Dynamic capabilities, clear voices, timbre matches seamless with my RT 3000's

none

This speaker is a noticeable improvement over my previous center channels. I've noticed some reviewers have stated that the dialogue was muffled in their setups. I was really ticked off when I first set it up because I noticed the same thing when watching our second DVD. Fortunately, it was the quality of the DVD that was making my center sound less than stellar. I found out when I took it to my pop's house and popped it in to his system which consists of a Boston Acoustics center, I don't know the model ($200). I then took it to my friend's house just out of curiosity, He runs an Infinity center...BAM, same problem. I guess my point is, play around with different movies because they are not all recorded equally.

The second thing I want to mention is speaker wire. I was initially running it with 12 gauge Monster wire which was ok.
I then upgraded to Kimber 4TC, WOW!! what a difference. It now sounded like I imagined it would. Thinking that 8TC would sound better, I plugged in a 7 foot run and the results were not what I expected. The 4 TC. was the clear winner, voices were super clear as were other subtleties, and dynamic scenes( I use 8TC on my mains). FYI, I use a Yamaha DSPA1 with the center set at small, I don't want explosions and other low end stuff going to this channel, that's what subs are for. I use two Energy eXL8's run in stereo mode and a 15 inch Def Tech off the mono RCA's. I hope this info sheds some light. Thank you.

Similar Products Used:

POLK CS101 and 275

Great dynamic speaker. It brings out movies to life.
1000% better than the CS300.

None

Love this speaker. Sounds like people don't like the weight and the size. Hey, if it wasn't this big and heavy it wouldn't sound this good. In audio heavy is good...
Very dynamic, multi-dimensional sound.

Similar Products Used:

CS300, Boston Acoustics, Energy

amazing sound clarity

its huge

I bought this thing and first of the only bad thing is the size , you need space for her. The sound is absolutely stunning, its so clear and detailed, had to turn it down a tad because it was overpowering my rt800s(polk), truly a serious sounding powqerful center channel. CC hads them on clearence for 200 as of late find a store with one in stock and snag it.Obviously it pairs better with polk all around.

Similar Products Used:

polk 245

Nice sounding, blends well with other Polk speakers.

Size, some male voices seem a bit harsh compared to my cousin's B&W CC6 center.

I am still pleased witht his speaker. I have had it for about 15 months now with now complaints. The size requires a tricky mounting siuation.. on top of my 32" tv. I paid too much for it, but I got it right after it came on the market.. oh well. If you can find one for about 200 I would grab it in an instant!

Similar Products Used:

B&W CC6, Infinfity

Sound quality

Large, and very heavy (30+ lbs)

This is a powerful center speaker. It has a rich sound, projects vocals clearly and crisply, and has an incredible range. Absolutely worth the money. The only drawback is that is is larger than most centers, and is very heavy.

Excellent overall; very clear dialogue, great dynamic range; seaker is extremely efficient -- it works best with a modest priced receiver and high efficiency front speakers.

Considerably larger than most other moderate priced subs.

I paid $299. At that price this speaker is a tremendous value, but with a center channel value is only good if it is put into the right setup. This speaker has excellent soundstage and very wide dispersion. It will absolutely overpower lackluster fronts (you'll think you have a mono system), so consider it only if you have better than typical mid-priced front speakers. This speaker is biwirable; biwiring does help some, but the speaker really doesn't seem to benefit at all from a high current component amp -- worked great with a typical 100 watt per channel 5 yr old JVC prologic receiver (sounded no better hooked up to an ADCOM 555 amp). Excellent addition to moderate priced HT setup. I originally bought as center channel to match a pair of B & W cdm-7's. This speaker was very close overall in quality and timbre with the B & W CDM series center channel speaker that costs nearly twice as much. Two months after I bought this speaker, I got lucky and found a used pair of B & W Matrix 802's, so I bit the bullet and upgraded the center channel to match. I moved this speaker to a setup in my den to use as the center channel with an old mid line M & K satellite/sub setup (with the JVC Receiver). It does a great job, blending beautifully. Frankly, it would be more than passable even with the high end speaker on my main system.

Similar Products Used:

B & W Nautilus CS 1

Perfectly clear dialog during any and all movies

None

I bought this bad boy from CC, paid too much, then noticed they had it on sale, got my difference back and here we are. I have this coupled with Rt2000's and RTs for the rears. Hooked into a Harman Kardon AVR500. This is my first center channel, so I can't compare it to anything else. Dialog from this speaker is absolutley clear as can be. We have watched several DVD's where the voices can be heard even during loud special effects. Because it has essentially the same drivers as the RT2000's the sound is seamless as it travels across the soundstage. Before we got these, we had a hard time hearing dialog during scenes with background noise, but now it's just perfect.

It is a big boy, but I built a cabinet that hides it during periods of inactivity.

I'm not much into 5 channel music listening, but even then it sounds very nice when CDs are played in Logic 7M mode.

The best center channel speaker made.....

Not one.

This Polk CS-400 Speaker is the best any person can buy, do not buy any other than this center channel speaker. TRUST ME....

Similar Products Used:

Many,many,many other center speakers.

Excellent clarity in a well built speaker

Big Footprint

I upgraded from the CS 245 after finding this speaker at Circuit City. It was an open box and got it for a great price. My main speakers are the Polk RT 5 and the customer rep at Polk said it would match up well. I was amazed at the sound reproduction compared to the CS 245. The vocals are very clear and I don't have to turn the volume up as I have with other center channel speakers. I have had this speaker for almost 1 year and glad I upgraded. I sold the CS 245 on eBay.

Similar Products Used:

Polk CS 245

great sound

None, other than its immense size.

I just purchased this speaker a little over two weeks ago, and am compelled to write my first post in this forum as a result. I LOVE this speaker. This is quite posibly the best money I have ever spent(other than my reciever) on my home theater. After somehow for years feeling like I was missing something with my center channel. I felt there must be something out there that wouldnt sound so harsh and boxlike.
It turns out that this was just the ticket. Gone are the days of having to constantly turn up and down the volume due to harshness. This speaker produces a extremely mellow tone that is warm and very accurate. I can hear details that I NEVER heard before on my DVD's and laserdisks. The scraping of fingers scaling up the rock cliffs in Last of The Mohicans. The parting of lips in Titanic and the angelic voice of Roy Orbison in Black and White Nights is intoxicating. I kick myself for not doing this sooner. Paid 329.99 at Circuit City. They refused to price match Crutchfield at $299.99. But rest assured Circuit City, just as soon as my other cs400 arrives from crutchfield, this one's going back!!! Oh well, thanks for the demo i suppose.
I digress though. This is wonderful wonderful wonderful. I would love to voice match it to the RT 800s. But I am stuck deciding betwee them and upgrading my two year old. Kenwood 100 W sub to a Def tech 15 inch sub. or the 800s. Any suggestions would be appriciated.

Similar Products Used:

Infinity, Yamaha, Bose center channels