Monitors and the previous TSis were exactly the same speaker in different cabinets IMO, and the Monitor line is a definite step down from the Pioneers or Primus line to my ears.
John, I agree with YOU in that the Infinity Primus are better than the older Polk Monitor Series speakers. Not by a large margin, but certainly noticeable so to speak. As far as the AJ speakers I am NOT impressed at all.
I originally heard the AJ at my local Best Buy when they had a dedicated demo room that was HIGHLY treated. Currently, for one reason or another my local Best Buy is NOT using that room at all. As such, the Home Audio section has been moved out onto the main floor. Go figure?
Over the last 6-months or so, I have spent a lot of time at Best Buy. By doing so, I got to take a much closer look at what speakers they keep on hand. Of course, BB had the Pioneer AJ towers/bookshelfs, as well as, typical Klipsch, and/or Sony Core speakers.
Now granted out on the main floor is NOT the most ideal place to do any critical listening, I was still able to discern significant differences between them. Thus, I was totally shocked at just how bad the AJ speakers sounded compared to the others.
The Klipsch sounded just like I remember them to be: Way too bright/forward for my tastes. However, they did have a 5 1/4" bookshelf that actually sounded pretty good. But, they were also $250 a set.
Later, I decided to check out the Sony Core speakers. To be honest here, I was NOT expecting too much because they were "Sony" speakers. Did NOT even realize they were part of the "Core" series. But, holy smokes they sounded better than anything my local BB had on hand imho.
The Core towers were very well balanced with lots of detail. Imaging was also noticeably better. For a tower, bass was somewhat punchy and tight. The Cores did NOT produce the volume of bass as the Klipsch towers, but what was there was more controlled and balanced. The Klipschs sounded just a bit boomy/bloated if you will.
Lastly, I took a closer look at the Sony Core bookshelfs. Holy smokes, I was really impressed! To me, the bookshelf sounded even better than the Core tower. Imaging was certainly better and the extension was tighter/faster. Over all balance was unbelievable for this price range. I kept going back and forth between the Core tower/bookshelf and without a doubt, I much preferred the Core bookshelfs. Sony, really did a good job with the Core speakers.
I will say, I was NOT too impressed with the Sony Core center speaker. That is where Sony kind of dropped the ball so to speak. Perhaps, Sony will come out with a better Core center in the future. It would certainly be most welcome.
Cheers,
Phil