Finding matching Polk towers

BeeDub

Hey all! I am just starting to seriously think about upgrading an old theater/music system. I recently landed into a great deal on a new Polk center channel - TSx150 - and a subwoofer - PSW125. I know this is backwards, and I should have bought my L/R floor speakers first, but couldn't pass up on the deal. My question - I understand it's best to match your floor speakers with your channel within the same line for the best timbre matching. Any suggestions on what Polk towers I should go with? Looking at Monitor 70s, TSi400s, or RTiA7s. Thoughts on what would be best? Thanks!

BlueFox

Not sure what would be good speakers to go with your center, but I don’t think it is absolutely essential to match the speakers. I suspect as long as the L/R channel speakers are of comparable quality, ohms, and power handling you will be happy. Good luck. Enjoy.

mdaudioguy

^^^ Hmm, that conflicts with the usual advice of timbre matching at least left, right, and center. Personally, I'd suggest the TS series towers to create a matched front soundstage. I know that some here have mixed different centers with different L&R speakers, with varying success. Your ears will tell you if it works.

rooftop59

I don’t think matching matters all that much, especially with a good calibration system. I would get the best stereo speakers you can afford (including proper power) and go from there. Look at my sig. I am happy with the center in both rigs, but both are music first.

Having said that, a couple questions will help us help you spend your money well:

1. Is this music first or home theater first?
2. What receiver and/ pre and amp are you planning to run this with?
3. Room size?
4. And most importantly, budget?

BeeDub

rooftop59 wrote: »

I don’t think matching matters all that much, especially with a good calibration system. I would get the best stereo speakers you can afford (including proper power) and go from there. Look at my sig. I am happy with the center in both rigs, but both are music first.

Having said that, a couple questions will help us help you spend your money well:

1. Is this music first or home theater first?
2. What receiver and/ pre and amp are you planning to run this with?
3. Room size?
4. And most importantly, budget?

1. Music first - then home theater
2. Running now with Yamaha RX-V581 receiver
3. Room size is family room about 15'x20'
4. Budget: no more than $300-350 per speaker ($600-700 total)

tonyp063

Rated Output Power (20Hz-20kHz, 2ch driven) 80 W (8 ohms, 0.09% THD)

You are not going to power the A7's very well with that receiver.
I'd go with the TSi400 (Polk ebay store has them for $200 ea.)

Temper your expectations. This is not going to shake walls, but it won't drive the receiver into clipping, as long as you keep a gentle hand on the volume.

I'd budget for a better sub too, if you can. An SVS or HSU

mdaudioguy

tonyp063 wrote: »

I'd budget for a better sub too, if you can. An SVS or HSU

Idk, for a system built around the TSi line and a basic receiver, his subwoofer should be fine. Not earth-shaking, but enough to put smiles on the faces of most people. Then again, if the OP sticks around here too long, he won't be like most people...

F1nut

Matching the front 3 is very important for a seamless front stage. Some people may not notice a mismatch, but to others it's blatantly obvious.

Your best bet is to go with the TSi towers.

cfrizz

Since you have a T series center, you should fill out the rest with the T series. Although I couldn't find a Tsx 150 speaker on Polks site.

rooftop59

F1nut wrote: »

Matching the front 3 is very important for a seamless front stage. Some people may not notice a mismatch, but to others it's blatantly obvious.

Your best bet is to go with the TSi towers.

Thanks for the underhanded insult dude. I could return the favor but I’ll keep it classy!

The center is TSi series so that would be the match.

And this is not an insult to the OP, but I unless you have a lot of experience I don’t know that you’ll notice a difference...and if you do, you’ll be glad you have better main speakers since music is more important to u.

mdaudioguy

rooftop59 wrote: »

F1nut wrote: »

Matching the front 3 is very important for a seamless front stage. Some people may not notice a mismatch, but to others it's blatantly obvious.

Your best bet is to go with the TSi towers.

Thanks for the underhanded insult dude. I could return the favor but I’ll keep it classy!

Uh, you can read into things, but his words basically mirrored what I said earlier. There's nothing insulting there. Only recognition that some may be ok with it and some won't.

tonyb

TSI series would be the ideal match, but personally I'd look at the Signature series as they offer the best price to performance ratio in the Polk line-up. Subwoofers don't have to voice match, because there are no voices coming from them.

Just a matter of preference if you want the center to match the front left and right. As long as the tweeters aren't too different in sound signatures, I doubt you'd be able to tell.

mdaudioguy

tonyb wrote: »

Subwoofers don't have to voice match, because there are no voices coming from them.

I believe you're forgetting James Earl Jones.

mdaudioguy

tonyb wrote: »

Just a matter of preference if you want the center to match the front left and right. As long as the tweeters aren't too different in sound signatures, I doubt you'd be able to tell.

And here's why folks recommend to match the front three speakers. When they're from the same series, you know they match. When they're not, it's just trial and error. We're just trying to streamline his efforts.

afterburnt

I don't recall there being all that much difference btween Monitor 70 and TSi400 but the RTI is quite different. I ran and RTI center with Monitor 70 and with Ushers. I was happy with the results. I did not care for the TSi center that I had.

BeeDub

Thank you all for the recommendations! Think I will take a hard look at the TSi400 and Monitor 70s. Even though I will be using them primarily for music, I will be some home theater too, so it sounds like the TSi400s might match my center best.

BeeDub

cfrizz wrote: »

Since you have a T series center, you should fill out the rest with the T series. Although I couldn't find a Tsx 150 speaker on Polks site.

I think the TSx150 is discontinued, which is probably why I got such a great deal on it.

mrloren

Look for Signature S55 if your going to be playing a lot of music.

BeeDub

tonyp063 wrote: »

Rated Output Power (20Hz-20kHz, 2ch driven) 80 W (8 ohms, 0.09% THD)

You are not going to power the A7's very well with that receiver.
I'd go with the TSi400 (Polk ebay store has them for $200 ea.)

Temper your expectations. This is not going to shake walls, but it won't drive the receiver into clipping, as long as you keep a gentle hand on the volume.

I'd budget for a better sub too, if you can. An SVS or HSU

What about the TSi500s? Or would I need to include a pre-amp to provide enough power?

mdaudioguy

BeeDub wrote: »

tonyp063 wrote: »

Rated Output Power (20Hz-20kHz, 2ch driven) 80 W (8 ohms, 0.09% THD)

You are not going to power the A7's very well with that receiver.
I'd go with the TSi400 (Polk ebay store has them for $200 ea.)

Temper your expectations. This is not going to shake walls, but it won't drive the receiver into clipping, as long as you keep a gentle hand on the volume.

I'd budget for a better sub too, if you can. An SVS or HSU

What about the TSi500s? Or would I need to include a pre-amp to provide enough power?

For larger, harder to drive speakers, you would need a separate amp. Your receiver is a pre-amp and amp all in one. Some receivers have pre-out connections on back to allow for connection of a separate amp.

BeeDub

mdaudioguy wrote: »

BeeDub wrote: »

tonyp063 wrote: »

Rated Output Power (20Hz-20kHz, 2ch driven) 80 W (8 ohms, 0.09% THD)

You are not going to power the A7's very well with that receiver.
I'd go with the TSi400 (Polk ebay store has them for $200 ea.)

Temper your expectations. This is not going to shake walls, but it won't drive the receiver into clipping, as long as you keep a gentle hand on the volume.

I'd budget for a better sub too, if you can. An SVS or HSU

What about the TSi500s? Or would I need to include a pre-amp to provide enough power?

For larger, harder to drive speakers, you would need a separate amp. Your receiver is a pre-amp and amp all in one. Some receivers have pre-out connections on back to allow for connection of a separate amp.

A-ha...gotcha! Man, lots of stuff for this newbie to learn...

tonyb

I think your going about this a bit backwards. You should buy the front left and right first, then the center, not the other way. For music, it's the fronts that will play, not the center. More important to get the fronts right IMHO.

BlueFox

Tony, I agree.

rooftop59

This my suggestion to get the best mains the OP can afford that are polks and this will match reasonable well with the center. If down the road you find that the center isn’t cutting it, then sell it and upgrade.

I would recommend looking at these two deals: you could get the first and just sell the center and one of the receivers and be done:

https://www.adorama.com/pkults50b.html?sdtid=11696383&emailprice=t&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_source=rflaid62905

Or I would recommend getting this one. Your receiver cannot drive these speakers properly, but they are not a difficult load and will be end game speakers for you. You can just slowly upgrade other components as the budget allows:

https://www.adorama.com/pkalsm703mvc.html?sdtid=12384661&emailprice=t&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_source=rflaid62905

Note that that price is for ONE speaker. This is polks flagship monitor, competes with speakers that normally sell for a LOT more.