R50 (R500) or R300 for Newbie?

motorboi

Hi,

I'm a newbie, I'll admit that. I know next to nothing about speakers except that you hook them up and sound comes out. That said, I'm a huge movie and music fan. I have experienced good surround sound at friends' house and would like to set up something at my place.

Reccommendations included JBL, Cerwin Vega and Klipsch. I'm choosin Polk because of the active customer base who insist on the brands quality and the availability of a lower price point series. Reviews from several online sources indicated that Polks are better for both HT and music.

I decided on going with the R series because I'm not really sure if there's a big enough difference between the that and the Monitor lines to justify the extra coin.

Now for my questions:
The R50 looks like a great speaker. I assume it's got better range and separation of sound because it's got 2 woofers as opposed to the R300's one. Is this true?

The R300 has only one woofer but its 6 1/2" instead of 5 1/4". Can the R300's drivers separate the sound just as well as the R50? Do two 51/4" woofers trump one 6 1/2" in terms of the separation and power of signal? Or can the R300 amplify both mid and low signal ranges with no loss from either?

It looks like Polk is reissuing the R lines with rear firing bass ports (R30 = R300). Is it worth holding out for the "R500" or just I just go ahead and pick up the R50? Does rear firing add that much to the bass repro?

Finally, is there any problem with pairing R series speakers with say the CS1 even if they aren't technically a match? The CS1 and PSW10 come in cherry finish and it would be nice to have them all the same finish.

Sorry for the length of the post. Any help would be appreciated.

polrbehr

First, welcome to the forum. You will find a LOT of info here if you stick around. Polks are worth buying almost for this forum alone!

Seriously, the R line is an entry level speaker (I"ve owned R50s for a few years and still love how they sound), and if I'm not mistaken, the R500 and 300 are simply mods of the original R50 and R30. Since I've never heard either
of the new models, I can't comment on how they sound, but I'm betting they're very close to the originals, even with a redesigned bass port.

If you are looking for good, entry level speakers, I would go with the 50s over the 500s, simply for the fact that the 50s can be had at a pretty steep discount at quite a few authorized retailers. I paid $300 apiece 3 1/2 years ago; now, they'd probably run about $100/each, depending on where you look. Also,the 50s DO have 6.5" drivers (2), not 5.25", and do sound better than the 30s, IMO. The Monitor line is also worthy of consideration, and if you want to step up even more, go with the RTi series (my next likely upgrade ). In fact, the RTi may make a better starting point, but that really depends on your budget.

As for centers and subs, any of the CS centers is matched to the R Series, and should work well. The PSW10 is usually just a temp sub, until you can upgrade, as there are better, more powerful alternatives out there for about the same $$$.
The advice you should really listen to is... listen to whatever you plan on purchasing first, if possible. That's probably the general consensus around here. Good luck on whatever you purchase!

motorboi

Thanks for the response. I didn't mean to mislead about the R500. They haven't made it yet. I'm trying to find out from Polk if it's in the work. I've just read some people on the forum speculating about its creation.

The R50 looks like a damn fine speaker and better than the R300 for fronts and rears. I just wonder if a rear firing bass port is worth waiting for from the new model assuming they sell at the same price.

polktiger

Depending on how sensitive a listener you are, you may be very happy with the R series. As you see in my sig I have a variety of speakers, and I can tell you that to me the RTis sound superior to both the Monitors and the R. That being said, the R's sound good (to me), just not as good as the RTi.

I think the R50 is a heck of a deal if you can find them. For what I needed I got the R300s over the R50 (R300s were $125 including shipping from fry's) I think my pair of R300 sound very good, but definately like the assistance of a sub. To me speakers can be like wine. The Rs are a good $7 to $10 a bottle wine. Good for drinking every day. Stepping to RTi and Monitor, a better wine and you will taste the difference, but may not be worth it to you becuase of the extra $$$). The LSi is like the high end over $100 a bottle stuff, that my taste buds are not trained well enough to appreciate.

Along those same lines all speakers will sound fantasic after a bottle of wine, a couple solid drinks, or a handful of beers.

Profen

Polk replied to my question about the R50s matched center speakers and they suggested CSR, CSM, and CS1. Some others on this forum also suggest the CS2, CSi25, CS30 (but polk states that the csi centers are for the Monitor/RTi series speakers)

The problem I have with the R50s, I could not find one in black. I finally just purchased cherry. Now i can't find a cherry speaker with a good deal (although they have the cs1 in cherry for $180 plus shipping) I have not been able to find any used ones in my area. I just hate how there are thousands of R50s cherry floating around for $60 and thousands of CS centers in black/titanium face! Is there an all cherry center that matches? CSx series seem to match monitor speakers ... by the way it looks.

Good luck!

Ron Temple

The R50 is a great starter speaker especially for HT. If you hook into the Frys/Outpost deals at their giveaway pricing you'll get a great all rounder that has no competition at it's price point. I kept mine for a year and a half, but looked around for 6 months at various "more refined" and pricier monitors and floorstander speakers in the $500 - $2000 a pair range. I felt many were slightly better, some a great deal, but not worth the coin especially compared to what I paid for the Rs. I tried some RTi8s which weren't terribly more expensive, a big step up in imaging, soundstage and punch, but then heard some SDAs and that was it...had to have em. My point is, the R50s are a great deal. They are much cheaper than competitors entry lines and while you might slightly prefer other speakers that cost a lot more money, you're probably going to have to find something special to replace them.

The CSi25, CS1,2,30 and even the CSi3(though brighter) are all fine matches. Get the best deal you can (in cherry).

polkman888

Hi,

I have a question about the CSi25 Center Channel Speaker. The manual say nominal impedance is 4 ohm and compatible with 8ohm output. What does this mean? That means it can be used to connect to the center channel output which is setup 8ohm? can I use R300, R15 and CSi25 to build my system? Do they match each other? Since nominal impedance of both R300 and R15 is 8ohm, how to setup AVR to use R300, R15 and CSi25?

Any suggestion is appreciated!


Home Theater
AVR - Onkyo 804
Front - R300
Center - CSi25
Surrounds - R15
Sub - PSW303

Ron Temple

It will work fine and either the CSR or CSi25 are the match.