I'm a newbie, soon to be Polk-Aholic, Question regarding Bookshelf Speakers

Filter69Relic

Hey everyone, I'm slowly building a wireless sound system throughout my house. I'll be running the SONOS system to link up the rooms and I'm looking for advice on the proper bookshelves or monitors to supply mainly music. I'm not too interested in building my Home Theater yet, but I would prefer to get the right Bookshelves now for Stereo Audio & have them eventually become my Front L/R speakers. So my question is what do you guys think would be the appropriate investment for the $3-400 dollar range; TSI 200, Rtia's? Or anything else? Thanks for taking the time.

daboyz

Welcome. If it were me I'd try to find Rti6's. Excellent musical bookshelf for the money.

Filter69Relic

daboyz wrote: »

Welcome. If it were me I'd try to find Rti6's. Excellent musical bookshelf for the money.

Thanks, I've heard and researched the same, but it's impossible to find a new pair in Cherry. There are a few black one's available on ebay, but no luck on Cherry. Is the TSI200 or RtiA3 a comparable speaker?

wutadumsn23

I have the Monitor 40's as my surround channel in my newly built HT and they are great. According to the specs. they are very similar, however I have never heard a pair of TSi 200's. As for the Rti 6's I have never heard them either, however the Monitor 40's have two 5 1/4" woofer's and one 1" tweeter and stand almost 16" tall, whereas the Rti'6 has one 6 1/2" woofer and a 1" tweeter and stands about 15" tall. Like I said I love my Monitor 40's. Good Luck.

leroyjr1

I would also look into the RTI a3 bookshelf speaker.

Filter69Relic

SHOULD I BUY THESE??????I Just found Floor Model RTI6 Cherry (Hard to find) in the store, can be bought for $190/Pair...Should I buy them? Do you think they've been abused too much as a floor model? I've been looking for either Rtia3's (A little over budget) or Rti6 (Impossible to find in Cherry) to start off my introduction to Polk Audio..Or, TSI200-New for $300? Thanks

mmadden28

Well, I started my introduction to Polk with a pair of clearance floor model RTi12's and I'm still quite happy with the decision I made. I'm polkified for sure. Make sure they are cosmetically in an acceptable condition to you; that there are no major scratches and the cabinet feels solid and not broken. Check the drivers to make sure they are in good shape and that there are no dents or scratches in the cones, dust caps or surrounds.
Ask the dealer to hook them up so you can hear them first.
There's nothing wrong with buying audio gear used (actually its quite the norm), and you have an advantage here by being able to see and hear them first hand before commiting to a sale.

As for the value and quality of the RTi6's? I can't tell you-I'll leave that to others that have heard them. As you already know there are a couple of Black RTi6's new on eBay right now for about $180, and an auction ending in about an hour at $98 right now. Some recent ebay sales are right around $180, I would imagine the going rate is the same for Black or Cherry. Keep in mind that unless you're buying from Polkdirect on ebay, you are likely not buying from an authorized seller and will not have a warranty.
I don't think the Tsi series is real wood veneer, while the RTi/RTiA are (if that matters to you)

If you're buying them from an authorized dealer they should still come with the factory warranty. Verify this with the dealer first though.

daboyz

Floor models still should come w/factory warranty. Try to get them down a little further but if not then go for it!! Find out if you can return just in case but if you have the warranty you'll be fine.

McLoki

bookshelves in the $300-$400 range....

No brainer - go with used LSi7's. Great sounding and pretty easy to drive. (for an LSi speaker anyway)

Michael

Edit - that being said, the RTi6's are very nice. (I have a pair in my bedroom) They don't look as nice as the LSi's imo though....

Filter69Relic

Hey guys, thank you very much for your responses. I will go to the dealer tomorrow, check out the merch and share a listen. I do know that they come with the same factory warranty, so I guess I'll be in good shape. I'll let you know how it goes, thanks again.

F1nut

Since you are interested in music only, I second the LSi 7 suggestion.

Question? It seems that you are sinking a bit of money into this system (at least I think you are), why cheap out on the speakers?

wutadumsn23

I got my Monitor 70's and my CS2 from Circuit City on clearance and they were also floor models. They came with factory warranty, and I was even able to purchase a 10 year extended warranty on them as well. I also got them to knock $20 off both the 70's and $20 off the CS2 as well. So I paid dirt for speakers that were pretty much new (no visible marks or blemishes, and they sounded great too) IMHO, you can't go wrong with floor models, if you are willing to wait for them to be replaced by next years models that is. Get them while you can.

Filter69Relic

F1nut wrote: »

Since you are interested in music only, I second the LSi 7 suggestion.

Question? It seems that you are sinking a bit of money into this system (at least I think you are), why cheap out on the speakers?

This LSi 7's would probably be my first choice, BUT the are roughly $600-800, plus I don't really have the receiver to drive and puch those they way they need to be yet. New receiver & speakers would cost me north of 1k, vs staying within my current budget of $3-400.

zingo

I love my Monitor 5Jrs and think they are very musical bookshelves. Plus, they can be had for as little at $50 used. They would be easily drivable by your receiver as I am running mine with a 16wpc tube amp. I also love my CRS+ for bookshelf duty, and those can be had in that price range as well. They are a little harder to drive, but amazing speakers for the size.

McLoki

You can pick up LSi7's used almost anywhere for under $400 shipped. If you don't want to consider used - the RTi6 is a nice speaker, but not at the same level the LSi is.

I will throw out that one thing I wish I could do over when building my system is I wish I had started out purchasing everything used.

Michael