Well I lost the battle...

[avelanchefan]

For years my wife has complained about my speakers and the HT setup, so to compromise I told her I would get rid of my current setup (LSI Mains) and go with in-ceiling speakers. No at first I was a bit miffed, but when you see how my mains are setup (pic below) you can see how off center they are. And there is no real way to get them aligned correctly with the TV.

So if I was to use in-ceiling as my mains would the RC85i's be good enough for the mains and rears? Any other suggestions?

http://community.webshots.com/myphotos?action=showPhoto&albumID=286764012&photoID=1286766745026036684&security=RoLxyi

[cfrizz]

I would say stick with the LSI inwall speakers since you already have the bookshelves.

[avelanchefan]

CF,

Thanks for the fast reply. I was thinking the LSI also, but I want to go a bit more economical this time, and I have always liked the RTi series.

Also do you think this is something that is doable? Or am I reaching here in using ceiling speakers for mains?

[reeltrouble1]

For mains I would go inwall rather than ceiling, either way its a musical downgrade but should work ok for HT. I would get the polk in wall with the speaker box, its going to take some work.

Or you could buy a new place!!

RT1

[okiepolkie]

The TC series, rather than RC, in-wall/ceiling speakers are closer to the RTi series.

[Early B.]

The problem with in-walls as front speakers is that they provide very limited flexibility in terms of placement which, of course, is critical.

What is the main beef your wife has about the speakers? Is it aesthetics? Are they obtrusive? This is a long shot, but maybe there are other options to consider such as flat panel speakers or placing the speakers out of the way (i.e., in a closet) when not in use or selecting prettier WAF-friendly speakers.

[RuSsMaN]

Tell her to get her b$%ch ass in the kitchen, and make you some pie.

[danger boy]

i like the LSi's you have right now.. i'd keep em..

*side note: your room is quite an unusual lay out... the fireplace and the TV are competing to be the focal point in the room. I dont think i've seen many living rooms whereby the fireplace was off center like that. Intriguing. the feng shui is off kilter to me. ;)

As long as you stay with Polk Audio speakers.. you should do fine.

[fgr41]

Tell her to get her b$%ch ass in the kitchen, and make you some pie.

You DIDN'T

:eek: :D

[wingnut4772]

Tell her to get her b$%ch ass in the kitchen, and make you some pie.

Best advice so far! Worked when I took it:D

Avelanche,

Listen..I am a woman and if that was my space I would be putting out two beautiful LSI15 floorstanders to either side of that fireplace set up. Don't wave that white flag. That's your house too....give her something she wants somewhere else to compromise. Now get in there and fight!:eek:

[mantis]

For home theater use, inceiling all the way around is pretty awesome. For music it's not as bad as one would think. When you go inceiling, you pretty much get perfect placement. Something that doesn't happen often in a livingroom.

Hey man but you can't let HER rule your life. Thats effed up on alot of different levels. Just because she has the pie, don't give her the right to deprive you of what you want. Maybe the room your doing all this is the wrong room. Is there another room in the house where you can use the kind of speakers you like without having her get in the way??? If you I say go there. Make a man cave for yourself.

Good luck with this

Dan

[avelanchefan]

Well I talked to her a bit more about it yesterday, and I misunderstood her a bit. (imagine that) It's not that she is unhappy with it, but she despises the rear surrounds. So we agreed to do in-ceiling on the surrounds. She feels the surrounds are in the way, and hates that they are there, but I have been insistent that they stay for the last two years.

Dan,

Yeah I probably sounded more harsh on her than what I should be, because I basically get to do what I want when I want. And buy whatever I want. It just was getting frustrating because I love the 7's, and I don't really want to get rid of them. But this new house has been frustrating for me because I cannot set it up correctly due to the room asthetics (sp?). It really bothers me to have to speakers so off center. Although I really do not notice it in HT use, because I feel it sounds real good despite the akwardness of it.

We also do have a large living room and we have talked about the HT being in there, but it is shared with a formal dining room, and we both want to keep it more of a formal living/eating area.

BTW-14 years of marriage and sometimes you get frustrated and just throw up you hands and say I give up, but overall we get along great.

[Early B.]

Sounds like a good compromise. Glad to hear it worked out for you.

[janmike]

Glad to hear all is good Sean. Communication at its best.

[hotwheelman]

Ditch the current t.v. and get a plasma or l.c.d. unit and mount it between the lsi's above the firplace.....problem solved. Then have some bookshelves of some sort built in where the old unit sits now for the women of the house to display some family pics, heirlooms, etc,etc.

[fgr41]

You know what would be cool is if you could screen print an image or something over the speaker cloth. Might increase the WAF.

[danger boy]

yeah that does sounds like a good compromise..


but did she still bake you some PIE?? :p

[cfrizz]

Glad you were able to work things out!

[Shizelbs]

Very good half way point. Tell her to meet you half way and you'll let her have the pie that you don't eat.

[Willow]

we are in a similar situation. We need a new tv/audio stand. We can't find one that has enough room to house the centre. We have thought about hangning the LCD on the wall. The problem she has is the 8's are big to her along with the sub. They are competing with the fire place. She wants the surroundbar, we are having a tough time trying to find a good compromise. We are not fighting at all about it just tough trying find a great balance.

[brettw22]

*side note: your room is quite an unusual lay out... the fireplace and the TV are competing to be the focal point in the room. I dont think i've seen many living rooms whereby the fireplace was off center like that. It's a southwest thing.......happens a lot more out there than I've seen in other parts of the country.

What makes it even more unusual is when you see a fireplace in AZ, but people that don't live there think it never gets below 80 either.....

[avelanchefan]

Ditch the current t.v. and get a plasma or l.c.d. unit and mount it between the lsi's above the firplace.....problem solved. Then have some bookshelves of some sort built in where the old unit sits now for the women of the house to display some family pics, heirlooms, etc,etc.

Oh that picture is about a year old, I have a new Sony 50" 3lcd RPTV:D

[mantis]

avelanchefan,
going inceiling rears actually you will be able to place them exact. I love inceiling rear speakers. Get the Lc60i's. They will match the Lsi7's perfectly. I have done tons of systems with Lsi fronts and Lc60i inceilings and I loved it everytime. You can even play music with them and if properly installed, they will perform well. I also did a full Lc60i inceiling full home theater system and it sounded excellent. If I had space problem or wife not digging my speakers, I would have no problem going all inceiling.

I know all about the wife thing, mine can't figure out why I upgrade so much. She hates when I buy new stuff.

Dan

[okiepolkie]

My wife actually wants get rid of my LSi7's in our living room. To replace them, she actually wants a surroundbar. Every time I mention upgrading to it, she gets excited. I've been wanting to try one anyway :)

[amulford]

Try one. I have one for the kid's video games, and it works like a charm.

[mantis]

My wife actually wants get rid of my LSi7's in our living room. To replace them, she actually wants a surroundbar. Every time I mention upgrading to it, she gets excited. I've been wanting to try one anyway :)

Trust me on this one, you will be doing yourself a downgrade madly. The soundbar is nice for what it is but it's in no class of Lsi or even Rti for that matter. I did a few of them and not to put polk down or anything but I really didn't like it. I even had a perfect room with 4 walls and everything. It performed poorly compared to other sound bar products I have Installed.

Go inceiling Lc60i's and keep your sound quality. Forget about the soundbar.It's not an upgrade anywhere. It's nice if you don't have surround sound or can't get wires to the back or side of your room, then yes it's very nice but to replace no man no.

Dan

[TroyD]

Actually, the surround bar is hella-cool. The sound quality is fantastic. Those that demoed it at HQ Polk and Mark all agree. As skeptical as I was about it, I love it.

Dan, as usual, has his big bag of wind.

BDT

[amulford]

I'm tellin' ya it works. Does it replace true 5.1? No, but it isn't supposed to. As I've said, I set one up for the kids (well that's my story and I'm sticking to it...), and played some Halo 2. The litle bastads were behind me, I say. "Down in Front!!!"

[fireshoes]

Beats the shit out of a 321 and I feel it's better than the Yamaha DSP's too, ymmv.

[Willow]

My wife actually wants get rid of my LSi7's in our living room. To replace them, she actually wants a surroundbar. Every time I mention upgrading to it, she gets excited. I've been wanting to try one anyway :)

I hear you, we are thinking the same, I must admit it would make our room look and fit better......but I like my rti8's and csi3. GGrrrrrrr

[okiepolkie]

As much as I love the LSi's, I always like to hear new things. I am also well aware that it won't actually be an "upgrade," but I'm trying to sell this stuff too, so if people want a sample of the surroundbar, then I'll have one to show them.

I can always get another set of 7's if I really want them, or change to inwall LSi's for the living room.

When I actually change to the surroundbar, I won't be losing a two channel rig. The SDA2's are going to be in my bedroom for music. I doubt they will have the high end refinement of the LSi's, but the bass will be considerably more once I get them setup right.

[Willow]

OP, what I am thinking is, possibly selling my current gear, buying the SB. Later on, I could buy an Lsi set up...thats the only way I'll sell my rtis.