Benefits of external amps

[Chris in Dallas]

Then I start looking at cantons and bws. Ugh

Ok I see talk of the older tp series being good. My question I suppose is are the tfe 160 bookshelves enough of an upgrade over the older tp to outweigh their looks?

 

[Pogre]

Ok I see talk of the older tp series being good. My question I suppose is are the tfe 160 bookshelves enough of an upgrade over the older tp to outweigh their looks?

Yes. I think so. If you mean the TFE60, not TP160? Is that your biggest sticking point is the looks? I kinda feel you there, but I suspect once you hear them you'll look at them differently. Sounds like KEW feels that sonically, most would prefer the TFE over the TPs or the Infinities.

So here's your dilemma. The price. In your shoes I would absolutely go with the TFE60 (actually the TFE 100 tower but you're concerned with room). It's going to be, hands down, the best sound quality you're gonna find at that price. We're talking $1000 a pair sound quality with those. As in, you'd have to spend at least $1000 to find speakers that sound as good or better.

*Edit: I'd love to check out some Cantons but you're getting into a whole different price range with those.

 

[Chris in Dallas]

Yes. I think so. If you mean the TFE60, not TP160? Is that your biggest sticking point is the looks? I kinda feel you there, but I suspect once you hear them you'll look at them differently. Sounds like KEW feels that sonically, most would prefer the TFE over the TPs or the Infinities.

So here's your dilemma. The price. In your shoes I would absolutely go with the TFE60. It's going to be, hands down, the best sound quality you're gonna find at that price. We're talking $1000 a pair sound quality with those. As in, you'd have to spend at least $1000 to find speakers that sound as good or better.

*Edit: I'd love to check out some Cantons but you're getting into a whole different price range with those.

Ok sold. Now whos interested in purchasing an entire Sony core series speaker system? Hahaha. Oh such is life!

 

[Pogre]

Ok sold. Now whos interested in purchasing an entire Sony core series speaker system? Hahaha. Oh such is life!

I'll tell you, I think you're coming out of this really well. You didn't break the bank on the Sony's (which for the price are good speakers in their own right) and the TFEs are pretty wallet friendly too. You're getting a pretty significant upgrade for not a whole lot in the grand scheme of things. This can be a very expensive hobby.

 

[Chris in Dallas]

I'll tell you, I think you're coming out of this really well. You didn't break the bank on the Sony's (which for the price are good speakers in their own right) and the TFEs are pretty wallet friendly too. You're getting a pretty significant upgrade for not a whole lot in the grand scheme of things. This can be a very expensive hobby.

I do appreciate all the advice and assistance !
my plan is to hide these speakers behind a perforated silhouette of ultra bookshelves. Now we’re talking! I’m kidding ! Or am I?

 

[Pogre]

I do appreciate all the advice and assistance !
my plan is to hide these speakers behind a perforated silhouette of ultra bookshelves. Now we’re talking! I’m kidding ! Or am I?

From the way Kurt describes them I'll bet in a side by side a/b comparison the TFEs can hang with the Ultras. My guess would be the Ultra tweeter might be a little more detailed and airy, but that's just speculation on my part. I know Zieg was very impressed with the tweeters in the TFEs.

 

[Chris in Dallas]

From the way Kurt describes them I'll bet in a side by side a/b comparison the TFEs can hang with the Ultras. My guess would be the Ultra tweeter might be a little more detailed and airy, but that's just speculation on my part. I know Zieg was very impressed with the tweeters in the TFEs.

Ordered them!

 

[Pogre]

Ordered them!

We definitely want to see your impressions so be sure to check back and let us know!

If the TFEs were around at this price when I was upgrading from my DefTechs I would still have them and wouldn't have gotten the Ultras. The reason being that the Ultras aren't enough of an upgrade (more lateral) and I'd have to aim even higher to do significantly better. Yeah, I agree about the looks. The Ultras get the nod there for sure, but for actual performance and sound quality? You're in a very good sweet spot right now for pennies on the dollar.

 

[Chris in Dallas]

We definitely want to see your impressions so be sure to check back and let us know!

If the TFEs were around at this price when I was upgrading from my DefTechs I would still have them and wouldn't have gotten the Ultras. The reason being that the Ultras aren't enough of an upgrade (more lateral) and I'd have to aim even higher to do significantly better. Yeah, I agree about the looks. The Ultras get the nod there for sure, but for actual performance and sound quality? You're in a very good sweet spot right now for pennies on the dollar.

Need to locate a center channel now !

 

[Pogre]

Need to locate a center channel now !

If you have the room, a third TFE60 would be the ideal match.

 

[MusicMike]

Hi all, I am new to Audioholics. I'm hoping to learn as much as I can from this site. Back in the early 1980's I sold high end audio. Drifted away from my hi fi obsession. Now I'm back and in a position to feed my hunger for a good audio/home theater system.

Here is where I need advice. I have the Anthem 710 AVR running B&W 803s speakers. I'm currently looking to buy the matching center channel the HTM3s. My Anthem 710 AVR has 90 watts at 8 ohms. I have read B&W speakers are power hungry. I am strongly considering buying the Monolith 7 Channel Amp. The Monolith puts out 200 watts at 8 ohms.

Am I making the right decision by adding the Monolith Amp ? What I mean by the right decision is will the 200 watts per channel make a difference in the B&W speakers performance ?

 

[John Galt]

Hi all, I am new to Audioholics. I'm hoping to learn as much as I can from this site. Back in the early 1980's I sold high end audio. Drifted away from my hi fi obsession. Now I'm back and in a position to feed my hunger for a good audio/home theater system.

Here is where I need advice. I have the Anthem 710 AVR running B&W 803s speakers. I'm currently looking to buy the matching center channel the HTM3s. My Anthem 710 AVR has 90 watts at 8 ohms. I have read B&W speakers are power hungry. I am strongly considering buying the Monolith 7 Channel Amp. The Monolith puts out 200 watts at 8 ohms.

Am I making the right decision by adding the Monolith Amp ? What I mean by the right decision is will the 200 watts per channel make a difference in the B&W speakers performance ?

I just added outboard Outlaw 2200 amps for my soon to be replaced B&W 683 S2s and couldn’t be happier. YMMV.

 

[lovinthehd]

Hi all, I am new to Audioholics. I'm hoping to learn as much as I can from this site. Back in the early 1980's I sold high end audio. Drifted away from my hi fi obsession. Now I'm back and in a position to feed my hunger for a good audio/home theater system.

Here is where I need advice. I have the Anthem 710 AVR running B&W 803s speakers. I'm currently looking to buy the matching center channel the HTM3s. My Anthem 710 AVR has 90 watts at 8 ohms. I have read B&W speakers are power hungry. I am strongly considering buying the Monolith 7 Channel Amp. The Monolith puts out 200 watts at 8 ohms.

Am I making the right decision by adding the Monolith Amp ? What I mean by the right decision is will the 200 watts per channel make a difference in the B&W speakers performance ?

B&W speakers tend to have some low impedance requirements and maybe some odd phase angles but tend to be reasonably sensitive. At what distance do you sit, what levels do you listen at? Have you tried using an spl calculator? http://myhometheater.homestead.com/splcalculator.html.

Might be a good idea, might be overkill, hard to know what your needs are. Definitely an amp to consider in any case, altho maybe not a 7ch version if you only have a 3.1 or what are your other speakers? Another consideration is perhaps three Outlaw 2200s, nice package deal of $800 for the three right now, let the avr handle surrounds.

Your current avr is rated by Anthem at 120wpc into 8 ohm 2ch driven, but 90wpc 5ch driven (not a very meaningful spec); here's a bench test for comparison https://www.soundandvision.com/content/anthem-mrx-710-av-receiver-test-bench.

Welcome to AH in any case....

 

[Chris in Dallas]

If you have the room, a third TFE60 would be the ideal match.

Yes I’ll have to see what one looks like on it’s side then I may grab one more. Maybe 3 !!

 

[Chris in Dallas]

Need to locate a center channel now !

Initial impressions are “these things are enormous“. I’m curious how you treat brand new speakers. Break them in I should say. When the gf leaves later today I’ll rerun audessey.

 

[Pogre]

Initial impressions are “these things are enormous“. I’m curious how you treat brand new speakers. Break them in I should say. When the gf leaves later today I’ll rerun audessey.

Just hook 'em up, run Audyssey and play. There's no real break in for speakers. That's mostly a myth.

 

[lovinthehd]

Initial impressions are “these things are enormous“. I’m curious how you treat brand new speakers. Break them in I should say. When the gf leaves later today I’ll rerun audessey.

Just use them. You'll break in soon enough

 

[Chris in Dallas]

Just use them. You'll break in soon enough

Reran the setup and then per the svs Merlin app I dropped the crossovers on the tfes to 60hz. It had recommended 100 for the Sonys so that’s quite a change. Sounds great so far !

 

[Pogre]

Reran the setup and then per the svs Merlin app I dropped the crossovers on the tfes to 60hz. It had recommended 100 for the Sonys so that’s quite a change. Sounds great so far !

I'd try bumping that up to 80 or even 100 and see how it sounds. I think my system lacks a little punch with a 60 hz crossover. That's been my experience, and I have very capable towers. As always, YMMV.

 

[Chris in Dallas]

I'd try bumping that up to 80 or even 100 and see how it sounds. I think my system lacks a little punch with a 60 hz crossover. That's been my experience, and I have very capable towers. As always, YMMV.

I’ll try at 80 for tonight. Btw when I took delivery of these and actually saw the size of them my first words were “ I’ve been punked by Pogre“