FXi50 vs Fxi30

mknutt

Any suggestions on which surround to get? I have RTi70s and a CSi40 up front. CC has the 30s for $300 and jandr.com has the 50s for the same price.

faster100

kinda seems like a easy choice, The 50's go for 499.00 if you can get them for 300.00 get them, their bigger, the drivers are bigger. This is a no brainer....

faster100

just went and looked, that price on jandr.com says Special Note - Due to manufacturer restrictions, we cannot ship this product outside of the NY, NJ, CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, and VT areas at this time.

So i guess Florida is out, Im in fla also, I would love to have these speakers, I have the Rti38's now..

dorokusai

I have auditioned, in house, both speakers. I wouldn't say the FXi50 outperforms the FXi30...but if they were available at the same price, then get the FXi50's. Like Faster said, its a no-brainer.

Perhaps someone from the forum in those areas, would be available for drop ship, then re-ship? Good deal for $300.

EDIT: Crutchfield is a great place to bag the 50's for no hassle, and looks like Acdds found a good price.

acdds

I just bought the Fxi50's from Crutchfield for $349.99, no tax and free shipping. Brand new in the box. Just make sure that someone is at home when you think they will be delivered. Fed Ex just left mine on the outside doorstep in the middle of the day! I live in the city so someone could have very easily had a new pair of 50's for free.

I also bought the 30's for a demo at CC before I returned them for the 50's. I think the 50's have slightly more bass, but for surrounds there are very few times this is noticeable. For the same price as the 30's (priced at $360 when I bought from CC), the 50's match my rear Rti38's better.

mknutt

I am planning on purchasing a CSi30 for my center surround. Would it be more important to match the side surrounds with the center surround (FXi30) or with my front soundstage (FXi50)?

jkratzer

mknutt: My opinion is that the front speakers should be timbre matched and the rear speakers should be timbre matched, but the front soundstage does not have to match the rear soundstage. It is important for the rear side surrounds to match the rear center surrounds. It you are getting the CSi30 for the rear center ( fine choice by the way ) then the FXi30 would create a nicely matched rear soundstage.

My $.02.

dorokusai

The whole RTi line is timbre matched, so either choice works in this case. It makes no difference whether you choose the FXi50 or FXi30 for your side surround, it will be fine. The CSi30 is an excellent choice for rear center by the way.

kberg

Originally posted by jkratzer
It is important for the rear side surrounds to match the rear center surrounds. It you are getting the CSi30 for the rear center ( fine choice by the way ) then the FXi30 would create a nicely matched rear soundstage.

Yep, that's what I have, and it sounds excellent!

bigsexy1

faster100
"just went and looked, that price on jandr.com says Special Note - Due to manufacturer restrictions, we cannot ship this product outside of the NY, NJ, CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, and VT areas at this time.

So i guess Florida is out, Im in fla also, I would love to have these speakers, I have the Rti38's now.."

Faster, you're just having rotten luck trying to get in all of these deals this week, aren't you?

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mknutt,
I say that if you think you might want to trade up to something else, including the new RTi series about to come out within the next year at CC, then get the 30s from them, and you can keep an option open. Otherwise, if you are defintely planning on keeping whatever you get from now on, then get the 50s.

mknutt

Do you think I will notice a big difference between the two in terms of sound and/or sound quality?

Frank Z

Yes. although there is nothing wrong with the 30, the 50 is a larger speaker and will out perform the 30 hands down. Take a look at the specs for both and you'll see why the 50's are a better option.

dorokusai

I have to disagree, the FXi30 is a great performer. Spec's are just general numbers in this case, based on a larger bass driver/cabinet. Big deal.

I have run high volume DD/PLII/DTS soundtracks thru both speakers, and the FXi30 was never caught short in my personal testing. It never was outdone by its larger brother, and it cost less, so it made the most sense for me. The power at the surround channel is not in the realm of what is center channel based, so the impact of a larger cabinet/driver is negligible with these two speakers.

Would a FX1000i sound better? Yea, this would certainly be something that would be audible. This is also a different cabinet and driver layout than even the FXi50.

Plus, with 75%+ people(just a guess) using adjustable AVR filters, the bass extension becomes even more irrelevant.

These comments aren't directed at you Frank, I mean them as general statements only.

Frank Z

No offense taken....Mr. Know-it-all!;)

I owned a set of Fx300's (precursor to the 30's) and found the performance to be fine for most movie sound tracks, but I felt that they came up a little short for multichannel music that had more surround heavy tracks. The larger 500's (now 50's) would have been bette suited to my tastes.

As usual, the only way to know for sure is an A/B comparison in your own home, with your own music/movies.

bigsexy1

Frank, the 300s only had a 3/4" or 1/2" tweeter (I can't remember which off hand, I think it was the same one as the RT15i). The 30 does have the 1" tweeter like all of the rest of the current series.

dorokusai

Frank -

That is the best comment, it really does depend on enviroment for suitability. I should have insterted that. You figure my needs being satisfied with the FXi30...wait this is sounding weird....well, every room is going to affect these two speakers.

I would certainly have bought them if they were cheaper, no questions, because I like them as a speaker also. While I personally feel that they are a little too close in performance, you can't go wrong with either one.