2 fronts and a center

[jawhog]

Looking to get a friend going in the hobby. Already helped him find a Denon AVR 3803 in the spring. He's saved up enough for speakers now (gotta hand it to him, he has a lot more patience or budgeting resolve than I do), at least a starter pair, hopefully a center too. What do you have for under $200?

[jawhog]

He's upped his budget to $300. Still not a ton of money, but I'm confidnet this is enough to get him pointed in the right direction on the front 3.

[jawhog]

one time bump.
I gave him a handful of suggestions, but nothing much has caught his interest and a few of them just haven't been out there the last few weeks. My suggestion for him so far is to pick up some Rt35i's and a cs245i from ebay. A very respectable front 3 for around $200 or so. Again, he'll be using the denon 3803 and imho the rti4,6,8, etc and newer are too harsh with the denon.

[Kex]

... My suggestion for him so far is to pick up some Rt35i's and a cs245i from ebay. A very respectable front 3 for around $200 or so. ...

Good advice IMO, but I'm not sure how easy it will be to pick those up for $200, not having watched speakers on eBay much recently, and shipping will be extra. I have a CS245i (slightly blemished on the rear) and a CS300 (mint) in the garage, and some RT speakers (mint, I think, and in the garage also), I think they are RT35 (not the more recent "i" version). I'm not trying to sell any of them at the moment, but if he wants them and we can agree on reasonable pricing, including shipping, he can have them.

Otherwise, craigslist.com sometimes has deals on these locally, if you can find them.

[BjornB17]

he could get a pair of RTi4s for the front and a CSi3 for the center from ebay for under $300. that would be a phenomenal "starter system" considering they are polk's second best line of speakers.

[leroyjr1]

RTI A1's and CSI A4 should be a good start and within his $300 budget, but he has to go the ebay route to get it for those prices.

If it was me I would just spend the whole $300 on fronts and get each remaining piece one at a time. I just bought a NIB pair of RTI A3"s off ebay for $140. The guy had it listed at $199 buy it now with a make offer and he accepted the $140

[Jeff Beaird]

Here is some monitor 10's; http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwc/ele/852932827.html
I have an extra Monitor 5jr for a center for $50 + shipping...

[jawhog]

Well, just got some rt35i on ebay for $80. Hard to tell if they're beat up or not. If they're in good shape I'll pass them to my friend, if they're not cutting it cosmetically I just upgraded my garage rig in a big way. May still be hunting for cs245i if they show up in good shape and I end up giving to friend.

[Kex]

Well, just got some rt35i on ebay for $80. Hard to tell if they're beat up or not. If they're in good shape I'll pass them to my friend, if they're not cutting it cosmetically I just upgraded my garage rig in a big way. May still be hunting for cs245i if they show up in good shape and I end up giving to friend.
Other than cosmetic issues, which are the easiest to judge when they finally arrive, I would check the tweeters are working (you can use a tube such as an empty kitchen roll tube or a vacuum cleaner accessory to isolate the sound easily from the nearby driver) and, of course the drivers (push them in gently, without touching the center cone, to see if they move freely). If you need any help, let me know and I'll check whatever it is you are worried about on mine to compare.

Let me know if you are interested in the CS245i that I have and I'll organize some pics. I think it's a great center to start with, and I am currently using a CS400. I thought the CS245i really compared well to the both the CS300 and CS400, in a much smaller cabinet.