av123 x-sls encore tower vs Polk TSi-300? (1 Viewer)

[MTrotter]

Hi, this is for a small system for movies and music in a small bedroom. I plan to drive them with an Onkyo 606 reciever.

Both of these can be had for ~$400/pair. I briefly heard the Polks at CC, and they sounded decent to me. The setup was horrible, unfortunately, but they seemed to image pretty well and were dynamic.

The av123 looks good on paper, er, browser, but I wonder if anybody has compared them to Polks. They are a bit bigger than the Polks. The Polks have two mid drivers vs one larger driver on the av123. I think they both use silk dome or fabric tweeters.

Thanks for any info/advice.

 

[MTrotter]

OK, I'll throw in some more options in case anybody has experience with them:

Athena LS 500B
Energy C-300
Polk RTi8

 

[gene c]

I've seen the TSi series at BB but haven't heard them. Nice looking, though. I did own RTi8's a couple of years ago and although they're a fine speaker I felt they were too bright for my liking. Just couldn't turn the treble knob down far enough or the bass knob up far enough for that matter. But some prefer this type of sound. The deep bass response isn't quite what you would expect from a dual driver tower either but if you use a sub then it's not an issue. For the price they are selling for now (as low as $149 per speaker) they're hard to beat.

I have listened to the previous Athena AS-F2 and it was quite a bit mellower than the RTi8's but I have yet to hear the LS 100's and it uses a different tweeter.

The xl series from av123 has a great reputation but I haven't heard these either. Same with the Energy's which is owned by the same Canadian company as Athena, btw.

For a two channel setup I'd go with the Athena's. But finding a matching center and surrounds might be a little difficult. The Energy's are probably the sleeper of the group. I'd love to hear how they sound.

But of course your opinion may differ after hearing any of these. I remember a couple of years ago someone here said RTi4's were dull and lifeless. The exact opposite of what I felt.