Polk CSi5/CSi3 Picture Comparision

Hermitism

You can view the dimensions and pictures on a website, but you can't fully appreciate the size of a CSi5 until you've seen it next to it's little brother. When I opened the box, you would have thought I was auditioning for a Rally's Big Buford commercial. "It's so big!" I know these two models are discontinued, but Polk's eBay store still sells both models "new", not refurbs, at a great price. So I thought I'd show pictures of the two together for anyone thinking of purchasing one the these center channels. I have to give mad props to Polk for creating a well thought out and user friendly design. That angled top allows you to put either speaker in a much tighter spot than you'd think. Polk lists the dimensions for each, but I thought I'd be more specific to help out anyone trying to figure out which one they have room for.

Polk's CSi3 Dimensions
Height: 6 7/8" (17.46cm)
Width: 20" (50.80cm)
Depth: 9 1/4" (23.50cm)

Polk's CSi5 Dimensions
Height: 7 11/16" (19.53cm)
Width: 24" (60.96cm)
Depth: 14 1/2" (36.83cm)

Those dimensions are a bit deceiving. The Csi3 is 6 7/8" high in the front, but 3" back (deep) is where the downward angle starts, only 4 7/8" high in the back.

The Csi5 is 7 11/16" high in the front, but 4 3/4" back (deep) is where the downward angle starts, only 5 1/4" high in the back. The Powerports are 5" high and 4 1/4" wide.

I use a Z-Line Designs flat screen TV console with a column attached to the rear that the TV hangs on. It has 2" increment adjustments for the TV height. That was my only choice because I have a window behind my TV, so wall mounting wasn't an option. I had the CSi3 on the top shelf and it was probably about 3.5" back from the front edge of the shelf and had about a 2mm space between the bottom of the TV and the top of the CSi3. I fully expected to have to raise the height of the TV to get the CSi5 to fit, but I was actually able to fit it on the shelf without adjusting the TV height. The speaker comes flush with the front edge of the shelf. The floating grill hangs over.

I've never seen anyone post pics of the two centers together, so I'm going to post a few. Didn't notice until now that the grill wasn't on the CSi5 which would have made it look even larger. It's a real whopper!

I can no longer post more than one picture per post without it creating links to the pictures, instead of actually showing the pictures or thumbnails, so I'll just post one pic per post.

Hermitism

Hermitism

Hermitism

Hermitism

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gudnoyez

Yeah I hear you they are a beast of a center channel for sure the guy that bought my csi a4 from me said the csi a6 was huge. I ADMIT me and the wife said the same thing when we brought the a6 home and swaped it out with the a4. They are not joking when they say go big or go home when it comes to center channels here on Club Polk.

boston1450

Bigggggg & beautiful.. Yes big difference & i can see why you would be ing. Nice looking system you got there Hermitism

Hermitism

boston1450 wrote: »

Bigggggg & beautiful.. Yes big difference & i can see why you would be ing. Nice looking system you got there Hermitism

Thank you. I wish I had a more appropriate room size to put it in. I gave the center a three hour listening test last night just to make sure there wasn't any problems caused during transport. So I didn't get a chance to recalibrate my system last night. This evening, I took it apart and applied Dynamat to the baskets and magnet covers, hooked it back up and did a calibration. So right now, the only thing I can say is if you're watching an adult movie, the moans and screams are much deeper and life like. I'm kidding! Not really.

It sounds nothing like the CSi3, and I thought the CSi3 was a very capable speaker. The 5 has a much deeper, warmer sound. I'm going to give it a "movie work out" this weekend.

Hermitism

I just finished watching two TV shows and it really brings out the deep raspiness in some voices. Some men's voices are almost gravelly.

One thing that I'm not liking at all is that it doesn't seem to image very well. The CSi3 completely disappeared and the voices sounded like they were coming from the picture, not the speaker. But it's very apparent that the voices are now coming from below the TV screen with the Csi5. It's very noticeable. I'm sitting about 8.5 feet away from the speaker. Is that enough distance?

Dennis Gardner

Tilt the front of the new 5 up a bit. Is there a chance that the 3 sat further back on the shelf since is wasn't as deep of a speaker? This would be giving some reflective sound from the shelf and making it sound more diffuse at your listening area. Just a guess.

Hermitism

Dennis Gardner wrote: »

Tilt the front of the new 5 up a bit. Is there a chance that the 3 sat further back on the shelf since is wasn't as deep of a speaker? This would be giving some reflective sound from the shelf and making it sound more diffuse at your listening area. Just a guess.

Yes, the 3 was about 3.5" back from the front edge of the shelf, but the 5 is flush with the shelf. I currently have the front of the 5 about 1/4" higher than the rear. Have to raise the TV to tilt it anymore, but if I do raise the TV, I can push the speaker back a couple inches on the shelf. I had two door wedges underneath the 3 to tilt it up.

mufsoman

Herm - glad to see your enjoying the new center channel. Considering the greater power of the Csi5 vs. the 3, you may need to tweak the calibration beyond the MCACC of the SC05. Your ears may also need to get acquainted to the new sound.

Hermitism

mufsoman wrote: »

Herm - glad to see your enjoying the new center channel. Considering the greater power of the Csi5 vs. the 3, you may need to tweak the calibration beyond the MCACC of the SC05. Your ears may also need to get acquainted to the new sound.

Oh, my comment about raspy gravelly voices wasn't a complaint. I've just never heard a center speaker go that low and deep before. It really does justice to someone that has a low gritty voice. You can really hear the roughness. I'm sure part of the credit has to go to the phase control on my AVR, but it's nice to have a speaker that can pick up on the smallest imperfection or growlish sound from the back of someone's throat. It's impressive compared to what I'm used to.

tonyb

sounds like you need to level match that center with the fronts....if you haven't done so yet.

Hermitism

tonyb wrote: »

sounds like you need to level match that center with the fronts....if you haven't done so yet.

OMG! Tony, I've already graduated from "Audio For Idiots 101". Give me a little credit. I'm now enrolled in "Audio For Dummies 102". I'm no longer an idiot. Just a dummy.

I was talking recently about large vs. small speaker settings in another thread. Some people say that setting them to large while using a sub can cause cancellation. Before, I had much more success setting my fronts to small. But after that discussion, I realized that I had played around with those setting before you guys had helped me with proper speaker placement and I had to move my sub because there was no longer room for where I had it once I moved my fronts. Before, the sub was next to my TV stand and there was a greater distance between my sub and front right speaker. But now the sub is sitting in the corner right next to my front left, with no space between. Anyways, after getting this center channel and recalibrating, it had set my fronts and center to large, so I just left it that way to give it a try and it is sounding really nice. When I turn the sub on, it sounds as if the bass in my front and center channels increase. It doesn't sound as if it's coming from the sub. It's really cool to experience it. I know it's making my AVR work a little harder having the front three set to large, but it doesn't seem to be causing any strain on the amp, or getting hotter, or causing a decrease in volume. It's just really weird how it makes my fronts sound more powerful down low. Like an optical illusion for your ears. Audible illusion?

Still don't know if my ears a sensitive enough to distinguish between different brand jumpers, but I know you ALL said when I joined here that replacing the stock jumpers would be an improvement. When I ordered cables from Doug, I got the cables for my front left and right in a bi-wire configuration, but since my CSi3 only has two binding post, instead of four, I had him make that cable 9/2 (gauge/conductor), instead of 12/4 on the speaker end. So now my next thing will be to have him make me some matching jumpers to replace the stock ones for the center channel. Gotta wait for my stockpile of money to grow first. My shooting sports fund and my audio fund are the SAME fund. That's causing problems.

snake1

Great comparo pics Herm! When I first pulled my 5 out u should have seen the look I got!

Hermitism

snake1 wrote: »

Great comparo pics Herm! When I first pulled my 5 out u should have seen the look I got!

lol. Are you trying to say it wasn't wife-friendly? Yeah, the wives sure do like those little satellite systems; They're great for what they are, but there's no substitute for the real thing. And here I was always under the impression that women thought "bigger is better". :eek:

tonyb

Relax Herm...lol. You'd be surprised how often we forget, including myself, the very basics of audio because we are jonesin' about setting up a new piece.

Sweets10v8

tonyb wrote: »

Relax Herm...lol. You'd be surprised how often we forget, including myself, the very basics of audio because we are jonesin' about setting up a new piece.

Haha, yeah. I bought a used csi5 and was excited to swap it out for my old cs2. The csi5 was almost non existent, super quiet, and I was a little freaked out that I bought a dud!!

Later that night I got a chance to rerun audyssey xt32, and thankfully it came back in line!!