New (to me) rt1000i setup questions

Strypedwonder

First my apologies to master thread posters and consumers - I am relatively new to threads and entirely unversed in their etiquette. So gentle prodding for faux pas is encouraged.

Most recently my setup consisted of a Marantz NR1501 purchased with the dream of one day stepping up to some B&W CM5s. Wife was flabbergasted by the idea of spending that much for some speakers and now with a baby on the way, I was happy to find some Polk rt25i's for $100 on clist. Had been as happy as SAF would allow just having those in a 2.0 setup until I saw some rt1000i's on clist also for 100. I picked them up and quickly wired them in using a wire splice to connect the double posts rather than run a line directly to a sub feed from the Marantz. I don't know if this is the right thing to do, but it's what the guy who sold them to me had been doing and it appears to work well so far. I moved the 25i's to the rear. So far so good.

Now, in the classic sense of give an inch take a mile I'm pushing the wife to allow a center channel addition. Some searches have shown that the CSi40 and the CS400i will use the same tweeters and so should be a good timbre match for what I have with the rt's.

My questions, now that I finally get down to it, are:
1.) is this true - would they pair well? Are there others I should be considering?
2.) What is the difference between the two? Is one more likely to get spousal approval than the other without trading off too much in quality?
And 3.) Should I rewire the rt100i's to use the direct line out for the sub from Marantz?

I know, the rt1000i should not be considered a substitute for a sub, especially in a HT setup - but remember, I just went from a 2.0 with the 25i's to a 4.0 with the 1000's - so to us it's still rumbling. And did I mention, SAF and baby on the way are still factors? So please, don't let me know how much better things would be in adding a true sub. I don't want to hear it - or more accurately, my wife won't want to hear it from the other room.

Anyway, that's probably too much rambling on this already. Any input from people who will, I'm certain, know way more than myself will always be appreciated. I'd even take the opinions of those who know less about these things than myself, in the very unlikely event that such people exist and lurk around message boards - hell, that they even exist is stretching it. It's a low bar I got up around here. Thanks!

nwohlford

The way you have the speakers wired is correct since the Marantz does not have front channel preamp outs. (The speakers have a built in crossover for the subs, so you would want use a full range output and not the sub output.) As long as you are happy with the bass level, you can skip the sub. Just don't turn the level up above halfway on the sub or jack up the sub level in the Marantz to compensate for the relatively low bass in the main speakers. Driving them too hard will shorten the life of the sub amps significantly.

Either of those centers should work (the CS400i is the true match). Go to the products tab at the top of the page and select "Recent/Vintage Models" for more information on each speaker.

Strypedwonder

Thanks to both of you for your responses. I wonder if there is a way to audition something, even if not a good timbre match, to see whether or not the center adds much to the soundstage for us. Unfortunately, there is only one real audio store left here, and how they made it out of all the ones that were around before is beyond me. Horrible customer service typical of high end audio places - drive up in anything less than a 40,000$ car and they immediately lose interest in helping you. Bully you about their favorite brands, and act snooty about the music you bring in to listen to. At least, that was my experience. Oh well - thank God for the internet, but it does mean it's a lot harder to hear anything in your own home now.

Glad to hear the wiring is right for the setup and thanks for the tip on where to look for old product info. Not to worry about overdriving the sub amps in the speakers - they are right now set at about 1/8th of the way up their dials and I still might turn that down some. While the bass coming from the speakers isn't exactly muddy, it's not what I would call terribly tight either. Less feels like more to me.

One last question though - does anyone have good ideas on where to look for either the CS400i or CSi40? I got nothing close to here from Craigslist, didn't see much on ebay, and they weren't even around on audiogon. Any other shopping advice would be greatly appreciated - as was that already offered here. Thanks!

nwohlford

I think being patient with ebay/CL and posting a wanted ad here are probably your best bets.

Here is one on Ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Polk-Audio-CS400i-Center-Speaker-/251003239121?pt=Speakers_Subwoofers&hash=item3a70f57ad1#ht_500wt_933

You could also try a cs400 or cs350. Both of these are not exact matches but should be reasonably close. For any of these, somewhere around $100 is a decent price.

Strypedwonder

Thanks. I did see that one on clist, but if the price goes up at all the shopping will

Strypedwonder

Thanks. I did see that one on clist, but if the price goes up at all the shipping will make the price a bit over that 100 range. I might bid anyway though. Thanks.

Strypedwonder

DSkip wrote: »

Give me a week or two and I might have one for sale at a good price. I'm going to watch a movie or two this weekend and will play around with the settings to see what I really prefer.

Thanks. I'll keep checking in. Do let me know if you decide to sell. I'm in Tucson though. I'm hoping to be able to spend less on shipping than the speaker itself, but I suppose we'll just see how things work out.

Strypedwonder

DSkip wrote: »

Give me a week or two and I might have one for sale at a good price. I'm going to watch a movie or two this weekend and will play around with the settings to see what I really prefer.[/QUOTE

Are you still weighing your options here? Even if you have no interest in selling I'm curios as to how you're thinking about the center channel either way.

Inspector 24

When I had my RT1000i's I used a splitter from the LFE/SUB OUT from the receiver to each of the tower's sub inputs and ditched the shorting bars.

Great for movies, not as much for music when I wanted to listen in Pure Direct mode as the receiver didn't put out a LFE signal....

And like others have said, don't turn them up past half way. Any more and the bass started to sound strained at volume!

FWIW, I have a CS245i I need to get rid of, same tweeter as the RT1000i, and CS400i (which I used to have) but smaller woofers and about 1/3 the physical size, makes it much easier to get wife approval.