Having performed a review last fall of TSC’s P6-PR bookshelf speakers, I was quite interested when Nick Valente, TSC’s general manager, informed me of their new product line being released this summer. The impression from my review of the P6-PRs left me with a good understanding of what TSC was looking to accomplish: provide a solid performing product with satisfactory aesthetics while doing so for those with a tight budget in mind. Knowing that the next line of products would be a step up in all these categories, I was excited to see what TSC would offer this time.
After trading some e-mails, Nick was able to provide me with a pair of their TSBL bookshelf speakers, a two-way design comprised of a 6.5 inch aluminum woofer coupled with a 1" polycell dome tweeter. While the cabinet and speaker grille design was a noticeable aesthetic upgrade from this speaker’s predecessor, the black ash vinyl was a similar finish. The TSBLs seem fairly solidly built, coming in a few inches taller and deeper than their previous 6.5” design. One design aspect I did not prefer on the TSBLs is that they are rear ported, I found the front port configuration on the P6-PRs to allow for more placement opportunities. With the size increase of these, though, their placement flexibility may not be as useful as with the smaller P6-PRs. On the flip side, a nice change I did find is the metal pegs on the grille covers (I’ve included a pic of this below), this should eliminate the grille mounting peg from snapping that many speaker grilles have issues with either accidentally or over time. As with the previous line’s P6-PRs, the TSBLs are equipped with 5-way binding posts for those that want the option of using banana plugs, pin or spade connectors.
The TSBL specifications list as follows:
Frequency Response:......65-20KHz
Impedance:...................8 Ohms
Power Handling:.............15-125 watts
Sensitivity:...................90dB
Dimensions:................. 14.4” H x 7” W x 10.8” D
Weight (per speaker):....15.87 lbs.
Here’s some snapshots for reference, though there’s more on TSC’s website as well:
As with their previous line, TSC is offering their ‘Free Shipping-30 Day Trial-Free Return Shipping’ option, so there’s little to no risk in performing an ‘in-home’ evaluation. I can’t imagine they’ll be able to provide all these options for too long on their larger products, so those with some interest or those on the fence, get your butt in gear and give them a listen!
For my listening sessions, I’ve paired the TSBLs with a Yamaha RX-V2500 receiver used in my secondary setup. For use in a 5.1 configuration, I’ve integrated the existing RBH C4 center and Cambridge Soundworks S300 surrounds. To eliminate any sound coloration, I’ve defeated the YPAO parametric EQ options to provide a more neutral sound all around and recalibrated SPL levels to even things out. I’ve provided below the material chosen for my listening sessions, why I’ve chosen this material and how the TSBLs performed with each:
Music
Rodrigo Y Gabriela (self-titled album)-Satori: This track exudes excellent energy with forceful playing, but also contains it’s fair share of softer passages and transitions. While predominantly an acoustic track, this song contains a little bit of everything but the lower end frequencies. I will typically utilize it for analyzing speaker performance on midrange and higher frequency tonal qualities. The TSBLs presented well on this track, providing clear detail for the dueling acoustic guitars without inducing any listening fatigue at higher volumes.
Audioslave (self-titled album)-Show Me How To Live: Solid recording of hard rock guitar, drums bass and phenomenal vocals of Chris Connell. If you’re a fan of rock, I’d strongly recommend this as well as a few other tracks from this album. Heard a slight loss of detail on some of the high-end, possibly the recording as other material in the same range didn’t sound compressed. Seems as though the TSBLs tend to reveal flaws in source material, not necessarily a bad thing, though.
Pink Floyd (Wish You Were Here)-Welcome To The Machine: Great acoustic guitar from David Gilmour, gives a good representation of the capabilities of the speaker’s depth of soundstage from a two channel source. The TSBLs did well on this track, did not over-accentuate the acoustic guitar, but still presented it clearly. Also performed well with the soundstage separation with the heavy use of effects.
Stevie Ray Vaughan (In Step)-Riviera Paradise: While one of Stevie’s more mellow songs, the quality recording of this album makes it one of my favorites when I’m in the mood to do some critical listening. This song’s not only soulful, it seems to have the ability to take me somewhere else where all I can think of is the music and nothing else. Meanwhile, back to the TSBLs, they presented this track clearly and precisely. With the range of instruments in this and some of the other tracks I’ve used for listening material, I’d strongly recommend pairing the TSBLs with a capable subwoofer. I don’t think that will be an issue for most, however I wanted to make a point of this as I feel their performance may suffer a bit without one.
Blue Man Group (The Complex)-Your Attention: This whole album is great for demo purposes or putting your equipment through it’s paces. Excellent ambient sounds, good amount of deep digging LFE, instrument separation and of course, amazing percussion, it is BMG after all. Again, with a good recording, the TSBLs seems to do exactly what they’re supposed to do, recreate the intended presentation for the listener.
Nine Inch Nails (With Teeth)-Only: Similar results as BMG above. Reznor’s vocals are very prevalent in this track as well as the percussion, guitar and synthesizer work. The TSBLs, similar to the P6-PRs, present Rock and Alternative music well without much alteration.
Fiona Apple (When The Pawn…)-Fast As You Can: While I’m not sure the cheese hasn’t slid off Fiona’s cracker some time ago, the recording quality of her music, this album in particular, is impressive as is Apple’s piano playing and vocals. She also bright enough to surround herself with some excellent musicians, providing a strong driving song with clear and precise separation of each instrument. The TSBLs do a good job of presenting a clean soundstage with Apple’s vocals laid over the driving piano, organ and percussion of this track.
Movies
The Bourne Identity: Car chases, fight scenes, explosions, solid story line, what’s not to like about this movie? I’ve yet to see the latest Bourne release, but if it’s close to as good as the previous two, I’ll be more than happy.
The Haunting: Superb echo and ambient effects, large soundstage and killer LFE. Not in the same league as your typical Hitchcock thriller, it does it’s job pretty well.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: I’ll admit it, I’m a fan of this series. Sure Rowling rips off Tolkien and “borrows” from quite a few others, but assuming you can suspend your disbelief, the story line, characters and effects all provide for some good entertainment.
Transformers: While light on story line, Transformers is top notch presentation for special effects and sound track. The LFE at times can be crushing, coupled with the surround effects and eye candy (e.g., Meghan Fox), this movie provides a good escape from reality.
As for how the TSBLs performed on these, they provide a nice, wide soundstage for their size, with one of the few knocks being that I would prefer a bit better performance on the low end. While only so much can be expected out of a 6.5” driver, with the size of the cabinet and a 6.5”, I feel performance could be a bit tighter and more clear in two-channel use. Even so, with the TSBLs paired with a good subwoofer, this doesn’t factor in much. As I did limited listening in a two channel capacity, as I would expect most prospective listeners of the TSBLs, I don’t think this has a large impact on it’s performance on the whole.
I see the T series of speakers from TSC being a marked improvement on their previous line, which already provided a solid product at a great price point. The TSBLs held their own for both music and movies for my listening tests. While I personally prefer a more forward presentation on the high end as I’m more fond of the sonic signature of Boston Acoustics’ VR tweeters in my reference theater setup, the TSBLs provide a more neutral sound than their predecessors, which should allow the listener to tailor things to their preference should they choose to do so. I can only imagine how well the TST2s and other towers in the T series perform based on my listening tests with the TSBLs. If you’re in the market for new speakers, aren’t set on a particular brand, value your hard earned cash and aren’t overly concerned with aesthetics, you owe it to yourself to give TSC a good listen in your home. The only thing you stand to lose is time on demo’ing them and if that’s your biggest concern, things are going pretty good…
-TD
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Equipment used:
Yamaha RX-V2500 Receiver
Panasonic DVD-F87S DVD Changer
Apple TV
RBH C4 Center Channel
Cambridge Soundworks S300 surrounds
Elemental Designs 13Ov.2 DIY Subwoofer
Samsung HP-T4254 42" Plasma TV
Panamax Max 4300 Surge Protector