Which center channel?

boomhower

I'm going with either the Monitor 50 or 60 as my main, just going to depend on which goes on sale first. Which center do I need? The CS1, CS10, or 15C? They all appear to be extremely similar and around the same price. My max width is 20.5" so the larger models are out of the question.

boomhower

Nevermind, I figured it out. I need the CS1.

PubFiction

CS1 is the match but CS2 will give you more which you might want for the center.

boomhower

PubFiction wrote: »

CS1 is the match but CS2 will give you more which you might want for the center.

I would if I could but my furniture has a 20.5" opening, the CS2 just won't fit.

goofyGAguy

Make it happen.
You'll regret not getting the best center you can afford.

boomhower

goofyGAguy wrote: »

Make it happen.
You'll regret not getting the best center you can afford.

It's not that I can't afford it, it won't fit. An extra $50 into the center isn't a big deal. But, it has to fit into a hole beneath my TV and it's not wide enough to accommodate the larger speaker. I ordered the CS1 along with two Monitor 50's from newegg today. It'll be paired with a BiC F12 sub all run by a Denon 1712. In a few months I'll go full 5.1 and probably move the 50's to the back and add 60's up front.

ThereIsNoEye

I would recommend the CS1 series II.

But I'm sure any of three will work just fine...all basically have the same specs.

My personal opinion is that, if you go w/ the Monitor 50's, the CS1 will sound better than a CS2.

I had a chance recently to match both up w/ the Monitor 50's and actually thought the CS1 sounded better w/ those particular speakers.

Nice little system when match w/ a decent subwoofer(Bic F12 or Polk PSW505).

boomhower

ThereIsNoEye wrote: »

I would recommend the CS1 series II.

But I'm sure any of three will work just fine...all basically have the same specs.

My personal opinion is that, if you go w/ the Monitor 50's, the CS1 will sound better than a CS2.

I had a chance recently to match both up w/ the Monitor 50's and actually thought the CS1 sounded better w/ those particular speakers.

Nice little system when match w/ a decent subwoofer(Bic F12 or Polk PSW505).

That's exactly what I ordered yesterday. Monitor 50's and CS1 Series II from Newegg, BiC F12 from Amazon, and a Denon 1712 from AC4L. For the money spent it should be nice little set-up. In the spring I'll move to 5.1 with either Monitor 30's in the rear or get a pair of 60's in the front and move the 50's to the rear.

It's good to hear that the CS1 is a good match. If I could have physically fit the CS2 I would have bought it but my purchase was motivated by space constraints, just good to hear I may not have had to make that big of a compromise.

cnh

Welcome to Club Polk!

Doesn't fit under the TV. Simple answer. Get a RISER that is large enough. Won't cost much and lift the TV above the cabinet. Slide the CS2 into the appropriately larger sized riser that is now under the TV. And, your good. gGg, above is right! That CENTER will carry up to 50 percent of ALL surround track INFO that is on a movie soundtrack, so the bigger and badder the better it will handle that. Which is not to say the smaller speaker, CS1, is bad, just that the CS2 will do better.

I have one and I recommend that whatever you put up front: M-50, 60, or 70. You slap a CS2 between them!

cnh

boomhower

cnh wrote: »

Welcome to Club Polk!

Doesn't fit under the TV. Simple answer. Get a RISER that is large enough. Won't cost much and lift the TV above the cabinet. Slide the CS2 into the appropriately larger sized riser that is now under the TV. And, your good. gGg, above is right! That CENTER will carry up to 50 percent of ALL surround track INFO that is on a movie soundtrack, so the bigger and badder the better it will handle that. Which is not to say the smaller speaker, CS1, is bad, just that the CS2 will do better.

I have one and I recommend that whatever you put up front: M-50, 60, or 70. You slap a CS2 between them!

cnh

Believe me that was my first thought as well. The furniture is already tall and with just the build in stand for the TV the botton of the screen is already to high at 34". Raise it for the CS2 and you at close to 42", I'd be looking up to watch a movie.

ThereIsNoEye

boomhower wrote: »

That's exactly what I ordered yesterday. Monitor 50's and CS1 Series II from Newegg, BiC F12 from Amazon, and a Denon 1712 from AC4L. For the money spent it should be nice little set-up. In the spring I'll move to 5.1 with either Monitor 30's in the rear or get a pair of 60's in the front and move the 50's to the rear.

It's good to hear that the CS1 is a good match. If I could have physically fit the CS2 I would have bought it but my purchase was motivated by space constraints, just good to hear I may not have had to make that big of a compromise.

I personally have a CS2 myself but bought 2 of those setups(CS1, Monitor 50's, Bic F12) for a friend and set it up.

I think you're really going to like it.

In contrast to some other opinions, which are always subjective, I thought the CS1 sounded better than my CS2 w/ the 50's. The CS2 kind of overpowers them while the CS1 blends in perfectly.

In fact, if I had to do it again I probably would have gone w/ that set-up myself. The CS2/Monitor 70's are kind of overkill for my somewhat small apartment...I tend to go overboard sometimes=)

I have a couple videos on YouTube if you want to hear them in action...although it was recorded on a cheap Canon Powershot camera.

ThereIsNoEye

Powered by a Yamaha RX-V565 Receiver

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8yvRBq1nYo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7rcI6O0wu8

jeremymarcinko

Go with the Cs2. Find a way to make it work, all of us want to upgrade at some point and the cs2/20 will allow you
more flexibility. And its a better buy $109 on newegg no brainer.

Geoff4rfc

I'm in agreement with the CS2, find a way to make it work. I ordered the CS1 and never opened it, returned and got the CS2, way happy I did. I got to demo them side by side, what a difference.

The CS1 on it's own sounds pretty good, but when compared to the CS2, it lacks strength, depth and clarity.

The one poster above wasn't implying you couldn't afford the CS2, he was implying you shouldn't pass up the chance at owning it because you CAN afford it.

Furniture is simply a harness for the vehicle, it's the vehicle that takes you places, not the harness. If the harness doesn't fit the vehicle, get a new harness.

ThereIsNoEye

Gotta say that I still disagree.

I just got my Monitor 70's today and the CS2 I bought a couple months ago sounds great paired up with them.

But the CS1 clearly sounded better with the Monitor 50's.

Something about the CS2 and Monitor 50's together just sounded 'off' to me.

But when I matched the CS1 w/ the 50's and the CS2 w/ the 70's...both of those systems sounded excellent IMO.

Maybe it's just me=)

But I have to trust what I hear.

I think the OP made the right choice.

GFOviedo

I bought a pair of Monitor 70, and I will be going with the CS2 since it matches the Monitor 70 drivers, but I do agree that you want to get the best possible center speaker since it will do most of the work when you play a movie. This doesn't always mean that bigger and more power is better either.

You want to try to match your front 3 speaker as close as possible.

Note: I bought the Klipsch Reference RW-12d sub on sale for $300 at newegg too.

Dabutcher

Try to make the CS2 work and you will love it. Also the m70's go on sale every other week on Newegg for $149.99 a piece shipped. You need to sign up for Eblast emails for codes to work. With those three up front you are going to never regret the work you put in to make it happen. Good luck,Darryl

boomhower

Well, I've had everything set-up for a few days now and am very very happy with. The Polk's as expected sound great. The sub is awesome, a complete bargain at $200. Only thing I regret in the least is not waiting for the 60's to hit a $100 which they did right after my 50's arrived. Oh well, doubt I personally would have noticed a different either way.

Dabutcher wrote: »

Try to make the CS2 work and you will love it. Also the m70's go on sale every other week on Newegg for $149.99 a piece shipped. You need to sign up for Eblast emails for codes to work. With those three up front you are going to never regret the work you put in to make it happen. Good luck,Darryl

I've been subscribed to newegg email for ten years or so. That's how I got my 50's for $75. Only way for the CS2 to work would be to ceiling mount it and there's no way I'm going to that trouble for the difference in sound between the two. The furniture is the wifes, I work around it. For those here who are married know, happy wife=happy life.

HTguru1982

OP, don't sweat it. The CS1 will be fine. If you ever find a way to make room for the CS2, then you can upgrade. You've put together quite a system and I'm sure you will enjoy it.

boomhower

HTguru1982 wrote: »

OP, don't sweat it. The CS1 will be fine. If you ever find a way to make room for the CS2, then you can upgrade. You've put together quite a system and I'm sure you will enjoy it.

I am so far. Now that I know what decent sound is I want to move it to 5.1. But with Christmas coming it's going to have to wait. When the time comes would there be much of a difference moving the 50's to the rear and getting 60's for the front vs. getting 30/40's for the rear? 70's for the front is possible but I'm concerned about the receiver driving the whole set-up with 70's and overpowering the CS1.

ThereIsNoEye

I would just wait for the 60's to go on sale again for $99.99 after Christmas sometime(when you get the money) and simply move the 50's to the back.

I've read a lot of reviews from people w/ that set-up and CS1 appears to work perfectly fine w/ the 60's.

cnh

CS1, CS2 aside. How do you like your Monitor system on the Denon? I've always found that Denon likes Polks both M and Rti series.

cnh

boomhower

cnh wrote: »

CS1, CS2 aside. How do you like your Monitor system on the Denon? I've always found that Denon likes Polks both M and Rti series.

cnh

I like it a lot. No problems and sounds good to me, granted I don't have much of a reference point. I haven't had any real speakers since a set of DCM's back in high school 15 years ago. This upgraded a Sony soundbar.

GFOviedo

GFOviedo wrote: »

I bought a pair of Monitor 70, and I will be going with the CS2 since it matches the Monitor 70 drivers, but I do agree that you want to get the best possible center speaker since it will do most of the work when you play a movie. This doesn't always mean that bigger and more power is better either.

You want to try to match your front 3 speaker as close as possible.

Note: I bought the Klipsch Reference RW-12d sub on sale for $300 at newegg too.

Update:

Current Set up:
Front R/L: Monitor 70's series II
Center: Monitor 25C
Surround L/R: Jamo S426
Surround Back L/R: Energy EF-500
Subwoofer: Dual Klipsch RW-12D
AVR: Pioneer SC-1522-K

GFOviedo

After owing the Monitor series, I want to upgrade to the RTi / RTiA line!

adrsuhen

GFOviedo wrote: »

After owing the Monitor series, I want to upgrade to the RTi / RTiA line!

Yes exactly you will soon.