Finally pulled the trigger.

btmower
btmower Posts: 25
edited August 2011 in Speakers
Hey everyone, new to forum.

Been contemplating for a while, finally bought the following:

pair of RTi A7 $1000
pair of FXi A4 $400
CSi A6 Center $400
Denon 1912 $550
Monster 1650 power center $250

Picked up all of the above for a total of $1300 brand new.... not bad.

I was torn between 3 speaker sets. These Polks, a 5 speaker set of Def Tech BP 8060's, or a 5 speaker set of Paradigm Studios.

I sampled all of these speakers:

The Def Tech BP series have active subs in fronts/center, but have small mid drivers. They seemed to have great highs and lows, but lacked mid-punch.

The Paradigm Studio 20's + Seismic sub blew my mind. They sounded phenominal, but the dealer was unwilling to budge on price.

The Polks sounded a little brighter than the Paradigms, but they have great mids and the A7's pump out plenty of bass for my little room. I will be adding a sub when I move. Plus the price was right. The dealer wanted to push B&W on me, so I think they're dropping Polk and wanted to clear inventory.

During my research, I have become very jaded against active subs in towers. I know several people who have had amps die, rendering half of the speaker useless. In my auditions, towers with active subs usually had good bass and highs, but lacked mids.

If I had a complaint with the RTi's, it would be the center. I wish they offered something bigger, possibly a 3 way. Ideally I'd like the center to have 2x 7 1/2" bass drivers, 2x 6 1/2" mids, and the tweeter. For movie watching, the CSi6 is ok... I would just like more.

Anyway, just wanted to share my thoughts so far (after about 3 days of playing around with them) I immediately fired up some Diana Krall, Slipknot, Pendulum, and Trevor Hall. Tron and Saving Private Ryan wowed me as well.

Will share more as I listen. Took pics with my iPhone, so the quality isn't the greatest.

attachment.php?attachmentid=59873&stc=1&d=1313299904

attachment.php?attachmentid=59874&stc=1&d=1313299904
My HT Gallery
My HT Build Log
Yamaha A-1010 w/ Emotiva XPA-3
Polk LSiM 707, LSiM 706c, FXi A4, Dual Deftech ProSub 1000
Epson HC3500 w/ 100' SI Black Diamond
Post edited by btmower on
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Comments

  • danz1906
    danz1906 Posts: 5,144
    edited August 2011
    Congrats..........That's an Awesome deal:smile:
    Linn AV5140 fronts
    Linn AV5120 Center
    Linn AV5140 Rears
    M&K MX-70 Sub for Music
    Odyssey Mono-Blocs
    SVS Ultra-13 Gloss Black:D
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  • djperez81
    djperez81 Posts: 388
    edited August 2011
    NIce score....enjoy your new gear!!!
    Music doesn't lie. If there is something to be changed in this world, then it can only happen through music.
    -Jimi Hendrix
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  • Almadacr
    Almadacr Posts: 185
    edited August 2011
    Congrats that`s a really good price for everything .
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  • george daniel
    george daniel Posts: 12,096
    edited August 2011
    nice !!!
    JC approves....he told me so. (F-1 nut)
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  • mdaudioguy
    mdaudioguy Posts: 5,165
    edited August 2011
    Wow, they even look good in extreme close-ups! :smile:
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  • HTguru1982
    HTguru1982 Posts: 1,066
    edited August 2011
    Nice score. I am confused about your feelings toward the CSiA6, though. I've listened to it in-store and used to own the CSi5 and never found either of them lacking for movies.
    Display: Sony 42" LCD
    Sources: Harman Kardon DVD-27,
    Panasonic DMP-BDT110 blu ray player
    AVR: Sony STR-DA2400ES
    Amps: Sonance Sonamp 260(fronts),
    Kenwood KM-894(surrounds)
    Fronts: NHT 2.5
    Center: NHT VS-1.2A
    Surrounds: NHT Super One
    Subwoofer: SVS PB10-ISD
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  • btmower
    btmower Posts: 25
    edited August 2011
    I'm happy with the deal I got. The dealer didn't even want to talk about anything besides b&w. Even after I told him I wasn't interested he didn't have anything good to say about the polks. To my ears, the polks sounded better than the cm8's for $1300 each.

    As for the center. I like the csi a6, don't get me wrong. I just wish they offered something bigger, cuz I would have bought it. I fell in love with the paradigm studio cc-690 3-way center. I wish There were an rti center in the same league. I know it's not fair to compare the $400 csi a6 with a paradigm that costs nearly a thousand.... Just call it wishful thinking.

    Sorry for the huge pictures. I thought I reduced them before posting.
    My HT Gallery
    My HT Build Log
    Yamaha A-1010 w/ Emotiva XPA-3
    Polk LSiM 707, LSiM 706c, FXi A4, Dual Deftech ProSub 1000
    Epson HC3500 w/ 100' SI Black Diamond
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  • larry777
    larry777 Posts: 480
    edited August 2011
    Super deal on all the speakers. Give it some time and you may come to realize that the CSiA6 is a really good match for your RTiA7's.
    Home Theatre.............

    Pioneer SC-35
    Polk RTi10's Fronts
    Polk CSiA6 Center
    RTi4 Surrounds
    SVS PB-12 Sub


    2 Channel.............................

    Yaqin MC-100B
    Energy RC-70 Speakers
    Arcam CD-192 Disc Player
    Van Den Hul Interconnects
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  • jbooker82
    jbooker82 Posts: 1,627
    edited August 2011
    Give them time to break in and get use to the sound. Then hit trey up for a cross over mod for the front towers, and center channel.
    AVR: Onkyo Tx-NR808
    Amplifier: Carver A-753x 250 watts x 3
    Fronts: Polk RTI A7 (modded by Trey VR3)
    Center: CSI A4 (modded by Trey VR3)
    Rear: FXI A4
    Sub: Polk DSW Pro 660wi
    TV: LG Infinia 50PX950 3D
    Speaker Cable: AudioQuest Type 8
    IC: AudioQuest Black Mamba II
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  • btmower
    btmower Posts: 25
    edited August 2011
    To those of you who have the CSiA6... how do you have it setup in your receiver? I have read a variety of opinions. Some say it should be set as small and crossed over at 60. Other say to leave it large. The manual says to set it as small, but audissey sets it up as large. Just curious what others have done and their opinions.

    I'm no audiophile. My perceived "shortcomings" of the CSiA6 could be due to my lack of sub. The A7's pump out plenty of bass, but the center lacks bass drivers, so it can't keep up with the bass output of the A7's.

    I wish there were a way to route the low bass from the center to the towers, because I'd rather not add a sub at this time.

    Anyways, just curious how others feel.
    My HT Gallery
    My HT Build Log
    Yamaha A-1010 w/ Emotiva XPA-3
    Polk LSiM 707, LSiM 706c, FXi A4, Dual Deftech ProSub 1000
    Epson HC3500 w/ 100' SI Black Diamond
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  • leroyjr1
    leroyjr1 Posts: 8,785
    edited August 2011
    Best thing you can do is play with the settings and see what sounds best.

    Nice setup!
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  • rooftop59
    rooftop59 Posts: 8,121
    edited August 2011
    If u set the center to small and towers to large and sub to no the receiver should route the lower center frequencies to the mains. they will serve as your sub if they are set to large with no sub. I would try it like this and see if you like the difference.
    Living Room 2.2: Usher BE-718 "tiny dancers"; Dual DIY Dayton audio RSS210HF-4 Subs with Dayton SPA-250 amps; Arcam SA30; Musical Fidelity A308; Sony UBP-x1000es
    Game Room 5.1.4:     Denon AVR-X4200w; Sony UBP-x700; Definitive Technology Power Monitor 900 mains, CLR-3000 center, StudioMonitor 350 surrounds, ProMonitor 800 atmos x4; Sub - Monoprice Monolith 15in THX Ultra
    Bedroom 2.1     Harmon Kardon HK3490; Bluesounds Node N130; Polk RT25i; ACI Titan Subwoofer
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  • btmower
    btmower Posts: 25
    edited August 2011
    Awesome, thanks for the tip. Never thought that the receiver might route the low end from center to front L/R.

    Will try it out. I bet its hard to say for sure that it will work since I'm sure each receiver brand handles frequency dispersion differently.

    So far I really like the Denon, but I'm thinking about buying either a yamaha or a pioneer from a local dealer just to try out. If I don't like it then I'll return it.

    Will report back once I've had a chance to sample.
    My HT Gallery
    My HT Build Log
    Yamaha A-1010 w/ Emotiva XPA-3
    Polk LSiM 707, LSiM 706c, FXi A4, Dual Deftech ProSub 1000
    Epson HC3500 w/ 100' SI Black Diamond
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  • larry777
    larry777 Posts: 480
    edited August 2011
    I have my CSiA6 set as Small, along with the rest of my speakers. Crossover is set at 80 Hz, so all Bass lower than this goes to my Sub.
    Home Theatre.............

    Pioneer SC-35
    Polk RTi10's Fronts
    Polk CSiA6 Center
    RTi4 Surrounds
    SVS PB-12 Sub


    2 Channel.............................

    Yaqin MC-100B
    Energy RC-70 Speakers
    Arcam CD-192 Disc Player
    Van Den Hul Interconnects
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  • thsmith
    thsmith Posts: 6,082
    edited August 2011
    I found the csia6 likes power. I too have a xenon 2808 and it's ok but as soon as I went pre outs to a more powerful amp I found joy.

    Might consider taking the demon back and looking at the pioneer sc35 at Costco for 800 shipped, someone posted it here at cp over the weekend.

    Congrats and welcome to cp!
    Speakers: SDA-1C (most all the goodies)
    Preamp: Joule Electra LA-150 MKII SE
    Amp: Wright WPA 50-50 EAT KT88s
    Analog: Marantz TT-15S1 MBS Glider SL| Wright WPP100C Amperex BB 6er5 and 7316 & WPM-100 SUT
    Digital: Mac mini 2.3GHz dual-core i5 8g RAM 1.5 TB HDD Music Server Amarra (memory play) - USB - W4S DAC 2
    Cables: Mits S3 IC and Spk cables| PS Audio PCs
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