Understanding Polk Speakers & Series Hierarchy

geekinabox

Doing a little research around the polk lines (particulary for center and front sides) and I find myself getting confused as to what series/lines various speakers fall into.

Ie, I find some speakers referenced in fairly recent forum posts (AVS, here, etc.), and can find that speaker here (via Google), but I don't understand quite what family it is in. It doesn't appear on the main product pages on the polk site.

Case in point: the center CSi3 ...

On the centers page (http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/products/individual/center/) I cannot find a reference to it. I *can* find it via google. Apparently there are CS-named centers in both the TSi & Monitor series, and theres other CSi's in the RTiA series .... so where does this particular CSi3 fit into the hierarchy? And how do I figure this out fo myself, so I don't have to come here every time?

this is just one example. another is what folks mean when referencing rti 4's and 6's ... I don't see a specific RTi 4 or 6 on either the floorstanding or bookshelf pages.

So what am I missing? Is there a decoder ring? Are these discontinued products (or if not discontintued, at least not the newest)?

any help here?

Thanks.

BigMac

Hi. I am by no means an expert on Polk but here is some of what you need. On Polk's main page you can goto the support tab and go down to "more". Then goto Product Support/Customer Service and click the older products link http://www.polkaudio.com/search/older.php . Also a good place to find info is www.polksda.com for other vintage models. I hope this gets you pointed in the right direction. There are much more knowledgeable people here but wanted to give you a place to start while you waited for others to chime in. Good luck and welcome to Club Polk.

Eric W

RTi Series (*without* the A) with the boxy cabinets are the previous generation. RTi A is the current series with the rounded cabinets (also applies to centers and surrounds).

The direct replacement to the CSi3 is the CSiA4. It is part of the RTi "A" Series. There's only two RTiA centers- the CSiA6 (larger) and the CSiA4.

maximillian

Welcome to club Polk. There are many wonderful and helpful people around here. You will learn alot if you stick around. Eric's comments are correct, just wanted to add about the bookshelf comparisons... RTi4 = RTiA1 and RTi6 = RTiA3. When I mean equals I mean, replaced by. Mac's comment is also helpful although I use Google to find a link to the older products. People still talk about the RTi series because they were only recently discontinued. There was many great sales last year and into this year on the RTi's. If you are still looking for them then check out Polkdirect on Ebay or the fleamarket on this site's forums.

geekinabox

Thanks for everyones' follow-ups ... this definitely has helped!

Fongolio

Here's a link to Polk's Older products and descriptions:
http://www.polkaudio.com/search/older.php