimension" to the music without a need for special, additional components, media, or modifications. The speakers are to be cabled together for the SDA to work, and the guy who was trying to sell these didn't have the cable for them.
At first examination, I noticed how light weight and shallow the cabinets were. These are two immediate warning signs for me. They reminded me of many of the lower-end polk and Infinity speakers from the late 1980s. Combine those two warning signs with the lack of that special cable to tie them together, the $350 price tag, and you can see why I decided to pass.
These retailed for $1,390 in about 1985 - a very hefty price for a light pair of speakers. I've read a few reviews on the SDA aspect of them, and they were all quite positive. For my money though, speakers need to stand on their own without special configurations, cables, or external equalizers (like BOSE 901's).
How did they sound? Somewhat thin across the mids and highs, and lacking in the low-end. They sounded a lot like my RTi 12A Polks I bought a year ago. Lots of small drivers still don't push enough air to get decent bass - especially in such a shallow, flimsy cabinet. Believe me - I'm a pushover when it comes to speakers. It doesn't take much for me to be impressed with most that I listen to, but these Polks left this reviewer cold.
Have any different opinions, better photos, or stories about your Polk SDA-1A speakers? Please leave a comment or send me an email.
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