Trying to find center and surrounds to match R50s

dcf977

I have a pair of Polk R50 floor standing speakers that I purchased years ago and am still quite happy with. To complete the 5.1 system, I have been using some old Infinity speakers from a 5.1 home-theater-in-a-box system that my wife had for the center and surround speakers. Not surprisingly, the overall sound isn't that great. I'd like to improve the surround sound by finding tonally matched speakers for my R50s. Would I be able to find matching center channel and rear surround speakers for R50s these days? What would the original matches have been from the same series back when they were all still manufactured? What would be the closest match that I could find sold new today?

Although I prefer not to, I could start over from scratch and by new front left and right speakers if there is no way to find a suitable match today. Is that my best option? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks
Dan

Knucklehead

Dan, Welcome to CP, Technically the best match for the R50's for a center would be the CSM center because the tweeters match, take that advice with a grain of salt though as I run a CS350LS center and I think it sounds great. As far as the surrounds, R30's maybe or the R150's. Again I have a set of F/X500i's for surrounds so to each his own. Good Luck!

BeefJerky

I agree with knucklehead on the CSM center. That is what I use with my R50's and the match is perfect due to using the same tweeter. I had the CSR originally, but was not happy with it since the CSR tweeter didn't match the R50's.

On the other hand, I don't recommend using the R150 for your surrounds since it uses a different tweeter. It's not quite as important as matching the front and center, but it still didn't sound right to me. In addition, I prefer the sound of the "older" R/M-series tweeter (R50, R30, R15, CSM) vs the newer R-series tweeter (R300, R150, CSR), but that is personal preference. I'd recommend getting either some used R15's or a new/refurb set of T15's. Best Buy currently sells the T15's, but I purchased some refurbished ones from eBay. The T15's are just R15's with a different grill and labels.

cnh

CSM +1

You should try to match your fronts...the tweeter is 'critical' there!

I ran two monster JBLs (L/R) for years with a Pioneer center--I was ALWAYS tweaking the center channel--not worth the hassle! And it was never exactly 'right' either.

cnh

wutadumsn23

Good adice above, and while I agree that matching the surrounds isn't as critical, never hurts to keep it in the family, lol.

-Jeff

dcf977

Thanks all for your advice.

I had previously assumed that the CSR was the match (i.e. same tweeter as the R50) due to the "R" in the model number rather than the CSM due to the "M". Perhaps the manner in which they name the speakers is not that straight forward.

I can purchase a CSM from an amazon.com marketplace vendor for $99. Might be the way to go based on the feedback from the forum. As the rest of you touched on, I am more interested in matching the center than the surrounds. I'll work on those next.

Thanks again to everyone for chimming in.

dcf977

cnh wrote: »

CSM +1

You should try to match your fronts...the tweeter is 'critical' there!

I ran two monster JBLs (L/R) for years with a Pioneer center--I was ALWAYS tweaking the center channel--not worth the hassle! And it was never exactly 'right' either.

cnh

I am assuming that "CSM +1" is another reccommendation to go with the CSM?

Thanks

dcf977

One other question.... I went to the support section of the polk audio website but wasn't able to locate the "CSM" (or the "CSR" for that matter) on the Recent / Vintage Model Search page? I did find the R50. What am I missing?

Knucklehead

I may be wrong but the CSR is a newer model of the CSM......yes +1 means they agree.

BeefJerky

@dcf977 I don't think the CSM was around for very long. Apparently, it is simply a CSi25 with some minor cosmetic differences.

@Knucklehead Yes the CSR is newer, and has the same tweeter as the newer R-series (R300, R150). The CSM/CSi25 has the "older" tweeter that matches the older R50, R30 and R15, as well as the newer T15. I personally prefer the sound of the older tweeter better. To me, it sounds more crisp and clear. The newer tweeter is definitely less bright, as I know that has been a common complaint among some Polk speakers. To me the newer one just sounded less clear and detailed.

wutadumsn23

dcf977 wrote: »

One other question.... I went to the support section of the polk audio website but wasn't able to locate the "CSM" (or the "CSR" for that matter) on the Recent / Vintage Model Search page? I did find the R50. What am I missing?

What is it you were looking for? If you needed info on them, see links below. One is at Newegg and is a discontinued item, but still has pics. and specs. The other is direct from Polks website. Hope it helps.

-Jeff

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882290125 CSM at Newegg

http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/rtm/index.php?s=csr CSR at POlk