My Polk RTi8 & CSi3 Impressions
A few months back, I started my journey to work on replacing my *modified* in-wall speaker setup which consisted of in-wall speakers built into MDF cabinets for an on-wall configuration. The sound was plenty good, but I wanted more.
I spent time reviewing many speakers over the period of time that I was looking. Klipsch, Paradigm, B&W along with others in my budget were reviewed. In the end, I determined for my needs, the Polk speakers provided me with the most of what I was looking for. Each of the other speakers had notable qualities also, so I'm not here to badmouth or bash those brands.
During the better part of this past week, lots of material was played thorugh the new Polk speakers to break them in. I was instantly impressed with what I heard right out of the box, but knew with time and breaking the speakers in, the sound could improve more. Well, I feel that through my latest listening and movie viewing, I'm very happy with my purchase decision. While the CSi3 has been noted to have a weaker capability when it comes to dialogue, I'm quite happy to report that I don't feel there are any issues with this center channel speaker. The dialogue in the movies that I've watched is very clear - and not lacking in any way.
Like the movies I've watched, the music played through these speakers also sounds very good. While the Polks have been known for a more "laid back" approach to sound, the Yamaha HTR-5760 does a very good job of driving these speakers with clarity and sound that I find very impressive.
Finally, the fine real wood cherry veneer and finish on the speakers were what got the approval from my wife to go with these speakers. It was great to find such a wonderful combination - great sounds + great looking cabinets to boot. It just seems like with some other speakers, we don't have the option of getting both - some sound great, but have bland cabinets. Some look great, but sound horrible.
Rock on.
I spent time reviewing many speakers over the period of time that I was looking. Klipsch, Paradigm, B&W along with others in my budget were reviewed. In the end, I determined for my needs, the Polk speakers provided me with the most of what I was looking for. Each of the other speakers had notable qualities also, so I'm not here to badmouth or bash those brands.
During the better part of this past week, lots of material was played thorugh the new Polk speakers to break them in. I was instantly impressed with what I heard right out of the box, but knew with time and breaking the speakers in, the sound could improve more. Well, I feel that through my latest listening and movie viewing, I'm very happy with my purchase decision. While the CSi3 has been noted to have a weaker capability when it comes to dialogue, I'm quite happy to report that I don't feel there are any issues with this center channel speaker. The dialogue in the movies that I've watched is very clear - and not lacking in any way.
Like the movies I've watched, the music played through these speakers also sounds very good. While the Polks have been known for a more "laid back" approach to sound, the Yamaha HTR-5760 does a very good job of driving these speakers with clarity and sound that I find very impressive.
Finally, the fine real wood cherry veneer and finish on the speakers were what got the approval from my wife to go with these speakers. It was great to find such a wonderful combination - great sounds + great looking cabinets to boot. It just seems like with some other speakers, we don't have the option of getting both - some sound great, but have bland cabinets. Some look great, but sound horrible.
Rock on.