Making sense of a motley collection?

[howerika]

Hello everyone.

I want to thank you first for the free education and great advice that I've been accruing through these fora. I'm addicted!!! I won't hold any of you responsible if my online students (I'm a college prof) complain because I'm slow grading their work because I'm at Club Polk so much. Foolish me, I'd rather learn about peerless tweeters than read a freshman's misunderstanding of the due process clause!! :)

My question for you all is, how best can I make sense of my collection of Polk speakers?

I have enough equipment for two HT systems... one for the living room and one for the den (neither are large rooms). I have four young kids, so the days of listening to music (at least music that I like... not just Hilary Duff and Pussycat Dolls) are gone. I'd say the systems will be used 80% of the time for movies. My current line-ups include:

System 1:
Fronts - Monitor 7
Rears - Monitor 4 (my first Polks from 20 years ago)
Center - currently a Monitor 4 but I'm considering a CS300 (E-bay)
Sub - PSW 250
Receiver - Harman Kardon AVR 325

System 2:
Fronts - R30
Rears - R15 (just arrived yesterday from Outpost for $39.99... thanks, Club Polk for the heads-up about Outpost.com!!)
Center - CS150
Sub - none at this time (but eventually...)
Receiver - HK AVR 15

Now, the questions...

1. None of my Monitors have peerless tweeters. Will peerless tweeters from any Monitor (4-10) fit any other Monitor (if I'm able to snag them on E-bay)? Will I be able to simply drop peerless tweeters into my 7's and 4's or will there be a problem?

2. Would I be better off keeping a Monitor 4 as my center or replacing it with a CS 300? CS300s seem to pop up on E-bay from time-to-time at decent prices and I've considered buying one. Previous threads suggest that the CS300 is a good center and a decent match for Monitors.

3. Would I notice a great difference in sound quality (because my rooms are not large, I'm not worried about increased volume... my wife already complains when I turn up the volume a bit) if I upgrade from 4's to 5's or 5jr's for rear surrounds?

4. For my second system (I'm old school and prefer the Monitors to the R30s/R15s for my main system), would a CSi25 to replace my CS150 make a significant enough difference to warrant its purchase?

Any future purchases will likely come via E-bay (or Outpost when they have great deals like the $39 R15s). I've been pretty lucky so far with E-bay purchases. I picked up the AVR 325 for $100 (reduced to $55 after it was damaged somewhat in transit but still functional)... the Monitor 7s for $6 (yes, $6!!) because they had a damaged mid-driver (which I was able to replace first with a driver from one of my "extra" Monitor 4s and subsequently with a replacement driver from Ebay for $26/pair). I can't spend big money on any future purchases because those kids of mine tend to like luxury things like food and clothing.

I appreciate any feedback/suggestions. I'm sure your responses will be right on target... you guys should start a Polk U.!!!

Sorry about the length of this, my first, posting. I tried my best to ask all my questions at once.

[F1nut]

Welcome.

Eff the Peerless tweeter, they're not all they're cracked up to be. If you want a good tweeter, get the new silk dome replacements.

[howerika]

Thanks for the heads up, F1nut. Your recommendation cuts my E-bay watchlist in half. I'll make the kids eat PB&J for every meal so I can afford a round of new tweeters!!! :)

[F1nut]

I'll make the kids eat PB&J for every meal so I can afford a round of new tweeters!!!

LOL....no need for that. Polk looks out for fools like us, they give Club members a very nice discount.

[howerika]

I recall reading about the discount in previous threads. Thanks for the reminder. Maybe you can explain to my wife the importance and thrill of upgrading, etc. She just doesn't get it. ;) I gotta give her credit, though... she's been tolerating my recent efforts to turn our living room into a Polk showroom... I have all my speakers there to compare the Monitors to the R-series speakers, and she's only once or twice asked, "how many more speakers do we need?" (Stupid question, of course!!!)

I've seen your postings in a lot of other threads and trust your judgment. Do you think I should go after a CS300 for my Monitor system center channel or should I stick with my Monitor 4 for the job? Also, do you think replacing my CS150 with a CSi25 for my R30/R15 combo would be worthwhile? I'd appreciate your thoughts.

[F1nut]

Yeah, I don't think my explaining it to your wife would help you one bit. I tried that with Doro's fruitbat....if looks could kill and all that.

Some of the guys/gals here would be much better at helping with the center channel choice than I. Hopefully, some of them will chime in.

[DarqueKnight]

... "how many more speakers do we need?"


Does she "collect" shoes or anything else?

[howerika]

She collects snowmen. Which is more impractical... "too many speakers" (blasphemy) or snowmen scattered around the house in July?!!! Other Christmas stuff is game for her, too. We once had a 6.5 foot Santa standing in a corner of our kitchen for 9 months because she bought it for a great price at Christmas but then couldn't find any place to store him after.

She also collects all manner of home decoration things that fall under the category of "cute" even though they're (IMO) usually just a few twigs, maybe a ribbon or two, and an old board with an inscription like "Home is where the heart is". I think the space could be better filled with sound dampening materials, etc. I especially love when she uses my Monitor 4s as coasters for her drink rather than leave a ring on "HER" end table. Ahhhh!!!

She just walked by and read what I wrote. She's calling me a liar... saying that she's never put a drink ON my speakers just spilled a couple near them. (This correction meets with her approval and removes the liar label from my name.)

[PolkThug]

:D :D :D

Welcome to the forum!

[howerika]

Thanks, PolkThug! Glad to be here.

[howerika]

Update: Just bought a CS300 on Ebay for $42. Hopefully, it'll sound good with my monitors.

[joeparaski]

"I've been accruing through these fora"....yep, you're an English professor for sure.

One word of advice....do NOT EVER EVER criticize your wife for collecting snowmen or whatever little nick nacks she collects. In fact, you should encourage it because then she won't complain about your Polk collection.

[HiPerf360]

She collects snowmen. Which is more impractical... "too many speakers" (blasphemy) or snowmen scattered around the house in July?!!! Other Christmas stuff is game for her, too. We once had a 6.5 foot Santa standing in a corner of our kitchen for 9 months because she bought it for a great price at Christmas but then couldn't find any place to store him after.




I left my Christmas tree up for a year once... LOL

Big ass tree my wife had to have...

I did take all of the ornaments off and the lights alone gave off a nice romantic glow all year....




....I do not know why I felt compelled to share this with you guys; derail complete.

[howerika]

I really have to be careful about criticizing her nowadays. She fell off a ladder two weeks ago and severely sprained her ankle. Why was she on the ladder? She was finally putting away the Christmas stuff that had been sitting in our den for months. I'm not making this up!!

I can still remember that when we first go married, she waited until a nice icy day to ask me to go out on the roof and hang Christmas lights. It didn't make sense to me why she waited until then to ask and why it had to be done that day... until, as I was gingerly easing my way across the roof, I recalled that my paperwork for making her my life insurance beneficiary had just gone through. Hmmmm. ;)

[howerika]

Joeparaski,

Nope, not an English prof. I teach law/criminal justice to undergrads at a major university where there happens to be a football coach whose handle is almost Joeparaski, too. "Fora" actually comes from law school where the proper use of that word was beaten into my head by legal writing TA's. They also made a point of forcing us to use "since" and "because" accurately. The TA's were third year law students then and are probably judges now who probably correct every lawyers' use of "forums"!!

The rest of my English ain't so formal. I mostly speak Pittsburghese, which means that I drink Arn City, sometimes red up the room, and will gladly share a chipped, chopped ham sammitch with yunz guys anytime. Or, if you were to offer me some Lsi's for nothing, I'll buy you some Klondikes and take you to Primanti's and Kennywood. Go Stillers!!

[joeparaski]

Hmmmm....law teacher, might come in handy if we have petinent questions on this forum. For example, I am Canadian, but if I think like an American, technically, I can sue an amplifier company for making a high wattage amplifier that can damage my ears.

[howerika]

Unfortunately, I'm stupid. Instead of practicing law and making money (which would have allowed me to talk about LSi's rather than $6 Ebay Monitors), I chose to teach. So, I can talk forever about the intricacies of constitutional law but am worthless when it comes to useful stuff like fixing a ticket, etc.

By the way, I do know that Canadians are not allowed to sue in the U.S. for hearing damage caused by anything. In response to Canada's introducing Celine Dion to the world, Congress sensibly wrote a law that blames Canadians for all sonic injuries and, as punishment, says that you deserve to suffer like the rest of us without remuneration!!! Sorry.

[schwarcw]

Joeparaski,

The rest of my English ain't so formal. I mostly speak Pittsburghese, which means that I drink Arn City, sometimes red up the room, and will gladly share a chipped, chopped ham sammitch with yunz guys anytime. Or, if you were to offer me some Lsi's for nothing, I'll buy you some Klondikes and take you to Primanti's and Kennywood. Go Stillers!!

Yinz livin on the Sauth Side 'n at?

Welcome to the Club Polk Forums!

Are you in State College or at a branch campus?

[howerika]

State College.

I taught at PSU-Fayette for awhile while working on my Ph.D. Then at IUP, Pitt, and finally (and hopefully, lastly) at PSU-University Park.

Originally from the Kittanning area.

[F1nut]

By the way, I do know that Canadians are not allowed to sue in the U.S. for hearing damage caused by anything. In response to Canada's introducing Celine Dion to the world, Congress sensibly wrote a law that blames Canadians for all sonic injuries and, as punishment, says that you deserve to suffer like the rest of us without remuneration!!! Sorry.

CLASSIC!!! :D