Looking for towers for the in-laws...

ArsenalFC

Hey everyone --

I'm looking at helping my in-laws start piecing together a decent sound system. They've got approximately zero components right now and this is just the start of what will hopefully be a 5.1 system down the road.

With the help of a few of you, I've come to realize that my current receiver (Yamaha RX-V550) is going to have to move out of my system soon and for the time being we'll be using it to start theirs.

I've got TSi 400 fronts, which I'm pretty happy with. I'd like to get something comparable in both price-point and performance for my in-laws.

I'm thinking the Monitor 70 Series II (on sale at $199 each on Newegg - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882290208) would be close.

Another option would be to give them my TSi 400's and replace mine with something new. Is the Monitor 70 a step up from the TTSi's? Is there another option I could look at for something around $200 each with the sales that are going on (or may be upcoming) that would be a realistic upgrade? I understand predicting sales is impossible, but many of you have paid attention over the past few Black Friday's and whatnot.

I just don't see a meaningful upgrade for my towers in that price range, even with sales. However, you guys are the experts!

Thanks!

jjalbs

Hey Arsenal,
I have been looking and researching for a couple of weeks now as I am looking to get my first set of towers. The tsi line is a step up from the monitors gathered from what others have been saying as well as a rep from polk told me. The monitors also went from monitors to series 2 monitors and new monitor 55t,65t, and 75t. Now there is the tsx line which I understand are replacing the tsi. I have heard the 330t which was nice. On a thread I started regarding the rti series another member said he liked the 330t's better than the 440t's. He liked the 550t's the best though. I just saw the 330t's on sale recently. Under $190. Newegg has good deals on monitor series 2 right now. Good luck. If they would take them I would give them yours and upgrade oh and by the way polk ebay store hat rti8's for 400 per pair which by all accounts are a big upgrade to anything mentioned so far. Also to answer your question about monitor 70's as upgrade to tsi400's I'm not sure but I do believe the tsi's in General might be better within the same level ie monitor 60 vs tsi400

mr2686

The TSI's and the Monitors are virtually the same speakers (TSI's just a little different on the outside) but they sound the same. The Monitor 60's would be the same as your 400's (The 60's have been on sale recently for $99 each) and the 70's would be the same as the TSI500's. I'm told by people that keep an eye on this stuff that the weekends leading up to black Friday are usually pretty good for sales at Newegg, especially with the 60's and 70's so you may want to hold off and keep an eye open. If you go on their website you can sign up for their emails which come out quite often with the sales.

A quick add to say that the TSX line would be the next line up bout the Monitors/TSI's and then the RTI/RTIA, etc, but then you get in to more money and you won't find much of a sale unless it's the older model (RTI is the older model of the RTIA) etc.

cnh

Welcome to Club Polk.

Much as I hate to say this and Polk might not like it; there is no significant upgrade in the TSI series from the Monitor, they do have slightly different crossover points and, of course, cosmetically, they look "better".

As such a set of M-70s will be superior to a set of TSi-400s. The real thing to look at is to compare M-70s or TSi-500s to the new 550ts which, at least spec-wise, seem to have more BASS and bigger drivers for that?

Also, while the Yamaha should be able to handle the Tsi-400s, it will run out of steam on M-70s. You need a little more power for those. I suspect that will also be true for the (TSx)550ts?

cnh

rooftop59

Yup, give the inlaws the TSI-400s and upgrade yourself to the m70s or better yet the (TSx)550ts or the older rti10s, which can be had for 700 shipped direct form polk. My buddy has to m70s and really likes em, and he is just using a mid-level pioneer avr with no preouts. If you add an amp or a beefier avr in the mix I think you would be very happy...

ArsenalFC

Thanks for the help, everyone.

In retrospect, I probably should have just gotten them the Monitor 60s for $99 each (Newegg a few days ago). That way we could have put more toward getting a center, sub, and surrounds. And still had pretty decent performing speakers. Oh well...

I'm going to keep my eye out for any great deals over the next few weekends. The Monitor 65T's were down to $129 each on Newegg until yesterday. How would they compare to what I've got now or the Monitor 70s?

ArsenalFC

Thanks for the advice DSkip.

So, if it were your money, based on recent prices would you do which (if any) of the following:

$99/ea for a pair of 60s for the in-laws
$129/ea for a pair of 65Ts for the in-laws (or replace my 400s)
$199/ea for a pair of 70s to replace my 400s
or wait for a super deal on higher end towers (for 400/pair or so) and pass mine on.

They love music, but don't have any system whatsoever for listening to it right now. They also listen to the TV's speakers right now so anything is a huge upgrade. That being said, they have disposable income and if they prioritized it could likely afford more than an entry-level sound system.

I'm a bit torn on what to do, obviously.

cowtrimmer

If your going to be upgrading your AVR I would get the 70's and give the in-laws your 400's. You can build off the 70's and get a better surround sound than building off your old 400's. Pick up the 70's now, the CS2 Series II center and monitor30's and 40's for surrounds BTW the 40's are on sale now too.

drummer86

FYI the Monitor 70s were (and often are) $150 about a week ago. If you're not in a hurry wait for that to come back around.

jjalbs

I'm going to put the rti8 out as a suggestion again because I'm wondering what people's thoughts are on these versus the 70's at the same price of $200 each. Both have same specs as far as sensitivity and frequency range. Are the rti8 not much better built.

ArsenalFC

DSkip -- Wisconsin, the land of all things good.

Thanks for the input everyone. There are a million other questions that can be asked, so if anyone is willing to humor me I'll shoot a few out there...

I've got the following set-up:

Center: CS10
Fronts: TSi400s
Surround: T15 (came with the TSi's)
Sub: PSW111

Spares: RTi6 - someday I'd love to use these as surrounds, but they're too big for the space I'm in right now.

1) I would assume the CS10 won't have too much of a problem with the Monitor 70s, right? If I step up further with speakers, I would imagine I'd have to start looking at seriously upgrading the center. As it is, I wish I'd gone with at least the CS20. BTW, what is the preferred partner for the monitors?

2) Is the PSW 505 a serious step up from the 111 or is it just different? I mean that my impression is the PSW111 provides good, tight bass that's better with music than HT applications, and in a nice, space-efficient package. Is the 505 better in HT applications, with much more volume and range, but lacking on some tightness? Or, is it just better? My money is probably best spent by waiting, saving, and getting a good ~$500 SVS sub or something along those lines, right?

That's all, for now. I'm with jjalbs in being curious about the rti8's...

rooftop59

Yea my advice would be if you're to upgrade the receiver anyway, try to RTi6s as mains. With a better avr and/or external amp and a better sub, you would have much better sound overall compared to now.

If you step up to 400 a piece towers, you will almost certainly need an external amp, which ratchets up the price considerably. SO I still think that the m70s are also a good choice.

tonyb

ArsenalFC wrote: »

DSkip -- Wisconsin, the land of all things good.

Thanks for the input everyone. There are a million other questions that can be asked, so if anyone is willing to humor me I'll shoot a few out there...

I've got the following set-up:

Center: CS10
Fronts: TSi400s
Surround: T15 (came with the TSi's)
Sub: PSW111

Spares: RTi6 - someday I'd love to use these as surrounds, but they're too big for the space I'm in right now.

1) I would assume the CS10 won't have too much of a problem with the Monitor 70s, right? If I step up further with speakers, I would imagine I'd have to start looking at seriously upgrading the center. As it is, I wish I'd gone with at least the CS20. BTW, what is the preferred partner for the monitors?

2) Is the PSW 505 a serious step up from the 111 or is it just different? I mean that my impression is the PSW111 provides good, tight bass that's better with music than HT applications, and in a nice, space-efficient package. Is the 505 better in HT applications, with much more volume and range, but lacking on some tightness? Or, is it just better? My money is probably best spent by waiting, saving, and getting a good ~$500 SVS sub or something along those lines, right?

That's all, for now. I'm with jjalbs in being curious about the rti8's...

1- the CS20 is the better choice for the center hands down.

2- the 505 is better than the 111, but still geared more towards HT than music. If I was you, save some coin, sell some stuff, wait until you can buy an SVS or HSU or Velo sub. You won't regret it.

tonyb

gobestbuyipad wrote: »

You are great .You are to be congratulated.

You....not so much, and definitely won't be congratulated.

cnh

M-70s and a good 300 watt sub like a PSW505 = great budget system! But you do need some power for the towers! Also, definitely the CS2 larger center with that, you won't regret it.

The PSW111 is a good sub but it is really better as a "musical" sub in a small to mid room. It can't hang with the HT output of the larger PSW505.

M-70s are your cheapest route.

Rti-8s or Rti-A5s are going to be a "brighter" speaker more geared for HT sound. And you better have amplification that is NOT too bright for those if you want to do music as well. Even the M-70s are a little forward on my Onkyo 805 but nothing like what those Rtis would be like!

cnh

ArsenalFC

Thanks again everyone.

Based on everyone's feedback, I think my best bet is to start by grabbing a good receiver for myself before overhauling my lineup. Then again, if the price is right on M70s or above, my priorities might change in a hurry.

Seeing as I already have the RTi 6 bookshelves, maybe I should be focusing on towers and a center to pair with them.

I'll stick with the PSW111 until I'm ready to pull the trigger on a much, much better sub.

I'll let you know what we decide to do. There are so many options it can make a guys head spin...

jjalbs

cnh wrote: »

M-70s and a good 300 watt sub like a PSW505 = great budget system! But you do need some power for the towers! Also, definitely the CS2 larger center with that, you won't regret it.

The PSW111 is a good sub but it is really better as a "musical" sub in a small to mid room. It can't hang with the HT output of the larger PSW505.

M-70s are your cheapest route.

Rti-8s or Rti-A5s are going to be a "brighter" speaker more geared for HT sound. And you better have amplification that is NOT too bright for those if you want to do music as well. Even the M-70s are a little forward on my Onkyo 805 but nothing like what those Rtis would be like!

cnh

Cnh

So would you consider the yamaha 673 a bright receiver and would this be enough to drive rti A5

ArsenalFC

cnh and others...

If i can find a good deal on basically any speakers in the RTi line, what kind of AVR should I be looking for to power them?

Can I run 10s or 12s without amps? What brand receiver and wattage should I be looking for?

I ran the RTi 6's off my Yamaha for many years as a basic 2.0 system and at times I was really impressed by the sound, and other times I wasn't. I think that was more to do with not knowing **** about what I was doing than anything else.

jjalbs

DSkip
Is that yes to both questions

cnh

DSkip wrote: »

I'll answer for him.... yes.

Thanks! And yes!

jjalbs wrote: »

DSkip
Is that yes to both questions

A nice receiver for Rtis would be a Pioneer Elite SC-XX with ICE amplification.

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Home/AV-Receivers/Elite+Receivers

Most all lower level Yamaha AVRs would be too bright for my taste. But the newer, slightly higher Aventage Yamahas are a good step up from the standard fair below them. I suspect a nice Aventage with enough power would be fine.

http://usa.yamaha.com/products/audio-visual/aventage/

Of the Rtis, the Rti-8 (Rti-A5) and maybe the Rti-10 (Rti-A7) could be run off a nice receiver that had 130 or more watts/channel (real ratings!). The Rti-12 (A9s really, really need a power amp).

Hope that takes on both questions? I would say that you should go out and get your ears on some of these receivers. You might also want to listen at a Higher Model Denon, probably a 4XXX series! At a lower price range a Denon AVR 3313 or the newer AVR-X4000 might have enough power. But the AVR 4XXX not the X4000 WOULD have enough juice. The AVR 4XXX is over twice the X4000's MSRP.

cnh

jjalbs

I just wanted to thank everyone for answering questions for someone who is new to this and trying to figure out what to get. I unfortunately don't have that many opportunities to get out of the house and audition a lot of this stuff. So thanks again.