Matching Speakers

Jonathan Wood

Hello,

I'm trying to put together the best home audio system my budget will allow, and have put together the following.

• CS10 : Front Center
• TSi400 x 2 : Front Stereo
• TSi100 x 2 : Rear Stereo
• PSW110 : Subwoofer

I'm sort of mixing and matching speakers here. Could that cause problems? In particular, I'm wondering if the differences between the TSi400s and TSi100s. Could turning up the TSi400s loud damage the TSi100s?

Also, I've yet to pick an amplifier. Any suggestions on ratings (watts, etc.) would be welcome.

Thanks!

OldBenKnobi

Jonathan Wood wrote: »

Hello,

I'm trying to put together the best home audio system my budget will allow, and have put together the following.

• CS10 : Front Center
• TSi400 x 2 : Front Stereo
• TSi100 x 2 : Rear Stereo
• PSW110 : Subwoofer

I'm sort of mixing and matching speakers here. Could that cause problems? In particular, I'm wondering if the differences between the TSi400s and TSi100s. Could turning up the TSi400s loud damage the TSi100s?

Also, I've yet to pick an amplifier. Any suggestions on ratings (watts, etc.) would be welcome.

Thanks!

First off, It doesn't seem like your mixing and matching to me. The TSi line are matched to work well together. Don't really see a problem there.

I wanted to mention a couple of things that jump out at me after reading your query.

As for matching, I think you need to be concerned with the timbre of the speakers and as far as I know, Polk speakers are timbre matched so they all have the same tonal qualities at least within a certain line. Since you used TSi front and rear you should be ok on that front. The Center should be fine too. The other thing to look for is the speaker efficiency, usually given in db level output @ 1 watt power @ 1 meter from the transducer. Polks are decently efficient. My Monitor 70's are rated @ 90db. Your TSi400's are rated @ 91db spl @ 1 watt. The TSi100's are 89db spl @ 1 watt. They will not be quite as loud for a given input as the 400's, all else being equal, but a good A/V reciever will allow you to adjust and match levels in the speaker setup routine.

As for damaging the 100's while playing the 400's loud, You need to look at the power handling numbers for each model, and also this will help determine to some extent the Receiver you purchase. The 100's can use 20w-100w amps and the 400's can handle 20w-200w amps. Just as a suggestion, If you stuck with a good quality Receiver that was rated to put out 90-100 watts RMS@ 20Hz-20Mhz with a decently low total harmonic distortion, you should be fine. Mine is rated at 0.08% THD @ 80watts continuous power output from 20Hz-20000Hz @ 8 ohms.
Sounds pretty good to me.

I'm sure there are lots of folks here who can go into much greater depth on these subjects. Just my $.02 Hope it helps a little. Happy Listening!

chumlie

I would recomend something like a Pioneer 1121k. Its a little more than what you need but better if you decide to upgrade later. It should serve you well. I'm sure more people will chime in. They can be had for around 4 or 5 hundred. Not knowing what you want to spend, its better to spend a little more now than regret it later. And if you have'nt bought the center cs10 yet i would recomend the cs20. Just my opinion. I have a pair of 400's and they match nice with the cs20.

Jonathan Wood

OldBenKnobi wrote: »

First off, It doesn't seem like your mixing and matching to me. The TSi line are matched to work well together. Don't really see a problem there.

Thanks for the detailed reply. I'm mixing and matching in the sense that I'm just picking speakers for each position. This particular combination has not been recommended together, or otherwise checked for compatibility within a single system.

I'm sure I could turn the smaller speakers down to prevent them from blowing, but then of course they'd be quieter. Either way, I had planned about 100w per channel that should work for both speaker types. I couldn't tell if that was peak or RMS so thanks for the clarification.

Jonathan Wood

chumlie wrote: »

I would recomend something like a Pioneer 1121k. Its a little more than what you need but better if you decide to upgrade later. It should serve you well. I'm sure more people will chime in. They can be had for around 4 or 5 hundred. Not knowing what you want to spend, its better to spend a little more now than regret it later. And if you have'nt bought the center cs10 yet i would recomend the cs20. Just my opinion. I have a pair of 400's and they match nice with the cs20.

Thanks for the response. It would probably be hard for me to justify the upgrades you recommend at this particular point in time. The Pioneer looks like an upper end 7.1, which I don't really need. I also reviewed the possibility of upgrading the CS10 to a CS20, but that upgrade runs around $75, which it would also be hard to justify at this point.

I'm buying a lot of stuff including the television itself, and it's all adding up. To purchase something like the CS20 at some point down the road if I decided I really did need it wouldn't be that big of a deal.

hertz9753

Where are you buying your equipment?

Glowrdr

An addition to hertz - have you looked at purchasing the monitor II line from NewEgg? They are a cross between the older Monitor line, and the new TSi line. Great deals to be had, and you might be able to upgrade to a CS2 center, and have a little leftover for an upgraded sub.

deronb1

Sounds like a nice setup.

Jonathan Wood

hertz9753 wrote: »

Where are you buying your equipment?

Different places. I've ordered the speakers through Amazon. I may stop in to Best Buy to get a receiver, and get it there if they aren't too big of jerks.

hertz9753

Jonathan Wood wrote: »

Different places. I've ordered the speakers through Amazon. I may stop in to Best Buy to get a receiver, and get it there if they aren't too big of jerks.

Although I would have purchased the Monitor's through Newegg or Polk Direct on Ebay, you picked some nice sounding speakers. When you buy a receiver make sure it has pre-outs for at least your 2 front speakers.