Just Bagged My Third Csi40!

LiquidSound
LiquidSound Posts: 1,261
edited December 2003 in Speakers
Before I had a Csi40 center, and Rti38's as mains. After some haggling, reworking, and circuit city upgrade, I ended up with 3! Csi40's.

The sound is amazing. I found what I was lacking before. Presence and punch.

The 40's have a very deep presence and smoothness that the 38's were lacking. The highs are much more easy to listen to and the lows are much more pronounced and give my system the added oomph it was lacking. For the money, it's not missing a damn thing.

They give the look of my system more presence certainly while backing it up with a real improvement in sound. I keep em' naked. All six of those drivers staring back at me.

All open box, I got the first @ 250.. The second @ 159.. The third @149*after haggling and almost pushing the manager to his limits because of faults*

Needless to say, I'm happy. If you can't afford towers as of yet, go with these. A good buy at a great price *if you can find them* :D
Two Channel Main
Receiver - VSX-54TX
Mains - Csi40's
Sub - Spiked Velodyne Cht-8 On Spiked Landscaping Stones

"If you could put speakers in a needle, I'd never see him again..." - My Girlfriend
Post edited by LiquidSound on
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Comments

  • gatemplin
    gatemplin Posts: 1,595
    edited December 2003
    Good work getting such a deal. Do you stand the mains on end or horizontal?
    Graham
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  • LiquidSound
    LiquidSound Posts: 1,261
    edited December 2003
    They are vertical, and looking oh so sweet. Happy is me.
    Two Channel Main
    Receiver - VSX-54TX
    Mains - Csi40's
    Sub - Spiked Velodyne Cht-8 On Spiked Landscaping Stones

    "If you could put speakers in a needle, I'd never see him again..." - My Girlfriend
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  • gatemplin
    gatemplin Posts: 1,595
    edited December 2003
    LOL, glad to hear you like them so much.
    Graham
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  • LiquidSound
    LiquidSound Posts: 1,261
    edited December 2003
    After repositioning the axis of the tweeters on the mains, for looks, I wanna replace the wires and see if I can tell a difference in sound quality. I might do that tonight..depending on time.
    Two Channel Main
    Receiver - VSX-54TX
    Mains - Csi40's
    Sub - Spiked Velodyne Cht-8 On Spiked Landscaping Stones

    "If you could put speakers in a needle, I'd never see him again..." - My Girlfriend
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  • ohskigod
    ohskigod Posts: 6,502
    edited December 2003
    how about a pic, im curious as to how this setup looks.
    Living Room 2 Channel -
    Schiit SYS Passive Pre. Jolida CD player. Songbird streamer. California Audio Labs Sigma II DAC, DIY 300as1/a1 Ice modules Class D amp. LSi15 with MM842 woofer upgrade, Nordost Blue Heaven and Unity interconnects.

    Upstairs 2 Channel Rig -
    Prometheus Ref. TVC passive pre, SAE A-205 Amp, Wiim pro streamer and Topping E50 DAC, California Audio Labs DX1 CD player, Von Schweikert VR3.5 speakers.

    Studio Rig - Scarlett 18i20(Gen3) DAW, Mac Mini, Aiyma A07 Max (BridgedX2), Totem Mites
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  • Loud & Clear
    Loud & Clear Posts: 1,538
    edited December 2003
    Interesting, but not surprising. My CS400i packs a wallop that my 35i's can't come close to matching. Rock out.

    Two Channel Setup:

    Speakers: Wharfedale Opus 2-3
    Integrated Amp: Krell S-300i
    DAC: Arcam irDac
    Source: iMac
    Remote Control: iPad Mini

    3.2 Home Theater Setup:

    Fronts: Klipsch RP-160M
    Center: Klipsch RP-160M
    Subwoofer: SVS PB12NSD (X 2)
    AVR: Yamaha Aventage RX-A2030
    Blu Ray: Sony BDP-S790
    TV Source: DirecTV Genie
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  • LiquidSound
    LiquidSound Posts: 1,261
    edited December 2003
    I'm headed out the door right now, promise I'll have a pic up tomorrow when I"m back in town. They look gorgeous.
    Two Channel Main
    Receiver - VSX-54TX
    Mains - Csi40's
    Sub - Spiked Velodyne Cht-8 On Spiked Landscaping Stones

    "If you could put speakers in a needle, I'd never see him again..." - My Girlfriend
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  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,577
    edited December 2003
    Liquid Sound - That sounds really neat, I would also like to see some pictures. I think you would be the first person to try this, so perhaps a nice review?
    CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
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  • spyderman
    spyderman Posts: 678
    edited December 2003
    If you love the CSi40, CS400i...etc. Have you listened to the RT55i? It's basically the same speaker as a CSi40. My old HT setup rocked!

    My question for POLK is: "Why didn't POLK replace the RT55i???"

    I once owned the following HT setup:

    CSi40 Center
    Rt55i L/R - Front and Rear
    PSW650 Sub
    RTi70 Fronts
    CSi40 Center
    RTi38 Rear
    PSW650 Sub
    Str-de1075 Receiver

    Hope is on the way!

    ABB

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  • LiquidSound
    LiquidSound Posts: 1,261
    edited December 2003
    I'm not real keen on this reviewing thing, but I'll give it a shot. The first thing I noticed about the 40's, compared to the 38's was punch. They have bass that you can acually feel. At first I thought I was losing clarity, but that was me being used to the brightness of the 38's. The highs and mids are MUCH more smooth. Also, they are much less fatiguing to listen to. I can handle them at higher volumes for longer times and they deliver clarity in blazing fashion. Not to mention at high volumes they gave bass I could feel in my chest.
    Presence... much of it. These give a warmth and feel the 38's couldn't even dream of.
    Now I see the benefits of having the same three speakers on the front soundstage. It makes me want to get three more so I can have 40's all the way around. I wish I were home tonight so I could give a better listen. I haven't even watched a movie with them yet.
    My home theater is finally getting to where I want it. The 40's and the velodyne cht8 were extremely potent purchases. A couple steps closer to my audio nirvana "The Liquid Sound"...

    Pics are coming tomorrow or sunday.
    Two Channel Main
    Receiver - VSX-54TX
    Mains - Csi40's
    Sub - Spiked Velodyne Cht-8 On Spiked Landscaping Stones

    "If you could put speakers in a needle, I'd never see him again..." - My Girlfriend
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  • fort
    fort Posts: 39
    edited December 2003
    I'm glad you liked the setup. I had that setup for one month (CSi40 x3 for center and mains) until I found a better deal for a pair of RTi70's (NIB).

    While I had them, I switched the main driver terminals in one of the (main) CSi40 to fix the driver symmetry. CSi40 is 2-1/2 way. Laying the (mains) CSi40s on their side with the low pass filtered driver at the bottom and the tweeters on the inner side sounded better and imaged better.

    Have fun tweaking.


    _________________
    Center CSi40
    Main RTi70
    Surround FXi50
    Back Surround CSi30
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  • LiquidSound
    LiquidSound Posts: 1,261
    edited December 2003
    Is it the left or the right driver that is the low pass filtered? That's a great idea fort, I didn't think of that.

    By the way, when I had only one 40 being used as a center I exhausted myself switching between the standard jumpers and a small length of monster cable. After several, several times switching between the two, I found the highs and mids were smoother..as well as the bass a hair stronger. Albeit very small incriments of improvement..it was improvement nontheless. I did the switch sooooooo many times in order to remove the placebo effect. Since I found better results with the monster jumpers, I put them on the mains and found an even better result than with the center. This could be because of the room acoustics or whatnot. But nontheless, I'm happy. It makes me wanna fashion up some bi-wires. Does anyone have any tips??

    One more thing, I might get some granite cut to match the bottom of the 40's. Not only would it look nice, it should tighten up the sound a bit. It certainly worked when I put two landscaping stones under my sub.:D
    Two Channel Main
    Receiver - VSX-54TX
    Mains - Csi40's
    Sub - Spiked Velodyne Cht-8 On Spiked Landscaping Stones

    "If you could put speakers in a needle, I'd never see him again..." - My Girlfriend
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  • fort
    fort Posts: 39
    edited December 2003
    Originally posted by LiquidSound
    Is it the left or the right driver that is the low pass filtered?

    I honestly don't remember. I believe the driver with the green and white terminals is LPF'd at 800 Hz. The one with the red and white terminals is LPF'd at 2.5 KHz.
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  • LiquidSound
    LiquidSound Posts: 1,261
    edited December 2003
    My room is really screwed right now. I just did a complete 180 with EVERYTHING. All that you see was on the opposite side of what it is now. Much fun, lemme tell ya. But I managed to do it all without unhooking a single speaker. Although everything else had to be undone. To sum up, my den isn't picture quality right now but I don't give a damn. Here's the pics fer ya's.
    Here's a right side pic of the front.
    Two Channel Main
    Receiver - VSX-54TX
    Mains - Csi40's
    Sub - Spiked Velodyne Cht-8 On Spiked Landscaping Stones

    "If you could put speakers in a needle, I'd never see him again..." - My Girlfriend
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  • LiquidSound
    LiquidSound Posts: 1,261
    edited December 2003
    Here's the left side.
    Two Channel Main
    Receiver - VSX-54TX
    Mains - Csi40's
    Sub - Spiked Velodyne Cht-8 On Spiked Landscaping Stones

    "If you could put speakers in a needle, I'd never see him again..." - My Girlfriend
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  • LiquidSound
    LiquidSound Posts: 1,261
    edited December 2003
    Here's a close up of one of the mains with the tweeter turned. I couldn't stand them facing sideways.
    Two Channel Main
    Receiver - VSX-54TX
    Mains - Csi40's
    Sub - Spiked Velodyne Cht-8 On Spiked Landscaping Stones

    "If you could put speakers in a needle, I'd never see him again..." - My Girlfriend
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  • LiquidSound
    LiquidSound Posts: 1,261
    edited December 2003
    Here's a pic of the rears. An rti38 rear center and acoustic, 2 speaker, 2-way surrounds.
    Two Channel Main
    Receiver - VSX-54TX
    Mains - Csi40's
    Sub - Spiked Velodyne Cht-8 On Spiked Landscaping Stones

    "If you could put speakers in a needle, I'd never see him again..." - My Girlfriend
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  • LiquidSound
    LiquidSound Posts: 1,261
    edited December 2003
    Here's the rear shot in 'music mode'
    Two Channel Main
    Receiver - VSX-54TX
    Mains - Csi40's
    Sub - Spiked Velodyne Cht-8 On Spiked Landscaping Stones

    "If you could put speakers in a needle, I'd never see him again..." - My Girlfriend
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  • LiquidSound
    LiquidSound Posts: 1,261
    edited December 2003
    Here's the fronts in 'music mode'..heh. I love the asian look I've given my den. I'll give much better pics when my girl and I get everything situated and set up nicely.
    Two Channel Main
    Receiver - VSX-54TX
    Mains - Csi40's
    Sub - Spiked Velodyne Cht-8 On Spiked Landscaping Stones

    "If you could put speakers in a needle, I'd never see him again..." - My Girlfriend
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  • gatemplin
    gatemplin Posts: 1,595
    edited December 2003
    They look good, kinda like LSi bookshelf speakers. I like how you turned the tweeters.
    Graham
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  • wrxmy02
    wrxmy02 Posts: 92
    edited December 2003
    When the center speaker is as wide as the TV...umm
    :confused:

    Sorry, just saw a Yugo drive buy with 2 15" subs stuffed in the back..kinda reminded me of something.
    Front: LSI7
    Center: LSIC
    Surrounds: LSI7
    SVS PB2-ISD SUB [MONOLITH!]
    ATI 1805 Amp
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  • LiquidSound
    LiquidSound Posts: 1,261
    edited December 2003
    So buy me a new one wrxmy02. Upgrading in installments. Too happy about my new speakers to give a damn.
    Two Channel Main
    Receiver - VSX-54TX
    Mains - Csi40's
    Sub - Spiked Velodyne Cht-8 On Spiked Landscaping Stones

    "If you could put speakers in a needle, I'd never see him again..." - My Girlfriend
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  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited December 2003
    nice going liquid, i tried to use my CS400i as a main once.. and the results wasn't very good.. the 400i had no bass response at all. I too thought that the sound would somewhat resemble a RT55i, but it really didn't.

    but the 400i did match very well with my RT800i's. so now it's pretty good front soundstage.

    thanks for the pics too.. that always helps visualize what we're discussing.
    PolkFest 2012, who's going>?
    Vancouver, Canada Sept 30th, 2012 - Madonna concert :cheesygrin:
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  • LiquidSound
    LiquidSound Posts: 1,261
    edited December 2003
    When I first got them hooked up, they sounded great, but something wasn't right. They were almost too smooth. The sparkle wasn't there. A quick adjustment to the crossover opened them up by leaps and bounds. I had it at 60 hz with the 38's as the mains..I didn't like the sound of them any higher. They were too bright. I pushed it up to 80 with the 40's as mains and they just came to life. I gave a good listen last night and the amazement hasn't stopped whatsoever. While only pushing 65 watts per channel, they plain out rock my room. I can't imagine what higher wattage will do for them.

    Unless I find a good deal on some older rti surrounds, or a cheap pair of 70's from CC..my speaker upgrading is done for a while. Now I'll delve into the world of acoustic treatments..although I'm unsure of where to start. Perhaps diy acoustic panels. I'll do some more searching and see if I can find a good place to start.

    No prob danger boy. It's nice to finally get some pics up on the forum. After I get several more upgrades to my room I'll post them on the showcase.
    Two Channel Main
    Receiver - VSX-54TX
    Mains - Csi40's
    Sub - Spiked Velodyne Cht-8 On Spiked Landscaping Stones

    "If you could put speakers in a needle, I'd never see him again..." - My Girlfriend
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