Speaker Combinations (tsi Series)

phipsi1

@Fellow Polk Fans

This is my first post here and just registered so it's great to meet you all! I am planning on setting up our family's first HT setup. We purchased the Panasonic PTAE4000 as our projector and a CrystalVision 100" motorized screen. It truly is amazing the difference between an lcd tv and projection. Even projecting onto a wall, the PQ is amazing! But I digress...:D

Our family's preference is 99% movies - 1% music (music - whenever a bluray concert is released). I have now narrowed my choice down to this particular mix of speakers from the tsi line:

Floor Standers: tsi500
Center: cs20
Surrounds: Undecided between - tsi400/300/100 or a longshot, the tsi500
Sub: SVS pb10nsd (Had to go with SVS. Truly an amazing subwoofer.)
Amp: Undecided: Harman Kardon 260, Onkyo 807, or Denon 3310

My reason for possibly using the tsi500 (a longshot because of price, but maybe I can get the wife to agree), tsi400, or tsi300 as surrounds although most will use them as front floorstanders is that I had demo'ed the Monitor Audio RX Silver Series and the surrounds were the MA RX1 which although are bookshelf speakers can be used as fronts, and the detail and clarity were amazing. So I figured, why not give it a shot and try either those aforementioned speakers as surrounds. My only concern is whether or not the amps that are in my list of choices will be able to sufficiently power this particular mix of speakers, specifically the HK 260 which is my preference.

Any advice or input would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers and very glad to find such a helpful thread!

flyfisher

Welcome to club Polk.

From what i read on the forum,there seems quite a few onkyo series 8** owners and I hear good things about them.With the 807, it should be good for now and if you always want more power,it does have pre-outs.

If i didn't have my Pioneer my 2nd choice would of been an Onkyo.
Someone soon will be more than helpful to answer your questions.

Enjoy your HT when its up and running.

Anthony

steveinaz

Welcome! I'd love to help, but I'm a 2-channel only nerd.

ccruiser

I'm building a set-up that is pretty similar to your own, with 500's in front and, right now 100's for surrounds. When I move to house with a bigger den at the end of the summer I will probably be upping it all to a 7.1 system. Anyway, on speakers, I am still undecided myself so I'll be interested to see what some of the recommendations are. I can say that after listening to my 100's they put out a lot of good sound for a speaker of their size.

As far as your receiver goes, you may want to take a look at the pioneer vsx 1120k. It won't be out until June, but I'm hoping it will be worth the wait. A lot of folks on here seem really fond of Pioneer receivers, but almost just as many go Onkyo. From everything I've read, either company seems to be a solid choice.

That's just my .02 Hopefully someone much more knowledgeable than I am will be able to help you more. I'm pretty new to all of this.

wutadumsn23

Looks like you have this thing pretty much nailed phip, which makes recommendating even easier. The no brainers are the fronts and center (500's and CS20) the "tricky" part is the surrounds. There is a pretty noticable difference between the models you listed and depending on whether you want floorstanders or something you can put on stands or wall mount will decide for you. I have the TSi 500's for surrounds, and they are awesome. One thing I will say though is to look into the Monitor series as well, IMHO the Monitor 70's are a better overall speaker than the TSi 500's and believe me I have A/B'd the hell out of them. That would almost guarentee you being able to use another set of Monitor 70's as surrounds too, lol. The cost for 4 Monitor 70's and a CS2 from Newegg would be about $1,000, which is about the same as the cost of 2 TSi 500's and a CS20. If you are sold on the TSi's then by all means, pull the trigger, just trying to give you another option that will not only save you money, but also net you a better overall sound in the end, IMHO. As for your AVR, I would recommend the Onkyo, since I have an 806 myself, and love it. The Pioneer is also a good choice, just make sure whatever one you get, it has pre outs for adding an external amp, evern if you don't want one now, it will help to future proof your rig a little. Good luck and welcome to Club Polk.

-Jeff

phipsi1

@all

Thanks for the input. Please keep them comin'.