Polk CS400i's vs 5jr?

Sigfried

Hello, I have a pair of original 5jr's with the front port. I just glued the magnets and they are sounding great. Someone local to me just posted a pair of CS400i's for sale at $120/pr. What are your thoughts on those speakers compared to the 5jr's? Upgrade, downgrade or side..grade? He said all the drivers are sounding great and that he can demo. I know that they were originally a center channel but thought a pair may make a nice desktop rig. Thanks

I just posted this in the speaker section and then realized how old the CS400i's are and figured i should have actually posted it over here in the vintage section?

Navy_Goat

That is a great price for a pair of CS400i. I would bet they would be quite a step up from a pair of 5jr. Go for it!

Sigfried

Navy_Goat wrote: »

That is a great price for a pair of CS400i. I would bet they would be quite a step up from a pair of 5jr. Go for it!

Thanks for that! Anyone else have a thought on this? If i get one more vote of confidence I probably will go for it. Jessy where are you?

Sigfried

Actually I see that the CS400i's are suppose to have the blue drivers and the ones for sale don't look blue so he must have the CS400's. Is there a large difference between those two speakers?

F1nut

They are 19" wide, you must have a huge desk.

Sigfried

F1nut wrote: »

They are 19" wide, you must have a huge desk.

Hah...well they will be out to the sides of my desk and at ear level slightly toed in. Tweeters would be approximately 5' from each other. Speakers a foot of the front wall. That's how i have the 5jr's now but they are laying on their side with the tweeters furthest away from me and actually further apart. They sound phenomenal like that and the soundstage and imaging is great. Sounds like these certainly won't be a downgrade from what i have able to read since posting.

F1nut

So, on stands?

Sigfried

F1nut wrote: »

So, on stands?

Yes, they are up on stands. They would be able to handle the weight. So do you think a pair of CS400 center channels may sound better than the vintage front ported 5jr? I know they certainly will be different. I'm sitting at the desk directly in the middle of a 20' front wall and the back wall is about 10'. Pleased with how things sound in here but when I saw a pair of those CS400's pop up for $125 I just had to ask. They are just a short drive away (90min round trip) and appear to be in excellent condition.

F1nut

Got it, thanks. I agree it'll be different. Better or not, you'll have to let us know.

Sigfried

F1nut wrote: »

Got it, thanks. I agree it'll be different. Better or not, you'll have to let us know.

Ok thanks! Yeah i think for that price i am going to grab them and check them out.

Sigfried

F1nut wrote: »

Got it, thanks. I agree it'll be different. Better or not, you'll have to let us know.

Well i did pick them up. Other than a few light scratches and a ding on one corner they look very nice. Won't fire them up for a few days. Seeing that these are older speakers is there anything i should know about as far as precautionary maintenance? The older monitor series needed to have the magnets glued. Just did that on my 5jr's. Will these speakers possibly need that or does this series not suffer from that issue? Any other possible issues or possible inexpensive upgrades?

boston1450

I can't answer that question you asked. Congrats on your pick up. I owned the 400 & 400i & enjoyed them VERY much. I have the Cs1000p & would like to get the Cs350 & try that with subs. Can't say I've heard too many bad about any of the 400 or 400i (improved) or 350. I'm not a fan of the Cs1000p In My Opinion. Pls do tell us what you think

F1nut

I have no personal experience with those speakers. That said, I do not recall seeing anything about them having a magnet shifting issue. Of course, they aren't as old as the vintage Polk's that do, so maybe in time....who knows.

Sigfried

F1nut wrote: »

I have no personal experience with those speakers. That said, I do not recall seeing anything about them having a magnet shifting issue. Of course, they aren't as old as the vintage Polk's that do, so maybe in time....who knows.

Ok, thanks Jesse. Guessing these were manufactured 1999ish. Hard to find a complete lineage guide for all the Polks or is it just me? Saw a list of the years for the older models but not from inception to current.

Sigfried

boston1450 wrote: »

I can't answer that question you asked. Congrats on your pick up. I owned the 400 & 400i & enjoyed them VERY much. I have the Cs1000p & would like to get the Cs350 & try that with subs. Can't say I've heard too many bad about any of the 400 or 400i (improved) or 350. I'm not a fan of the Cs1000p In My Opinion. Pls do tell us what you think

Thanks man i appreciate the response! Yes, after i have a chance to hook them up and listen for awhile I will come back with some thoughts. Cheers!

Sigfried

F1nut wrote: »

Got it, thanks. I agree it'll be different. Better or not, you'll have to let us know.

Well I have a free day today so i decided to hook them up in place of the 5jr's. I didn't think this would be the case but they sound soooo much better. Fuller and more like i am THERE. Really pleased. So yes these can work near field. They aren't going to win any WAF awards however....lol. I have them both laying on their sides. Tweeter to tweeter they are approximately 5 1/2 ft apart.

I was a little concerned of hearing a frequency imbalance since the bass tuning ports are now both on the right side. Didn't initially think of that when purchasing and then after thought that may mess with the stereo imaging. It does not fortunately and sounds REALLY good. I just last week purchased a Supra USB cable to test out to see if this could possibly make a difference. Well HOLY SH#%...yes it did. I know there is a ton of controversy over that. There ain't no controversy with me I can tell ya! One of the best $60 I spent and this $120 for this pair of CS400's. Heck yeah! Nice to win once in awhile even if it's just for a short while.

I wonder what they improved with the "400i" sonically? These sound great to my ears. At low volume they are full and detailed and plenty of nice mids. Very even sounding. That was another thing i was concerned about if all the frequencies would be there since they were really meant for center channel audio. I'm 62 so if it is bright to some it may be just right for me soooo...? Sounds very clear and articulate and not harsh. Anyway....happy camper with this purchase!

Also, I am using a Mackie 10" powered sub that is crossed over very low. Barely have that on but if i put my hand to the speakers you can feel it vibrate. Always heard that if you can tell where the subwoofer is then it is too loud. Works really well with these. And there's my full report....hah.

F1nut

I'm pleased they worked out for you.

Sigfried

After listening to them for quite a few hours with very familiar music I now feel that the tweeter is a bit to bright. That is what they probably worked on with the 400i version. Yeah i would like to tame that a bit. Bass is TIGHT. Love that! Mids are good but would prefer a bit more. So yeah sensing a V shape here. Still sounds really good! They are very different animals compared to the 5jr's. After hearing these at my desk it would be very hard to put the 5jr's back up and be happy regardless of the possible shortcomings mentioned.

pitdogg2

Tweeter is brighter because they are center channels and voiced for voices and dialog.

F1nut

pitdogg2 wrote: »

Tweeter is brighter because they are center channels and voiced for voices and dialog.

Ed Zachary

Sigfried

pitdogg2 wrote: »

Tweeter is brighter because they are center channels and voiced for voices and dialog.

Thanks! In digital EQ I dropped 5khz 3db and that has taken the edge off. Sounding much better now. May have to tweak again but not feeling the tweeter glaring at me anymore on some tracks.... cymbals etc. Sibilance gone. Now that that is done....pheeeew these are great speakers! Just hope the tweeters hold up because i see it that is a miracle to ever find one again that works for these. Fortunately at my desk I will not abuse them with any volume. I never do anyway. Though i do like to rock out occasionally now it is reasonable rockin.....old guy....lol. Play bass in a rock band so i still get my ya ya's out there!

Sigfried

F1nut wrote: »

I'm pleased they worked out for you.

Thank you! I ended up dropping 2-3db at 5khz. Tweeters did start getting to me after awhile. Much better now!

msg

Curious, you have these oriented lying on the long edge, or rotated up so they're standing on the short edge?

Sigfried

msg wrote: »

Curious, you have these oriented lying on the long edge, or rotated up so they're standing on the short edge?

I actually have them on the long edge and upside down. Upside down so the tweeters are at ear level. For my situation it just works plus they are more stable this way. If i had a more stable setup, might have tried them standing on end with the tweeters facing either in or out. Would have had to experiment with that. When i had the 5jr's up they were on their sides and the tweeter were further away from me than the woofer. Sounded great like that with amazing center imaging. These even sound better, so very pleased. Surprised by the very tight yet warm bass of the CS400's. Excellent! Was concerned I may run into some unwanted boom frequencies with that rear port and in this set up. I have heard a few songs that actually shocked me with how tight that kick drum was hitting and in all the right ways.

Nightfall

We'll take those garbage 5JR's off your hands.

msg

Interesting. I've read about people using centers as LR, but in those cases, they had them rotated.

Do you experience any sense of imaging outside of the strong center? I was wondering what the experience is like with the tweeters straddled by the two mid-woofers.

VR3

Orient where the bass driver is in the bottom... Will basically be a lsi9, very similar crossover

Sigfried

Nightfall wrote: »

We'll take those garbage 5JR's off your hands.

LOL! Yeah i just had glued the magnets a few months ago too and then these came along. Geez

Sigfried

msg wrote: »

Interesting. I've read about people using centers as LR, but in those cases, they had them rotated.

Do you experience any sense of imaging outside of the strong center? I was wondering what the experience is like with the tweeters straddled by the two mid-woofers.

I do have a strong sense of left and right along with a great center image. Just like you with regular stereo speakers. The two woofers straddling the mid-woofers are not posing any issues to my ears. Sounds really great! Yeah you would think there would be something odd going on there, and perhaps there is in measurements, but to my ears they sound fantastic like this.

Sigfried

VR3 wrote: »

Orient where the bass driver is in the bottom... Will basically be a lsi9, very similar crossover

Yeah, right(?)! I was thinking that earlier myself. Did not know about the similar crossover. Great speakers.

Sigfried

After listening for a good portion of the day and tweaking. Have ended up with a smiley curve from about 3khz to 8khz. The main offender was definitely 5khz. Initially i was surprised how great they sounded then started to notice that sizzle hitting my eardrums and i needed to do something about that. Glad i could correct it with eq for the most part. Maybe a crossover tweak would do more but i am not that savvy or knowledgeable as to what that would be. Can definitely live with these tweeters like this. Was living with the SL1000 tweets on the 5jr's.....soooooooo...hah. Had those pointing not directly at me at all however. Neither are these. Definitely blowing by my shoulders and still getting good center imaging.