What center goes with Monitor 35b that's 5" or less high?

randommac

I bought my first Polks at the beginning of the year, the new Monitor 35b, and added Martin Logan 10" subwoofer off of Craigslist. I'd love to have a Polk center channel speaker for movies, but have a mere 5 1/4" clearance above and below my TV. What fits that would sound good with the 35s? The Monitor 15c should be a good match, but at 7" high, is a no go. (And at least for the foreseeable future, the entertainment center the TV sits stays. I'm married and intend to stay that way.)

Opinions, please!

boston1450

Welcome to Club Polk. Im no expert at center speakers but im sure someone will chime in..thats a tight squeeze. Welcome....

randommac

I see the TL1 would fit. Is it a better speaker than the RM8?

randommac

Update: I found a way to remove the offending entertainment center shelf without destroying it. That lets me set the TV down and allows about 9" headroom above the TV.

Now the question is: Monitor 15c center to match the 35b fronts, or is there any reason to go with the CS1 series II? The 15c is on sale at Newegg and the CS1 is about the same price by Polk on eBay.

Geoff4rfc

Good job. I'd go with the 25C. IMO, never skimp on the center channel.

ZLTFUL

Geoff4rfc wrote: »

Good job. I'd go with the 25C. IMO, never skimp on the center channel.

And normally I agree with this sentiment but in this case, I would go with the 15C as the 35Bs utilize the same 5 1/4" drivers vs the 6 1/2" ones in the 25C making the 15C a closer timbre match.

If the OP on the other hand, has plans to upgrade to the 75Ts someday, then we are back to the 25C being a better option.

Geoff4rfc

ZLTFUL wrote: »

If the OP on the other hand, has plans to upgrade to the 75Ts someday, then we are back to the 25C being a better option.

Absolutely.

As far as I can tell, all the speakers from that series are timbre matched

randommac

ZLTFUL wrote: »

And normally I agree with this sentiment but in this case, I would go with the 15C as the 35Bs utilize the same 5 1/4" drivers vs the 6 1/2" ones in the 25C making the 15C a closer timbre match.

If the OP on the other hand, has plans to upgrade to the 75Ts someday, then we are back to the 25C being a better option.

Would love to upgrade to the 75Ts, but it's highly unlikely. Smallish room dominated by a fireplace and woodstove that can't be rearranged.

I'll go with the 15C. Thanks for all the help thinking this through.

ZLTFUL

Geoff4rfc wrote: »

Absolutely.

As far as I can tell, all the speakers from that series are timbre matched

The tweeters are the same. The 5 1/4" drivers are all the same. The 6 1/2" drivers are all the same.
But the 6 1/2" driver speakers will dig a little deeper which is going to match better with the same driver sized center channel. Timbre is more than just a series match.

Geoff4rfc

ZLTFUL wrote: »

The tweeters are the same. The 5 1/4" drivers are all the same. The 6 1/2" drivers are all the same.
But the 6 1/2" driver speakers will dig a little deeper which is going to match better with the same driver sized center channel. Timbre is more than just a series match.

I don't think so in this case, just because you're matching driver sizes, it should have no impact on timbre. I found this on Wikipedia;

In music, timbre (/ˈt

ZLTFUL

And no matter what you have read on Wikipedia, I can tell you from first hand experience with owning every single model of the new Monitor Series IIs except for the 50s, that the 60s and 70s sound like completely different speakers.
The CS1 and CS2 also sound completely different with the CS2 matching the 70s perfectly and the CS1 being a match for the 60s/40s/30s.

Now granted, I don't have some typed up explanation on the internet to go on...just my own ears but I can tell you flat out that the 15 will be a better timbre match than the 25. (Side note, the latest revision of the monitors is the same drivers as the series IIs. They are only different in cosmetics and driver layouts).

Geoff4rfc

Sorry ZLT, didn't mean anything personal with the link.

ZLTFUL

Was having a bad night last night. I apologize for being so argumentative.

randommac

"Side note, the latest revision of the monitors is the same drivers as the series IIs. They are only different in cosmetics and driver layouts)."

Does that mean the CS1 is comparable to the 15c? The CS2 to the 25c? And thus a match for my 35b fronts?

ZLTFUL

They are. But the cosmetics are different.
Again, I am only speaking to my own personal preference, but I like aesthetic flow as well as acoustic matches.

CS1


15C

randommac

True, aesthetics are a driving factor in all this -- this the need to work around the constraints of the entertainment center that houses the AVR, the TV, etc.

Thanks a ton for your input and putting up with newbie questions. Great forum!

Geoff4rfc

I once got the chance to demo the CS1 and CS2 side by side. While the CS1 sounded really good, once the CS2 lit up, the CS1 now sounded strained and unable to keep up in comparison.

Maybe it's just me, but I'd want the best CC in a series, then build around that.

Now, I'm not trying to start any wars or anything, but I found this on the Polk website;

"All Polk loudspeakers are timbre-matched within their series, designed with the same components throughout, to achieve seamless speaker-to-speaker blending effects in multi-channel systems."

"FYI, the word “timbre” can be pronounced either as “tamber” or “timber,” and refers to the musical “color,” or tone quality, of a sound."

So if a guy want's to match driver size, by all means, there's nothing wrong with that at all, according to Polk, it appears that it isn't necessary in order to achieve a timbre match.

Rock out baby :cheesygrin: