Got my TSS-1's today (finally). Here's a run-down of my first impressions.
Features
5 satellites, amplifier/decoder, and subwoofer. The satellites are deceptively small, cloth covered, with 2" spruce cone drivers. Wasn't very impressed with their appearance at first. The subwoofer is also comparatively small, also with a cloth cover, and a 5" cone driver. All 6 speakers are magnetically shielded. The amp is nice and compact with a small footprint. It has a dial for master volume, and balance dials for the center, surround, and subwoofer speakers. There's also a headphone jack and a power button in the front. There are four keys: Input (toggles among digital, 4 channel, and 2 channel inputs), Mode (toggles between DTS, DD5.1, DD Pro Logic, and off), Test (outputs an alternating pink noise signal that lets you set the balance levels), and Mute.
All the speakers connect via RCA-type plugs to the amp. The 3 center speakers have a 3 m cord and the 2 surrounds have a 7 m cord. I found all the cord lengths to be more than adequate in my bedroom. The TSS-1 comes with an RCA coaxial cable, 2 mini cables, and a cheap looking optical cable (I used a Sony cable instead). The amp has front and rear mini jacks for connections for 4-speaker sound cards in addition to the coaxial and optical S/PDIF inputs. There's also a switch in the back that allows you to switch among 5, 4, and 3 channels. 6W x 5 satellites + 18W x 1 subwoofer = 48W RMS.
Sound
I am connecting through optical S/PDIF to a Vortex2 Superquad. Desktop sounds come across clear, MP3's and CD's play great. The satellites have a nice frequency response and the subwoofer has very tight bass to it, gives a nice powerful 'boom' when needed. Compared to my old speakers (Altec Lansing ACS66), the satellites are much more articulate and less muddy. The Active Servo technology, which was designed to increase the efficiency of bass output, seems well applied. Volume wasn't an issue for me; I couldn't turn it up over 1/3 because I might piss off the people living above. DVD sound was also excellent in PowerDVD 3.0. I played chapters of Goldeneye, True Lies, and M:I-2 using DD5.1 (except for True Lies, for some reason it would default to Pro Logic) and each of the channels sounds discrete and articulated. At times it was a little hard to hear dialogue from the center speaker, but it was improved by adjusting the balance controls. Since this is my first 5.1 system, I was initially wondering why the surrounds were so inaudible, but during action sequences they were involved pretty nicely. My only real complaint is that audio seems too soft in quiet scenes but too loud in action sequences. This might just be a characteristic of DVD, though. Haven't tried DTS yet but the results from DD5.1 look promising. I haven't heard other comparable systems (like the DTT2500) so I can't comment on that. To a audio novice like me, though, it does seem very well powered for a 48W system. Haven't noticed any distortion, and there's no perceptible hiss from any of the speakers (major plus). Overall, looks like a ~$165 well spent on some quality speakers.
BTW, these were in white, which look nice, but I was really hoping I'd get the black ones 😉