Polk TSi300/TSi200 Owners

Wharfedale SW150....d award winning Sub.... is nyday d winner against Polk 110...

Between d Polks and Wharfs fronts... u need to decide yrself.. which sounded better to u ...

what is the approx price of the SW150 sub from wharf? And while chosing a sub what best to look for in terms of specs and performance?
 
^^the pricing should be around 18k +/- 500bucks.Like any other stuff in audio world, sub can't be judged by specs alone.U ahve to hear it and see if the output matches ur requirement,whether it be strictly music, movie or a mix of both.Some prefer lots of earth shattering bass, others prefer tight,non-boomy,fast bass.

I think under the 20k range, there are only a few contenders including the SW150 and Jamo 200.The SW150 is a very very decent subwoofer with 150W output, can produce good quantity as wella s quality bass and is not at all a bad choice for even a musical setup after some tweaking,considering the price paid.It can recreate action scenes very effectively IMHO.Plz go audition and decide.
 
Let me try to answer your questions based on my experiences when I was researching speakers for my Denon 1610:

Thanks Sumesh!

Today I went for Wharfedale audition and here is what I got,

I have auditioned Diamond 9HCP with all 5.1, Diamond 9.0, 9.1 and 9.2 with surrounds and subs off. For 9.0, 9.1 and 9.2 I tried 9CS center. The results are impressive. But I could not make out any difference between 9.1 and 9.2. Yeah, there is a marginal difference in 9.0 and 9.1/9.2. Probably I may have missed minor difference.

Diamond 9.HCP: this is a very basic combination sold by Wharfedale for people with extremely low budget. In this combo every speaker is a compromise. If you are willing to spend 30K then don't even look at 9.HCP.

9.0 is more suitable as a surround, not a front speaker. 9.1 is an excellent choice for fronts (this is an award-winning speaker -- google it for reviews). 9.2 is similar to 9.1 except that it has more bass. If you want to decide between 9.1 and 9.2 then your decision should be based on whether you are buying a subwoofer right away or not. If you are buying a sub right away then go for 9.1, or else go for 9.2 (which is what I did) because it has plenty of bass, even good enough for movies for the time being (that is, until you buy a sub). If by any chance you want to listen to music on this setup then I would recommend 9.2 more than the 9.1 (my personal choice). The 9.1 has a 5" woofer while the 9.2 has 6.5" and goes down to 45Hz. So depending on whether you want more bass or not you can go for the 9.1 or 9.2. Both are excellent speakers by the way and much better than the Polk Tsi 200/100. The WF diamonds have Kevlar cones (the same material used to build bullet-proof vests) and can put out much more power than the Polks. Just hold the Diamond 9.1/9.2 in your hands, feel it around, and do the same with the Tsi200, you will easily see the build quality difference. And if you compare the prices of Polk in US (say on Amazon.com) you will see that they sell at much lower prices than in India. On the other hand Wharfedale Diamonds have been priced very aggresively here and are real value for money. The 9.1 at 11K is a steal for such a speaker.

Is 9 series an outgoing one? Replaced with 10 series? Are they pushing off the remaining stock?

Both 9 and 10 series are the current ones and are in production. But whenever the 11 series is launched they would discontinue the 9 series. BUT, the 9 series and 10 series sound very different from each other. From what I have read on this forum, there are more takers for 9 than for 10. But this is a very personal choice and you have to audition carefully if you want to choose between 9 and 10. Otherwise simply go for the wisdom of the crowd :) and buy the 9 series (which is also ~20% cheaper than the 10 series).

Anyways, 9.0 and 9HCP may not be good for my amp as TX-SR USA model outputs 125 watts at 6 ohms and 9.0 and 9HCP is upto 75 watts amp supported at 6 ohms. I am not sure for that matter if 9.1 and 9.2 which has upto 100watt support at 6 ohms suits my amp. But I have read somewhere that for 125 watt 100 watt speaker should be fine. But 75 watt (9.0 and 9HCP) may be too low.

You are right about the 9.0 and 9.HCP, your amp is overpowered for them. But 125W at 6 ohms is just about perfect for 9.1/9.2 (100W at 6 ohms). Infact they would do even better with a more powerful amp! My Denon 1610 puts out 110W at 6 ohms and I have to go up to 65% volume to really enjoy movies (such as Transformers, for example). The diamonds are power-hungry speakers!

The price quote also not very realistic. Though he said the prices quoted are MRP and we can work out on final prices - but how far? Prices are, 9.0 - 9,700/- 9.1 - 13,000/- 9.2 - 17,000/- 9CS - 11,000/- 9CC - 9,000/- SW150 - 21,000/-

You can get a discount of around 15% over MRP. I paid around 33K for 9.2, 9.CS and 9.DFS whose total MRP was 39K.

How did you felt between 9.1 and 9.2? Is there any big difference justifying the price diff?

By the way, since I was much impressed with Polkaudio TSi300 the other day, I asked the prices of TSi100 series bookshelfs assuming TSi300 and TSi100 deliver similar quality with TSi volume less? Any idea about that? I am going to take audition on TSi tomorrow. The ProFX sales guy suggested to go for OWM3 and OWM5 combination instead. Not much impressed with OWM3 atleast the other day when I heard TSi300 package mentioned in my first message.

The prices are, TSi100 - 11,000(MRP)/- may reduce further.
OWM3 (2pa'rs as fronts and surrounds) - 19,800/-
OWM5 (Center) - 8,100/-
OWM3(4) + OWM5(Center) + PSW110 (sub) - full package - 38,000/-

I did hear the Tsi200 and compared with 9.1/9.2 but I didn't compare it with the Tsi300. That's a floorstander and would sound significantly different compared to the Tsi100. The OWMs are satellites and come nowhere near any of the bookshelves we have been discussing so far.

Now comes the final killer question - is TSi100 or Diamond 9.1/9.2 better as front? Is Polk CS10 center or OWM5 Center or Diamond 9CS center best? Again, JBL Control one or OWM3 as surrounds best? I heard OWM5 but not impressed. Should I go for TSi100 as surrounds some time later - I mean by the rest of the package and just add surrounds later. Or for that matter 9DFS bipolar? BTW how much are those? In the sub is PSW110 better over SW150 or the other way around?

I know this is too many questions but I cant wait any longer to decide. So eagerly waiting to experience the movie at home :)

Thanks

For each of your comparisons between Polk and Diamonds, my personal opinion is that the Diamonds are better. As far as JBL Control One is concerned, I suggested that speaker because it fit your budget and would do a good job as a surround. However if you can afford a few more K then I would wholeheartedly recommend 9.DFS. The bipolar surround does a much better job at creating the surround effect compared to regular surrounds.

So my suggestion to you is: for a little over 30K go and get the 9.2, 9.CS and 9.DFS. And later on when you can manage another 18K go get a SW150 sub. The first step is exactly what I did. I have watched close to a 100 Hollywood action movies on my setup over the last one year, and still don't feel too compelled to go and buy the 18K sub :)

Hope that helped.
 
Thanks Amarinder! You are right, a great amount of money that we spent for these imported ones goes to duty and hence the actual pricing has no relation to international prices or even an old vcd ones that you suggested. BTW, I was advised by some one in the past that there may be good/reputed local speaker builders with out much fame in their name but they may make much better quality of sounds than these branded ones. A kind of which I came across a couple of months back when I started off with my HT hunt. They were custom HT builders, they have their own analogue amps and speakers. But since analogue is something which I was not going for I didn't shown much interest. But now I think I can give a try on their speakers. Let me search those guyz. But nevertheless these branded ones came after many years of research and improvements so they do have their quality of build and craft-man-ship which may outshine the custom builds. That's again my thought not based on any real time experience.

Thanks Hemant for that pointer. Personally I felt the build quality is better with Wharfedale.

Imran, the price quotation of Vector systems, bangalore is about 21K for SW150. I am not sure if they will come down till 18.5K.

I liked your description about sub sounds - the earth shattering versus tight, non-boomy and fast. so any one has idea which category SW150 and PSW110 and Jamo 200 falls into? Personally I felt the SW150 is boomy and PSW110 more clean and tight. Haven't heard the Jamo200 so no idea on that. The difference I felt may be because of the difference in content. Next time I should take my own content DVD or CD for auditioning.

Thanks indeed Sumesh!

You spend quite a lot of time to reply :) I really appreciate it. That brings down my confusion far far lesser now. Your broad comparison about Polk and Wharf are convincing. Yeah, even I had this thought that the UK prices of Wharf are closer (well at least in their site) to what Vector system quoted whereas the Polk prices are more than half in amazon. Because I had this new idea of building the system step by step(from you of course) I intentionally put 9.1 and 9.2 on audition with out subs and surrounds. As I said earlier the I could not make out the difference between these but the sales guy had the same opinion as you, that 9.2 has a better bass. I may have missed it probably because the whole audition was done in a matter of half an hour and 20 minutes of that is actually spend on setting up. I guess I should spend more time with different types of content and more importantly my own.

I read some where in this forum that 10 has more bass compared to 9. Though I am going to audition again on 9 and 10 I may not favor too much bass or boomy bass. I would like to stick with cleaner and average bass than super bass.

I would definitely try out your combination next time I go. I guess yours is close to my requirement. More over the price point is also nice. On top if I am able to enjoy with out a sub that would be a wonderful saving (well, at least for sometime till my hunger for more sound drags me back to showroom).

Thanks again!
Anish
 
Well...the polks which are already less dominant...;) And now the polk thread s turning into a Wharf Thread.....lol :yahoo:
:lol::lol::lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I think someone shd take an initiavative to create a Wharf 9 thread also..
..... :eek:hyeah:
 
^

Anish,
If you can streach your budget a bit you can go for good cinema packages.You mentioned 240 ft room I assume 240sqft.... For this size of room sub sat combo is more than enough....

Audition the following brands at the below mentioned places.

Paradigm cinema CT 70/90/110 - The Home Theater Store
PSB/Deftech procinema 600- First Touch (search forum for address , mission road)
Energy take classic/Mirage nanosat - Reliance digital

HTH,
Kittu
 
Thanks Kittu!

I used to be a big fan of satellites because of their amazing sound reproduction. My initial target was for satellites till I heard normal speakers. I have auditioned HK, Klipsch, Boss, Deftech Procinema600, Polk6750. I was impressed with Deftech, Klipsch and HK and OK with Polk6750 and Boss (yes I am not much impressed with Boss -at least the AM series). All those which I have a good impression, the prices were somewhere near 40 to 50K. Paradigm I am yet to do an audition but the price for 90 is 42K. Energy take was another candidate with lot of reputation but no longer available with Reliance.

But the minute I heard the bookshelfs or floorstanders I felt the shortcomings of satellites. Yes, they are capable but somewhere they felt more like my kid's toy train - entirely my personal view. I know with bookshelfs I may never be using full potential in my 240sql ft. room but still I think I am hearing close to what the movie director or the music composer intended to deliver. That doesn't bring down my respect for satellites entirely. They are nice if I can spend close to 50K. Anyway's my last call will be a decision taken in a few minutes of thought based on the whole input I have gathered over the past few weeks. So there are still chances that I may wait for some more time for adequate fund for a satellite.

Thanks again!
Anish
 
Hey guyz,

I am back after a weeks off from work and outstation travel. I am planning to do a final round of audition on Diamond 9 series with my own AVR (Onkyo TX-SR608) and buy speakers tomorrow itself. Though I have already set my mind to buy out, I just wanted to make sure my decision is correct even with my own AVR. My final config is as suggested by Sumesh - 9.2, 9.CS and 9.DFS. Although its a year since Sumesh bought the same combination the prices remain the same. 15% discount is something like a standard take and I wonder why they put this MRP.

Anyways, both 'Vector' and 'Total Sound' who deals with Wharf speakers don't have 9.CS in stock. So I will have to wait for at least 4 to 7 days for getting CS. But still I am ready to wait :)

Now both these dealers charge to the tune of about 1.5K for fixing the system. They do wall mounting, running the wires safely through walls, calibrating speakers etc. I was thinking if I can do wall mounting my household stuffs like photo frames, show pieces etc why cant I myself do the same for speakers? Is there any kind of "rocket science" involved? For the speaker end and AVR end of the wires, do I need to put any special pins or I can just twist the copper wire to the binding poles? Any advantage of using special pins or similar things at these ends? They say the "Gold Plated" ones? Does it really matters? And about the calibration it can be done automatically by AVR's own features like Audessey, right?

Thanks!
Anish
 
Hey guyz,

I am back after a weeks off from work and outstation travel. I am planning to do a final round of audition on Diamond 9 series with my own AVR (Onkyo TX-SR608) and buy speakers tomorrow itself. Though I have already set my mind to buy out, I just wanted to make sure my decision is correct even with my own AVR. My final config is as suggested by Sumesh - 9.2, 9.CS and 9.DFS. Although its a year since Sumesh bought the same combination the prices remain the same. 15% discount is something like a standard take and I wonder why they put this MRP.

Anyways, both 'Vector' and 'Total Sound' who deals with Wharf speakers don't have 9.CS in stock. So I will have to wait for at least 4 to 7 days for getting CS. But still I am ready to wait :)

Now both these dealers charge to the tune of about 1.5K for fixing the system. They do wall mounting, running the wires safely through walls, calibrating speakers etc. I was thinking if I can do wall mounting my household stuffs like photo frames, show pieces etc why cant I myself do the same for speakers? Is there any kind of "rocket science" involved? For the speaker end and AVR end of the wires, do I need to put any special pins or I can just twist the copper wire to the binding poles? Any advantage of using special pins or similar things at these ends? They say the "Gold Plated" ones? Does it really matters? And about the calibration it can be done automatically by AVR's own features like Audessey, right?

Thanks!
Anish
Firstly And +10** for going with Wharfs. :clapping:
Rightly said.. Calibration and Speaker mounting is not rocket science..

If u r familiar with AV terms and understand the manual of yr AVR well.. calibrating and installling shd be easy and smooth...
And those gold-plated pins (called as Balloon Plugs) they jus fix the cables properly to the speaker output plugs on yr AVR..hold dem firmly....
The best comparision I can give u is like jus stripping power cables of yr tv from the Two-Pin and putting raw cables of yr TV into your power outlet rather than using that Two-Pin supplied.. :D
Regarding Biamping ... It gives 100% results.....If yr speakers are BIamping capable...do biamp them and expolit them to d fullest... U can see d improvement in music listenin... (Try with and without BiAmping and see yrself)....
Mounting of speakers... If u buy the brackets.. I think it will be jus carpentry to install dem on yr wall... (if u cant dig holes in yr wall properly.... .get a carpenter or .... leave it to dem.)) :eek:hyeah:
...enjoy :)
 
Thanks Hemant!

I got the diamonds except 9cs centre. Waiting for the stocks to arrive sometime this week. I just plugged the fronts and surrounds and finished auto calibration some time ago and results are amazing. I just used the twisted wire ends without pins to connect but planning to buy MX banana pins in few days. Vector quoted 125 for single and a shop in SP road quoted 70 each. The other option is the very very costly Monster which I am not convinced to spend.

The auto speaker calibration did amazing results by maximizing the low end frequency range of 9.2. As it's almost close to giving subwoofer performance. But anyways I will have to spend another few thousands to get the actual heavey basses of those action movies. That part sometime later :)

I will update you on my hearing experience some time this week once I have the center speakers also in place.

Thanks!
Anish
 
Join WhatsApp group to get HiFiMART.com Offers & Deals delivered to your smartphone!
Back
Top