need alot of help!

josereyna

ok, I want to build a hometheater system. I would like to use the following, 2-tsi500(front) cs20(center) , tsi 200 (suround rear), and psw125 sub.

I would like to know if this is a good set up, aswell as what is the amount of watts i need in a receiver. What is the best for less than 1k that will give me the best bang for the buck. Is 5.1 good? or should i go 7.1 and add two more tsi 200?

I currently live in a 2 room apt, is this too much power for a small living room? Should i go with something smaller? Will it be too loud for my ears and not to mention my neighbors. I plan to move to my own house and what a system that will last me for a while, thats why im getting this set up not to mention im getting if for a veeeery good price.

help me ASAP!

wutadumsn23

Those speakers you have suggested wil make for a pretty BA HT setup. I pretty much have the same one, except mine are the "older" Monitor series that the TSi's "replaced" They are very similar and it has worked very well for me. As far as watts are concerned the TSi's are 8 ohm speakers and are very easy to drive. Any AVR that puts out 100W or above will have no problem powering these speakers. I would look into Onkyo TX SR 7XX series, since they have pre outs for adding an external amp, which you may want down the road. Also look into HK, Denon, and Pioneer, just to name a few. Whether you go 5.1 or 7.1 will be determined by the size of your room, if you don't have room for a 7.1, I would stick with 5.1. A well setup 5.1 will outperform a cramped up 7.1 anyday. I wouldn't worry about whether it will be too loud or not, just be careful with the volume knob to keep the neighbors off your back, lol. Hope this helps and welcome to Club Polk.

-Jeff

josereyna

tyvm, so the amp would need to be atleast 700w? oh and by the way, what does BA HT mean?

Pycroft

Josereyna -
Welcome to the club! AVR's usually are rated as watts per channel. I believe Jeff meant 100 watts per channel. For 1,000 dollars you can grab a fantastic AVR. I would suggest going and listening to many. For that much, I'd look at the Pioneer Elite receivers - SC05, SC07 (may be a bit over budget). Other great companies to consider are Marantz, Harman Kardon, Denon, and Onkyo.

James

superjunior

josereyna wrote: »

tyvm, so the amp would need to be atleast 700w? oh and by the way, what does BA HT mean?

ba ht = bad **** home theater
welcome to the club!

Erik Tracy

josereyna wrote: »

tyvm, so the amp would need to be atleast 700w? oh and by the way, what does BA HT mean?

"Bad @ss Home Theater"

And yes, your setup should give you some ear grinning sonic goodness!

josereyna

i was looking at the tsi 200 specs and seems to me that they are HUGE! for an apartment that is mabey like a 15 x 12. I was thinking if i should go with tsi400, tsi 100 and the same sub and center speaker. Will i notice the diffrence in the sound quality between the tsi100/200 and the sti400/500 or is the only diffrence that the 200/500 will be much louder? explain plz

wutadumsn23

Yeah, I meant 100W per channel, but that was more of a suggestion than a cutoff. Most AVR's rate their units at only 2 channels driven and they will drop off considerably from there with every speaker you add to the mix. Probably closer to half that with a 5.1, but don't worry that is normal and the TSi's are pretty easy to power. As far as noticing much difference between the 100's/200's, I don't know, but the 200's have an extra driver so I would imagine there would be a bit of a difference. The 400's/500's I don't know about that either, but the 500's do have an extra driver over the 400's, but don't know if that would make that much of a difference. I would suggest getting the biggest, badest speakers you can affor/fit to lessen the urge to upgrade and wonder "what if" yanno? You do have a firaly small room, so the 500's/200's may be overkill, but in the end it is up to you. I have the Monitor 70's and Monitor 40's (pretty much the same speakers as your TSi's) and my room isn't that big and they perform flawlessly. Just my $.02.

-Jeff

comfortablycurt

Welcome to Club Polk...sounds like you've got some pretty good plans laid out.

I wouldn't get too caught up in the wattage ratings of different receivers. Most of their claimed wattage ratings are nowhere near their real world output anyway. Anything that's rated from 80-120 watts per channel will be just fine. The TSi series is pretty efficient, and easy to drive. It doesn't take a lot of power to make them really sing.


Also, there's really no such thing as a system being too loud for a given area. You have control of the volume. There are instances where speakers can be too large for a room, but I wouldn't worry about that much with the TSi500's. You'll have the ability to crank that system to the moon, but a well put together system(such as the one you're considering), will also be able to accurately reproduce audio at lower volumes as well.

5.1 vs. 7.1? IMO, you're probably better off just sticking with 5.1. It sounds like you're living in a smaller place, and it may not justify a 7.1 setup. 7.1 is only really an improvement on 5.1 if you have a large enough area to properly place all of the speakers. Cramming in two extra speakers, just for the sake of having two more speakers, isn't always good. A properly set up 5.1 system is going to sound a lot better than an improperly placed 7.1 system.


These speakers are fairly large...I just noticed that your room is 15'x12'...which is fairly small. Before I disassembled my HT rig, I had it running in a 15'x18' room. Keep in mind that these speakers are fairly good sized. If you've got the room, the 500's would be the best, but I'm sure the 400's would make you very happy as well. The same applies to the 100/200 debate.

The 500/200 combo wouldn't be louder than the 100/400 combo. The size of a speaker doesn't equate to it's volume. Once again, it's only going to be as loud as the volume knob tells it to be. The 200/500 would however have a slightly fuller sound. They have larger/more woofers, and are able to dig a bit deeper into the low bass regions. If size is more of a concern for the surrounds...consider going with 500's up front, and 100's in back. The 200's are deceivingly large. The pictures make them look pretty small...but they're pretty damn big for being a bookshelf speaker. Make sure you've got the space for them. Pulling surround duty, the 100's wouldn't really have much to envy compared to the 200's anyway IMO. There generally isn't a whole lot of heavy demand placed on the surround channels.

Excellent choice on the CS20. I always recommend going with a larger center channel whenever it's a possibility. The center channel carries well over 50% of a movies soundtrack, so it's a very crucial speaker. It carries most of the dialogue, and the majority of the soundtrack. Having a larger center channel is going to net more of an improvement than getting larger surrounds. If you have to skimp on any of your speakers...your best off skimping on the surrounds.

One last suggestion I'd make, would be going with a better sub. The PSW125 is a decent sounding sub, but with the bass output that the TSi500's have, it's gains are going to be minimal. A Polk PSW505 would be a much better sounding sub, with more lowbass output, and much more musicality. They can be had for $250 from Amazon currently.

wutadumsn23

LOL, Sal.

-Jeff

Pycroft

+1 on the 5.1 setup. I have heard 7.1 and 5.1. I think it's as good, if not better to have a kickass 5.1 setup than trying to arrange for 7 speakers.

wutadumsn23

Baaahaaaaa Mike.

-Jeff

anhchungdoan

Lasareath wrote: »

I hate the neighbors!!!

My old neighbors were illegals so they never called the police!, HAHA

Is his name Kahn, an old and crazy :DLaotian who likes to talk **** on the Polk Club?