Polk CS differences? CS1, CS2, CSi3, CSi5, etc?

barjebus

So Polk has a ton of vintage centre speakers out there, and being the ignorant customer that I am, I was wondering if anyone could enlighten me as to the differences?

http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/specs/recent/cs2/
http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/specs/recent/csi3/
http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/specs/recent/csi30/
http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/specs/recent/csi40/
http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/specs/recent/csi5/

The largest difference I can see is wattage and or driver size. I just ordered a CS2 to pair with either M50's or M60's. I hear the CS2 is awesome, but when I found out there was a CSi5, it made me wonder, am I missing out on something even awesome? I'm still trying to get a bit of a handle on the model numbering from Polk...anything with a 0 after it tends to be not as good yes? And what does the "i" mean after CS in some of those? I'm really sorry if this has been rehashed before...I did a search for center speakers and didn't come up with any answers really!

mystik610

barjebus wrote: »

So Polk has a ton of vintage centre speakers out there, and being the ignorant customer that I am, I was wondering if anyone could enlighten me as to the differences?

http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/specs/recent/cs2/
http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/specs/recent/csi3/
http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/specs/recent/csi30/
http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/specs/recent/csi40/
http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/specs/recent/csi5/

The largest difference I can see is wattage and or driver size. I just ordered a CS2 to pair with either M50's or M60's. I hear the CS2 is awesome, but when I found out there was a CSi5, it made me wonder, am I missing out on something even awesome? I'm still trying to get a bit of a handle on the model numbering from Polk...anything with a 0 after it tends to be not as good yes? And what does the "i" mean after CS in some of those? I'm really sorry if this has been rehashed before...I did a search for center speakers and didn't come up with any answers really!

There are three general lines in Polk's current line-up of speakers.

You the entry level Monitor Line (M), which includes the CS1 and CS2 center channels. The monitor line has been refreshed with the TSi Line, which include the CS10 and CS20 center channels.

Above that you have the RTi Line, (which is more inclined to home theater). These include the CSi3 and CSi5 center channels, and the FXi3 and FXi5 dipole surrounds. These have been refreshed with the RTiA Line, which include the CSi A4, CSi A6, and the FXi A4, FXi A6.

And finally you have Polk's flagship Line, the LSi line, which is Polks more musically inclined line. Here you'll find the LSiC center channel, and the LSiFX dipole surround.

So the first group of letters in the model number indicate the line the speakers belong to, and the number corresponds to the size of the speaker, and or the number/size of the drivers. The letter 'C' denotes a center channel, and 'FX' denotes a dipole surround.

For the purposes of Timbre matching, you want to keep your speakers within the same line. That being said, the Monitor line will timbre match with the refreshed TSi line, and the RTi line will timbre match with the refreshed RTiA line.

barjebus

Wow!! Incredibly detailed response. Thats all I'll ever need to know about Polk model numbers. Thank you so much mystik!

jaritta

Sorry to bring up an old post, but it was the only one i could find that fit...

My rig includes the rti a5, csi3 and psw10. I am concidering building a ht room with projector. My concern is with the csi 3 (is it too small). My question is, is the csi a4 the same size-specs-voice match as the csi3? or is it an upgrade....or should i go with the csi a6. I am also wondering if the csi3 and the csi a4 are the same speaker just with a new modle name??

Right now i have the tsi 100 for the rear surround. should i upgrade to the rti line of surrounds, or get a different sub that better matches?

Any feedback would be great.
Thanks