Tsi100 or Monitor 40 ?

physast

Hello everyone,
I have decided to actually buy a good pair of speakers. I have been using a $20 garage sale special...

I was thinking either Tsi100's or Monitor 40's for the front. What are your thoughts? Also maybe the monitor 30's

For the center I think I am set on the CS20.

As for sub the PSW110.

Thanks for the input. This should get me started.

coolsax

well if you're trying to decide between the 100 and the 40s go for the 40's hands down as the 40's have one extra driver. If you were looking at the 200s and the 40's then its more of a tossup. if you go with the 40's consider the CS 2 from new egg. while the CS 20 will be similar the CS 2 is the actual match to the 40's

physast

Yeah I am not sure about the m40's because they are taller. I might go with the m30 or Tsi100's.

How much better are the m40 than the m30 or Tsi100?? I have only heard the Tsi100 and like them a lot.

So will the CS20 not mix well with the m40? I know they are not matched, but I have never put together a speaker arrangement before.

Thanks

coolsax

I use the 40s for my rears.. and they sound really good.. I haven't heard the 30s or the TSIs though.. the CS20 or even CS 10 would probably mix ok with the 40 and 30 but the CS 2 or CS 1 would match better.

oohhbehave

You probably don't want to hear this, but I say you go with what you hear and like. I took a chance on the Monitor 60's after listening to the TSi300 at best buy, but got the M60 cuz it was much much cheaper form Newegg, to replace some RTi A3 bookshelf speakers(which were awesome BTW). But is it as good as the TSi? I'll never know. The M60 weren't quite as accurate as the Rti A3 out of the box. When you listen to them at home it's going to sound different from when you listen to them at the showroom. Too many variables, room arrangement, AV receiver and etc. If you want to make an educated decision, buy them both, if you can, and test them both side by side in your home before you make the call. You should choose the speaker that sounds good to you!

Once you figure that out, then you can begin tweaking the speakers, modding it to make it even better!

Or you can just take other people's word and just hope they have the same taste as you!

physast

This is what bothers me.. I have heard the Tsi100's at BB and like them a lot. The M30 are cheaper on newegg (over $100 cheaper). They are suppose to be about the same, so I would expect them to sound about the same, but you never know.

The m40 on newegg are still almost $100 cheaper than the Tsi100's, but I have never heard them. I suspect them to sound better than the Tsi100, but again I don't know.

I don't have a good place to listen to the m30 or m40 to find out.

I guess I could get them both and then just send back the ones I don't like.

physast

So now I am thinking maybe I should get the m60's for front, cs1 for center and the psw10 for a sub.

My reasoning is I had decided maybe the m40's instead of the 30's, but they were too big and I would need floor stands. Well I couldn't find and floor stands that I liked so why not get a speaker with built in floor stands....

What do you think?

cnh

Mr. ooh...above is right.....

And I agree. In fact, most everyone here would agree with him but it's never stopped 'us' from giving our opinion....it's up to you to decide...maybe you like what we like and maybe not....but unless someone suggests something....how is a newb going to know WHAT to listen to or for??

So let me say I've heard the M30s (I own a set) and the TSI-100s....I prefer the 100s. The differences between TSI-400s and M60s are not as stark!

As good as the 100s are they cannot compete with a good set of towers in a similar series....M60s are a nice speaker for L/R channels they'll have more range than bookshelves and handle more power. If you do that, get the CS2 as your center..

Good Luck..

cnh

physast

cnh, I had thought about the monitor 60's see one of the options below. But I was going to pair them with the cs1 instead of the cs2 because the drivers match in size.

Thanks for all the replies. I wish I had a store in the DC area that I could go and just listen to all the polks I am interested in. I went to BB today and listened to the Tsi100's again. I really like the sound on those. I own a set of the t15's right now and was going to turn those into rear surround speakers.

I also listened to some Tsi300's but didn't like the sound as much. Of course my BB only had one speaker set up so I didn't get the full effect. I was hoping that the tsi300's would give me an idea about the monitor 40's sound.

The psw10 sub sounded great with both the polks I heard today.

My options right now:
Option one: ~$359.99
monitor 30 front
cs1 center
psw10 or psw110 sub

Option two: ~$478.99
Tsi100 front
cs10 center
psw10 or psw110 sub

Option three: ~$529.99
monitor 60's front
cs1 front
psw10 or spw110

Option four: ~$449.97
monitor 40 front
cs2 center
psw10 or psw110 sub

physast

So I am prepared to purchase some speakers tonight. I have called around and no stores in my area seem to carry the setups I have mentioned in my last post. This means no real way for me to listen to them.

I am leaning toward the m60's, c1 setup and maybe get a sub later. or maybe even the m70's and cs2.... So many choices!

My reasoning for the m60's is I would prefere the m40's over the m30's or tsi100's (even though the 100's look slick). The 40's would need speaker stands I think (too big to put on the 'bookshelf' but too small to set on the floor). I couldn't find any stands that I liked so the m60's kind of already have their own stands! (this is the logic I use to get better speakers).

Any last thoughts?? I plan on purchasing tonight.

Thanks!

cnh

My vote would be for the M60s...I run M70s and I like those even more. But the 60s will do a fine job...the reason I recommend the CS2 over the CS1 has nothing to do with matching the mid-bass driver...you really need to focus on tweeter matching--the CS2 will carry 50% or more of your HT sound so the BIGGER the BETTER!

If your room is not very big you could get by with the CS1....I'd go with the PSW110 over the PSW10--probably less port noise at higher volumes...

Hope you enjoy this set up..if possible make sure you can return items if they are not to your tastes?

cnh

physast

I was almost about to do the purchase.. My hand was on the enter key and my fianc

cnh

Girlfriends and women...Hey they're not all bad look at KASR..s wife? I can't really speak to that....because I have not heard the M40s specifically....I have heard the M50s which have the same drivers but tower cabinet and they're quite good.

So M40s would probably be OK in the front...but you might want to go with the 100s and slowly upgrade your fronts to TSI-300s or 400s once your girlfriend gets used to them and enjoys them?

cnh

GTB

I have M40's as rears, but I ran them as fronts for about a week and was quite impressed when paired with my sub.

I wouldn't hesitate to run a set up front if I couldn't run towers; just don't forget the subwoofer.

Greg