TSC TST3 Speakers

[bmwr75]

Greetings All,

We just received delivery of some new TST3 tower speakers from the speaker company.

They are hooked up to a Denon avr 1909 receiver and we have no sub.

Let me tell you I am very disappointed with these speakers. I understand that speakers *may* need some break in time, but these speakers are so MIDRANGE-Y, its painful.

I ran the Audysey setup multiple times while changeing the mic location a bit each time. I've tried tweeking the EQ settings on the receiver too, but I can't seem to dial in these speakers.

I even tried changing speaker placement, toe-in and out.

These things sound like two big powerful AM radios.

They have two 8 inch woofers, two mids and one tweeter. I'm thinking that I'm not buying into the side firing woofer baloney that speaker manufacturers are peddliing.

Am I off my rocker or what? Has anyone else tried these? I'm thinking of sending these back post-haste!!

All comments are welcome!

Thanks.

 

[allargon]

Not bright, not bassy but midrangey? I've now read everything.

Just out of curiosity, what's your source? CD, SACD, DVD-A, Blu-Ray, Minidisc?

 

[Highbar]

On top of what is the source what kind of a room are the speakers in? Are there a lot of hard surfaces? Wood floors, windows, wood furniture? Or carpet and plush couches? The room can have a huge affect on the sound also. I'm never heard of speakers being referred to as Midrange heavy either but it's possible.

Playing with the EQ might help but probably not by much.

 

[ace0001a]

Yeah that's the first time I've heard someone complain about too much midrange. First thing is that you've got 30-days to demo them and so I say let them break in and give them at least a couple weeks for you to get used to them. The strength of the MTM (mid tweeter mid) driver configuration is great midrange performance. The reality is that any audiophile or high end speaker I've ever listened to has always had good or outstanding midrange and that's a characteristic I expect from them. Now if I were listening to say some low budget department store brand speaker, I'd expect the mids to be more subdued with bright highs and muddy bass (if there is any bass to be found). From what I've heard recently, it seems that many speaker companies are coming out with speakers that have an emphasis on midrange clarity. When I compare my 12 year old Paradigm Monitor 7 speakers which features a standard 1" tweeter on top with 2 6.5" woofers under it to their new Monitor 9 V6 that has 4 drivers (from top to bottom of 1" tweeter on top, 1 6.5" midrange and 2 6.5" woofers), I noticed the midrange clarity so much improved on the current Monitor 9s. I'll admit it takes a little getting used to and I wasn't sure if I liked that initially when I first heard the TST3s, but I think once you get used to it that you'll end up really liking it. I say give them a chance since you do have the 30-day trial period.

Funny how you said they sound like AM Radio. They shouldn't sound like that, which leads me to wonder if there are other issues with the pair you got. You may have gotten a set with defective crossovers. If that's the case, TSC will have no problems shipping you another set. I suggest you give their customer service a call. Don't email them as it tends to take them forever to reply to email. Just call the customer service number that have listed on their website and tell them your problem.

 

[djreef]

Check your connections - sounds like you've got one hooked up out of phase.

DJ

 

[lsiberian]

Your first post is bashing a speaker brand that most find good. Hmmmm

I wonder if you really do own these speakers.

If you don't like them return them. IF you dont' own them and are a troll leave us be.

 

[bandphan]

pics please

 

[Matt34]

Let's give him a chance before we put his feet to the fire guys. He may just have a defective pair or his room is causing him the issues.

We do need more info and pics would actually help so we can see where they are positioned in the room.

 

[The Master Geek]

TST2 vs. TST3

Not meaning to hi-jack the thread but he posted this same thing on tSC's forums in my thread. Does anyone know what the difference is between the TST2 and the TST3? I know the TST2 has a 10" paper woofer and the TST3 has 2 8" aluminum woofers but is there any other difference? Would that really make an improvement in the speaker for the price difference? Especially if I bought a T300 to go with them? Has anyone heard both of these speakers? I've only heard good things about these speakers so it suprises me to see the OP trashing them so badly. It seems like it must be a setup issue or something defective on the speaker. If not, why not send them back?

 

[ace0001a]

Your first post is bashing a speaker brand that most find good. Hmmmm

I wonder if you really do own these speakers.

If you don't like them return them. IF you dont' own them and are a troll leave us be.

To give the guy the benefit of the doubt, it could be simply a case of having high expectations (due to many people's praises of TSC) coupled with him simply having knee-jerk reaction (no offense on that) to it. But I can't help but think he may have simply recieved a defective set of towers with bad crossovers. The speakers should not sound like AM Radio.

Not meaning to hi-jack the thread but he posted this same thing on tSC's forums in my thread. Does anyone know what the difference is between the TST2 and the TST3? I know the TST2 has a 10" paper woofer and the TST3 has 2 8" aluminum woofers but is there any other difference? Would that really make an improvement in the speaker for the price difference? Especially if I bought a T300 to go with them? Has anyone heard both of these speakers? I've only heard good things about these speakers so it suprises me to see the OP trashing them so badly. It seems like it must be a setup issue or something defective on the speaker. If not, why not send them back?

My guess is that the TST3s having 2 8" aluminum woofers as opposed to a single 10" paper along with probably a different crossover constitutes the higher price. The woofer sizes are about the same with 8" and 10", but you've got 2 instead of 1 for the T3 as well as them being aluminum. The cabinet is slightly taller due to this fact and so that's different. Sonically, one would think that the T2 and T3 sound the same with the exception of the bass being deeper in the T3. With that said, I'm thinking that the crossover in the T3 is more complex than the one in the T2.

 

[markw]

I'll stick my neck out here.

A friend recently picked up a pair of TSC towers, with I think the dual 8" subs and, IMNSHO, I expected a bit more than I heard. Let's just say I found their response tilted towards the high end.

But, to make one's first post a rant against a respected brand does open one up to question.

 

[lsiberian]

Greetings All,

We just received delivery of some new TST3 tower speakers from the speaker company.

They are hooked up to a Denon avr 1909 receiver and we have no sub.

Let me tell you I am very disappointed with these speakers. I understand that speakers *may* need some break in time, but these speakers are so MIDRANGE-Y, its painful.

I ran the Audysey setup multiple times while changeing the mic location a bit each time. I've tried tweeking the EQ settings on the receiver too, but I can't seem to dial in these speakers.

I even tried changing speaker placement, toe-in and out.

These things sound like two big powerful AM radios.

They have two 8 inch woofers, two mids and one tweeter. I'm thinking that I'm not buying into the side firing woofer baloney that speaker manufacturers are peddliing.

Am I off my rocker or what? Has anyone else tried these? I'm thinking of sending these back post-haste!!

All comments are welcome!

Thanks.

I've decided to give you the benefit on this one, but what do you really expect these aren't hifi speakers they are midfi at best. So there will be compromises as with almost any speaker on the market. In fact no perfect speaker is perfect. This is why they have an evaluation period. Also remember room and placement play a major role in sound.

Try moving them closer to the wall to improve low end response.

If you don't like them. Ship them back and try something else.

Maybe your picky like most of us. If so welcome to AH and to standards.

Beta's have a weaker midrange, but good highs and lows. I suggest you try a pair of them.

 

[R-Carpenter]

Your first post is bashing a speaker brand that most find good. Hmmmm

I wonder if you really do own these speakers.

If you don't like them return them. IF you dont' own them and are a troll leave us be.

He just doesn't like the speaker. We are entitled to bash as well as we are entitled to rave about the product. Did the reviewer (here on Audioholics) found anything wrong with the sound of this speakers or it was all peachy? Was the TSC add on the same web page?
High expectation ehhhh....

 

[ace0001a]

He just doesn't like the speaker. We are entitled to bash as well as we are entitled to rave about the product. Did the reviewer (here on Audioholics) found anything wrong with the sound of this speakers or it was all peachy? Was the TSC add on the same web page?
High expectation ehhhh....

I don't think you could fault the reviews here. Sure you can be the conspiracy theory type and argue either way--the OP is a brand basher or the positive review was motivated by the company advertising, but the simple truth may go more along the lines of your first sentence. The OP may simply not like the sound of the TST3 towers. When it comes to audio, it can be the most fickle thing to pinpoint from person to person. I have stated numerous times that I've found the overall sound of TSC's speakers to be of high quality, but that my preference leans more towards what the Canadian brands (Paradigm, PSB, etc.) sound like. Does that mean I wouldn't care to own TSC speakers? No, not at all as I tend to look at things from many perspectives. For the money I don't think you can go wrong with them and if I were in a position where my budget was more limited that it is now that I would seriously consider buying and keeping TSC speakers. I also think that if you're used to the bland fidelity sound of cheap boxy speakers that cost less than $200 often found at the department stores that any of TSCs speakers should surely impress you...but then again you may actually like that type of bland fidelity sound. That just goes to show you how fickle audio tastes can be.

I still think that the OP may have received a defective pair with bad crossovers. I suggested contacting TSC customer service and I am sure he is working with them to see if the issue can be resolved as we speak.

 

[m_vanmeter]

"bmwr75"
did you setup your Denon receiver for 2 "large" speakers ? I don't know what the default menu pick is on a Denon, but you may not be sending the full frequency feed to them if the receiver crossover is still enabled.

 

[bandphan]

IMO if the OP doesnt like them, return them as per their return policy. Bashing speakers on multiple websites and not following up with his original posts is a little suspect.

 

[Rickster71]

I somehow missed this thread.

I’ve got a pair of these in a spare room upstairs (model w/ two 8” woofers), and have had Markw over to give a listen.
His assessment is right on the money.

While they do image very well; so well in fact, I keep putting my ear to the center channel thinking it’s on. The bass is on the thin side. I haven’t had a chance to move them around a little; to see if that made a diff.
FWIW - (I did notice that things got better at high volumes though.)

Also, if I had to do it over, I’d get TSC 6.5 bookshelf with a sub.
The 6.5” bookshelf goes on sale once in a while, and is a steal at $129 a pair.

 

[bmwr75]

Whoa! sorry for the lack or timeliness on the reply!! E-gad!

I do apologize on the rant, and I did apologize to TSC as well.

I did speak with them and they suggested that I allow the drivers to break in a bit before I make a final decision.

As for the questions about whether or not I really own them --????? I'm a 43 year old guy, not some kid. Should I send a picture of my bald spot to prove

Also, my listening taste does not gravitate towards MIDRANGE-Y speakers. Just as most of you look upon speakers that have strong mids as the clear definition of a true hi-fi speaker, I just don't share that opinion.

I like SMOOTH sounding speakers. Any guitar players here? Anybody ever play through a Twin Reverb? Very midrange-y and harsh at times. That's what I'm talking about!!

Perhaps I would have been served better if I got a pair of bookshelf speakers and a sub.

 

[bmwr75]

Bland Fidelity??

Now I'm insulted!!

One trend I have noticed in listening to modern speakers is that most of them boost the mids way too much. Perhaps my eardrumes are not progressive enough, but to me, TO ME, that does not sound good and causes me fatigue.

I don't like muddy bass as well, I like tight bass, but I want to HEAR the bass. I like lots of highs, but SMOOTH highs, got it?

At times I do like to crank thisngs up, but loudness is not the thing i look for most.

 

[bmwr75]

Somethign else I find frustrating is the lack of stereo brick and mortar stores. We don't ahve much in the Boston area anymore. Tweeter has gone bankrupt, Cambridge soundworks has closed it retail stores. Tech HiFi has been closed for years. Bose - don't think so. That leaves us with Magnolia (best buy).

I did like a pair of self powered Definitives that I heard there -- but they were pricey.