LSiC vs CSi5 vs CS400i

kdrives

I see all three of these at ebay...
What's the best center of these three, regardless of price ??
Thanks

Dave

wingnut4772

I had the LSIC and ended up replacing it with an LSI9 for my center channel. I just was not happy with it compared to the other LSI series. I can not comment on the other centers though.

janmike

I have the CSi5 and no complaints here. When I was searching for a centre channel, I did match the tweeter with my other speakers. That was suggested by many people.

doug lang

Have the lsi center. I have not heard the others listed. I can't believe there is better. I am matching all other speakers with the lsi line as recommended.

Toxis

What do you have as your fronts? That is what matters.

amulford

Originally posted by Toxis
What do you have as your fronts? That is what matters.

What he said...

bertram

When I had LSi speakers in my HT rig I found the LSiC not forward enough for movies. Dialog was often hard to understand without boosting the center 3 or 4db.

I now have all RTi speakers for HT and the sound is great. I know the LSis are better speakers than the RTis as far as naturalness and accuracy but the human ear is so subjective that the exaggerated presence and impact of the RTis is a good fit for movies.

The CSi5 is a HUGE speaker, much bigger than the LSiC. It size and ruggedness seem perfectly suited for carrying the center channel load imposed by heavy-duty soundtracks.

BTW, I'm perfectly happy with the LSiC now which is part of a music-only system.

Haven't heard the CS400i so can't offer any opinions there.

Good luck with your purchase.

Mike Reeter

I have had a 400i and a CSi5 in a direct a/b comparison...I didn't notice a huge difference in their sound,other than the detail from the tweeters...

I prefered,and stayed with the CSi5 not only on performance,but I like their looks as well...not just a big black box...But the 400i is and always will be an excellent center...

You need to try and match your center to your mains...The only time I've listened to the LSi center was in a HT rig in a pro-shop...I was not impressed...with the center that is,the rest of the LSi set-up was steller...

lomic

I'm fairly happy with my LSiC - sometimes it seems voices are a little hallow, but I think that's just the soundtrack since it can sound equally full other times.

I admit the CSi5 is certainly a better center for movies, it's just a commanding presence and gives a great front stage. But since I do 50/50 music and movies LSi's are a no-brainer IMO. Sometimes I don't think I feel like listening to music but I pop in an SACD and there goes the rest of the day LSiC does a great job of blending with the 9's for multi-channel music - can't even tell there's sound coming out of the speaker itself, resulting in a very nice stereo image that's deeper and more weighted to where it needs to be.

Toxis

still waiting to hear what mains you're running. Or did you ask the question and forget you asked?

doug lang

Sorry did not forget about the mains, just got pulled away with the holiday crap. My mains are lsi9's. My center as noted is an lsi. And my rears are the lsi fx's. All that is left is an amp. My receiver has a question with the 4 ohms with the lsi series. The receiver is an onkyo 989 very high end, but as noted the 4 ohms can be a question. That is why I am amp shopping.

Toxis

I was refering to the original poster.