Upgrading center; mains OK?

Florida_Gator

I probably should have posed this question before I ordered it, but...

I have a 5.1 system consisting of:

Fronts: Polk R50
Center: Polk CSR
Rears: Polk R150

We've never been 100% satisfied with the CSR center. I've had to turn it up 50% more than the R50s to hear dialog well, and it's not as "full". I recently ordered a new subwoofer, and decided to replace the center also, so I ordered a CS20. My thinking was that the 6.5" drivers in the CS20 would "match" the R50s better (or at least keep up with them?).

Is this going to work OK? Or will I soon be shopping for new fronts? I sure hope not, since the R50s have never been lacking...

Wondering if I should take advantage of the current sales on the Monitor 60's. Are they CLEARLY better than the R50's as fronts, even though the R50's drivers are bigger? After all, I'm upgrading from the CSR to the CS20 to better "keep up" with the R50's...

Thanks for any insights.

ROHfan

Florida_Gator wrote: »

I probably should have posed this question before I ordered it, but...

I have a 5.1 system consisting of:

Fronts: Polk R50
Center: Polk CSR
Rears: Polk R150

We've never been 100% satisfied with the CSR center. I've had to turn it up 50% more than the R50s to hear dialog well, and it's not as "full". I recently ordered a new subwoofer, and decided to replace the center also, so I ordered a CS20. My thinking was that the 6.5" drivers in the CS20 would "match" the R50s better (or at least keep up with them?).

Is this going to work OK? Or will I soon be shopping for new fronts? I sure hope not, since the R50s have never been lacking...

Wondering if I should take advantage of the current sales on the Monitor 60's. Are they CLEARLY better than the R50's as fronts, even though the R50's drivers are bigger? After all, I'm upgrading from the CSR to the CS20 to better "keep up" with the R50's...

Thanks for any insights.

I upgraded from the R50s to the M60s and for $109.99 each on the Egg, yes, they are clearly better. If you want details, I'll be happy to bore you with my experience on them.

I have a CS10 and I have no desire to upgrade to a CS20 anytime soon. The CS20 is too big for my setup anyway. The CS10 was just on the Egg for 69.99. If you get the M60s, you might want to get the CS10 also. My front soundstage is seamless now and I am ecstatic with it.

Florida_Gator

Thanks for the feedback. They're $120 at NewEgg (not $110), but still a good deal.

Since I'm upgrading my center to the CS20 (which has 6.5" drivers), I'll give the system a good workout this weekend and see how the new center matches with the R50s.

Would rather not have to upgrade the fronts (yet) if I don't "have" to. I think my next upgrade should be the receiver, since the one I have doesn't handle HDMI 1.4, Dolby True-HD, and the newer DTS codecs...

ROHfan

Florida_Gator wrote: »

Thanks for the feedback. They're $120 at NewEgg (not $110), but still a good deal.

Since I'm upgrading my center to the CS20 (which has 6.5" drivers), I'll give the system a good workout this weekend and see how the new center matches with the R50s.

Would rather not have to upgrade the fronts (yet) if I don't "have" to. I think my next upgrade should be the receiver, since the one I have doesn't handle HDMI 1.4, Dolby True-HD, and the newer DTS codecs...

Yeah, the M60s were kind of a lateral move for me, but at the price I was curious as to what they would sound like and if it was greatly improved over the R50s. The differences are subtle, but they are there. I dunno...sometimes I just like getting new stuff. Makes me feel like a kid in a candy store.

A receiver upgrade sounds like a good idea. There's an Onkyo TX-SR308 on Newegg right now for 199.99 with free shipping that has what you're looking for. Although you might consider saving up a little more dough and going with a 7.1 avr instead. Trust me, you ARE going to want it in the future, especially when you hear how good your system will sound now. The front height channels really fill in a lot of gaps in the atmospheric scenes of movies and I can no longer go back to to 5.1. Sounds like something's missing without the front heights on.

Good luck, and let us know how it went this weekend!

Florida_Gator

ROHfan wrote: »

Yeah, the M60s were kind of a lateral move for me, but at the price I was curious as to what they would sound like and if it was greatly improved over the R50s. The differences are subtle, but they are there. I dunno...sometimes I just like getting new stuff. Makes me feel like a kid in a candy store.

A receiver upgrade sounds like a good idea. There's an Onkyo TX-SR308 on Newegg right now for 199.99 with free shipping that has what you're looking for. Although you might consider saving up a little more dough and going with a 7.1 avr instead. Trust me, you ARE going to want it in the future, especially when you hear how good your system will sound now. The front height channels really fill in a lot of gaps in the atmospheric scenes of movies and I can no longer go back to to 5.1. Sounds like something's missing without the front heights on.

Good luck, and let us know how it went this weekend!

My CS20 was delivered, so I'll try it when I get home. I think it should be able to be heard over the R50s much better than the CSR was. The CSR is a pretty good speaker -- I might use it for a single "surround back" (an option on my Onkyo 505 7.1 receiver). Too bad I have to wait until Monday for the subwoofer though! :mad:

I like getting new stuff sometimes too, but only if there's a clear improvement! I've needed a new sub for a while now, so decided to upgrade the center at the same time.

I think I'll hold off on the mains for now. The R50's are quite good, afterall. By the time I feel the "need" to upgrade them, I'll likely find some Tsi400's or Tsi500's on sale... and in the meantime, I'll address that receiver next. Bugs me that I "need" to upgrade so soon though -- I just bought it about 3 years ago. I thought receivers were supposed to last longer than laptops!?! :eek: :biggrin: I guess I bought it *right* before the new DD TrueHD and DTS-HD became "the norm". My 505 does DD and DTS though, so it still sounds great.

My next receiver will be either an Onkyo 608/9 or 708/9 at least. The 505 has been great -- sure hope the new ones are as well-made as the "old" ones. Of course because I'm the type to research the crap out of everything before I buy anything, I'll also check out Yamaha and Denon and other mid-priced receivers. Part of the fun!

Thanks again!

Florida_Gator

Installed and tested the CS20 last night... Little bit of Pirates 3, Star Wars, and then Dark Knight BR.

Fantastic. I had to (was able to) lower the center channel power a bit (from where it was set for the CSR). And they blend very well with my R50 mains. Great upgrade, and it looks great too.

The new subwoofer (Bic F12) should be here Monday. I'm saving Master and Commander for that...:biggrin: