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Best speaker option (1 Viewer)

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Mike
I am looking for suggestions on which speakers to order. The speakers will be connected to a Denon 1613. The speakers would be primarily for home theater viewing (at least 75%). Initially I am just planning on ordering two bookshelf speakers with plans later to add a center, subwoofer and floorsting speakers (moving the bookshelf speakers to the back to act as surrounds). The room they will be in is large (12' by 30' in the section we are going to put them in with a total of approximately 600 total square feet with open doorways into another room approximately another 200 square feet). My choices are:

Audioengine P4
Boston Acoustics A25
Cambridge Audio S20
Infinity Primus P163
KEF C3
Klipsch RB-41II
Polk Audio RTiA1
Polk Audio TSi200
Polk Audio TSi100
Polk Audio TSx110B
Polk Audio TSx220B
PSB Alpha B1
PSB Alpha B4
Yamaha NS-BP400PN

I could also order any of the following floorstanding speakers:

Infinity Primus P253
Polk Audio TSi300
Yamaha NS-F150PN

I have "points" in my health program so none of the above would "cost" me anything. Thanks in advance!
 

schan1269

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Long term goal wise...

Yamaha, PSB and Polk are your best choices.

The KEF C series is US only and it may stick around awhile...or it may not. IF you moved up to the iQ or Q I would move those to the Yamaha/PSB/Polk above.

Infinity Primus you might have to hurry. The center is already "Ebay only". Many think Primus is the last hurrah for Infinity...before it sets sail for "remember that brand once"...

Not sure where you are finding Cambridge and AudioEngine(I'm not overtly familiar with either in a "surround" sense...stereo yes)

Boston is another crap shoot. Boston has been the lost step child of the Denon/Marantz merger. Outside of the soundbars...who knows how long D&M will carry on with the brand.
 

schan1269

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I just checked...does AudioEngine even make a "center" speaker? Or is your idea 5 identical speakers...with a spare?

Edit:
The S20 I would pass on. 3 1/2" "woofer". Not seeing much sales support in the US for Cambridge's better offerings.(good stuff...just no support here in the states).
 
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Thanks schan. I'm kind of leaning toward the Polks. Any one of the Polk models I have listed better than the others in your opinion?
 

schan1269

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The TSi/TSX are darn near the same exact thing. Choose based solely on price at the time of purchase...then stick with them the rest of the way. TSi are the "older" version...so you might run into a situation of having to buy 2nd hand to finish your speaker set. I wouldn't have a problem with that as I don't buy new speakers anyway. Just you'd be at the mercy of what is available when.

RTi is a different animal. If you got the wallet to eventually choose 5 of them over 5 TSi/TSX...sure.
 

schan1269

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Essentially...

TSX is replacing TSi(which sorta replaced the Monitor...which it hung on as Monitor II and New Monitor).

RTi "is" the TSi with a "real-ish wood" cabinet.(there are other differences...but MDF covered in vinyl vs MDF covered in wood veneer is the main difference...apart from "what you can't see" as a tad more robust internal bracing...which helps the RTi have less "resonance" than the TSi/TSX)
 
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Sounds good. Will I see a major difference by ordering the TSi200 over the TSi100 or the TSi400 over the TSi300? Keep in mind that I have no musical inclinations at all and that on our other TV we have a cheap LG LHT854 HTiB system.
 

schan1269

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The 100 vs 200 falls squarely on whether you intend to listen to "pure 2.0" music*(assuming the Denon you have has that mode). If no...no reason to get the 200. Both are 89db efficient...the advantage the 200 has would never be used if you never "use it"(the advantage being 43hz vs 53hz in low end roll-off).

The other end of the spectrum...300 vs 400...
90db and 35hz vs 91db and 34hz. Unless you listen to "pure 2.0"...you won't notice the difference.

*If that music is "net based" and not physical media...you won't have any difference as "net based" music(unless you use FLAC etc) because there won't be "anything" below 80hz anyway.
 

schan1269

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By the way, Amazon has a TSi100 w/CS10 package at $250. Which saves you $15-ish over buying the TSi100 now...and the CS10 later.

Same deal with the 300. Buy the pair of 300 with the CS10 and it is roughly $15 less than the three(each 300 counts as "one") separately.
 

schan1269

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Yes your 1613 has "Pure Direct" and "Direct".

Both sound modes are intended for stereo playback. "Pure" version turns off the video circuitry.

Both soundmodes remove the subwoofer(hence why, if you use it...you care about the bass extension of your main pair)

By the way, if you've paid attention to other threads on here, you see mention of "BD Pure Audio" (Google Rolling Stones Grrr and Marley Legend).

If you do buy a Pure Audio BD disc(eventually there will be many) and you use "Direct" it bypasses your bass management and you get the pure 5.1 straight off the disc...


And oh yeah...Direct mode(cause you won't be able to choose "pure" on HDMI) on BD movies bypasses your bass management...although it keeps the "room correction".(well...if the 1613 does that, bonus points. Some AVR "direct" will bypass bass management while keeping room corrections...not all do)
 
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Okay. I'm sure this is a dumb question (like I said earlier, I'm music illiterate), but why would I want to turn off the subwoofer? What is the benefit of doing so?
 

schan1269

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Less processing results in cleaner sound.

I use direct and pure direct quite often. But I also spend 2-3 hours of my day listening to music. And I do not have an iPod. If I stream music it is primarily in my car.

Currently listening to this...

http://www.amazon.com/Pink-Floyd-Wall-Anniversary-Deluxe/dp/B0006ZE7G2/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1381864568&sr=1-1&keywords=pink+floyd+the+wall+25th

5 speakers and the sub, unencumbered by signal processing is pure joy. (Firmly believe if this comes out on BD Pure Audio...this album will break into the Billboard top 50 again)
 
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Like I said earlier, we'll be using the speakers for probably 75% home theater (either direct TV programming or usually just normal DVDs...not Blu-ray). When we do use it for music, we will probably be hooking it up to an Ipod/phone and either streaming music from Pandora or playing music saved on the Ipod/phone. So if I understand correctly, the TSi200 and TSi400 won't really provide a benefits in our applications?
 

schan1269

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"So if I understand correctly, the TSi200 and TSi400 won't really provide a benefits in our applications?"

With the increased knowledge of your music listening sources(when you do it)...no. Not in my opinion would you need the 200/400.

The bass management would remove the benefits over their slightly smaller siblings.
 

schan1269

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There is no way I'd choose Polk TSi over PSB Image either.

But $590 vs $1500(ish...)

I haven't priced PSB in a while. Which would I rather have for 25+ years?

PSB.

Edit:
at Crutchfield two pairs of B4 and the center is $1060. (although I'd take the B5/6...which would be $1500-$1700)

That close, no way at all I would buy the TSi.
 

schan1269

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By the way, to the OP...

The B1/5/6 are the only ones I would choose. The B4 is only 85db efficient. The others are 89 and better.
 
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So the PBS B1 is that much better than the Polk TSi100? The B1 is 17,964 points and the TSi100 is 8,982. I can also get the Polk TSx110 for 13,772. I currently have 11,227 points so would have to wait until I accrue more the B1 and TSx110.
 

schan1269

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Points?

Is this credit card points buying?

The only way for you to know is buy them both(and since the interweb became the marketplace we all wanted...) and return the one you like least. Then buy the remainder on your points.

I can guarantee you the PSB is better constructed. What I don't remember is if the Image is vinyl or wood veneer. I know the Alpha are vinyl/plastic. The Imagine and Synchrony are veneer.
 

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