Ideal speakers for my new av receiver

ranj

Hi I've just purchased a Marantz SR5008 av receiver. Are the Polk Audio TSX440t ideal speakers for this receiver, due to lounge size these will be the initial speakers used for music and movies.

Inspector 24

I'd say they would be ok, but I'd look hard at the TSx330t, especially if you plan on running a subwoofer.

Why? I bet the two lower woofers on the 440's are crossed over pretty low to fill in the bass frequencies that a subwoofer would handle just fine, and give you the flexibility to move the sub around the room for better bass response.

Also I've found that dual midrange polk speakers always sound better than ones with the single midrange. As an example I much prefer the sound of the RT800i/RT55i to the RT35i/RT1000i/RT2000i. Wider sound stage, and bigger sound, better vocals too. And two less drivers for your receiver to power will leave more power for other speakers in the future, and better sound overall.

FWIW, the best simplest combo I ever had was a Yamaha HTR-5990 powering RT800i's. Great synergy of power and speakers right there.

tonyb

Ideal speakers ? When you find some, let us know. Ideal speakers are about as elusive as bigfoot.

tophatjohnny

Right!!^

gudnoyez

Spend a bit more and get the RTIA5's they would be a good match with that Marantz.

Sherardp

gudnoyez wrote: »

Spend a bit more and get the RTIA5's they would be a good match with that Marantz.

+1 dont cheap out.

cnh

Welcome to Club Polk!

Marantz receivers are on the warmer side of the sound of the continuum and may actually pair up quite nicely with Polks Rti-A series mentioned above. Your receiver would have NO problem pushing some Rti-A5 towers.

cnh

Hermitism

If money is tight, check out the predecessor to the RTiA5, which is the RTi8. That is what I own. Same drivers, square cabinet (RTiA's have curved cabinets) and I think they may have updated the crossover on the current RTiA series. They are discontinued, but Polk sells them "new" on their Polk Audio Direct eBay site.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Polk-Audio-RTi8-BLACK-Tower-Speakers-NEW-PAIR-/231197214243?pt=Speakers_Subwoofers&hash=item35d46d8623

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Polk-Audio-RTi8-CHERRY-Tower-Speakers-NEW-PAIR-/390813521028?pt=Speakers_Subwoofers&hash=item5afe4d1484

Inspector 24

gudnoyez wrote: »

Spend a bit more and get the RTIA5's they would be a good match with that Marantz.

This Moar better.

msg

I still want to see some feedback on the TSX series speakers for music. talk about elusive. no one seems to have these things. always wondered how they compared to the RTiA lineup...

Polk tech did confirm for me during early research that the RTiA line is the better speaker overall vs the TSX, though there wasn't really much discussion as to why, so take that with a grain.

As recommended by others above, I'd also go with the smaller speaker in this instance. you'll probably get more out of them than with more drivers, which may be underutilized without more power. I'd probably take a closer look at the specs and how they're set up to be relatively sure they work this way, but personally, in this system, I would want to go for more midrange output, and pass the lows to a sub. I hate tinny.

leftwinger57

Are the Polk Lounge speakers for only people who live in Las Vegas?

msg

yeah, it was more just for comparison when I was looking at RTi/RTiA's in the beginning, and out of consideration of all the feedback I was seeing on the RTi's with respect to their brighter characteristic. at the time, I had no modern basis for comparison.

DSkip wrote: »

Most here are not going to shell out the extra money for the entry-level TSX. Its going to take new members coming in to really talk about them. I don't expect them to be a big step up over the Monitor line, and if you already have the RTi/LSi/LSiM speakers, you have no reason to look at the TSX.

I expect the TSX to be a fine speaker, but I wouldn't pay MSRP for them.

mr2686

When I was looking at speakers, I listened to quite a few of them, including the TSX line. I actually preferred the 330 over the 440. The 440 mids seemed, I don't know, off for some reason and I thought the vocals sometimes got lost. That said, I thought the 330 was just ok, but really liked the 550...but not for what they cost. Solution, I went with the RTI8 and am so glad I did. Great speakers with outstanding mids, highs that are not harsh and that can be eq'd to your liking, and decent enough bass that will blend nicely with a good subwoofer.

msg

nice, so you heard both lines and preferred RTi. good feedback.

asadlarik3

mr2686 wrote: »

I went with the RTI8 and am so glad I did. Great speakers with outstanding mids, highs that are not harsh and that can be eq'd to your liking, and decent enough bass that will blend nicely with a good subwoofer.

isnt that the tsi's and tsx's have more presence?
what about sound sound stage, rti8 is more wide or tsi series?
and do highs on tsx 330 or 550 were harsh if they are not being compared with rti8?

Hermitism

I've never heard the tsx or tsi speakers, so I can't answer your questions. One thing I do notice with the RTi8 is it sounds like the music is coming from three or four feet in front of the speakers. As if I could reach my arm out and touch the guitar player.

mr2686

asadlarik3 wrote: »

isnt that the tsi's and tsx's have more presence?
what about sound sound stage, rti8 is more wide or tsi series?
and do highs on tsx 330 or 550 were harsh if they are not being compared with rti8?

I'd actually say that the 550's sounded warmer, especially on vocals, which was quite appealing. With that said, the RTI8's have a more live sound, like you are at a concert or in the recording booth listening to the artist lay down the tracks. I think people think that the live sound is fatiguing at times, but that's what I want in a speaker and is in no way fatiguing to my ears.

quicksilvergts

mr2686 wrote: »

I'd actually say that the 550's sounded warmer, especially on vocals, which was quite appealing. With that said, the RTI8's have a more live sound, like you are at a concert or in the recording booth listening to the artist lay down the tracks. I think people think that the live sound is fatiguing at times, but that's what I want in a speaker and is in no way fatiguing to my ears.

I agree, I have heard both a frys.
Not sure about fatigue, since I just demoed briefly.

Cheers,

asadlarik3

What is polk view on differnt lineups. I mean for what applications the lineup are best suited. Tsi tsx rti rtia, it seems polk have too much collection and that is confusing. Also there is not much information on polks website about for example what change in sound you can expect going from lower to higher lineups in a series e.g tsi300 to 400 or 500 apart from hardware that they describe.

Hermitism

asadlarik3 wrote: »

What is polk view on differnt lineups. I mean for what applications the lineup are best suited. Tsi tsx rti rtia, it seems polk have too much collection and that is confusing. Also there is not much information on polks website about for example what change in sound you can expect going from lower to higher lineups in a series e.g tsi300 to 400 or 500 apart from hardware that they describe.

RTi/RTiA have a brighter sound and are geared more towards HT. From what I've read on here, LSi/LSiM have a more laid back sound and are great for music. But a lot of people use both lines as dual-purpose, as I do, because they don't have room for a HT system and a separate two channel system. I can't speak for the other series/lines. The part I used to find confusing was trying to figure out what center and what surrounds went with what line of speakers, because they have different prefixes.

Example: The FXiA4, FXiA6, CSiA4 and CSiA6 are all timbre matched to the RTiA series.