Bi-wireable, huge range, brilliant reproduction, outstanding price!

pretty damn large for a center channel. make sure you have the room

Wow, what a speaker. This this reproduces such a wide range of sound, it''s incredible. The highs are crisp, bright, and in your face....without distortion or discomfort. The 400 also boasts a bigger and more robust mid range than I''ve found in any affordable speaker (and some non-afforable ones too!). Complete with a powerport for bass reproduction, this thing captures the true movie theater experience. Audiophiles would be happy with this bad boy (I walk the edge between enthusiast and phile....my pocketbook keeps me there!)

Similar Products Used:

Infinity, JBL, Sony, other Polk models and more...

Great overall frequency response. Crisp, clear, and images well with other polk products. Price for a discontinued product.

Big and Mean looking, but worth the size for the sound.

Great center speaker for middle of the road HT. Interested in this speaker for a few months, but had to wait knowing the whole RT/i line is being discontinued and being replaced with the LS/i. No problems projecting sound with a wide variety of movies or music, it executes it's job like it's supposed to, with NO complaints. Excellent sound, great bass, nice mids and highs. Would recommend picking one up NOW, before they are all gone. BTW I picked up Polk RT 800i at the future shop for $440.00 for the pair and Rt 600i for $380.00 a pair. Come North and make your Dollar go further with Polk, Paradigm or Energy Speakers. Cheers

Tomas

Similar Products Used:

Too many to list

Bass, midbass, hights - can reproduce all that with amazing detail without the need to turn the volume down.

Ummm, no real wood veneer and can't walk my dog on the rainy day.

When I was building my system, I gave the preference to music, thus I went with the smaller CS245i center. I must say that it was an improvement over AR offering and it blended nicely with my RT600i. But two factors made me upgrade to CS400i. To my surprise, movies DO HAVE 80% of sound info concentrated in the center channel. Secondly, I was planning on upgrading to RT800i.

Well, I mast say that I'm glad I did. You know like you always have this feeling that you should've/could've bought something better? Never had one! CS400i can play the whole movie soundtrack all by itself and still maintain the dynamics and clarity. It can keep a very flat response with ease and it's a very important feature with today's movies where blowing stuff is complementary. While being a giant center speaker can't be synonymous to being the best, Polk's center is. Due to some sound coloration that all Polk speakers carry with them, (which makes Polk sound beautiful and unique among the crowd of “neutral” speakers) the sound flowing from CS400i makes you feel like having the best seat in the best Movie Theater in the city. In fact I feel a little guilty about enjoying the sound of Polk's center without paying $2000 for B&W center (which is really good as well :) or $100,000 for a personal auditorium, 2nd to the right at one of those movie theaters.

My System:
Marantz SR7000
Toshiba SD-2109 (Damn, I need a good CD player, was buying Marantz CC4000 OSE, but than there is that SACD format that seems to be the next best thing since vinyl)
Polk RT800I (great speakers, second to none)
Polk RT400I
Polk f/x500I (everything else is not surround)
Polk SW450I (yep, there are better subs...And grass is greener on the other side)
Sony MD320 (cheep MD deck, does everything I need)

Wow, I’m just 21 and life is good!

Similar Products Used:

CS245i, AR CS225, B&W monstrous center (auditioned only)

solidity of sound, crispness, everything, biwire-able

painted softdome tweeter

Excellant speaker for 550 canadian at future shop yes future shop!! excellant value, very clean sounding

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b&w cc6, Paradigm 350,

Awesome range, great imaging and compatibility with other Polk speakers

Big, manual could explain more about positioning

I'm with the last reviewer. Awesome power and range especially at the low-mid range. I could not hear the soft whispers until I put this speaker in. It handles it all with great effect. It plays well with the RT1000p fronts and the f/x 500i surround which is no surprise. Yes it's large but I have built my own cabinet for the TV and this speaker. One problem I had was with the manual. This speaker has a diffuser on the rear port. I'm not sure if this speaker wants to be in free air or whether enclosing it somehow limits the low end. No explanation in the manual so a 'ding' for that.

If you want cinema sound, with smooth transitions and full range...this is the one.

Similar Products Used:

Infinity

Clear sound, great bass, ability to handle loads of power without distortion. This sucker was built for abuse.

None (except perhaps the manual). Polk Manuals are not in depth at all.

This is a fantastic center channel. I was amazed at how much sound comes from the center channel during movies. Gone in 60 seconds is incredible. You feel like the Shelby is racing through your room. It picks up the faintest whispers also. Try it and you search for a center will end. I have found Polk products to be without competition (for the $$$ you spend they cannot be beat).

Similar Products Used:

Various.

Full accurate production of voice

Large and heavy

I have to write 50 words on this review, but it honestly only needs one.. awesome.

Make sure you have enough room for this beast though. It is very heavy and very big. but the sound is so worth it. Crisp, clean, beautiful. I audition some paradigm and PSB centers, and this blew them away.

If you need a good center, this is tops.

John

Similar Products Used:

CS245i, infinity

Very solid and well built.

takes a crane to lift the darn thing, ha ha ha!

So far i'm pretty happy with the CS400i. It mates well with my 10 yr old KLH towers. Next year I'll upgrade to either the 1000's or 800's. I do have to say... that so far having only owned it about 3 months.. that it seems to lack some clarity in the higher end frequencies. It has great bass and mid range..but not enough upper end for my tastes.

The rest of my system as I am building it one peice at a time is so far:

Marantz SR500 Receiver
Polk PSW350 sub (this sucker shakes the room)
Polk FX/300i surrounds
Polk CS400i center
KLH main towers (each tower having two 8" active front firing woffers, and two rear firing 8" passive woffers)
Toshiba DVD
Zenith 27" TV

Similar Products Used:

Energy EXL-C

Very heavy,solid build and amaizing sound

Just nothing

This speaker is the best one by far I used in the past.They are very heavy and big it will fill up your room with excellent sound quality.What a big differents Center speaker makes.I have wharfadale sapphire 87 main speakers,Polk CS 400i center, and Polk R10 rear speakers;hooked up to Pioneer 409 Receiver 100 watt each channel.And so far this combination working just great.Watching DVD's just unreal(Takes you to different world).You can't go wrong with this great center speaker POLK CS 400i.
Good luck to you all,and enjoy the quality.

Similar Products Used:

Infinity

A perfect sonic match to Polk RT55i front speakers. Crisp and clear.

None

CS 400i is the cleanest sounding center speaker I heard. Very efficient design. As the hardest working speaker in a home theater, Polk hits the mark. Voices are clear and associated effects around the speaker (paper shuffling, pens click, telephone etc) are very real. Worth every penny. It even supports bi-wiring, but I don't think you need it.

Similar Products Used:

Warfdale Center (junk)