TSi500 vs. Monitor 70

mordir1297

I am getting ready to make a purchase on my front speakers to build my home theater system. I have been looking around and see there are TSi 500s and Monitor 70s that look as though they are the same speaker. Is there a difference in sound quality between these 2 speakers?

chemical

from my understanding there is a slight difference between them....there are many many folks on this site with way more knowledge about them than i have.

i do however use m'70's as my fronts......and i love them for h.t. and music

kcoc321

I have not compared them, but have you compared the specs:

Mon70:
http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/specs/recent/monitor70/
on Newegg fro $458/pr

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882290015&cm_re=polk-_-82-290-015-_-Product

TSi500: $798/pr on Newegg
http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/tsi/specs.php

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882290104&cm_re=polk-_-82-290-104-_-Product

The TS's are alittle sexier looking than the Mon70's IMO...

BUT EVEN BETTER!!!
What about the RTiA9's? There are some referb's on the Polk eBay site for
$898
http://cgi.ebay.com/RTi-A9-Cherry-Tower-Loudspeakers-Polk-Audio-pair_W0QQitemZ360184167207QQcmdZViewItemQQptZSpeakers_Subwoofers?hash=item53dca63b27&_trksid=p4634.c0.m14.l1262

Well worth the $100, IMO, if you are going to do it, but depends if you can swing it.

OR

Also some RTiA7's for $599 on there, but I would change the question to the differences btwn the RTi, IF it was me.

Couse, then it also depends what you have for a Center....
Polk eBay also has a CSi5 for $179 (flippin grett price), so for the $$ of the RTiA9's you could get the A7's AND a CSi5

OR for lil over $1k you could get the RTiA9's and the CSi5 and be set...'well until you start looking at amps to drive these thing RIGHT...LOL

Welcome to the upgrade-itus...hehe

apphd

There is a pair of the TSi500 making the rounds on a Polk demo.

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84036&page=3

The link takes you to the first page that looks like it has a complete review on the bottom of the page, there may be more I did not go through the whole thread. Some of the people that are due to get these are M70 owners so they should be able to give you there opinion as to the difference in sound. At least to their ears anyway. I don't think this demo is real deep into the list yet though.

Rodeo0530

You can find the M70's for cheaper if you're willing to wait for their next sale. I got mine for $180/each with free shipping. I love my 70's and haven't even been able to properly power them yet.

Systems

How did you hear about the sale on the M70's?
kp

mordir1297

I already have my receiver (Onkyo 875) and do not have plans of getting a separate amplifier until way down the road (if at all). The receiver I have should be able to push the M70s/TSi500s but would not cut it for the RTis. That is why I was looking at the Monitor/TSi lines. The M70s are on sale with newegg right now for $229.99 each and if you order before midnight tonight you can get an extra $52 off. You can only get the discount on one speaker per account. The TSI 500s are $399 each or if you buy 2 you get them for $299 each.

I have heard the 500s powered by a receiver similar to mine and they sounded awesome. I am interested in saving money so the M70s caught my attention but I have yet to hear them. I would not want to find out that $70 was the difference between "wow that's cool" and "OMG that's awesome". I would rather spend the extra $70 if there's a noticeable difference.

Rodeo0530

ken.paduch wrote: »

How did you hear about the sale on the M70's?
kp

I saw it in a Newegg ad that I received via email. I know that they have them on sale for that price from time to time on Newegg because I've seen them for that price a few times since I bought mine.

Rodeo0530

mordir1297 wrote: »

I already have my receiver (Onkyo 875) and do not have plans of getting a separate amplifier until way down the road (if at all). The receiver I have should be able to push the M70s/TSi500s but would not cut it for the RTis. That is why I was looking at the Monitor/TSi lines. The M70s are on sale with newegg right now for $229.99 each and if you order before midnight tonight you can get an extra $52 off. You can only get the discount on one speaker per account. The TSI 500s are $399 each or if you buy 2 you get them for $299 each.

I have heard the 500s powered by a receiver similar to mine and they sounded awesome. I am interested in saving money so the M70s caught my attention but I have yet to hear them. I would not want to find out that $70 was the difference between "wow that's cool" and "OMG that's awesome". I would rather spend the extra $70 if there's a noticeable difference.

I've never heard the 500's, but I'm sure that they sound good. I believe they dig a little deeper than the 70's and they do look a little nicer, but I couldn't justify spending the extra $$$ when I could get a pair of 70's for $360 and free shipping. That Onkyo will be plenty of power for either of those speakers. I have an Onkyo 806 that's being worked on right now so I'm just using an Onkyo 506 for the time being and it can power them enough, but not as much as I would like. I don't think that you could go wrong with any of the options that you mentioned, but it just will depend on how much you want to spend.

mordir1297

The crossover is different in the TSi vs the M series. TSi noted simply as Crossover 2.5khz while the M series is noted as 2.6kHz and 2.6kHz cascade tapered 2nd order. I'm curious how much difference that will make.

mordir1297

kcoc321 wrote: »

There are some referb's on the Polk eBay site

The no returns policy scares me.

mordir1297

mordir1297 wrote: »

The crossover is different in the TSi vs the M series. TSi noted simply as Crossover 2.5khz while the M series is noted as 2.6kHz and 2.6kHz cascade tapered 2nd order. I'm curious how much difference that will make.

Does anyone have any information on the crossover question/issue?

comfortablycurt

mordir1297 wrote: »

The no returns policy scares me.

I've never even heard of a reason for someone to need to return anything that was bought through Polk Direct. They do great business...don't be scared. Their refurbs are basically new products.


For the little bit extra that it costs...I'd probably go with the TSi500's. They have a much better looking cabinet IMO.

One major difference is that the Mon. 70's were front ported, whereas the TSi500's are bottom ported. I'd imagine this makes the 70's a little bit easier to place. The 500's would probably need to be pulled a little farther away from the wall to give the port adequate breathing room.

wutadumsn23

Hopefully soon I will be able to awswer this age old question that seems to be popping up more and more, that of course being which is better the 500's or the 70's. I am next in line (I think) to demo the 500's that are currently "stuck" at Leroyjr's house ( I bet he is dissapointed, lol) and if all goes well I will have the Type 4's as well, since I believe they are on their way to my house as we speak. I am looking foward to putting some time into this demo and really trying to figure out which one is better, if there is a standout. In the meantime I would recommend the 70's since they are so much cheaper than the 500's and I currently run them in my HT and you will not be dissapointed by their performance, believe me.

-Jeff

MrGlobe

I also vote for the 70s. They are so much cheaper. The 500s do look alot cooler in my opinion, but not enough to make up the price difference.

I got my 70s from newegg for $140 shipped/each open box. They had a few minor nicks and such but nothing wrong functionaly.

CALoff

I bought a CSi5 refurb direct from Polk. It was absolutely mint. I wouldn't worry too much about the speaker manufacturer selling you refurbished junk. They do have a reputation to uphold.

mordir1297 wrote: »

The no returns policy scares me.

mordir1297

wutadumsn23 wrote: »

Hopefully soon I will be able to awswer this age old question that seems to be popping up more and more, that of course being which is better the 500's or the 70's. I am next in line (I think) to demo the 500's that are currently "stuck" at Leroyjr's house ( I bet he is dissapointed, lol) and if all goes well I will have the Type 4's as well, since I believe they are on their way to my house as we speak. I am looking foward to putting some time into this demo and really trying to figure out which one is better, if there is a standout. In the meantime I would recommend the 70's since they are so much cheaper than the 500's and I currently run them in my HT and you will not be dissapointed by their performance, believe me.

-Jeff

Based on this thread a discussion with Polk support and finally taking into account W.A.F. I decided to go with the Monitor 70s in Cherry. I am going to set up 5.1 at first. I ordered 4 Monitor 70s and a CS2. I got the Monitor 70s from Newegg for $350 a pair including shipping. The CS2 was $129. I'm looking forward to testing out this set up. I was going to get normal surrounds but my wife didn't want anything hanging from the walls and our attic doesn't have access for running ceiling speakers easy enough. Besides I figured 4x monitor 70s would sound better anyway.

rru2s

mordir1297 wrote: »

I decided to go with the Monitor 70s in Cherry. I am going to set up 5.1 at first. I ordered 4 Monitor 70s and a CS2. I figured 4x monitor 70s would sound better anyway.

Congrats, about 6 months ago I added a second pair of 70s, so now I also have 4 Monitor 70s, along with an Epik valor sub and a 2.1 receiver (but with A & B capability) using an Outlaw RR2150. One monitor 70 is within a foot of each corner of a 24 x 15 living room, and for music this yields incredible room-filling sound anywhere in the room. The room is heavily dampened by carpeting, heavy drapes, and 3 couches and 2 recliners.

Two interesting comments after several months of listening to this configuration of 4 identical speakers with two channels in a long rectangular room (front and rear left are both identical left channel, etc.) --

First -- the absolute best concert hall experience comes from sitting about 2 feet in front of or two feet behind the longitudinal center of the room. I think this yields the best slight sound delay from the further distant speakers to give the most "alive" or 3-D soundstage.

Second -- When I sit at any other off-center location, for example along the back wall between rear L and rear R, or if I sit midway on the left wall between front L and rear L, I perceive a difference in the dispersion from different frequencies, which gives the impression of 4 channels, not 2. This seems to be because I frequencies have to be on-axis for the greatest transmission, so I hear L from whichever left is pointing most directly at me, not which L is closest. In contrast, for midrange -- for example lower ranges of brass, vocals, or guitar, the sound is transmitted from the 6.5 inch drivers that have wide dispersion, so these instruments seem to originate from the speaker closest to me as opposed to the speaker pointing most directly at me. However, it is never an unbalanced perception because with four locations in each corner and a total of 16 drivers, absolutely no signal gets lost or under-represented, unless the volume is down at nearly whisper levels. And of course, dispersion with bass is fine -- the 330W 15" valor gets the sound to every corner, and it blends seamlessly with the monitor 70s at an 80 hz crossover, such that often I think I'm hearing full bass from each speaker even though the crossover on my receiver is set to around 80hz.

Although brighter speakers might be better for folks who want 75% movies versus music, I really don't find the 70s at all disappointing for movies, although I caveat that by saying I sometimes have to play at louder volumes than I would have with a TV speaker alone just to hear all the conversation clearly on certain movies, probably because the 70s are more laid back.

wutadumsn23

mordir1297 wrote: »

Based on this thread a discussion with Polk support and finally taking into account W.A.F. I decided to go with the Monitor 70s in Cherry. I am going to set up 5.1 at first. I ordered 4 Monitor 70s and a CS2. I got the Monitor 70s from Newegg for $350 a pair including shipping. The CS2 was $129. I'm looking forward to testing out this set up. I was going to get normal surrounds but my wife didn't want anything hanging from the walls and our attic doesn't have access for running ceiling speakers easy enough. Besides I figured 4x monitor 70s would sound better anyway.

Sounds like you did pretty well!! You will not be dissapointed by the 70's. Be sure to let us know how it all works out once you get it up and running. Congrats again on a great start, before I forget do you have a sub? The 70's do have a pretty good low end, but you will need a sub to fill in the gaps, IMHO.

-Jeff

mordir1297

I ordered a Polk Audio PSW505B 12" Powered Subwoofer with the rest of the speakers. They are all due to arrive today but I had them shipped to my cousins house instead of mine so I wouldn't have to pay sales tax. :cool: I won't be able to set them up in my house until November anyway so it's best they are far from me otherwise I couldn't resist setting them up in the apartment.

Since they will be at his house for a month my cousin is going to do a comparison between the Monitor 70s and the TSI 500s since he already owns a pair of 500s. I will ask him to post his thoughts on the difference.

grimmace19

I just snapped up the 70's from newegg as well, one comment that wasn't true up top is about their codes. You are able to use the code on the same account more than once but the order must be separate. Also, if anyone is interested bing.com offers 2% cashback on newegg purchases. So on top of the 177.99 per mon70, I got an additional $4.60 per speaker coming back to me.

kdog03

Well...yes there are significant difference's between the two...I posted some comments under another thread "tsi vs monitor line". I didn't belive it untill I played them side by side.

Crown7

kcoc321 wrote: »

I have not compared them, but have you compared the specs:

Mon70:
http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/specs/recent/monitor70/
on Newegg fro $458/pr

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882290015&cm_re=polk-_-82-290-015-_-Product

TSi500: $798/pr on Newegg
http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/tsi/specs.php

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882290104&cm_re=polk-_-82-290-104-_-Product

The TS's are alittle sexier looking than the Mon70's IMO...

BUT EVEN BETTER!!!
What about the RTiA9's? There are some referb's on the Polk eBay site for
$898
http://cgi.ebay.com/RTi-A9-Cherry-Tower-Loudspeakers-Polk-Audio-pair_W0QQitemZ360184167207QQcmdZViewItemQQptZSpeakers_Subwoofers?hash=item53dca63b27&_trksid=p4634.c0.m14.l1262

Well worth the $100, IMO, if you are going to do it, but depends if you can swing it.

OR

Also some RTiA7's for $599 on there, but I would change the question to the differences btwn the RTi, IF it was me.

Couse, then it also depends what you have for a Center....
Polk eBay also has a CSi5 for $179 (flippin grett price), so for the $$ of the RTiA9's you could get the A7's AND a CSi5

OR for lil over $1k you could get the RTiA9's and the CSi5 and be set...'well until you start looking at amps to drive these thing RIGHT...LOL

Welcome to the upgrade-itus...hehe

oK SO i have the RTi 7's as fronts, and A6's as center what do you reccommend as my center? and if I need an external amp what should I get?

Crown7

grimmace19 wrote: »

I just snapped up the 70's from newegg as well, one comment that wasn't true up top is about their codes. You are able to use the code on the same account more than once but the order must be separate. Also, if anyone is interested bing.com offers 2% cashback on newegg purchases. So on top of the 177.99 per mon70, I got an additional $4.60 per speaker coming back to me.

i have the 70's as my rears and my rtia 7's as the fronts.. I think the m70's are a great buy...however mine are still running bright, so Im still trying to break em in...

marcjuicy

If you listen to rap and r&b the 70s
If you listen to classical or theater tsi500