POLK TSX 440T or TSX 550T or RTi A7 or KEF Q500 or Q700

danish

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Hi All,

Looking for a 2.0 setup for basically music & would latter upgrade to 5.1.
Usage would be 70% music & 30% movies....looking for exceptional Mids & vocals ...something like vocal king in the above range....I have a contact in profx and may be able to pull a good quoet through this contact. I already have Denon X1100, gifted by a friend.

So far I was able to demo only TSX 440T and was impressed with clean Mids & highs...but found it little too sharp...the vocals appears to be slightly thin & sharp compared to KEF....I am not sure if this would soften after the break in...
I will be demoing the above speakers soon in the title.

Please help me in choosing from above.

Thanks,
danish
 
If movies is your priority over music then the polk makes good sense. I was watching a movie @profx. They played the kef and polk rti series on the same movie track. The polks shattered the kef speakers completely. The effects with polk were much much better. Also since you have a denon avr it would blend perfectly well with the polk. The Rti series is said to be much better than the tsx series. You must audition the rti adn tsx and compare both.
Another suggestion would be to audition the dali zensor 5/7 which are rated very highly for movies as well as music. You will easily be able to complete a 5.1 package slowly and steadily and the method of adding 2 speakers first and the rest later will result in a killer setup and you are on the right track. Remember audition is the only way you will be able to judge. Dont buy till you are not satisfied. Since You have a contact in profx i guess you may want to lean towards them first and in that case would suggest the polk anyday over kef.
 
Mine is 70% music.....I am not sure if I should I go with Polk....r u suggesting KEF? I see you having all Polks.....Did your speaker change after the break-in? I was checking forums and Polk normally are sharp initially and looses & softens to produce more thicker vocals...I am not sure if it is true?
 
Im not sure of the kefs. But yes the polk speakers after break in sounded a bit more warm which i liked. The polk subwoofer took too long to break in and now sounds fine. Im happy with my polks for music as well. The polk are definately good for movies and trash expensively priced other brands as far as movies are concerned. For music you may not expect audiophile quality sound and i have just hear about this not experienced any differences. They say if you can afford to have two systems running one for ht and other for only music it will be definately better and you will be getting true music enjoyment from a stereo setup rather than ht. It all finally comes down to personal taste. You as a listener mhst be satisfied thats it.
 
Denon X1100 has power handling of 80 W (8 ?/ohms, 20 Hz 20 kHz with 0.08 % T.H.D.) per channel... In 2 channel mode, it should be able to deliver roughly 60W continuous power @ 8 Ohms....

Try to consider bookshelf speakers where your AVR would be in much control to power them... Add a subwoofer too and make it 2.1 system initially and then 5.1 system...
 
thanks for d advice yet!
However, I need to know about POLK TSX 440T or TSX 550T or RTi A7 or KEF Q500 or Q700.....anybody who can pin-point the difference between the musical sound especially "vocals" of the above would be great.....:)
 
Have recently auditioned Polk tsx330t with Yamaha RX-V477 at ProFX.
General opinion is that Yamaha is good for music.
But the tsx330t could not deliver the music well. The sound signature was more sharp and bright. I do believe that for long music listening it may not suite.
I am also not sure if Denon + Polk combo can make music pleasing.

It was good for movies though.
 
Have recently auditioned Polk tsx330t with Yamaha RX-V477 at ProFX.
General opinion is that Yamaha is good for music.
But the tsx330t could not deliver the music well. The sound signature was more sharp and bright. I do believe that for long music listening it may not suite.
I am also not sure if Denon + Polk combo can make music pleasing.

It was good for movies though.



I am using Polk TSx330T with Marantz PM6004 and together they produce great music.
 
thanks for d advice yet!
However, I need to know about POLK TSX 440T or TSX 550T or RTi A7 or KEF Q500 or Q700.....anybody who can pin-point the difference between the musical sound especially "vocals" of the above would be great.....:)

I have not had a demo of the 440T or the 550T but have studied the speaker design and see that the 550T is a 5 way speaker set up whereas the 440T is a 4 speaker construct. The 550T uses 2 nos 8" woofers and 2 nos 5.1/4 " midranges and a 1" tweeter. the 440T uses 3 nos 6.5" mid/ woofer speakers and and 1 " tweeter. As a rule of thumb, , the more the nos. of speakers the more crossover separation and therefore better sound due to limitation in each speaker handling audio range. So the 550t logically should sound a lot better and give a better bass thump than the 440T due to the bigger size of the Woofers. But here is the thing - you are into music so one cant off hand say which of these will be better for you. you have to play music on both at the PROFX demo and make a decision based on that. perhaps the 440T's 6.5" mid ranges may give a better vocal performance than the 8" ones on the 550T
 
550T is not 5-way. It is a two-and-half way design, as is 440T. The difference is just the number of bass/mid-bass drivers. 550T has two 8" bass radiators which is not the same as bass drivers. I can imagine this to be a bass heavy speaker with no real advantage for music listening over the cheaper 440T. RTiA7 is a true 3-way design. However, being 2-way, 2-1/2 way or 3-way does not decide a good speaker or bad speaker for the purpose of the OP.

A few years ago, I had the Polk Audio TSi300 and found it a decent value for money product but I moved on from it fairly quickly because it is just good enough if you are into serious music listening. For movies, I have nothing to complain, especially after break in as it does start sounding smoother. Even I found it really sharp and harsh in the beginning.

In my opinion, you should forget both 440T and 550T and focus on RTiA7 if you like the sound Polk Audio. Compare it with KEF Q500 or Q700 (which are both 2-1/2 way compared to 3-way of RTiA7). See which you like in terms of mid-range, vocal, bass, treble etc.
 
thank you guys....I shall demo it and figure this out...because technically it wudnt make sense to predict the nature of the speakers unless it is heard & compared
 
550T is not 5-way. It is a two-and-half way design, as is 440T. The difference is just the number of bass/mid-bass drivers. 550T has two 8" bass radiators which is not the same as bass drivers. I can imagine this to be a bass heavy speaker with no real advantage for music listening over the cheaper 440T. RTiA7 is a true 3-way design. However, being 2-way, 2-1/2 way or 3-way does not decide a good speaker or bad speaker for the purpose of the OP.

A few years ago, I had the Polk Audio TSi300 and found it a decent value for money product but I moved on from it fairly quickly because it is just good enough if you are into serious music listening. For movies, I have nothing to complain, especially after break in as it does start sounding smoother. Even I found it really sharp and harsh in the beginning.

In my opinion, you should forget both 440T and 550T and focus on RTiA7 if you like the sound Polk Audio. Compare it with KEF Q500 or Q700 (which are both 2-1/2 way compared to 3-way of RTiA7). See which you like in terms of mid-range, vocal, bass, treble etc.

How can 2 cones be passive radiators when the manufacturer puts the number of drivers as 2+2+1
TSx550T - Polk Audio
 
How can 2 cones be passive radiators when the manufacturer puts the number of drivers as 2+2+1
TSx550T - Polk Audio

They can be when the same manufacturer says that they are!! Inn the first line of their product information, from the the link given by you - "The flagship of the TSx Series is a floorstanding loudspeaker that boasts two 8-inch passive woofers capable of such smooth, natural deep bass extension that you may consider an additional subwoofer to be overkill."
 
They can be when the same manufacturer says that they are!! Inn the first line of their product information, from the the link given by you - "The flagship of the TSx Series is a floorstanding loudspeaker that boasts two 8-inch passive woofers capable of such smooth, natural deep bass extension that you may consider an additional subwoofer to be overkill."

Yes, Passive Drivers, meaning they are not mere cones. as you suggested earlier. an active woofer would mean it has its own amplification. a speaker set up that has got 5 passive drivers like the Polk 550T will have 4 passive crossover circuits, one each for the 4 big cones and the tweeter will then get the residual high frequency. which means it is a 5 way system. Not 2-1/2 !!!
 
Polks are generally known to play the extra bass. Denon+polk definitely is a better combo than yamaha+polk. I have tested and heard the difference in sound between them. They sound signature by denon is quite warm whereas yamaha was harsh and would be a problem for longer listening sessions. Would recommend you the Polk Rti series again as they are a step higher compared to the tsx series.
 
Yes, Passive Drivers, meaning they are not mere cones. as you suggested earlier. an active woofer would mean it has its own amplification. a speaker set up that has got 5 passive drivers like the Polk 550T will have 4 passive crossover circuits, one each for the 4 big cones and the tweeter will then get the residual high frequency. which means it is a 5 way system. Not 2-1/2 !!!

George, I stand PARTLY corrected and now you need to be partly corrected. :). I now understand why there is a confusion.

Firstly, I also don't mean that the drivers are active, i.e. they don't have their own amplification. They are all passive drivers which is different from passive radiators.

Secondly, Polk audio is using a confusing terminology - "passive woofers". On further research from different forums, I think the 8" drivers are passive subwoofers (hence the terminology they are using).

Thirdly, It still does not mean these are 5-way. I think with a 2+2+1 configuration, they are most likely 3-way, 5 driver speakers. The "way" for a speaker is defined by the crossover network's frequency cut off design between different drivers. 2-way can have 2 pairs of tweeters and mid/woofers or a single pair. Polk audio has not given the crossover network details properly, hence it is unclear.

According to this link, these are 3-way: Polk Audio TSx Series Dual 8" 3Way Floorstanding Loudspeaker Each Black TSX550T BLACK - Best Buy

If you look at this link from KEF (Hi-Fi Speakers - Q Series - Fact Sheets - Floorstanding - Q500 - KEF International), it has the same configuration of 5 drivers, but they clearly says that its a two-and-a-half way.
 
George, I stand PARTLY corrected and now you need to be partly corrected. :). I now understand why there is a confusion.

Firstly, I also don't mean that the drivers are active, i.e. they don't have their own amplification. They are all passive drivers which is different from passive radiators.

Secondly, Polk audio is using a confusing terminology - "passive woofers". On further research from different forums, I think the 8" drivers are passive subwoofers (hence the terminology they are using).

Thirdly, It still does not mean these are 5-way. I think with a 2+2+1 configuration, they are most likely 3-way, 5 driver speakers. The "way" for a speaker is defined by the crossover network's frequency cut off design between different drivers. 2-way can have 2 pairs of tweeters and mid/woofers or a single pair. Polk audio has not given the crossover network details properly, hence it is unclear.

According to this link, these are 3-way: Polk Audio TSx Series Dual 8" 3Way Floorstanding Loudspeaker Each Black TSX550T BLACK - Best Buy

If you look at this link from KEF (Hi-Fi Speakers - Q Series - Fact Sheets - Floorstanding - Q500 - KEF International), it has the same configuration of 5 drivers, but they clearly says that its a two-and-a-half way.

Very well then aashish, the benefit of the doubt goes to you. I stand partly corrected :) Although in my opinion it would be a waste to have 5 speakers without 4 separate crossover circuits. I rest my case.
 
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Hi All,

I finally auditioned the below speakers for an hour & below are my conclusion:-

Polk 550T:-
The vocals thin effect is very less.....far good than the 440T. Typically good for music which has prominent highs like dance, trance, hip- hop....where you do not might want to hear the voice clearly...voice reproduction is slightly on the brighter side better than 440T...This will soften as time goes by but still will not able reach the level of speakers made for the vocals...

Polk RTi A7:-
I found the thinning effect far more prominent here....very similar to 440T but with bass. I do not really stand impressed over the vocals.

Q500:-
WOW..I had no words for this little beast...the vocals were like perfect, thick and rich...absolutely the right speakers I was looking for...bass & treble were in the right mix audible & enjoyable

Q700 Not available but need to check on this soon.

For me it is between Q500 Vs Q700.....not that Polk is bad it is meant for a different genre or different set of audience...I still consider them for surround speakers and center for the clarity they produce.....
 
Bad idea of keeping different center and possibly even surrounds. Keep it from the same brand amd series. If you like kef then also buy the same q series center and matching surrounds, this way you have a much more balanced and sound that blends well. For movies you will need a center and sub. Surrounds yes for the extra effects but whenever you upgrade think of center and sub first. Sub need not be the same brand. Surrounds can be of a different brand but I'd suggest to keep the same as it will result is a good sound signature and soundstage too.
 
A beautiful, well-constructed speaker with class-leading soundstage, imaging and bass that is fast, deep, and precise.
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