Need Polk Surround recommendation for my 7.1 setup

[rparamount]

Hi folks, I finally bought a Polk PSW505 to supplement my LSi15 fronts and my Polk CS2 center channel. The difference is astounding. The bass is amazing! My old JBL sub has put it's tail between it's legs and run away. :)

Now I need to buy 4 surround speakers for my 7.1 speaker setup. I currently use tiny JBL speakers in my 7.1 setup and I want to replace them. My AVR is an Onkyo 875.

Any recommendations on good speakers from Polk to match my current setup? I'm eager to get rid of my JBL crap that I currently have.

-Thanks, Raj

[apphd]

Raj, what's the budget?? Unlimited:D of course my first suggestion would be the LSiFX. Then I guess I would realistically go to the LSi7 out of the current Polk line up. There are probably some other older series still available new, or you could look for some used. The classified section here would be a good place to start for used. I am not familiar enough with the LSi series to offer any other options but there may be some RTi's that may match up. One thing I would recommend is to get a different center better matched to the LSi15's.

Again need to start with how much do you have to spend?

[McLoki]

I would also recommend the LSiC as your next purchase rather than replacing the surrounds. Once you do, I have had good sucess with the LSi7's as surrounds. (LSiFx just will not work for me with my current room design) For 7.1, I would get a set of Fx's (for side surrounds) and a set of 7's (for rear surrounds).

How is the Onk doing with the 4 ohm load? I would not expect alot of problem with just the 15's (you could have heat/shutdown problems, but the Onk's are usually pretty stout in the amp area) but could have issues as you continue to add LSi speakers. Just throwing it out there as something to keep an eye on.

Either way - enjoy.

[Pepi28]

First thing you should do is change your center channel and get an LSiC. It is a perfect match to your 15's. Then I would look into getting LSi7's for your surrounds.

[Pepi28]

Looks like Mike beat me to it.^

[rparamount]

Hi guys, I hadn't really thought about a budget, it's not unlimited but the LSiFX sound good so I will go with those based on what I see for prices from doing a quick Google search. I do live in Canada though, does anybody know what a good Canadian price for these speakers are?

As for my center channel, will I notice a huge difference between my current CS2 and the LSiC? What I mean is, will I notice enough of a difference to warrant the purchase?

My Onkyo has been holding up fine, no shutdowns at all. As a matter of fact if I crank up the juice on it and watch any of the movies in my collection it sounds fantastic. One of these days I will probably add an amp to the setup. From what I've read in these forums that's a good thing to do for the LSi15's.

Some other questions I have is regarding mounting the LSiFX speakers. Can these be easily mounted on the wall? Do they come with mounts or do I have to buy those separately? If I have to buy them separately do you guys have any recommendations on what kind of mounts to get? Or should I just mount a shelf on the wall and place the speakers on the shelves?

The primary use of my system is for home theatre. I watch a lot of Blu-ray and HD DVD movies in lossless 5.1 and 7.1 sound.

-Thanks, Raj

[McLoki]

The LSifx's have a mounting hole on the back of them so you can mount them to the wall (into a stud please)...

I was recently at DKG999's pace and he custom cut a shelf to match the cuts on the bottom of the LSiFx and just set the LSiFx on that. It looked great and allowed him to mount the shelf securely to the wall and not mess with the mounting brackets on the LSiFx.

I am sure he can give you some pics of what it looks like. It did not look that difficult to do and looked great on the wall.


Regarding the center channel - I have not heard the CS2, but the monitor line is 2nd from the bottom for Polk while the LSi line is at the top. I cannot swear you will hear a difference worth the price, but I would upgrade if you could swing the cost.

I know you said you had not really considered budget yet, but there is a great amp on the forum for sale. (a sunfire 5 channel amp for about $800 I think) If you can swing the price, you will be hard pressed to beat it for the price. Just mention it as you said you were considering an amp at some point.

Michael

[rparamount]

The LSifx's have a mounting hole on the back of them so you can mount them to the wall (into a stud please)...

I was recently at DKG999's pace and he custom cut a shelf to match the cuts on the bottom of the LSiFx and just set the LSiFx on that. It looked great and allowed him to mount the shelf securely to the wall and not mess with the mounting brackets on the LSiFx.

I am sure he can give you some pics of what it looks like. It did not look that difficult to do and looked great on the wall.


Regarding the center channel - I have not heard the CS2, but the monitor line is 2nd from the bottom for Polk while the LSi line is at the top. I cannot swear you will hear a difference worth the price, but I would upgrade if you could swing the cost.

I know you said you had not really considered budget yet, but there is a great amp on the forum for sale. (a sunfire 5 channel amp for about $800 I think) If you can swing the price, you will be hard pressed to beat it for the price. Just mention it as you said you were considering an amp at some point.

Michael

At the moment all I will be able to afford will be the LSIFX's, then I'll have to save up for a bit before I can upgrade the center channel and buy an amp. I will keep an eye out for a good deal on the LSiFX's.

Thanks for all the info Michael!

-Cheers, Raj

[xcapri79]

For surrounds, also consider the LSi9's. I use a pair along with my LSi25's up front. For your center speaker, a CSi5 would work better than your CS2 IMHO. I think that you can find the CSi5 discount priced at about half the price of a LSiC. I did a comparison myself and to my ear there wasn't a big difference between the LSiC and the larger CSi5. However to me, the CS2 wasn't quite as good, particularly for music. Let your ear be the judge.