infinity, psb and bose sats. which one?

[reubenv2]

I'm looking for new satellite speakers. The infinity TSS-Sat1100 has dual 3 1/2" mid-drivers and a 3/4" tweeter. All the cones are made of something infinity refers to as MMD technology (metal matrix driver). It's a sealed aluminum enclosure. The power handling is 125 watts. The price is $140 per pair. I'm also looking at some PSB Alpha CLRs. They have the exact same driver arrangement, but the tweeter is aluminum with ferrofluid and the mids are made of metalized polypropyline. The power handling is less at 80 watts. I can't tell if these speakers are ported or not. These speakers are double the cost of the infinitys. PSB looks like a quality speaker but is it worth the extra expence and what about the 80 vs. 125 watts?
Finally, are either of these speakers a significant upgrade from the Bose Acoustimass I currently own. These speakers have 200 watt power handling rating.

 

[j_garcia]

Bose is a bad word...just a word of caution. Either of the other two should do nicely. Wattage rating on speakers is almost irrelevant becasue you won't actually be using that kind of power with them most of the time.

 

[mustang_steve]

Both of those speakers are upgrades from Bose. keep in mind that there are no Bose models made for home use that have proper tweeters. Pretty much you have a 2.5" paper midrange per "cubelet" in those satellites to create most of your sound...then one or two 5-1/4" speakers in the "subwoofer" for bass. The Bose layout is good foe aesthetics, but not sound quality.

Ignore wattage unless you really plan on cranking them up for extended periods of time...such as "party speakers". I've ran speakers (Sansui SP-35) rated for 35w MAXIMUM (10w continuous) on amps as big as 1000wpc (Crown K series). Think of it like owning a Ferrari....you can easily go fast enough to cause real trouble, it's just a matter of having enough self-control to keep that lead foot in the upright position

Look at ratings like frequency response, impedance, sensitivity, weight if you plan on wall or cieling mounting them.

 

[nova]

The PSB's will be a significant upgrade over the Bose, the Infinity's will be a good upgrade over the Bose.

Don't worry about the watts.

Is the PSB LCR ported?
The slightly larger C1 and B1 are both ported, and the smaller LR1 is sealed so I'd have to assume the CLR is also sealed.