Rocking with the TSAT-2000s from The Speaker Company [Archive]

Chris Gohlke

08-28-2008, 03:00 PM

<img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/dht/auto/1218244063.usr10.jpg" border="0" />Product Category: Home Theater Speakers Manufacturer: The Speaker Company Where to Buy: <a href="http://www.thespeakercompany.com" target="_blank">The Speaker Company</a> Price: $449.97 System Requirements: Any 5 channel amplifier Specifications: Drivers - 1x 1" Shielded HiCell dome tweeter and 2x 3.5" Shielded Aluminum cone midranges/woofer. Frequency Response - 120 Hz to 20 kHz. Sensitivity - 87 dB. Nominal Impedance - 8 ohms. Recommended Power - 15-125 watts continuous. Dimensions - 12.5" H x 5.31" W x 3.25" D. Weight - 4 lbs. 2 oz. each.Pros:<ul><li>Excellent aesthetics;</li><li>High build quality;</li><li>Low price. </li></ul>Cons:<ul><li>Sub-woofer required, but not included in package;</li><li>Won't impress the brand conscious. </li></ul>Summary: As a newcomer, but with a respectable heritage, the TSAT-2000s offer a great value. If you are looking for a quality set of classy, unobtrusive speakers to go with your flat panel TV, this is probably one of the best bargains going.<MORE />Time For Some New Speakers Oh how the times change. It has been nearly a decade since I purchased speakers (a set of AR-315-PSs with matching center channel on the front, Optimus on the rear, and a JBL sub-woofer). They’ve served me well, but as I’ve started to plan for a large flat screen TV for our living room (to replace our current gigantic rear projector), I’ve realized that I’d really like a more subtle, wall mountable set of speakers. However, given that I already have a great set of speakers that work perfectly well, it is hard to justify spending a ton of money or taking a hit on quality, just over a matter of aesthetics. The Speaker Company states that they offer “Quality Loudspeakers at Half the Price”, so when they offered to let me test drive their brand new <a href="http://www.thespeakercompany.com/DRHM/servlet/ControllerServlet?Action=DisplayProductDetailsPage&SiteID=speaker&Locale=en_US&Env=BASE&productID=106166400" target="_blank">TSAT-2000s</a>, I was happy to oblige.First off, if you're like me, you may never have heard of The Speaker Company. Their goal is to change that. Their website talks about their experience in the industry and that they are using the direct sales model to cut out the middleman and pass on the savings. This is an easy promise to make, but not always easy to live up to, so I did some outside research. A quick <a href="http://www.whois.org" target="_blank">whois</a> look-up identified the owner of their domain name as D&M Holdings, which is the parent company of Denon, Marantz, and Boston Acoustics. So if you have any fears of this being a no-name operation, the pedigree of this company should help allay your fears. In addition, to help back up their claims, they offer a 30 day trial with free shipping in both directions.Physical Characteristics These are classy looking speakers. They've got some heft and feel very solid. The cabinets are made of wood and have a 5 layer hand rubbed lacquer finish giving a nice deep glossy black look that reminds me of a highly polished grand piano. The grills are a matching black finish and attach via small magnets, making removal and re-installation a breeze. If black is not your thing, they are also available in white. The “tSc” logo can be rotated so that it is correctly positioned no matter how you orient your speakers.<img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/dht/auto/1218244086.usr10.jpg" border="1" /> Figure 1: Fronts (with and without grills).The back of the speakers feature attachment points for the mounting plates and spring loaded clips for attaching speaker wire (much more efficient than the screw down clips on my current setup).<PAGE />Physical Characteristics (Continued)<img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/dht/auto/1218244068.usr10.jpg" border="1" /> Figure 2: Backs (with and without mounting bracket). The high gloss finish does show the fingerprints!<img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/dht/auto/1218244075.usr10.jpg" border="1" /> Figure 3: Close-up of speaker clips.<PAGE />Putting Them Together The set includes an ingeniously simple mounting system that should let you mount them however you would like. Basically screw the plate to the wall or into a corner and then use a set of included screws to attach the speaker to the plate. Since these are on loan, I wasn’t going to start putting holes in my walls to try them out, but it looked very simple. The speakers can also stand vertically on their own if you want to use them as bookshelf speakers. Finally, a foot is included which attaches to the mounting brackets and allows you to stand them horizontally.<img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/dht/auto/1218244093.usr10.jpg" border="1" /> Figure 4: Mounting Hardware<img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/dht/auto/1218244101.usr10.jpg" border="1" /> Figure 5: Close up of installed mounting hardware including foot for horizontal applications.<PAGE />Sound Quality Sound quality is probably one of the most subjective things you can review, so before I start off this part of the review I wanted to clarify that I am not an audiophile and have not developed the ear that those who regularly review speakers have for subtle nuances. On the plus side, most consumers haven’t either, so what you will get here is the high level assessment of what a “normal” person thinks of these. I’m going to test with music movies and games, using the optical output on my xBox 360 to send material to my amp. I’ll be doing two types of tests. First I’m just going to hook up the left channel and leave an AR attached to the right channel. This should let me do a pretty effective side by side comparison. The second test will be with all five speakers hooked up and should let me assess the speakers working together on their own merits. So, let’s get to it.I’ll be the first to admit that my first test really isn’t a fair comparison. The ARs have a dynamic range going down to 38 Hz as opposed to 120 Hz for the TSATs. The lack of a low end was very apparent in a side by side test. However, I also noticed that the sound from the TSAT speaker was what I would describe as crisper and cleaner. I was able to hear more subtle details on the high end than I was from the AR side.After hooking up the other four, I noticed more of the same, a very crisp and clean sound but lacking in the low end. So I fired up my sub and was disappointed to still find the low end lacking. Then my brain kicked in and realized that I had the crossover set pretty low for use with the ARs. So I experimented and found that between boosting the crossover to about 140 htz and slightly increasing the sub-woofer's volume, I was able to come up with very satisfactory results. So with a smile on my face, I auditioned them for the rest of the day. I listened to music while working around the house, watched portions of the HD versions of 300 and Serenity, and played some Guitar Hero and the TSATs performed well for all uses. I pumped the volume well past my comfort level and they remained clear and without any obtrusive hissing.Pricing Having not bought speakers in nearly a decade, I’ll have to admit, I had to do some research into what current prices were. Right off the bat, I knew these had to be a pretty good buy because 10 years ago, the ARs cost more each than this entire setup costs. I took a look at the pricing for some of the sets The Speaker Company indicated were competitors and found that the competition seemed to cost more and offer less in both the features and style department. However, most of these sets included a sub-woofer. My contact indicated that numerous sub offerings were going to be available in the very short term, so it looks like you should be able to add one and still stay below the prices of these other setups.Conclusion Once I added in a sub-woofer and calibrated it properly, I found the TSATs very satisfying. As you would expect, head-to-head, I would choose the ARs on overall sound quality, but only by a small margin. Factoring in the size, price and aesthetics along with my desire to go for something more minimalist to complement a flat panel TV, these are exactly what I am looking for. Best of all, you don’t have to take my word for it. The Speaker Company offers free shipping and free return shipping, so you’ve got no risk in trying them out, and at $449.97, I think you’ll find them to be keepers. Chris Gohlke is a Contributing Editor for Digital Media Thoughts. He loves poker, RPGs, and Sci-Fi and loves to get his hands on real-life tech gadgets. He lives in Tallahassee, Florida, USA with his wife and three cats.