[Resiroth]

I currently have a velodyne DLS3500R with a pair of lsi 15 floorstanding speakers. This is great for music but for some games/movies 5.1 would really help ( I think ). Besides if you have 5.1 lossless you might as well use it

.


Right now I am thinking about a polk CS400i ( if it's still available from craigslist ) or the csi40 ( what's the difference ? ) for a center, maybe the polk rti a 4/6 series which are a bit more on ebay.For surrounds I obviously can't go lsi FX since those are 600+ a pair. I have no idea which surrounds are good.


I know I should just get a complete lsi set but some people don't even like the lsi C if they have the money for it! I don't buy into the idea that if you're not using a 500W 1,000 dollar amp you can't truly hear the lsi 15s but with 5 lsi speakers I doubt I could drive them with my onkyo. To reiterate the lsi series are not a possibility, I wish they were but they're not

.


Does anyone have some suggestions for some speakers that would match the lsi 15s at a fraction of the price? I don't demand ultimate quality ( music is much more personal than movies and that would be 2.1 ) but I certainly don't want to throw away money on a 5.1 setup that doesn't match. Thanks!


EDIT: Just checked ebay, rti a4 is going for 120 shipped which is the same price as the cs400i. The rti a6 is only available on a bid auction.

 

[Jay1]

Get the LSiC, the other Polk centers use completely different components and crossovers, they sound nothing alike. Surrounds are much less critical so get whatever will do the job.

 

[Resiroth]

Not what I wanted to hear >

 

[Jay1]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Resiroth /forum/post/16824906


Not what I wanted to hear >

 

[Hrimnir]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Resiroth /forum/post/16824906


edit: I'd want the step from the cs400i to the LSI C to be a massive one since it is around 3x the price and I am on a pretty tight budget.

Well, the situation is this, you absolutely do not want to have a mismatched center channel with your L/R fronts. Its probably the biggest no-no in HT. The reason is as something, be it a person, car, plane, boat, jet, etc, goes from one side of the screen to the other, its going to pan across your front sound stage. If you have a mismatched center, then what you will get is the object changing timbre/tonal quality as it goes from one side to the other. Its a very bad effect and you will notice it a lot.


As for the step up, keep in mind that as you spend more and more money in HT you start to get diminishing returns. You will definitely see a noticeable upgrade, but its not going to be the equivalent of say going from TV speakers to a low end HT setup, etc.

 

[Resiroth]

Well the dialogue issue was a pretty commonly reported characteristic among owners on polk audio. They said it's fantastic for music but not for dialogue which can be true. Then again they probably mean it's just not up to snuff compared to the rest of the lsi line for Home theater. I'm sure they're great speakers but since I would only be using it for 5.1 movies and not music I thought it may not suit my needs compared to cheaper alternatives. Then again I've never demoed them so I am just going off of user reviews on polk. So in your opinion the lsi C would be 2-3x better than the cs400i/RTI a4? Maybe I just got my hopes up thinking I could skimp a bit and be alright =/.


If I was going with the lsi C it would be around 400 since I can't find any for 300 near me or online. This limits my surrounds price to 200 max I believe. I just bought a new computer so that ate quite a bit of my expendable income. I am going to check again but I believe I would only have 200 max to spend on surrounds. At this price point is there anything that would sound half decent? I know surrounds don't matter that much and I've mostly seen them used for effects so I might be able to skimp. Thoughts?


Yeah TV speakers are horrible and I know about the diminishing returns I am just concerned about how little I would have to spend on surrounds if I bought an LSI C. I can't even find one near me so it may be around 400. So the CS400i would be noticeably different? I mean if an mp3 is at 320KBPS instead of FLAC and I'm not paying attention ( focusing on the movie for ex. ) I doubt I would care that much. If it is noticeable then I guess I have to scour the web for an LSI C. What about budget surrounds?

 

[Jay1]

Anyone seriously considering a CSi center with LSi mains might as well consider every center from any brand in their price range, thats how different they are. Something else to consider is running a 4.1 phantom center setup. If your mains are properly positioned for stereo imaging they will work great with no center.


for surrounds under $200 something like these TSC surrounds would do the trick.

 

[Resiroth]

Those surround sounds look interesting but I may be able to buy a better set. It's nice to know that an option under 200 exists though, thanks. I just missed an ebay auction for a used LSI C for 150 dollars...I think I'll go cry now lol. I am going to monitor ebay since it seems I may be able to get a used one for

 

[Jay1]

You would simply go into your receivers setup menu and set the center to "none", this will send all the info to your mains. Having your mains pulled out into the room a couple feet and around 6'-10' apart from each other, spaced equally to the left and right of your listening position would be a good start. Playing around with toe in toward the listening position until you get dead center vocals may be necessary.


I run a 4.1 setup myself and dialog is extremely clear, with voices coming from the person talking on screen.

 

[Resiroth]

So I could just get surrounds and not bother with a center? Or is it just good fo temporary use and a center would be a good idea on the long run? I could spend 400 on the surrounds and then buy a center later if I feel like I'd vendor from it. Any recommendation on good surrounds? I don't think I'd appreciate the Lsi surrounds enough to purchase them. I am only 17 after all. I fix computers to fund my audio setup which I'll keep after college of course.


I guess with a phantom center I can spend around 400. 600 total was factoring after waiting a month or so so 400 is ideal.

 

[Jay1]

I guess the real question is do you notice a problem with vocals in movies right now? If everything sounds clear and centered with your 2.1 setup you really don't need a center, if you're noticing issues with this you might want to try one (or move your speakers around). That old saying about the center being the most important speaker because 70% of the movie runs through it, is only true if you actually need one! People don't seem to realise that a pair of properly setup up, quality mains, can do the job just as well as long as you don't have extreme of axis seating.


How is your room setup for surround placement? if you can wall mount along the side of your seating area a nice dipole like I linke earlier would be great, if you need to place closer to the rear wall you might be better off with a regular monitor type speaker.


The real darkhorse for an incredible surround speaker would be the AV 123 . com X-Omni for $400.

 

[vinipux77]

Some users report good success with using a single LSi9 or LSi7 vertically or horizontally as a center. 9's go between $300-600/pair used depending on condition (and luck), and I'd think a single is worth a bit less than two in a matched pair...


Just another option.


As far as driving 3 LSi's with an Onkyo 607... I dunno.. I think many of the hard-to-hear-dialogue-from-LSi stories come from under-powering them.


my 2c'

 

[Resiroth]

Thanks for the idea. I think for now I'll use some surrounds with athe 2 lsi up front. The other interesting thought is that I have a pair of 104/2 kef speakers that are in good condition. I hear that I would need another pair of kegs in order to recreate an accurate 5.1 setup. I also heard the lsi speakers are superior for soundstage. Those surrounds look interesting, what's the mnimum distance between the speakers and the listener?


Sent on my iPhone so I expect there will be errors.

 

[Resiroth]

Anyone have experience with the kef 104/2? I also have some spare paradigm monitors to try. The avs surrounds look good but my room is a bit small and I hear that can be a concern. Any other recommendations? Or experience using the avs in a smaller room? Thanks for or help! I will measure the room later I think. I can't put the surrounds on the walls so they'd need to be standalone or have stands.