Looking for advice

[Dsav101]

Hello all! Thanks for having such a great place to learn and read up on HT issues! I am new to the game, but hope to join the ranks of some decent stuff. I do not have a ton of cash at all, but am looking for good quality at a decent price! I just bought a Yamaha RX-V465 and also just got my The Speaker Company TST2's in. I have some old JBl bookshelves right now for rear surround. I also have an older (1995) Mirage center channel speaker that I feel sounds pretty darn good with the TST2's. My questions are twofold really. I know everyone says to match the center to the fronts, but I think the Mirage actually sounds pretty good with the TST2s. Now that might be my very new ear telling me this, but is it ok to leave it as is? Or should I audition another center, like the one that matches the TST2s? Also, would I go with The Speaker Companies surrounds? Or could I just pick up any good, solid surround? I am looking for on wall surrounds so my bookshelves don't really cut it for where I need em. Thanks in advance for all your help!!!

Don

 

[shadyJ]

You might try to get a center and some dipole surrounds from The Speaker Company, and test them out. If they sound better than what you have, keep em, if not, send em back. The nice thing about The Speaker Company is they will pay for shipping both ways if you don't like them, so you have nothing to lose by merely trying them out. It won't do any harm to try them, but it may be a big improvement, you never know until you give it a try.

 

[Dsav101]

Thanks man! I agree that is a great policy. Another reason I am curious is that I spent more on my current center and surrounds but they are 10 years old. Will there be a large difference just in sound quality from speakers now versus then? Seems like TSC's surrounds and center are very very inexspensive, but if they sound and are built as well as the TST2s I bought, then it might just be worth it to check them out, especially given the return policy. Also, I have a 110 watt Sony 10" sub that I am thinking of changing out once tax season is here. I have read up on alot of the internet companies such as SVS and ED, and am thinking of getting the ED A5-350 or the A7S-450. One question about the 450 though. How much does it saying it is un-eq'ed and going down to 22Hz versus the A5-350 going down to 18Hz and it not saying un-eq'ed? I would have thought inherently that the 18 with more power would go lower? Thanks again!!

Don

 

[shadyJ]

The 450 is a sealed subwoofer, it doesn't have the ports of the 350 to create additional pressure. It's a design trade-off, usually sealed subs will have have a tighter and more articulate sound but at the sacrifice of quite a bit of output. A lot of ported subs can sound 'boomy' and 'buzzy', and suffer other types of distortion that sealed designs, by their nature, can avoid. However, a well-designed ported subwoofer shouldn't suffer from these problems anyway. Think of it as a quantity over quality trade off in subwoofer design.

With that being said, I wouldn't worry about the A5-350 having poor sound quality, the guys at ED know what they are doing, and it will sound great. Also look into subs from Outlaw Audio, HSU Research, Epik subwoofers and Rythmik, which are other internet direct subwoofer companies. Along with SVS and ED they make the very best subwoofers at their price level.