Is it worthwhile to change my center channel

edge32

I, currently have a csi40 center channel but was wondering if I changed to the CSi5 or possibly the CSi3 if it would be an upgrade or not. I have 3 ATI 150 watt amps powering the csi40 and my mains RTi150's. I have the mains bridged but I would like the center to have a bit more treble or be livelier. I compared both center speakers at Circuit City and found the CSi3 to have a bit better sound although when I increased the volume the CSi5 seemed to handle the volume better. I believe Circuit City had a HK230 powering these speakers, what do you guys think am I being greedy or is it worth it

sub: velodyne 12
surrounds: fx3's
sback: fx3
mains: rti 150's
center: csi40
amps: ATI 150 (3)

okiepolkie

My first question is: Where did you find a Circuit City still selling the RTi & CSi speakers? All the ones I know of stopped selling them about a year ago.

Second question is: What is the difference in sound between the center and tower speakers?

Third question is: What is in front of the ati's on the signal chain?

I don't believe you will be gaining anything by changing to the CSi5 and you will probably downgrade by going to the CSi3.

The CSi5 and CSi40 are very similar in sound(not identical, but similar). Personlly, I would stick with the same speakers you have now just to stay with timber matching and look at the things before it in the signal chain.

Have you tried different preamps/receivers or different amplifiers running them. Different amps will have different sounds.

I guess my last thought would refer to the second question I had. Do you know the tweeter in the CSi40 is working properly. I know it will have somewhat of a laid back sound due to the soft dome, but I didn't think it was too mellow when I had one running in my system.

Hope this helps.

Zach

jruff98

Would you receommend the CSI5, as I can't seem to find a CSI40? My local CC, has a CSI5 open box for 299. I'm running RTI150's as my mains. Any thoughts?

ohskigod

it wont be timbre matched, but that is doable. CSi40's pop up on the bay all the time though, try doing a search. if you need it fast, the CSi5 should be fine.

fireshoes

They should probably do better than $299 too, since it's been discontinued for a year.

VR3

The CSi3 would be an upgrade and a downgrade to me...

Upgrade - Better high end, I just don't like that Silk, sorry...
Downgrad - not near the force, composure (power handling) - just not the center the CSi40 is in heft...

CSi5 has no downgrades - but plenty of upgrades...

jruff98

Saw a couple of CSi40's on ebay this morning. What do you guys think is a fair price for one?

aaharvel

unless they're mint with original packaging, i'd say no more than $200. I've seen csi5's on there for $280 brand new.

mantis

Zero,
as much as I think it's a great center channel, it would be better mated with the rest of the line not mixed with polks.

Dan

cfrizz

Zero wrote:

Dan,

I will throw out a very rough figure here and estimate that 80% of the audio community feel more at ease with same set speakers.

Truth of the matter is, and as Im sure with your experience you may even agree.. is that you can achieve better results with different speakers - it just takes a bit more effort. It also means you need to set aside some pre-concieved notions.

I would agree with this statement. Right now none of my speakers match, when I got them I didn't know squat about matching! To my ears they sound just fine.

mantis

Zero wrote:

Dan,

I will throw out a very rough figure here and estimate that 80% of the audio community feel more at ease with same set speakers.

Truth of the matter is, and as Im sure with your experience you may even agree.. is that you can achieve better results with different speakers - it just takes a bit more effort. It also means you need to set aside some pre-concieved notions.

Speakers react differently then other speakers. Trying to put together a home theater with different brands everywhere is something I have heard many times and found it better with all the same brand and line.

Id rather have a full Martin Logan theater then mix it with B&W or LM labs. Whats so wrong with putting together a matching system? Does it make 2 much sense? I'm not trying to do it.

Think about this , what possibly is going to match the Dynaudio Contour series better then Contour? I had a customer purchase Dynaudio Contour 1.8's , use then in a 2 channel system with Rotel rb1090 and 1070 preamp wired with Transparent and using a Rega Planet cd player and I forget the brand turn table, upgrades the 1.8's for 3.0's , uses the 1.8's in a theater system with all Audience series speakers including the center and sub, used a Rotel rsx1065 to power it and the mains sounded different then the center channel. I convinced him to buy a pair of Audience 72's and they sounded much better in that system. He then went ahead and took more of my advice, moved all the 2 channel Rotel gear into his study with the 1.8's , used the 3.0's with Mark Levinston pre amp 2 channel amp.

After all the changes, he was completely happy with all 3 systems. He also respected my expertise and thanked myself and Liv4fam with a healty tip.

My experience tells me to use the matching system. If inwalls are the only solution for rears and the company your using for the fronts don't have inceiling or inwall, then this is the only place I feel you can get away with it without killing the system. Even so you can hear a tonal difference during certain tracks. Music or movies at times it's very noticable, not always. For some reason , Niles and Boston inceiling spekaers blend in pretty good with other brands for the front. but when you watch a movie that takes the same tone and runs it around the room, it's distracting , not to my customers but to me sitting there listening to the job making sure everything is correct and working properly.

Dan

Holydoc

I am going to have to be one of the 20% that care about matching speakers. Forever I have owned systems that I have pieced together a little at a time. Mismatched speakers, components, wires, etc. It wasn't until very recently that I jumped feet first into trying to make everything match or "sound" united. As pieces of my system started being delivered, the sound stage took on a unified, more complete feeling. I could even tell when one speaker did not sound the same though it was the exact same speaker as three of my others. The sound difference was attributed to a wire that was not the same gauge as the rest. Even this small difference caused me to feel/hear the difference in the soundstage and thus took away from the realism of my HT. Sound now travels around my room from speaker to speaker without being able to tell that the sound has changed except for its position.

I am not saying anyone is wrong or right in this discussion. But what I am saying is that if you are as inexperienced as me, it is much easier to create that stable environment with matching speakers. As I grow and learn more in this hobby and how to tweak my system to compensate for things like mismatched timbre, I may stray away from this recommendation and lean more towards piecing a system together. But if you are not knowledgeable enough about the effort it will take to do this deed, I would have to agree with Mantis and say you will be much happier if you can get speakers with similar timbre.

VR3

I could care less about matching.