I need need a center channel old or new thats timbre matched to the following speaker

Dennis Gardner

Lots of input has been given here and my take would be that the 400i would be the best match since all drivers are the same. With that said, I would consider your FXi30s to be mismatched also, since they don't have the trilam tweeter but the newer silk. This isn't quite as critical, and the surrounds with trilam tweeters are a little harder to find since they are older too but once you've gone to the trouble of matching the front stage, you might as well get it all right, since no real $$$ are in the equation for a side sell/swap.

Just my .02,

DG

cmy330go

SKsolutions wrote:

Shack, I can appreciate your preferance, and think I'm in the minority. I have found that having a mismatched center keeps my focus there, and the mains don't draw me off center (if that makes sense to you). Appreciable vocal pans from main to center should sound different when the "dialog" source moves say "left stage". You wouldn't expect a car that whizzes by to keep the same steady pitch that the recording engineers give to vocals that move off screen.

The ESL quip was a stretch.:D

Just wanted to point out that the change in pitch of a sound as it moves past you (ex: car horn) is due to the Doppler effect, not it's position in relation to you. It is actually due to a compressing and stretching of the waveform. Hence the reason the car horn's tone is higher as it comes toward you and lower as it moves away. The faster it moves the greater the effect. This is something that would be naturally captured by the recording, not something that the engineer would have to manipulate.

Just an FYI. Not trying to question your preference.:)

Dave

SKsolutions

cmy330go wrote:

Just wanted to point out that the change in pitch of a sound as it moves past you (ex: car horn) is due to the Doppler effect, not it's position in relation to you. It is actually due to a compressing and stretching of the waveform. Hence the reason the car horn's tone is higher as it comes toward you and lower as it moves away. The faster it moves the greater the effect. This is something that would be naturally captured by the recording, not something that the engineer would have to manipulate.

Just an FYI. Not trying to question your preference.:)

Dave

I was just trying to illustrate a point, and I welcome anyones input, so I thank you for responding. The point being that there is very little done to a vocal "dialog" effect. It is usually run through a compressor/limiter, and that is it. This is done to maintain as much intelligibility as possible. So, more often than not, it reads, in my ears, flat. Anyway, I dig mine, you dig yours, and that is why we're here.

peteran

My Poor "sneakyPersona" he just wanted an opinion for the center channel and he is gettin a Bar fight..!!!
I'm jumping in. The front stage speakers are the most important to timbre match, 70% of the sound filters through them and of that 50% is the center channel.
Maybe Sksolutions feels that since half the sound comes from the center channel timbre matching isn't important.

AzN_plyR

AndyGwis wrote:

That's easy. . . because my girlfriend would likely leave me for upgrading my system for the fourth time in two months.

But, I guess in that case I would have plenty more time to listen to my new RTis. . . :rolleyes:

Don't worry, just after you upgraded and sit her down for a listen, she'll forget about the whole thing

markopolo

Same question. Just bought some RT7's for my mains, still waiting delivery, currently I Have an Energy Ex:Lc centre channel. Won't know about how they are timbre matched til they get here but assuming they don't match, what is the best centre channel to match with the RT7?

cmy330go

markopolo wrote:

Same question. Just bought some RT7's for my mains, still waiting delivery, currently I Have an Energy Ex:Lc centre channel. Won't know about how they are timbre matched til they get here but assuming they don't match, what is the best centre channel to match with the RT7?

Old timers correct me if I'm wrong.

I believe it would be the CS275, CS350.

You could probably also use CS245i and the CS400i. Both use the Tri-Lam tweeter. But I believe these were really intended to match the RTi series.

Welcome!
Dave

shawn474

While I agree that a Polk center Channel (seems the CS400i is the consensus) would sound better to timbre match your system, I own the JBL EC35 as well. It is a great center channel in my most humble opinion. Not to get into a pissing contest, but the staement that JBL is crap is way off. Maybe because this is a Polk forum and other brands aren't though that highly regarded, but this center channel is a beast. It is by far the best sounding and performing center channel that I have owned. While JBL might not be on the "same level" as Polk, I think they offer a very comporable quality to price ratio to Polk that has its own niche in the market. I have owned Polk, DCM, Cerwin Vega, Infinity, etc. and feel that for my applications and budget that my JBL's offer a sound that is more than adequate for me.

AndyGwis

Just to recap, I have monitor 60 fronts, monitor 30 surrounds, omni s12, and CSi3 center. Finally figured out that I ended up with the CSi3 because Tweeter doesn't carry the CS1 or 2, and I was too dumb to know what matched what at that point.

Would it match better to get the CS1 or CS2? I'm thinking the CS2, since my fronts are now powered by some separate amps I picked up and may overpower CS1.

Also, where should I buy the CS2, and sell the CSi3? Flea Market???

Thanks!
andygwis

cmy330go

AndyGwis wrote:

Just to recap, I have monitor 60 fronts, monitor 30 surrounds, omni s12, and CSi3 center. Finally figured out that I ended up with the CSi3 because Tweeter doesn't carry the CS1 or 2, and I was too dumb to know what matched what at that point.

Would it match better to get the CS1 or CS2? I'm thinking the CS2, since my fronts are now powered by some separate amps I picked up and may overpower CS1.

Also, where should I buy the CS2, and sell the CSi3? Flea Market???

Thanks!
andygwis

That would be a good move. The CS2 is a fine center and would certainly match your mains better than the CSi3. Also if you can't return the CSi3 I'm sure you would have no problem selling it. However just as a heads up, you would probably get a better price on eBay. I'm not discouraging you from selling in the FM (far from it), it's just that the FM is more of a place to cut fellow polkies a nice deal. If you can stand to loose a little money it would be GREAT to offer it in the flea market!

Edit: Almost forgot. It is now required the you have at least 25 post before selling in the FM. Just FYI.

Hope all goes well!
Dave

AndyGwis

Thanks, Dave. 25 posts shouldn't be a problem. . . I've got way more noobish questions to ask