help! i gotta beat my kid :D

[jigmoore]

man, thanks guys.....i really appreciate the help. i think i found what i want.

 

[jigmoore]

i just pulled the trigger on these.

$160 for the pair, out the door, 3 day ups shipping.

if they sound the same as the tsi300's....i'll be ecstatic.

Newegg.com - Polk Audio Monitor50 Series II Floorstanding Loudspeaker (Cherry) Each

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

1) i don't think i'll buy speakers that i can't hear first. so i'll really only consider speakers locally available. so bestbuy, guitarcenter, ehhhhh.....classic stereo went out of business.....can't think of any other spots in Grand Rapids, Mi to listen to stuff. any suggestions?

i just pulled the trigger on these.

$160 for the pair, out the door, 3 day ups shipping.

if they sound the same as the tsi300's....i'll be ecstatic.

Newegg.com - Polk Audio Monitor50 Series II Floorstanding Loudspeaker (Cherry) Each

sO... you have decided to ignore the multiple anti-polk recommendations, Especially anti cheap Polk suggestions. Go vs your own good judgement of not buying speakers you've not heard and expect cheap and crappy speakers to sound amazing .... Good luck to you. Ok, I'm outta here...

 

[jigmoore]

sO... you have decided to ignore the multiple anti-polk recommendations, Especially anti cheap Polk suggestions. Go vs your own good judgement of not buying speakers you've not heard and expect cheap and crappy speakers to sound amazing .... Good luck to you. Ok, I'm outta here...

Lol.....well someones feelings were hurt that I went with someone elses suggestion instead of yours.

I listened to the guy that listened to me. I said I liked the polk tsi300.....that's my opinion...I'm entitled to it. Jim listened to me....disagreed about liking polks but suggested the monitors since they were the exact same thing. I confirmed this by calling polk...so I feel that I have listened to them.

Don't wreck an otherwise excellent experience with this board.

 

[jonnythan]

Those Monitor 50s are decent speakers, and if he already knows he likes the sound he will be happy with them.

 

[zieglj01]

i just pulled the trigger on these.
$160 for the pair, out the door, 3 day ups shipping.
if they sound the same as the tsi300's....i'll be ecstatic.

It all comes down to you - your choice and preference.
However someday, take the opportunity if given the
chance - and listen to the Snells and DCM speakers.
Snells are really good, and DCM is a pleasant surprise.
Good Luck and have fun.

 

[jigmoore]

It all comes down to you - your choice and preference.
However someday, take the opportunity if given the
chance - and listen to the Snells and DCM speakers.
Snells are really good, and DCM is a pleasant surprise.
Good Luck and have fun.

No way....I already felt that pull deep in my pocket to just ignore the price and pay whatever it took. But before 4 digits left my pocket....I quickly decided to buy what I was already satisfied with AND COULD AFFORD.

I'm positive the speakers you suggest are awesome...and someday plan to upgrade. But right now I have to consider all factors.

Thanks again for helping me with my original request: to find better speakers for the same price, or equivalent speakers for less.

You, sir, are a gentleman and a scholar and I thank you.

 

[FirstReflection]

Seems to be a lot of this on the board lately - folks ignoring all the advice we're trying to give and just doing what they originally planned on doing regardless.

Makes sense - most folks are looking for a "thumbs up" and more of a "permission" to do what they already have in mind, rather than actually wanting any real advice that would steer them in a much better direction.

It's a shame, but like the old adage goes, "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink".

I deal with this every day in my job. Folks are always "asking" me the best way to deal with some part of our transit system (I work as a supervisor for public transit in my area). I've learned to always reply, "do you have an idea in mind already?"

Invariably, they do, and it's rarely the best route or solution. But that doesn't matter. I tell them what they want to hear: "Yup! That's the way to go." I always say now. Saves me endless headaches and makes them happy.

I guess I should just apply that to home theater recommendations as well

 

[jigmoore]

Wow. What arrogant asses.

Tell you what...I'll just bow out and go back to helping motorcycle racers on bike and racing advice. And to photography where people ask me my opinion every day. And should you happen to swing by there and ask me my opinion on your next bike, or what camera lens you should buy....I'll be an adult and try to figure out what is best for you....instead of just telling you what I like the best and ridiculing you for not feeling the same.

Later, radio shack.

 

[Grador]

I agree with you, I think those past comments were a bit out of line, but do you not understand why people are a little frustrated? To go along with things you seem to be knowledgeable about, you asked us if a 50-200 lense was good if all we ever wanted to do was studio style portrait. Everyone said no, and you said guess what, I just bought the 50-200! Sure it works, but it's far from the best tool. If you ask for advice and ignore it people feel you just wasted their time.

 

[jigmoore]

They can do portaiture with that lens. I personally wouldn't recommend it. But I would have to ask more questions about what they wanted. I wouldn't just say you need to spend $500 on a 50mm 1.4 just because that's what I use. There's other factors. You advise them of facts like the lens will be too bulky, won't be near as sharp, and won't have the narrow dof....and let them make decisions. The goal is to make them happy and informed with their decision....not to simply buy what I like.

 

[jigmoore]

i mean give me a break. i came in and said I LIKE the tsi300 and i asked can someone tell me if there's a better speaker for that price, or a comparable one for cheaper.

the very first reply solved my problem. i was going to pay $400.....he got pointed out some things i needed to know....and then got me out the door for $170 for basically the same thing. that guy rocks.

this elitist attitude about who's record player is awesomer is just not appealing.

if you come in and say i'm about to buy the 50mm f1.4 and asked the same question....i'm not just automatically gonna tell you to get the 50mm f1.2. i'm gonna listen to you and point out the differences between the $100 1.8, the $500 1.4, and the $1500 1.2 suggest what i would do within your other budgetary, knowledge, preference constraints....and then go on being fat dumb and happy if you are.

or if you say you want to take your katana to a trackday. i'm gonna ask you a few questions before i tell you to go out and get a used r6, or f3 or buy a brand new fully prepped AMA spec race bike.

different strokes, dude....different strokes.

 

[Grador]

The issues you just described with lens selection are pretty much exactly the discussion that just occurred with the speaker selection and the particulars surround them. In the end you did pick what you liked, which is fine, but you failed to acknowledged any of the advice and just ended up buying the first thing you asked about.

 

[jigmoore]

The issues you just described with lens selection are pretty much exactly the discussion that just occurred with the speaker selection and the particulars surround them. In the end you did pick what you liked, which is fine, but you failed to acknowledged any of the advice and just ended up buying the first thing you asked about.

well i apologize if you guys don't think i respected the time put into the responses. i thought i spelled out my thanks pretty clearly...but i'd be glad to do it again. i also apologize if people think i didn't look into each and every suggestion....but here's what it came down to:

jim replied right away with the same basic speaker for a LOT less
and then listed 2 that were in my price range. he immediately got my respect and attention.

then bsa pipes in with basically the same suggested boston speaker and then one that was out of my price range. but mentioned some stuff about accurate and neutral sound that i listened to...learned from...and then determined neutral was not what was most pleasing to me. bright, and less oppressive mids is appealing to me. lack of low end is fine since i'm running a sub. i moved on.

then 1st reflection gets me onto primus and into reading about room acoustics (which i did), but then lists some stuff that was way out of my price range, and that i wasn't really interested in buying and i actually felt at the end was a cut and paste of what he tells everybody because it sounded like he didn't listen what i had originally asked for in the first post. i took that very seriously but determined i needed to hear speakers before buying them and moved on.

then jim comes back with answers to my questions...and more listings in my price range....i'm listening to this dude. i try and try to find boston acoustics or any other good brand here in town......nothing. best buy....that's it.

then when the primus line got echoed...i searched on local craigslist, got in touch with the guy selling primus 50 and 60 in town. those were going to be the ones. i set up a call to listen to them.

then some talk about 123's.....and diy stuff.....sorry....just wasn't in my price range or capabilities/comfort zone.

then i clarified my requirements about hearing them first....RE-ITERATED my first questions.....and asked some follow up questions. those never got addressed. people seemed to busy telling me what they like instead of answering questions.

then bsa does some craigslist searching for me (which i thought was awesome!) but never addressed my question about used speakers and noone really jumped on in approval of his suggestions....and then went into $10,000 speakers.....so i had to dismiss them.

then considered it all and bought speakers that everyone told me are IDENTICAL (not similar....but THE SAME THING) as ones that i already heard and said i liked. and bought them.

so where did i go wrong? what should i have bought?

 

[FirstReflection]

It's not so much feeling you wasted my time - I'm here on the board of my own volition and volunteering my experience freely, so I'm cool with however much time it takes, 'cause it's up to me.

But you're taking my comments in the wrong spirit. It's not arrogance fueling my reply, it's disappointment. Folks like me, we get our hopes up when someone takes the time to come to a message board to ask for advice. That one step - of coming to the board - is FAR more than the average consumer who does next to nothing to inform themselves.

So we get hopeful that maybe we can put all of our experience to good use and help someone to spend their money wisely. See, the thing is, we've all done what you just did. We've all bought gear that we liked - fit our budget - seemed like a good deal at the time. We've all been there. And we've all learned and lived to regret a lot of our purchases. We're here just in the hopes of helping some other folks avoid the pitfalls that we took. Try to help folks spend their money more wisely than we did. We were the "early adopters", and we're trying to warn people away from the low value gear and steer them towards the high value gear. Otherwise, we just wasted our own money, and that doesn't feel so great. It's easier to stomach if at least someone else can learn from our mistakes.

But, like in all things in life, most people just have to do it themselves in order to learn. So no worries. In a year or two, you'll be the one here on the board trying to help some other person avoid a bad product, and then you'll understand our disappointment when they ignore you and buy it anyway.

It's the circle of life.

 

[Haoleb]

Pretty much anything you can get is better than those ND310. I used to own them quite a while back and i hated them for the same reason. Sound muddy..muffled.. no detail whatsoever. Some of the worst speakers I have ever heard. Of course at the time, in my younger days.. those dual 10" drivers per speaker were just too much allure to pass up

 

[jigmoore]

It's not so much feeling you wasted my time - I'm here on the board of my own volition and volunteering my experience freely, so I'm cool with however much time it takes, 'cause it's up to me.

But you're taking my comments in the wrong spirit. It's not arrogance fueling my reply, it's disappointment. Folks like me, we get our hopes up when someone takes the time to come to a message board to ask for advice. That one step - of coming to the board - is FAR more than the average consumer who does next to nothing to inform themselves.

So we get hopeful that maybe we can put all of our experience to good use and help someone to spend their money wisely. See, the thing is, we've all done what you just did. We've all bought gear that we liked - fit our budget - seemed like a good deal at the time. We've all been there. And we've all learned and lived to regret a lot of our purchases. We're here just in the hopes of helping some other folks avoid the pitfalls that we took. Try to help folks spend their money more wisely than we did. We were the "early adopters", and we're trying to warn people away from the low value gear and steer them towards the high value gear. Otherwise, we just wasted our own money, and that doesn't feel so great. It's easier to stomach if at least someone else can learn from our mistakes.

But, like in all things in life, most people just have to do it themselves in order to learn. So no worries. In a year or two, you'll be the one here on the board trying to help some other person avoid a bad product, and then you'll understand our disappointment when they ignore you and buy it anyway.

It's the circle of life.

understood.

and i seriously wanted those primus 150 speakers....and they are still available....but noone answered my questions about my concerns about buying used speakers. how long do speakers last?
http://grandrapids.craigslist.org/ele/2931895066.html

 

[jonnythan]

understood. so i'll ask you the same question. in your opinion....of the speakers offered up in this thread, that met my stated criteria in the initial post, which ones should i have bought?

At this price range, any speaker you buy is going to have a boatload of issues. The critical thing is how serious the issues are to you. Those Polks are decent all-around. The big knock on them is some muddiness. They look good and are very easy to listen to, though. They're pretty decent for HT and are just a good deal in general.

To me, the fact that you know you really like them already says a lot. Another speaker in this price range is going to sound very different.

To the other people in this thread in general, I can tell you exactly why jigmoore decided not to go with any of your suggestions. None of you established a good reason to not choose the Polk speakers and to choose something else instead. He already said he really liked the Polks and the only alternatives he got were a bunch of model names without any specifics about what makes any of them that much better.

Not that any of them would necessarily be much better anyway. As he stated, he really liked the Polks already. If I were in his shoes, I'd need a very good reason to be led away from them to buy something else. In my opinion that didn't happen in this thread.

So I say give the guy some slack. I think I would have done exactly the same in his situation. And I think the decision he made is fine anyway.

 

[jonnythan]

understood.

and i seriously wanted those primus 150 speakers....and they are still available....but noone answered my questions about my concerns about buying used speakers. how long do speakers last?
Infinity Primus Bookshelf / Satellite Speakers

Speakers last pretty much forever.

If I were you, I would buy the Primus speakers and compare them in-house to the Polks you bought. Sell/return the ones you don't like as much.

 

[craig7]

Speakers last pretty much forever.

Yea pretty much. My main speakers are at least 30 years old, probably more and they still sound pretty good. They dont sound perfect to me anymore because I've gotten used to them and find the highs a bit weak but they still work perfect and still shake my house if I crank them. As long as the speakers are taken care of they can last quite a long time.