Center Speaker

sdBigDuck

I need some advice...
I have the following system:
Receiver: Denon AVR3805 7.1 Channel 120 W/C
Front Speakers: RTi8's
Surround Speakers: TC60i's
SW: Velodyne DLS3750R
TV: Sony 70" Grand Wega

My question concerns the center channel speaker. Normally, I would select the CSi5. Unfortunately, my custom cabinet shelf for the speaker is 22" wide. The CSi5 is 24" wide. There is no other possible place for the center channel speaker. I'm willing to pay the extra money for the LSiC, but I'm concerned that it will not match up with the rest of the system. Also, there doesn't seem to be much feedback on its performance.
Another alternative is the CSi3...
What do you think?
Thanks for any info!

LiquidSound

Get a saw...

sdBigDuck

Actually, that is an option. But I would ruin the permanently installed cabinet if I ever decided to change things in the future.
Were you being serious? Would the LSiC not be appropriate?

TroyD

I would stick with the CS center, it will match your RTi's better than the LSi will. The LSiC is a fantastic center but mates better with LSi speakers.

BDT

sdBigDuck

The CSi5 or the CSi3? Is there a noticable difference?

TroyD

The one that fits your cabinet without ripping it up.

I think the CSi3 would be just fine.

BDT

sdBigDuck

As I said, I would be willing to do some cutting if the CSi5 is noticeably better than the CSi3.

TroyD

I wouldn't destroy furniture over it. That's just me though and I'm Big and Dumb.

BDT

sdBigDuck

Thanks, I appreciate the opinion.
Any others?

Holydoc

BigDuck,

The best advice I can give you is to go and listen to both, or even purchase both and send back the one you decide to not use. I did that at Tweeters. It made my choice easy. Some feel that the CSi3 and CSi5 sound very similar. My ears did not think so. I had to get the monster.

Let me just make this one statement. In my opinion (whatever that is worth), the center speaker is the most important speaker in your Home Theatre system. This speaker will always be pumping out sound and is the center of dialogue. If you skimp here, you will lose out on the impact of your HT.

I would bring them home. Test them on your system. Keep the one that makes your system feel alive. It might mean expanding your shelves 2 inches or even finding that the smaller center works just as well or better. It is your system and you have to be happy with it. After all, you are going to hear that center speaker every time you turn on your television.

FutureAudio

It almost sounds like the same situation I faced when I had to make decision btw Csi30 and Csi40 ..and Csi40 was too big for me...but when I bought Csi40 home ...there was a BIG difference for me. I would cut/change my furniture for that.

I have no idea if Csi3 and Csi5 would have such a big difference but Csi30 and Csi40 did. Get both of them and return one or just get Csi5 and change around the furniture.

It does make a difference.
My 2 cents.

Ron Temple

I have the Csi3, it's a very fine speaker. It zaps dialog clarity. The 5 is in a different class delivering a huge amount of sonic information. I'd love the CSi5, but I'm happy with the 3. Take em both home and decide for yourself.

budster

Wondering if anyone knows anything about the Polk cs275 Center Channel Speaker. I am the winning bidder of one of these on Ebay. The seller had no specs & I was unable to find anything on Polk's web site for this vintage model but did find some specs with no pitchure on AudioWeb.com which said the woofers are 5.25". . After winning this item I did find a pitchure of what is supposed to be a cs275 on Polks web site but it looks totally different than what's on Ebay & has no info on speks at all. It has a much smaller cabinet that slopes back from the top. I called Polk & they said the speaker has 4.5" woofers. I'm not intirely sure what I bought but am trusting Polk on the speaker size suspecting there pitchere is of another speaker & also suspecting Audioweb.com gave me bogus info regarding speaker size. Getting complicated I know. For me to. I was looking for a center with larger speakers because I allready have a Yamaha NS ac142 with 4.5" woofers but was looking for a cleener, fuller sound. My current sys 2-R30 front, 2-R15rear, PSW 303 Sub & the Yamaha center. Wondering if replacing my current center with the Polk cs275 would make much of a difference? Thank's

LiquidSound

No, I wasn't serious..but kinda. In the last Csi series, I started out with the Csi 30, and when I went to the Csi40, I noticed a big difference. Right now I'm using Csi40's as my center and mains and they do beautifully as mains. At my last job working at Tweeter, I did LOTS of a/b with the 3 and 5. The 5 is more full, rich and makes voices sound like actual voices. This is something novices could pick up on. I wouldn't tell them what I changed and switch from the 5 to the 3. They'd tell me to change it back, what ever I just did. If you plan on keeping the setup for quite some time, I'd consider modifying the cabinet, as long as you can pull it off without it looking ghetto. If not, you don't have a choice and have to go with the 3.

sdBigDuck

What would the overall effect be of using the LSiC? TroyD said it would not match the RTI8s well. Not to sound too unintelligent, but what would that mean in listening terms? Is it something that could be compensated for with the amp?

Thanks for all the good comments, btw...

Ron Temple

budster wrote:

Wondering if anyone knows anything about the Polk cs275 Center Channel Speaker. I am the winning bidder of one of these on Ebay. The seller had no specs & I was unable to find anything on Polk's web site for this vintage model but did find some specs with no pitchure on AudioWeb.com which said the woofers are 5.25". . After winning this item I did find a pitchure of what is supposed to be a cs275 on Polks web site but it looks totally different than what's on Ebay & has no info on speks at all. It has a much smaller cabinet that slopes back from the top. I called Polk & they said the speaker has 4.5" woofers. I'm not intirely sure what I bought but am trusting Polk on the speaker size suspecting there pitchere is of another speaker & also suspecting Audioweb.com gave me bogus info regarding speaker size. Getting complicated I know. For me to. I was looking for a center with larger speakers because I allready have a Yamaha NS ac142 with 4.5" woofers but was looking for a cleener, fuller sound. My current sys 2-R30 front, 2-R15rear, PSW 303 Sub & the Yamaha center. Wondering if replacing my current center with the Polk cs275 would make much of a difference? Thank's

budster,

Welcome to the forum...Unfortunately, I can't help you much. I've seen some CS275s on ebay, but descriptions are lacking. I'd contact Polk CS and ask them. I would assume it would be a nice upgrade to the Yamaha. Of the more modern speakers, the CSi25, CS1 or CSi30 would be the most common matches for the R30s.

Holydoc

BigDuck,

If the center channel timbre does not match the side speaker timbre, there is not much you can do with the amp. The effect of having unmatched sound is that you do not get a realistic feeling when watching movies. For example, if a person walks off to the side, you can tell when the person passes from one speaker to the other. When I owned Infinity sides and a Polk center, I could tell exactly when a person was in which speakers.This distracts from your enjoyment of the movie because you cannot seem to get fully immersed into the show.

Now with my system all timbre matched and balanced, it is a seamless transition when a person crosses stage or a car/airplane passes by the screen. Instead of being distracted and taken from the action because of mismatched speakers, I am now glued to the screen with the sound being an enhancement to the immersed effect instead of a detraction.

Others, much more knowledgeable than me, will have to tell you if the speakers that you select will match or not. All I can say that if you want to enjoy the full effect of a HT system, you have to not only get good speakers, but you also need to be sure that their sound matches to allow you to be engrossed into the movie.