[JSilberlicht]

My company was nice enough to provide me with gift certificates for Circuit City. I need a new set of front and center speakers for my home theater, and was wondering if I should go ahead a buy a set of theirs. I have enough certificates to purchase the top middle of the road Infinity IL40s or the Polks speakers.


What would you recommend? Is there a difference between the IL10 and IL30s? Which Infinity package should I go with if it is fealt that Inifinity would be the better choice? Polk?


Thanks,

 

[henry]

I purchased a pair of Infinity IL-40 speakers fro $733 a pair, an IL-36 center speaker for $375, and an IL-100 sub woofer for $375 at Circuit City. It required hard ball negotiating including getting price quotes from competing dealers.


This is excellent equipment. The Interlude has received excellent reviews and deserves every accolade heaped upon it. I'm in the process of upgrading to B & W and I have to admit there is a lot of difference between the HTM-1 center speaker and the IL-36 but very little difference between the CDM 9 NT and the IL-40 (the HTM-1 was $1640 and the CDM 9 NT were $2210 a pair.) I'm trying to sell the IL-36 sitting in my closet. I'm using the 4 IL-40 speakers for surrounds. The 2 subs sound great and work well with both music and movies.


I strongly recommend the IL-40 over the lesser models. This is a really great speaker for the price and compares favorably with models costing three times as much. I almost regret purchasing the CDM 9 NT speakers-the difference in quality is far less than the difference in price.


Good luck!!!


Best regards-Henry

 

[Chuckster]

I think the Polks are the ticket. They've been downplayed since CC and Crutchfield carries them, but they are truly awesome. Head over to audioreview.com and check out some reviews. Specifically, the CS400i ans RT55i speakers.

 

[PanamaMike]

I find both the polks and Infinity speakers provide great performance for the $$$'s. It's nice that both offer a great product. Honestly I don't think you can go wrong.


Luckily you have the opportunity to easily audition both sets of speakers. Circuit Cities listening rooms are not ideal, but certainly provide an opportunity to A/B speakers in a better environment than most. I'd suggest taking some of your favorite source material, both DVD and CD and have them audition the product for you. Just remember to take speaker placement into your listening consideration. This is the one area their listening environment isn't ideal.


The IL line and the RT55's are good suggestions. I'd guess demon the IL-40's vs. the RT1000's.

 

[rt297]

I have had most of the Interlude line and can say they are a very high quality product performance wise. I almost think that for the money, the IL10 is the best value, with the powered models falling short. The IL36C is one of the best centers around. The only thing about the Interludes I didn't like was the build quality of the cabinets at this price point.