? center for R50s

hydrostream

What center is a match for R50s?
jerry

zingo

The CSR has the same drivers and matches well because it is also part of the "R" series. Either that or an older CS250 also has a very similar tweeter and the two speakers blend very well together.

http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/products/csr/

polrbehr

I have a CSi30 that's a very good match with R50s.
You can probably find one used for under $100.

ivansfo

I've tired 3 with my R50s. Here's how they rank to me.

1) CSi30
2) CSi25 (close second)
3) CSi20 (avoid)

Never tried nor heard of the CSR until today.

McLoki

R15 (one or two) would work well.

adam2434

The CSi25 is the match for the R15/30/50 - same tweeter and grill design lines. It can still be bought new at a heavily discounted $70 from outpost.com.

hydrostream

I have R300s that were my fronts i was thinking
of trying one of them.
I have R150s for rears i was also thinking of one
of them for a center. ($49.99 @ frys)
jerry

Profen

According to polk, this one guy told me that the CSR, CSM, and CS1 match the r50s. I've been looking into a new center (currently using an onkyo 2x 5.25 and 1x 1" tweeter) I could not find a replacement in cherry, so I'm just going to keep the current center and see how it works (have not received my r50s yet but just ordered them this week)

If you search for the numerous older post, guys have recommended the csi20 as very low end, csi25 as good and csi30 as better. Some have used the csi3, but polk told me that these are for the RTi series and would not be a good match.

How do you go about using 2 R15s (or two speakers in general)? how do you know it won't blow your amp and so?

-Profen

hydrostream

No just one for a center.
Yes i'm using a onkyo 540 center at this time.
I just got the R50s the other day WOW they
are great and got them at frys for $59.95 each.
jerry

skipsterut

Profen wrote:

According to polk, this one guy told me that the CSR, CSM, and CS1 match the r50s. I've been looking into a new center (currently using an onkyo 2x 5.25 and 1x 1" tweeter) I could not find a replacement in cherry, so I'm just going to keep the current center and see how it works (have not received my r50s yet but just ordered them this week)

If you search for the numerous older post, guys have recommended the csi20 as very low end, csi25 as good and csi30 as better. Some have used the csi3, but polk told me that these are for the RTi series and would not be a good match.

I sent the following e-mail to Polk Cust Support with the reply as shown --

I'm looking for a center channel speaker to go with my R50 front mains. I like the specs and price point of the CSi3 center channel. Are drivers in the CSi3 the same as those in the R50? If not the same, would they be OK together re: "timbre matching" across the front soundstage? Would the CSi25 be better than the CSi3 with R50's? How about the CS1 or CS2 with R50's?

Reply --
Skip,
The best choice to match with the R50's is the CS2. The CSi25 and CSi3 center channel speakers use a different driver and tweeter.

Thanks,
Kim

Hmmmm...... Well anyway, I had already ordered the CSi25 by then and have been using it for the last couple days and like it. Of course, I'm sure I would also like the CS2 since it is a much beefier/higher quality speaker -- but for $80 delivered from Fry's Outpost I couldn't resist the CSi25.:D I figured that even if I eventually get a CS2 (or better) I'll use the CSi25 somewhere -- or give it to one of my kids or a friend.:)

skipsterut

Profen wrote:

How do you go about using 2 R15s (or two speakers in general)? how do you know it won't blow your amp and so?

I have been using 2 R15's connected in series as a center for many months and really liked it. Since each speaker is 8 ohms -- connected in series they present a 16 ohm load to to the receiver -- so be sure it can handle 16 ohms (requires more voltage but less amps). Another option is to connect them in parallel, which would make the combined load 4 ohms (same power [watts], but requires more amps and less voltage). Either way if your amp/receiver is specified for an acceptable impedance load of either 16 ohms (when wired in series) or 4 ohms (when wired in parallel) and you have sufficient headroom in terms of overall power it should not be a problem either way -- depending on your amp/AVR's specs. I have attached some pix of my setup with the R15's in their center position.

adam2434

Polk's reply doesn't completely make sense, especially regarding the CSi25. This professional review in this link has the CSi25 as the center with R50's (search for Polk reviews)
http://www.homecinemachoice.com

If this outpost.com ad and picture are right, the CSi25 looks to have the same 3/4" tweeter and 5-1/4" driver as the R15s, as well as a similar angled grill design.
http://shop3.outpost.com/product/4463996;jsessionid=7U0fh0Bk1j3w4eAgULX1eQ**.node1?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

Polk's CSi25 product picture is not the same as outpost.com's (different grill and silver baffle). Polk's picture also does not match the one in the review above (no silver baffle).
http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/products/csi25/

Owners of the CSi25 - which picture is right?

I don't know what info is wrong, but the info above still points to the CSi25 being a match to R50's.

ivansfo

I don't completely agree with Polks recommendation too. Instead of recommending the BEST match for the R50s, my gut feeling tells me their recommendation is to point you to a center channel which you can buy new at the stores right now which is the closest match to the R50s. About 3 years ago Polks webpage on the R50 actually had a matching speaker recommendation chart. The two center channels they were recommending were the CSi20 and CSi30. Shortly after buying my R50s, they removed this table from their website because I think both of these center channels were discontinued. I ended up buying a used CSi30 off Ebay.

About 6 months ago I tested a CSi25 against my CSi30 side by side in my own home. Fry's had the CSi25 on sale at $49.95 so I bought one home to see if it might be better than the CSi30.

Appeareance wise the CSi25 look identical to the finish on the R50s (black vinyl in my case). The tweeter looks is the same as the R50s. The dual 5.25" woofers look to be the same series as the R50s and they look identical to the woofer used in the R15s. Sound wise, both sounded very good and blended well with the R50s. I returned the CSi25 because I prefered the bigger tweeter on the CSi30. If I were to do it all over again, I would simply get a CSi25 since you can buy one new at an incredible price when Frys or Outputs has them on sale. You don't gain all that much by a CSi30.

Here are some pictures I took of the two center channels when I had them for the week.

ivansfo

Here are the photos.