Picked up Polk RTi8's, which center to go with it?? (1 Viewer)

[Rives Elmore]

Long story short, my house was hit by lightning about 3 months ago, and I basically lost all of my electronics for my home theater system.

OLD ....................... NEW

Toshiba 50A50 ---------> Hitachi 51S500
JVC HTIB --------------> HK AVR230
Fluance Speakers ------> Polk RTI8's for my Mains

(my rear Fluance bookshelves were not damaged and do not need to be replaced at this time). XBOX / Gamecube and such were also fried, and have since been replaced.

I got lucky and found the RTi 8's at HHGREGG for 189 a piece, and couldnt resist them. However, my Fluance center now sounds VERY out of place...so I was looking at getting either the CSi3 or CSi5. I asked the salesperson if the CSi5 was needed, and he mentioned that those are typically purchased for the larger RTi series speakers (10s and 12s). Is the CSi3 good enough for the RTi8's or do I need to look at getting the CSi5 (which are 199 right now).

Thanks

 

[MikeDel]

Rives,

I would direct that question to the Polk Audio Forum. Don't worry, it's not a bunch of Polk cheerleaders!

Here's the link

Whoops, sorry. They forum would not let me post the link. Do a search on Google for the Polk Audio Forum

FWIW, I recently purchased the 8's from my 6's and upgraded the CSI3 to a 5

 

[Rives Elmore]

Thanks for the input, I posted a thread there as well..just trying to get as much input as possible.

 

[gene c]

I recently returned a CSi3 in favor of the CSi5 to go with my RTi6's and RTi4's. I felt the CSi3 was a little weak for dialog compared to the CSi5. But keep in mind the CSi5 is pretty big for a center speaker. At $199 though, I would go with the CSi5.

 

[steve nn]

At $199 the CSi5 is a very good buy imo. I had it in the house for a few weeks and thought it quit capable. If I wouldn't have wound up with the Klipsch C-7 it would be sitting on top of my TV most likely. The CSi5 was priced at $399 at the time I believe.

 

[Edward J M]

Get the CSi5 over the CSi3. When it comes to center channels, the bigger the better. The bigger units project a larger, more natural, and more effortless sound stage.