Polk TSi or Pioneer AJ for budget system?

[felipe]

Hi everyone . I'm in the planning stages of setting up a family member of mine with thier first HT system. So far they have the TV, the BDP and the AVR. I recommended the AJ Pios, but they aren't fans of their aesthetics. So, I continued my search. Thier budget is 500..maybe a little more if it was worth it. to cut the story short, I can put together a pair of Tsi 300s, a CS10 and TSi 100s for under 500. A sub is not wanted at this time.

Thier usage is 70/30 movies and tv/music. Can anyone offer other suggestions or thoughts? TIA all

 

[slipperybidness]

Wave Crest HVL-1
Ascend CMB

 

[rojo]

ELAC B5 pair, ELAC C5 center, Fluance AVBP2 bipolar surrounds. The ELAC bookshelfs are a bit nicer aesthetically than the Pioneers and they have deeper extension than the WaveCrests, which will be better if there's no sub. The Fluance surrounds are sealed and have a clean sound, and are a pretty good bargain.

The ELAC speakers won't be ready to ship until October though. But it's often been said that the street price may be a bit lower than full retail for the ELAC speakers. If you pre-order through Amazon, if the price goes down within the first month I think you can request a refund of the difference.

Sent from my LG-VS980 using Forum Fiend OSP v1.3.3.

 

[felipe]

The ELACs had popped in my mind, but since they prefer towers for the mains, those ELACs fall out of thier price range ( 500 max...I found out last night ). I know with this limited budget its going to be difficult, so that's why I'm continuing my research. So far for the money, aside from the Pios, the Polks to me seem the best bet. The research continues..

P.S. Thanks rojo and slipperybidness for the input

 

[rojo]

Wonder when @Dennis Murphy plans to open up ordering for his Affordable Accuracy towers? felipe, you can see more info on them here. That'd be another worthwhile tower to consider within your budget, although it's just as boxy and plain looking as the Pioneers.

The Klipsch Synergy F-30 might be worth an audition. I'm having a difficult time finding measurements for it; but if it has a similar timbre to the Synergy B-20 then it could be a pretty decent sounding speaker. There's also the Klipsch RF42-II. Likewise, I'm not able to find any measurements on it, but Klipsch fans seem to dig them.

I don't have a lot of confidence in the Polks. Their entry-level stuff is not very.

What city do you live in? Maybe we could help you find something on Craigslist or sumn.

 

[felipe]

Thanks rojo. I've been looking on CL and thats where I found the Polks, but I have been looking for alternatives. I did show them the ads I found, and they liked how they looked (aesthetics). I'm going to contact the seller to see if they are willing to audition them. That way, my family member can get an idea of what they sound like. I'm kinda curious myself . As of right now, these Polks are whats available for the price.

 

[KEW]

I believe Dennis decided the monitor was a better package, and the difference in price wasn't sufficient to justify making both.

 

[felipe]

The good news is the seller agreed to a few day trial of the Polks to see if my family member will like them. I went with him to pick them up. The Polks were in mint condition...almost like buying them new. The price was even lowered to 400 for ALL five speakers (fronts,center and surrounds). Going to set them up tonight and see how they are..almost tempted to A-B compare with my AJ Pios ..we'll see.

 

[felipe]

Last night I helped setup the Polk system in my family members living room..sans a sub. I brought with me some test material ( Pacific Rim, Pirates of the Caribbean Movies, Avatar ). We didnt do any music due to the use of the system will be for mostly HT. For 400, he couldn't do better. The sound was highly dynamic, detailed and had a good amount of bottom end. They have a "foward" sounding character to it. I was impressed..so was he...especially for the money. He is going to allow me to take the fronts and center to do an A-B with my AJ Pios. This is going to be interesting

 

[Irishman]

Hi everyone . I'm in the planning stages of setting up a family member of mine with thier first HT system. So far they have the TV, the BDP and the AVR. I recommended the AJ Pios, but they aren't fans of their aesthetics. So, I continued my search. Thier budget is 500..maybe a little more if it was worth it. to cut the story short, I can put together a pair of Tsi 300s, a CS10 and TSi 100s for under 500. A sub is not wanted at this time.

Thier usage is 70/30 movies and tv/music. Can anyone offer other suggestions or thoughts? TIA all

Pioneer AJ Speakers for the win. Spoken as an owner and audioholic!

 

[rojo]

@felipe I was just thinking, the Infinity Primus line generally offers solid performance for a shoestring budget as well. But it sounds like your relatives are going to be OK with the Polks. If they're happy, I ain't going to judge. I am curious to know your thoughts on how they compared aurally to the AJ Pioneers though.

 

[felipe]

I got the Polks home last night and only set up the towers to do an A-B of the Pioneer towers with the Polks.
Testing was done with both sets of towers hooked up to my AVR via A/B speaker terminals.
My initial notes - for HT, the Polks have the upper hand with efficiency..took less power to get same volume when matching the speaker's SPL for testing. They both blended nicely with my SB1000 at the same xover of 80hz. The Polks have a foward sounding characteristic as opposed to the Pioneers more laid-back sound. Both have a deep and wide soundstage with good imaging. Dynamics..the Polks have more (probably due to its high sensitivity), whereas the Pioneers are a little less.
For Music, the Pioneers have a warmer, fuller and more intimate presentation, whereas the Polks are leaner and a little more bright (but not harsh in any way). Bass is more prominent on the Pioneers, but I can better distinguish the bass notes on the Polks. Mids on both are smooth and fluid. Highs on both are clean,clear and have plenty of detail...a little more refined on the Pioneers as opposed to the slight "splashy" character of the Polks.
So far, I am a little impressed with the Polks. They have a different "flavor" of sound. I'm thinking the Polks are more suited for HT than for music, although can be used for both IMO. For music, I still give it to the Pioneers.
I'm going to set up the rest of the system today to see how each full set up sounds as a whole. So far, for the money, it's kind of a toss up. I'll see how things go once it's all set up

 

[felipe]

I had him stop by to help me out some yesterday so it wouldn't take all day to do. Plus, he was curious to see how the Polks would sound on my setup.
First, the whole Polk setup: timbre match was seemless. As with the towers, the center and surround bookies took less wattage to get same volume (higher sensitivity). Dynamic, detailed, clean and clear where both of our observations. "Reach out and grab you" type character. All blended well with the SB1000 at 80hz xover. He actually preferred how the Polks sounded on my setup rather than his..funny.
Second, the Pioneer setup: timbre match was seemless, but not as good as the Polks(most likely due to Polks using the same drivers for all channels), but good enough. It took more watts to get same volume. Less dynamic, but still detailed, clean and clear. "Laid back and relaxed" type character.
Special note on the highs of the Polks..the "splashy" character noted previously is less prominent now. I'm thinking either I'm getting used to the sound, or the previous owner did not run these long enough to fully break them in.
Out of curiousity,he wondered how the Pioneers would sound on his setup. We are going to bring them to his house and see how they perform on his setup. He liked how the Pioneers sounded...more to his liking than the Polks. We will find out...

 

[felipe]

We hooked up the Pioneers to his setup early last night and put them thru the ringer. Hearing the Pioneers thru his system they sounded significantly better than on my mine. Dynamics noticably improved, while retaining the clean clear sound that was present when on my system. The "laid back" character was greatly reduced..but the Polks are still more "foward" sounding. It was clear to me that the Pioneers NEED more power for them to really shine. His wife was even impressed!
I'm sure there are more factors that played a role in the sound difference ( Tile flooring with area rugs as opposed to full carpeting at my place, larger listening space, his Onkyo AVR(brighter sounding) as opposed to my Sony AVR(more on the neutral side), etc.). His wife is even thinking about accepting the aesthetics of these Pioneers ( I'm thinking a possible trade?) As of right now, we like how MY Pioneers sound with HIS system and how HIS Polks sound on MY system..What to do??

 

[rojo]

What to do??

Put them all on Craigslist and pre-order a set of ELACs.

Sent from my LG-VS980 using Forum Fiend OSP v1.3.3.

 

[Pacodutaco]

I have owned Pioneer speakers and Polk speakers in the past. (not these exact models however) From what I have observed, Polk makes an outstanding speaker for a budget minded setup. Pioneer is no slouch either but I tip my hat to Polk every time. Again I am referring to budget speakers under $500 for a pair.

 

[felipe]

I would have to agree with that Pacodutaco. This is my first encounter with Polks, and I'm impressed so far.

Put them all on Craigslist and pre-order a set of ELACs.

Sent from my LG-VS980 using Forum Fiend OSP v1.3.3.

If I was to upgrade, the ELACs would be my first choice

 

[felipe]

Looks like the Polks are staying with me, and the Pioneers are staying with him. There is just better synergy between the Polks and my AVR and the Pioneers with his AVR. Also, since he is not running a sub, the Pioneers are the better choice since they have the edge in the bass department in comparison to the Polks. Regrets? Not really. I'm rather enjoying the sound of the Polks. However, if I want to give the Pioneers a listen, I could just give him a buzz....