surround system for R50's...

young

i just purchased the R50 floor speakers. but finding the recommended surround speakers and center channel is difficult b/c they're discontinued.

my question is, can i use these instead?
center channel - CSi3
surrounds - FXi30
subwoofer - 202

or any alternates?

organ

If you're not picky about timbre matching, you should be fine. My RT800i matched the CSi40 very well.

Maurice

young

actually, if someone could explain what timbre matching means, i'd appreciate it.

if it is good to be timbre matched, i will continue to scour ebay for the recommended Csi30 and R20's.

gatemplin

Timbre matching basically means they sound the same, have the same sonic qualities, character. It is good to be matched but is not a must. Try to keep them as similar as possible. The CSi3 and Fxi3 should work fine. The CSi30 is not matched to the R series anyway.

young

i was going by the recommendations on the main site:


Recommended Systems
Front Center Surround Subwoofer MSRP USA* MSRP Canada*
R50 CSi20 R20 PSW202 $1289.70 $1734.86
R50 CSi20 R20 PSW404 $1529.70 $1984.86
R50 CSi30 R20 PSW505 $1709.70 $2139.86

based on comments from various posts, it sounded like the CSi20 wasn't a very good speaker, so i thought the CSi30 would be better.

but, i can't really find them anymore while the CSi3's are found everywhere.

--
sounds like that it will be acceptable though w/ the CSi3's and FXi30's (or FXi3's)

Shizelbs

I have the CSi 20 matched with a pair of R40s. I believe the CSi20 has a different tweeter than the CSi30. My understanding is that the tweeter is a big factor in establishing timbre. Also, the woofers are different on the CSi30. If you can find it, I would get the CSi20 and keep everything matched up nicely. I am happy with my setup.

gatemplin

The CSi30 uses the tweeter and drivers from the RTi series but should still be fine with the R series. I have used the CSi30 with R15s and they worked fine for me.

young

ok, one other question:

is it stupid to use r30's or r50's as the surround speakers? money isn't an issue at all; just wondering if the surrounds, by definition, are little bookshelf speakers.

gatemplin

It is usually better to use bookshelf speakers and hang them on the sidewalls 6-7' above the ground. This is Polks recommendation: "surround speakers work best when elevated at least two feet above the seated listeners' heads (a height of six to seven feet above the ground is considered normal), and mounted on the side walls in line with or slightly behind the audience (figure below). If you are using front-firing speakers, they should face each other so that the sound is projected over the listeners' heads."

ken brydson

Originally posted by young
ok, one other question:

is it stupid to use r30's or r50's as the surround speakers? money isn't an issue at all; just wondering if the surrounds, by definition, are little bookshelf speakers.

A lot of members use towers as surrounds. I'm using RT600i's and couldn't be happier

kingkip

I use towers for surround, and love it. Plus it looks cool.

CBrischler

I am using a CSi5 with R50's and it sounds fine... I was concerned about this also but I think it sounds great.
Buzz

pbc74

young, I have the same setup that you are considering. I saw that the polk site recommended either the csi20 or the csi30 with the R50s. I used to have the csi20 center but I didn't feel like it gave enough punch. I wanted to get the csi30 but Circuit City stopped selling it. I decided to try the csi3 and to me it sounds great. It may not be "timbre matched" but it sounds fine to me with the R50s. It also gives me leeway to upgrade my speakers to the Rti8s which Polk says are timbre matched with the csi3.