center idea for my RTi12's?
I am still debating how much to spend on my new center speaker to timber match my new RTi12's. I know to go with the csia6 or csi5. My cs2 from monitor series I still have sounds great with no issues so it has been hard to step up 3 or 4 hundred more dollars now. My new idea is to buy two RTi10's used for 350.00 and use one on its side on my rear projection tv stand as a center? It will fit great. Any ideas to this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks,Darryl
MIT Magnum MH-750, Monster HTS 5100MKII, Sony 77" Class - A80CJ Series - 4K UHD OLED,PS4, Def Tech 15” sub,LSIM 706c, Sunfire Signature Grand 425 x 4,Parasound hca 120, LSiM 702 x 4, Oppo 103D, SDA SRS 1.2, Pioneer Elite SC63 , Pioneer Elite BDP-05 “Why did you get married if you wanted big speakers?”
Post edited by Dabutcher on
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I use a csi5 with my rti12's.Sound is phenominal.The rti 10 would be pretty cool as long as you have the power to push it.Like I said the csi5 sounds great.One call I believe has them for 250.00
SteveParasound Avc-1800
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I'm probably not the "go to" guy for this answer, but for $150 you could get a refurb or used csi5, instead of using a tower for your center. ( even though I'd love to see a pic of that) I have a csi5 integrated with my mon 70's and have no problem with the voice matching, so to keep your cs2 in the mix shouldn't be so bad, as long as you like how it soundsSamsung pn64f8500
Sonus faber venere 2.5
Sf venere center
Oppo 105d
Squeezebox touch
Parasound hca1500a
Apc power filter
Audioquest cables asst
Polk rtia3 SB
Polk fxia6 sl,sr
Dual hsu vtf3 mk3 -
try ebay. I bought a refurb csi5 direct from Polk there for $179 to go with my $99 Rti8s. I received a brand new one though
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I wouldn't use a tower on its side as a center channel. Towers are designed to project sound horizontally....you'll have a significantly diminished sweet spot by using a tower on its side, which will not only make the center channel sound muffled if you're sitting off axis, it will also make the center channel sound very directional, and defeat the purpose of timbre matching your speakers to make them 'disappear'.My System Showcase!
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I love you people! Thank you,DarrylMIT Magnum MH-750, Monster HTS 5100MKII, Sony 77" Class - A80CJ Series - 4K UHD OLED,PS4, Def Tech 15” sub,LSIM 706c, Sunfire Signature Grand 425 x 4,Parasound hca 120, LSiM 702 x 4, Oppo 103D, SDA SRS 1.2, Pioneer Elite SC63 , Pioneer Elite BDP-05 “Why did you get married if you wanted big speakers?”
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I wouldn't use a tower on its side as a center channel. Towers are designed to project sound horizontally....you'll have a significantly diminished sweet spot by using a tower on its side, which will not only make the center channel sound muffled if you're sitting off axis, it will also make the center channel sound very directional, and defeat the purpose of timbre matching your speakers to make them 'disappear'.
That sounds good in theory but.... if I turn my woofer in my RTi8 45 degrees, is it going to sound different? Is it the dimensions of the box that causes you to believe this? or is the xo that you have this reasoning???
Please explain:eek:Living Room:....................[HTML] [/HTML] Zone 2 (Workout Room):
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That sounds good in theory but.... if I turn my woofer in my RTi8 45 degrees, is it going to sound different? Is it the dimensions of the box that causes you to believe this? or is the xo that you have this reasoning???
Please explain:eek:
When I was playing with placement options for my CSi5, I tried laying in on its side like a tower speaker, and the front sound-stage completely fell apart. Sitting in a sweet spot directly in front of the center speaker it sounded fine, but sitting even just a few inches off-axis changed the characteristics of the higher frequencies significantly. Imagine a train blaring its horn running past you, and compare how it sounds before the train passes you (when you can hear the upper frequencies), to how it sounds after it passes you (when you can't hear the upper frequencies). This is an extreme case of course, but thats the effect you get when the upper frequencies (which are very directional) don't reach the listening position.
The tweeter is really what you'd want to turn on its side to get it to image properly. The tweeters don't move much air and are less reliant on cabinet design, but they project the very directional, upper frequencies. But the tweeters in a center channel are designed to disperse the upper frequencies in a very wide, horizontal pattern. This is what makes the dialogue from a center channel sound like its affixed to the center of the screen even if you're sitting off-axis. By turning a speaker on its side, the upper frequencies will be dispersed vertically towards the floor and ceiling, and will not travel to the off-axis listening positions. I contemplated turning the drivers and tweeter on the CSi5, but after looking at the cabinet, don't have the cajones to do so.
As a reference, the folks at HSU (who are very meticulous on speaker placement) have recomended turning the tweeter 45 degrees on their bookshelf speakers to use them as a center. In theory, it should work, but I've never tried it.My System Showcase!
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Paradigm MilleniaOne - Rythmik F12GSE - Onkyo TX-SR805 - Adcom 5400
Headphones
Sennheiser Momentum Over-Ear - Shure SE215 - Fiio E18 Kunlun -
That sounds good in theory but.... if I turn my woofer in my RTi8 45 degrees, is it going to sound different? Is it the dimensions of the box that causes you to believe this? or is the xo that you have this reasoning???
Please explain:eek:
it's all about the sound patern distribution, u've noticed that most of the central channels have their tweeters in the middle? and that the tweeter is a little bit over the central axis of the speaker?
the reason for this is how the sound waves dispurse while going out from the speaker, so yes the speaker will function best in the way it was designed to, tower to stand as towers and centers to be on their side.
however if a standing tower speaker replace the central channel it will sound better, current MTM (midrange-tweeter-midrange) design is a compromising design however having a tower as a central channel might be annoying while watching TV -
it's all about the sound patern distribution, u've noticed that most of the central channels have their tweeters in the middle? and that the tweeter is a little bit over the central axis of the speaker?
the reason for this is how the sound waves dispurse while going out from the speaker, so yes the speaker will function best in the way it was designed to, tower to stand as towers and centers to be on their side.
however if a standing tower speaker replace the central channel it will sound better, current MTM (midrange-tweeter-midrange) design is a compromising design however having a tower as a central channel might be annoying while watching TV
Yup.
In theory it would be ideal to have three identical towers with the MTM array at ear-level, but given that a screen is ideally kept at eye-level, this is impossible for most people..... unless you're using an acoustically transparent projector screen to put the center channel tower behind.
A proper horizontal center channel placed directly above or below the screen angled upwards or downwards to the listening area is second best.My System Showcase!
Media Room
Paradigm Studio 60 - Paradigm CC-690 - Paradigm ADP-390 - Epik Empire - Anthem MRX300 - Emotiva XPA-5
Living-room
Paradigm MilleniaOne - Rythmik F12GSE - Onkyo TX-SR805 - Adcom 5400
Headphones
Sennheiser Momentum Over-Ear - Shure SE215 - Fiio E18 Kunlun -
Don't lay a tower down on it's side as a center channel...that's going to completely change the speakers dispersion characteristics.
Towers will work just fine as center channels...if they're standing up. Most people can't accommodate a tower in the center position though, which is why horizontal center channels were born.
There is no actual reason that a center channel needs to be horizontal, contrary to popular belief. They're simply horizontal because it works best with most peoples setups.The nirvana inducer-
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comfortablycurt wrote: »Don't lay a tower down on it's side as a center channel...that's going to completely change the speakers dispersion characteristics.
Towers will work just fine as center channels...if they're standing up. Most people can't accommodate a tower in the center position though, which is why horizontal center channels were born.
There is no actual reason that a center channel needs to be horizontal, contrary to popular belief. They're simply horizontal because it works best with most peoples setups.
agreed here. There is the one person currently on the forum using LSiC's for surrounds ect.
You could get another RTI12 and use it as a center. Only this is keep it as a tower and don't lay it on its side. Otherwise some people like to build a center out of the parts from a tower. take all the drivers build a different enclosure and go to town. It can be hard to do.
Otherwise using a tower for a center is fine to do, a lot of people do it in HT setups where they have an acoustically transparent screen in front. Also I know some people like to do it for SACD mulit channel as its equal speakers across the front. -
If you can go with another 12 then go for it
The only reason centre channels exist is purely for cosmetic reasons only so that it can be placed under a non acoustic transparent display
Centre channels have one draw back and its called sound lobbying and this occurrence is a product of the cabinet designs so I personaly would not build a cab myself -
And that's why my center channel is another full tower speakerMain Surround -
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I got the idea from an advert from Cinepro Mighty System Theater. It has three identical speakers that use on as the center on its side and two as fronts upright.I will admit they all look set up just like most centers. As always thank you for all your help and thank Polk Audio for this site and kick asprin speakers! DarrylMIT Magnum MH-750, Monster HTS 5100MKII, Sony 77" Class - A80CJ Series - 4K UHD OLED,PS4, Def Tech 15” sub,LSIM 706c, Sunfire Signature Grand 425 x 4,Parasound hca 120, LSiM 702 x 4, Oppo 103D, SDA SRS 1.2, Pioneer Elite SC63 , Pioneer Elite BDP-05 “Why did you get married if you wanted big speakers?”
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I got the idea from an advert from Cinepro Mighty System Theater. It has three identical speakers that use on as the center on its side and two as fronts upright.I will admit they all look set up just like most centers. As always thank you for all your help and thank Polk Audio for this site and kick asprin speakers! Darryl
Some speakers are designed to allow this. Polks VM20 speakers, for instance, can be used vertically or horizontally.
Most speaker don't work like that though.The nirvana inducer-
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I've been dealing with a very similar philosophical debate. I'm contemplating running another TSI-500 as a center for when my projector is finally done and converged. I've posted a few threads getting people's opinions, many of which have already chimed in here.
I played with some of the TSI-400s at my local Best Buy in the manner which you speak. While I personally didn't notice much of the "difference of sound," I did notice it being Very directional- as mystik610 pointed out. More so on the vertical axis (didn't exactly have seating to test horizontal.)
I Think I'm still going to go this route when I drum up the cash. I have just a single couch seating arrangement, so I feel I can make it work, but there are some limitations. Will probably lay the tower down, center the tweeter between the L/R, build a stand to elevate as much as possible and aim directly at my main seating position .
I'm still baffled as to Why, mechanically and acoustically, the directional issues arise... Do tweeters generally not have a radial radiation pattern?Components in The Rack:
Yamaha RX-V765 7.1 AVR
Sony TA-N511 (from 1065 to sub)
Xbox One
MA PD-915R Power Strip
Monster HTS-1650
Speakers:
L/R- Polk TSI-500 Cherry, 12awg in place of jumpers
C- Polk CS20 Cherry
SRs- Polk TSI-100 Cherry
Sub- Kicker S12L5, vented box
Display:
Sony VPH-1252Q
75" 16:9 DIY BO Cloth Screen
Not running:
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