Which Surrounds?

slavs62
slavs62 Posts: 11
edited January 2002 in Technical/Setup
Hello- I own the Polk RT800 towers and the CS400 center. I have a Denon 3802 receiver with 110x7. What are the best polk surrounds that will fit my needs? The room is a medium to large open living area. I wanted the Polk f/x 500i, but the are very expensive. I thought about the 300i's, but am not sure if they are sufficient to power my room. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Post edited by slavs62 on
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  • jcaut
    jcaut Posts: 1,849
    edited January 2002
    I have almost the same setup that you've got, and I'm using some RT3's (similar to RT15i's). They do very well for me. It's hard to say what would be best for you, but I don't think you could go wrong with the f/x500's, f/x300's, or something like RT25i's (if you want direct radiators).

    Are you into multi-channel music, or just movies? Will you be using back-surrounds?
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  • slavs62
    slavs62 Posts: 11
    edited January 2002
    Thanks for replying. I use my system for about 60% movies and 40% music. I love multichannel music and use Dolby Pro-logic 2 for that right now. In the future I would like to get a SACD or DVD audio player, but for right now I am working on getting better rear channels. Also, I do not have a seven speaker surround sound setup right now, but definitly in the future.
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  • TrappedUnder Ice
    TrappedUnder Ice Posts: 975
    edited January 2002
    why not get the 35's... they are lot less than the 300's even and are great all around speakers!
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  • juice21
    juice21 Posts: 1,866
    edited January 2002
    the 35i's do work nicely as surrounds. i am using them now, paired with rt25i's as rear surrounds. brandnamez.com has the f/x500i's for only $329. pretty good price for those if you want them. i am thinking about purchasing a pair...
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  • slavs62
    slavs62 Posts: 11
    edited January 2002
    if I bought the f/x 500i from brandnamez would the Polk warranty be void? Is it worth another 150 dollars or so to buy from an authorized retailer and get the warranty?
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  • juice21
    juice21 Posts: 1,866
    edited January 2002
    this is not official or anything, but i think as long as you get them to your door in perfect condition (ie. not damagied in shipping or with a blown tweeter/driver, you'd have to take that up with brandnamez), polk will take care of you for your 5 years, if not longer...

    do a search on this forum for brandnamez, most people seem to be happy with their purchases from there...
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  • sean Bourg
    sean Bourg Posts: 24
    edited January 2002
    I have the same fronts and center speaker and am using the RT35i as surrounds ...excellent match up..... I purchased the RTi 35 from Circuit city for 119 clams each. excellent price ...you should scoop up a pair while they still around.... I believe the fx 300 have 5.25 and .75 mids and tweets. the 800&400 have the 6.5 and 1 inchers as do the 35i's ...that was my justification for going with the 35's and the fx 500's cost way to much!!!
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  • tomr
    tomr Posts: 3
    edited January 2002
    I have the RT800i's as fronts, CS400i , PSW350, and the RT35i's as surrounds. My only regret is I should have purchased the PSW450 instead. The system sounds great

    The 35i's make great surround speakers.
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  • mojoped
    mojoped Posts: 1
    edited January 2002
    I have the RT800i's with CS245i, and RT35is for surrounds, GREAT AFFORDABLE system, I had an excellent deal at CC.
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  • tozar
    tozar Posts: 8
    edited January 2002
    I've got almost the same system (Denon 3802, RT16, CS400i, f/x500i, CS275 for rear, and Velodyne CHT10). Go for the f/x 500's and wall mount them about 6 ft off the floor. The sound just comes out all over the room.

    I looked around at various local CC, WIZ, Audio stores until I found one that had the 500s to demo. They sound much better than the f/x 300s. You should be able find them for 399 - 499pr. The WIZ actually had them on sale for 399pr. CC only had the 300s for 199 each. No bargain there.
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  • slavs62
    slavs62 Posts: 11
    edited January 2002
    I am either going to get the f/x 500i or rt 35's. If I purchase the 35's, where is the best place to mount them on the wall. I was thinking about 6 feet of the floor, but to the side of the listening area or behind the listening area. Because of the layout of my new house I might have to mount one to the side and one behind. Is this going to create a problem? Will the f/x 500i give me more options in mounting because of their dual tweeter and bipole/dipole nature? Thanks
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  • juice21
    juice21 Posts: 1,866
    edited January 2002
    the 35 best placement would be a little above and behind listening position on the side walls firing at each other across the room.

    the 500s can be used dipole placed a little above listening position on the side walls in line with the listening position. bipole on the rear wall. there are some diagrams showing each of these methods on this website, go to the f/x500's and click on di/bipole...
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